The Forerunner

An evening has been set aside to look at the new C of E Communion Service which is to be introduced during the coming year to replace the (red) ASB. This will be held on Monday 6th November in the Village Hall at 8.00 pm. A service will be held using the New Liturgy on Monday 20th November at 8.00 pm in Kingscote Church.

Dear All,

November is a month for looking back. We begin with All Saints Day (1st) when we look back on the giants of the faith and draw inspiration from their lives. On All Souls Day (2nd) we look back on our loved ones departed. We remember them before God; and as the years pass those to be commemorated in this way grow in number. Then on Remembrance Sunday (12th) we look back as we recall the victims of war.

We can only live in the present. To try to do otherwise is not to live fully at all. Yet, we cannot truly live now if we deny the past or fail to be instructed by it. The Scriptures rightly call us to "look unto the rock whence ye are hewn", and are full of reminders of those who have gone before us in the faith and how they laid the foundations on which we build. "Let us now praise famous men and our fathers that begat us", is a necessary call for any age.

It is important that as individuals and as nations we get ourselves in a proper perspective. All we are and achieve is rooted in the endeavour, success and failure of many who have gone before us. If we forget this we will be tempted to think that we have achieved what we have by our own abilities alone and fall into pride; or feel that the destiny of the world around rests on our shoulders alone and fall into despair. The truth is we have our place within the whole scheme of things. That place is determined by what has gone before, and, although we contribute to the future, we do so to only a limited degree.

Our place in life is rather like that of craftsmen working on one of our great cathedrals. The individual craftsman made a small, yet valuable and vital contribution to a vast overall plan. It may well be that he lived, worked and died, and never saw the completed building. In the span of the centuries that in no way lessens his unique contribution to the overall structure. When we look back and see our lives within the span of history then what we do now as individuals and communities is set against the right backdrop. We draw from the rich, deep wells of the past, make our own contribution and pass on much more than we are directly responsible for ourselves.

Earlier generations have had a profound sense of being linked to their ancestors within a rich and growing chain of human endeavour and divine grace. That we seem to be a weak link in that chain is to our impoverishment. So this month as we look back, do not indulge in nostalgia or sentimentality. They often take the place of strong and constructive remembering. Rather, sense those who have gone before us urging us on in the battles of faith and in the adventures of life, to which they contributed and to which we are now privileged to add our own contribution.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews has it right: "Remember where you stand?.you stand before Mount Zion and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, before myriads of angels, the full assembly of the first-born citizens of heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of good men made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant". In this light our lives are cut down to size ! And that is a joy and a relief. A joy and a relief that we do not stand alone to face history, but with that vast throng to support us. We do not have to do it all by ourselves. We build on the foundations laid by all who have gone before us in the Lord, and with the encouragement of their prayerful fellowship in the power of the Risen Christ.

May looking back be an inspiration for present living and future endeavour.

God bless,

Nov 5th and 12th - Mrs S Bradley-Jones

Nov 19th and 26th - Mrs K Brightley

Dec 3rd Advent - candle on pedestal - Mrs S Padden

All children in the Parish are welcome to our Sunday School on 5 November at 11.00 am in the Village Hall. Any children under 3 years of age will need to be accompanied.

Congratulations to all children who took part in the Harvest Service on the 8th of October. We enjoyed your contribution - ? Thank you for a pair of jeans? and your demonstration that we should think about STARVE and SHARE during our HARVEST thanksgiving. Children donated produce, which has been gratefully accepted by residents of Selsey Old Vicarage. Some also decorated envelopes containing money for the ? Jeans for Genes Day? charitable event - a total of £9-32 has been sent.

The PCC has received a letter from the diocesan office in Gloucester containing a DRAFT proposal for the merger of the clergy responsibilities for Horsley, Newington Bagpath with Kingscote, and Nailsworth. This is not a surprise, and a date for implementation is still not given. This awaits, among other things, the retirement of the present vicar in Nailsworth. It proposes that the priest responsible for this combined ministry would reside in Nailsworth. The proposal does not alter the separate status of the parishes covered, but clearly going down from two clergy to one for the same total territory is likely to reduce the service pattern in Kingscote. The PCC have been aware of this development for some time and have been considering the implications carefully. The letter is available for inspection on the notice board inside the church.

The mobile library will be by The Walled Garden from 9.40 am to 9.55 am on Thursdays November 2nd, 16th and 30th.

The boxes will be emptied as follows:

Newington and Bagpath - Mondays Nov. 13th and 27th

Kingscote - Tuesdays Nov. 14th and 28th