Blessings from the Vicarage

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

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It may seem strange to some, given the almost unbelievable circumstances we are globally living in, nevertheless to say with love to you all and with utter joy and hope:

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Times are now so unstable in the middle east what with the US bombing of Iran in March, with the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the attempt to overthrow his regime; also, with Israel furthering their attacking power towards Beirut and Tehran, having razed Gaza virtually to the ground; that the repercussions of these actions are beginning to affect other areas of the world in many ways, including Great Britain. Even at the time of writing this letter, I wonder that the consequences of this continued violent global destabilisation – like the post-World War II period – will last far beyond this time of extensive violence and have devastating effects.

But we do not lose hope, and we hold on to love – particularly the Divine Love shown in Jesus Christ who suffered, died and rose again for us all, which enables us to live through such times and work for stability again.

You will see on the front cover a beautiful spring picture looking from the graveyard at St Mary’s, through some deeply intensive violet-blue bluebells to the solid and stable structure of the church bell tower. The story of the building of the 14th century bell tower at St Mary’s Chuh is an interesting one, in that it could not be constructed all at the same time due to interruption of building works by the Black Death (1347 – 51, and again in 1361). A total of 52 local farmstead families were lost during those times and there was a lack of skilled masons to do the

job, so it had to be built in stages. But when the population increased, the project was finally completed (well, not quite as it was supposed to have a spire, which was never added), although there have been many changes to the windows for various reasons throughout time.

The church has been present for people to celebrate Easter and pray to God since 1239 and the tower, originally with 5 bells, has called people to worship since the late 1300’s. Through the most difficult of times, both violent and post-violent, through plagues and more recently Covid, through poverty and hardship, the church of St Mary the Virgin has been central to the faith and stability of those living in the Frensham area for 787 years. It has celebrated 787 Easters…and will continue to do so as long as people look to God through Jesus Christ for peace, eternal security and physical/emotional/psychological stability in their lives.

The Christian faith, although itself going through early violent stages and wrongly later pursuing crusades causing woeful blood-shedding, thankfully has also held people together in the Love of God for nearly 2000 years, many of which have been unstable times.

Celebrating another Easter this year makes us part of that continual journey of Life seeking, facilitating and actively working for love, peace, stability and eternal hope. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of anything else that can achieve this not only for the planet but for all its inhabitants. So, I commend learning about the Christian faith to any that might be interested in learning more. We will be starting our Alpha Course on 29th April and if you would like to come on this course please contact myself or Jon Savage by email and we also have a ‘Walking with God’ group for those who would like to deepen their faith – contact the vicar.

With love and prayers,

Jane

P.S. If you would like to find out more about the Christian faith and discuss the possibility of being baptised or confirmed this year, we will be having a service at 6pm on Sunday 4th October at St Mary’s Church.