Dear Friends,

Sometimes I feel wonderfully uplifted by things that happen in the parishes. Such an occasion was the service on Remembrance Sunday this year. As usual the service was held in All Saints, Clive. It was a glorious morning, the church was full and, in a moving and emotional service, we remembered those who gave their lives in war so that we might enjoy peace. It is something we have been doing for a good number of years and I hope will continue thus. We have a good foundation for that because once again we were blessed with a goodly number of children who came to the service. They joined in with respect and were mostly quiet during the two minute silence despite the very young age of some of them. I hope the significance of the service was not lost on the older children – the haunting notes of the trumpet, as Harriett blew the Last Post and Rouse, brings goose bumps to us older members of the congregation, but I wonder what it did for the children. It must be so difficult to experience the past when it seems so distant, and yet it is very immediate as new names are added to the Rolls of Honour throughout the country year by year. Whatever they felt, it was wonderful to have them in the church. It rounded off the whole meaning of Remembrance Day for me – here was the whole community coming together for worship on this singular occasion. Thank you, Harriett, for your very special input into the service.

Remembrance Sunday service always stirs up emotions and I dare say our resolve. So it is appropriate that the Sunday following (The Sunday next before Advent) is sometimes called Stir-up Sunday. The name comes from the Collect set for the day in the Book of Common Prayer and reads:

“Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Traditionally the Christmas pud mixture was stirred by each member of the family on this day and the children chanted the rhyme:

“Stir up, we beseech thee,

 The pudding in the pot;

And when we get home

We’ll eat the lot.”

 Stir-up Sunday is much more than just Christmas puds. As we have remembered those who have gone before, their sometimes stirring deeds and bravery in the face of adversity, so we invite God to get us going again, to stir us up to bring forth good fruit not least as we prepare ourselves to greet the Christ Child on Christmas morn.

Talking about stirring up – a story was told me at the seminar “Hungry for God” held at Christ Church, Bayston Hill recently. It went something like this: a parish feast was prepared and the table was groaning with good things to eat. The good people of the parish fell upon the feast with great gusto and quite soon the table was bare; that is except for a bowl of rice salad which was untouched. As it had been a ‘bring and share’ the PCC were quite worried that someone would be offended – it was a beautiful rice pudding filled with raisins and other good things – why had the obviously hungry crowd spurned it? They were deliberating about this when one of them suddenly remarked, “I know. Something is missing. We didn’t give them a spoon!” Such a simple thing as the lack of a spoon had prevented the hungry from being fed… Could you or I be the spoon. If people are hungry for God, and I believe they are, are we preventing that hunger from being satisfied…?

All being well Pat and I are hoping to visit our Australian family in January. It is not finalised yet but on the assumption that it will take place I have arranged for the services in January to be Combined Benefice services beginning with Astley on 8^th, Clive on 15^th, Grinshill on 22^nd and Hadnall on 29^th. I will be here on 1^st January and will be celebrating at the Combined Service on that day in Hadnall. Visiting priests will cover the others. The reason for this is that, with the situation in the Deanery with the number of vacancies we have, it is quite difficult to find cover while I am away. Canon William Price has again made himself available for any emergencies – thank you, William – and I will be seeking cover for the Sunday services over the next few weeks. I hope this will be all right for you.

This edition of the Benefact covers December and January so please take careful note of the services and other information in the parish news for the next two months. This begs the question: are you ready for the Christmas rush? Commercial Xmas has been a bit iffy over the last few years and the ongoing crisis with the economy is probably going to bite just as hard this year, perhaps more so. But there is a great deal of difference between Xmas and CHRISTmas. We can still celebrate, we must celebrate, that remarkable event when God came to us in all the vulnerability and humility of the Babe in the manger. I hope I will be able to see many of you at the different services and events which are to take place in the next weeks – carol services, school services, the Christmas services themselves. There is a good number to choose from! May it be a wonderful time for each one of you as we prepare to receive the Christ Child on Christmas Day. Will HE be our focus? I hope so.

Best wishes and God’s rich blessings be with you this Christmastide and remain with you always.

Rob