St Bartholomew, Penn

Our celebrant here this morning is ex Penn...

A Brief History of St Bartholomew's Church, Penn by Rachel Hampton

The first church was built here by Sir Hugh de Bushbury, in 1200 A.D, but it is believed that Christian worship began on this site much earlier - from about 1025 A.D. In 1912 the round base and broken stem of a more ancient churchyard cross were discovered beneath the existing churchyard cross. This stood close to the South wall of the church and was being relocated after the South aisle of the church was enlarged. The round base and stem are believed to be the remains of a cross of Anglo-Saxon origin, set up by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, the husband of Lady Godiva, when he was Lord of the Manor of Upper Penn. He and Lady Godiva are known to have built churches or set up preaching crosses in the manors over which they had Lordship.

Further evidence which would support this being an Anglo-Saxon Christian site is that the original churchyard appears to have been circular and about one acre in size - the shape and size of Anglo-Saxon churchyards.

The cross would have been set up in the middle of this. The remains of the cross at Penn seems to have been at the centre of what we think to have been the original Christian site. An ancient track passed the site, so it was a good place for monks or itinerant priests to preach the Gospel. The church built by Sir Hugh de Bushbury in 1200 stood on the site of the present western end of the North Aisle, the part of the church nearest to the new extension. It is believed to have been about 14 metres by 7 metres. In its early days the church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The original church may have been a wooden structure quickly replaced by a stone building. Early churches had no seats for the congregation. An altar would have stood at the East end possibly in an apse. As in many rural communities, the local population may have stored some of their harvested crops in the church during the winter. They would certainly have had to give 1/10 of their crops in tithe to pay the priest.

Although the evidence is circumstantial, it would seem that the parish of Penn was caught up in the religious turmoils of the 16th. and 17th. centuries. In 1553, at the accession of Mary Tudor, the Vicar of Penn, the Rev. Slaney was dismissed from his benefice at a time when Queen Mary was purging the church of married priests. The change in the dedication of the church to St. Bartholomew, (the date of which is unknown), could well have been an indication of the sympathy of leading members of the congregation towards the New Learning and the Huguenots in France, killed in a massacre on St. Bartholomew s Day in 1572. The acquisition of the pulpit in the 17th Century is an indication of the growing importance felt by the clergy to educate the congregation in the christian faith. The Rev Charles Wynn, who left the proceeds from his estate to found a school in Penn and to buy Bibles for the children of the village, was carrying out the aims of Puritan leaders to educate children to read the Bible. Since Charles Wynn was Vicar of Penn throughout the time that Oliver Cromwell was in power, he was probably also responsible for carrying out Cromwell s order to throw the font out of the church. In 1682, the font, presumably lying unused in the churchyard, was turned upside down and made the base of the parish sundial. It was discovered by a later Vicar and brought back into its proper use in 1855.

During the 18th. and 19th. centuries Penn was an attractive rural community, where wealthy families wanted to live, away from the heavily polluted industrial and mining districts. The people of the village benefited from the generosity and caring of such people as Dr. Sedgwick who endowed five Almshouses for the elderly poor of the village. The population increased and further extensions were made to the church. In 1 764-5 the Tower was cased in bricks and heightened. The door into the Tower became the main entrance, instead of the porch on the south wall where the Vestry existed and had been reached through a lych-gate. In 1799 a long chancel was built at the expense of Mrs. ElIen Purshouse and her brother Thomas Bradney. A south aisle was added in 1844, but this proved to be unsatisfactory as the altar was out of sight to those sitting there. So a further major extension was made from 1871-2. The nave and the south aisle were extended eastwards and a completely new chancel was built. The organ chamber was added in 1901 and the Vestry in 1958. So over the years the church has been enlarged to meet the needs of the growing population.

The building of the Church Hall enabled the church in the 20th. century to provide activities in the week for children and adults as well as facilities for a Sunday School and church meetings. In the church, the positioning of an altar at the western end of the Chancel and the repositioning of the screen in the 1970s, opened up the Chancel and made the services more accessible to all. A new wing of the church was opened by the Bishop of Lichfield on 22nd October 2000. This contains a Parish Office, a meeting room called The Oak Room, a kitchen and toilets. These new facilities enable the congregation to enjoy clubs like Painting in Penn and learning, Such as the Start and Alpha Courses and allow them to take up the challenge to extend Christian mission further into the community of Penn

Oops! 0ur resident is from Penn near High Wycombe and not this Penn....

The Hidden Life

Luke 22.24-30

24A dispute also arose among the twelve as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25But Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
28You are those who have stood by me in my trials; 29and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, 30so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Sermon

BARTHOLOMEW is said to have been flayed alive, before being crucified upside down. Leather-workers look to him as their patron saint. In painting and sculpture, he is often represented as holding a knife, with his own skin neatly draped over his arm. Quite how such imagery is supposed to deepen our devotion is unclear.

In the absence of facts, fantasies about Bartholomew abound: that he went on a missionary tour to India; that Emma, the wife of King Canute, entrusted one of his arms to Canterbury Cathedral; that he can be efficaciously invoked if one suffers from nervous tics.

Although Bartholomew has given his name to famous hospitals, such as St Barts in London, there is no evidence that he was any more adept than the other apostles at the healing miracles attributed to all of them in Acts.

We know nothing about Bartholomew. There is even uncertainty about his name. It has been suggested that Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person. We know nothing about Bartholomew — except, that is, for the only thing that matters about him. We know that he was a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. That is all. Bartholomew himself would not have wished for anything else to be told about him.

In thinking about Bartholomew, we are made aware that the call to serve can be a call to hide. What attracted Thomas Merton to the monastic life, especially to the Trappist life, was its promise of total hiddenness.
“The thought of those monasteries, those cells, those cloisters, those men in their cowls, the poor monks, the men who had become nothing, shattered my heart,” he wrote in The Seven Storey Mountain. For Merton, it is only because of these Bartholomews, men so hidden as to be absent from the earth, that God is persuaded to stay his hand a little longer before bringing our tragic tale to a close.

Today’s Job Centres do not advertise vacancies for servants. The term is felt to be shameful and demeaning. Servants, we suppose, belong to a Victorian upstairs-downstairs world. Servants languished in the “station in life” into which they were born, by day in the scullery, by night in the attic. In the age and culture of the “service industry”, where billions are made overnight, the very notion of service has become corrupted.

The role of the servant — the role that we have come to despise — Jesus has, for all time, made his own. “I am among you”, he says, “as one who serves.” The saying, one of the great “I am”s of the Gospels, is only in Luke, but it is uttered in the accents of John.

Here is one of the moments in Luke’s Gospel where “the beloved physician” and “the beloved disciple” speak as one. When we hear these words, we are in heart and mind where John takes us, in the Upper Room where Jesus rose from the table to wash his disciples’ feet (John 13.1-20).

The disciples notice what Jesus does only because he has assumed the role of someone normally unnoticed. The household slave goes about his work, and, for the rest of the house, it is as if he does not exist. Popes and vicars who conspicuously wash people’s feet once a year have missed the point.

To serve is to hide. He who comes from “the God who hides himself” (Isaiah 45.15) hides himself, too. On Easter Day, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus met two disconsolate disciples. Later, after he had made himself known to them, “he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24.31).

That is what is Jesus does. He still vanishes from our sight. Now you see him; now you don’t. He does not await our recognition, still less our ovations. By the time we have found the noisy hymn to sing his praise, he is off somewhere else.

We know, many of us, that we have met him. There was that moment, at the edge of an abyss, when he touched our lives, steadied us, and saved us from falling. Only later did we recognise who it was — and by then he had gone. He had moved on, as he did in Galilee. And, as in Galilee, we must drop everything and follow him.

There are the Bartholomews, whose hidden service to their sisters and brothers becomes known only when they have left us, when they themselves are lost in light. There are many more Bartholomews whose story — before the books are opened — we shall never know.

George Eliot was no believer, but, in the famous closing words of the greatest novel in our language, she honours Bartholomew. “For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs” (Middlemarch).

Apostolic Church

Today in 1971 I was ordained priest by Bishop John Moorman in Ripon Cathedral.

Gospel
Mt 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippihe asked his disciples,“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”Simon Peter said in reply,“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.And so I say to you, you are Peter,and upon this rock I will build my Church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Sermon at St Martin-on-the-hill

Today we celebrate the feast day of two of the Church's greatest sons - St Peter and St Paul. The liturgy calls them 'the princes of the Apostles from whom we derive our Christian faith.'

When we recite the Nicene Creed together as an expression of this faith we declare that 'we believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church'. When we claim to share a common nationality it is because we share a land, a language, and a loyalty to queen and country. When we affirm our common faith it is because we believe in, and belong to, this 'one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church'. The Church is apostolic because it is founded on the apostles, our Lord Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. Peter and Paul are chief among those apostles. The Church we belong to is 'apostolic' because it teaches the apostolic faith, continues the apostolic mission, and exercises the apostolic authority. Let me say a few words about each:

1. Apostolic Faith
When Peter recognised Jesus at Caesarea Philippi as 'the Christ, Son of the living God' Jesus told him 'you are Peter and on this rock of your person and faith in me I will build my church'.
When Paul was writing to Timothy he wrote 'keep as your patter the sound teaching you have heard from me, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us look after this precious thing given in trust'.
The Church is Apostolic because it proclaims Jesus the Son of God and because it holds in trust and passes on the faith of the apostolic creeds.
We are called to cling to this apostolic faith and not deviate from it.

2. Apostolic Mission
Peter and Paul, along with the other apostles, were called and commissioned by Jesus 'to make disciples of all nations'. The very name 'apostle' comes from the Greek for 'an emissary' 'a sent one'. The first apostles were delegated by Jesus to represent him and his gospel in all the world. The thrilling stories of their post-Resurrection, post-Pentecost, lives reveals them doing this across the globe with their faithful missionary witness resulting in martyrdom in most cases.
The Church is Apostolic which in each successive age and place continues the divine mission first entrusted by Jesus to the first apostles. As Emil Brunner said 'the church lives by mission as a fire lives by burning'. No person in any parish is to be sidelined or excluded. No place on earth should lie beyond this remit.
We are called to engage in this apostolic mission and bear the cost of it.

3. Apostolic Authority
The shrines of Peter and Paul are in Rome. They suffered martyrdom there during the persecution of the Emperor Nero and their remains are contained in two great basilicas. The universal primacy of the Bishop of Rome draws authority from the fact that it is the city where they died. That authority in the church has come down to us through ordination in the apostolic succession. Truth and unity in the church are to be maintained by the collective authority of the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome. This authority is impaired by disunity over ordinations and deviations from gospel truths.
We are called to return to apostolic authority by renewed unity with its source.

So, as we thank God today for the apostles Peter and Paul, let us pray for the Church's renewal in their apostolic faith, mission, and authority.

Year of St Paul begins

A special jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul will run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint’s birth. Our “Year of St. Paul News” feature offers coverage of activities and celebrations planned in honor of the Pauline year.
Year of St. Paul News

Pope urges Church to draw inspiration from Pauline year
By John Thavis Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI asked the whole Church to draw inspiration from the jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul and to imitate the apostle's courageous missionary efforts.
St. Paul demonstrated that with firm faith "we can overcome every form of fear," the pope said at a Sunday blessing June 22.

The pope officially was to open the Pauline year at a prayer service June 28 in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, where the saint's tomb is located.

At his Sunday blessing, the pope spoke about the role of faith in conquering fear. He cited an episode from a difficult period in the evangelizing efforts of St. Paul, when God appeared in a vision and told him: "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you."
In fact, St. Paul continued to preach with courage, suffering martyrdom in the end, the pope said. The church is now preparing to celebrate the 2,000th year of his birth with the jubilee year, he said.

"May this great spiritual and pastoral event stimulate in us a renewed faith in Jesus Christ, who calls us to announce and witness his gospel without any fear," he said.

The pope said fear takes many forms in life, including childish fears that disappear with maturity and real fears that need to be overcome through effort.

There are also deeper existential fears that can provoke anguish, he said.

"This comes from a sense of emptiness, and is tied to a certain kind of culture that is permeated by widespread theoretical and practical nihilism," he said.

This type of fear is prevalent where people think they can do without God, and believe that they can control life and death, or good and evil, he said.

The believer, on the other hand, need not fear anything because he "knows he is in the hands of God, and that evil and the irrational do not have the final word," he said.

Chosen by lot

When the early church needed to choose a replacement for Judas to make up the number of the 12 apostles they selected two with the right qualifications - with Jesus from the beginning and a witness to his resurrection. They then left the final choice to God by the mechanism of choosing by lot. This is how the process may have gone.......

Matthias is chosen by lot to replace Judas

(knock, knock, knock)
PETER ----- (afar) Come in.(door open)(afar) Oh, Barsabbas, come in. Come in.
BARSABBAS - Hello, Peter. Oh, they're all here.
PETER ----- Yes, Barsabbas I asked all eleven remaining apostles to come. And Matthias, too.
BARSABBAS - What for, Peter?
PETER ----- We're going to choose an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot.
BARSABBAS - Well, then, I'm your man. So, now I can raise people from the dead and prophecy the future, huh?
PETER ----- Not so fast, Barsabbas. We have to do this God's way.
BARSABBAS - Oh, I get it. You have to swear me in, huh? How do we do this? You want me standing up or kneeling down?
PETER ----- Ah, you don't understand. We haven't selected Judas' successor yet.
BARSABBAS - So, what's to select? I'm the best man for the job.
PETER ----- Well, Matthias is well qualified too.
BARSABBAS - I beg to differ. I have healed more lepers, I have driven out more demons, I even healed blind people. So, how is Matthias more qualified?
PETER ----- He's more humble.
BARSABBAS - Oh. Hey, I'm humble too. I'm way more humble than Matthias. In fact, I may be the most humble disciple in the bunch.
PETER ----- I'm sure. Well, let's let God choose the next apostle.
BARSABBAS - I can already tell you who he'll choose.
PETER ----- You have the gift of prophecy already?
BARSABBAS - Well, no, but...
PETER ----- Then, we'll cast lots.
BARSABBAS - Lots?! You mean throw dice?
PETER ----- Yes.
BARSABBAS - Well, that's not fair.
PETER ----- What could be more fair than casting lots?
BARSABBAS - Well, it's all luck. Do you want the BEST man or the luckiest man?
PETER ----- Don't you believe that the God who created the universe can make the dice fall the way he wants them to?
BARSABBAS - Okay, yeah, sure. Why not.
PETER ----- Alright, you cast first.
BARSABBAS - No, let Matthias cast first. I'm feeling real lucky today. (clears throat) I mean, I'm confident God will choose the best man.
PETER ----- Alright, Matthias, you cast first. (pause, dice rattle, dice tumble)Three.
BARSABBAS - Alright! I mean, gee, that's too bad. He only got a three. What a shame. Matthias is a good man.
PETER ----- Your cast, Barsabbas. (dice rattle)
BARSABBAS - Come on, mama, baby needs a new pair of shoes.
PETER ----- Excuse me?
BARSABBAS - I mean, ah, may the Lord bless my cast.(dice tumble)
PETER ----- Two.
BARSABBAS - Two?! How could I throw a two? Let me see those dice. (beat) Two. I'll be darned.
PETER ----- So, I guess the Lord has chosen Matthias as our newest apostle.
BARSABBAS - Let's cast again. Best two out of three.
PETER ----- Well, I don't...
BARSABBAS - Hey, if God chose him once, won't he chose him twice?
PETER ----- Well, alright.
BARSABBAS - I'll throw first. (blows)(dice rattle) Seven come eleven, come on, baby!(dice tumble)Ahha! Eleven! Alright!
PETER ----- Matthias, your cast.
BARSABBAS - Well, since I'm on a roll, Matthias may want to just admit defeat. (laughs nervously) Or not...
PETER ----- Matthias?(dice rattle, dice tumble)
PETER ----- Twelve.
BARSABBAS - Twelve?! Nobody's that lucky. Lemme see those dice.
PETER ----- If the Lord is involved, Barsabbas. It isn't luck.
BARSABBAS - Oh, yeah. Okay. Best three out of five?
PETER ----- (afar) Nice try.(door open, footsteps)
BARSABBAS - (fading) Wait a minute. Where are you going? What would be wrong with three out of five? How about one more roll. Winner takes all? Peter? Peter!

Apostle and Evangelist

St John the Divine is known as 'the apostle of love' - 'the beloved apostle'. He told the world in his gospel that 'God so loved that he gave his only son' for it. In his epistles he preached a message of 'life, light, and love'.

Jerome describes the elderly apostle having to be carried to church so he could preach the gospel with the words "Little children, love one another".

Fishers of Men

"By the sea of Galilee the Lord saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew. He called them: Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men".

Saint life grand

IT MAY not be the great public holiday many had hoped for, but just because most of us will still have to work this St Andrew's Day does not mean we can't mark the occasion in style.
From Boston to Beijing, expats and Scotophiles the world over will be celebrating this Friday, and at home the day is set to be observed more widely than ever before - from conventional balls and dinners to some rather more unorthodox, not to say eccentric, events such as an attempt at the world's largest Dashing White Sergeant and "aqua ceilidhs" in swimming pools.
Despite the attempts by the Falkirk West Independent MSP Dennis Canavan to have the saint's day declared a full public holiday, last year the Scottish Parliament ultimately voted for a "voluntary public holiday", though employers and employees may have interestingly differing views as to exactly what that means.

So while Parliament - though failing to guarantee the rest of us the same privilege - is taking the day off (as is Angus Council), it remains unclear just how many firms or employees will be following their example on this holiday of non-obligation. According to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the answer is not a lot.

So, if you are one of those who have been denied the day off on Friday, you can at least take comfort in the fact you are not alone. Indeed for a fair few of us, work will actually revolve around the events taking place.

Actors, politicians, and musicians are just some of those who'll be working on St Andrew's Day, and here we've spoken to a few of them about what the occasion holds in store for them.
But even those of us who'll be working, there should still be time for most of us to have some fun either before or after work.

The least you can do is make sure you try some traditional Scots' fare. You could follow the example of some of the colleges which will be serving a "Porridge Breakfast" on Friday morning to international students. And while many a haggis will be consumed on the night, why not sink a right guid willy waught of cholesterol for the sake of auld Sanct Andra in the form of a pie? For Friday will also see the results of the World Scotch Pie Championships announced.

But there's a whole host of other events taking place, too. The Scottish Government has been busy encouraging celebrations, and earlier this year the First Minister, Alex Salmond, unveiled a programme of St Andrew's Day events across Scotland and a subsequent "Winter Festival", which will run from Friday, through Hogmanay, until that next great Caledonian fling, Burns Night, on 25 January.


National Day greetings for Scots

ON the occasion of St Andrew's Day, the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, congratulated the Scots on behalf of his government.

"I am delighted to extend my warmest wishes to you on St Andrew's Day," he said.

"This is a day for celebrating all that is great about Scotland. We are proud of our heritage, and this is a tremendous opportunity to say that. But we are just as positive about Scotland's future, and the changes for the better that are happening in Scotland. Not just in terms of a new government but also in cultural renewal.

"This new Scotland is one which is bold, confident, demanding and ambitious.
"In Scotland we live in a country with enormous assets - chief among them our people. We have a history and a present reality of innovation, of educational excellence, and of individuals and companies succeeding in a competitive global market.

"When I have travelled to different countries I am always encouraged by the boundless energy, passion and commitment that people across the globe have towards Scotland.

"I am delighted that so many of you are celebrating Scotland's National Day - as we are too though events across Scotland.

"On behalf of the people of Scotland I send you best wishes for a wonderful National Day."

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland and St Andrew's Day is celebrated by Scots around the world on November 30.

Simon and Jude

Tomorrow's saints weren't brothers but they share the same feast day.

The Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles and Martyrs, is October 28

“Simon was a simple Galilean, a brother of Jesus, as the ancients called one’s close relatives — aunts, uncles, first cousins; he was one of Our Lord’s four first cousins, with James the Less, Jude and Joseph, all sons of Mary, the wife of Alpheus, or Cleophas, either name being a derivative of the Aramaic Chalphai. The latter was the brother of Saint Joseph, according to tradition. All the sons of this family were raised at Nazareth near the Holy Family. (See the Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:53-58) Simon, Jude and James were called by Our Lord to be Apostles, pillars of His Church, and Joseph the Just was His loyal disciple.

Saint Simon the Zealot or the Zealous, was the name this Apostle bore among the twelve. He preached in Egypt, Mauritania (Spain), and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they labored and died together. At first they were respected by the king, for they had manifested power over two ferocious tigers who had terrorized the land. With the king, sixty thousand Persians became Christians, and churches rose over the ruins of the idolatrous temples.

But the ancient enemy, who never sleeps, rose up, and when the two went elsewhere the pagans commanded them to sacrifice to the sun. Both Apostles, just before that time, had seen Our Lord amid His Angels. Simon said to Jude, “One of the Angels said to me, I will take you out of the temple and bring the building down upon their heads. I answered him, Let it not be so; perhaps some of them will be converted.” They prayed for mercy for the people and offered their lives to God. Saint Simon told the crowd that their gods were only demons, and ordered them to come out of the statues, which they did, revealing themselves under hideous forms. But the idolaters fell on the Apostles and massacred them, while they blessed God and prayed for their murderers.Saint Jude has left us a short but powerful epistle, written after the death of his brother James, bishop of Jerusalem, and addressed to the new Christians.

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.ans being tempted by false brethren and heretics. “

Simon & Jude, Apostles

Not a lot is known about these two apostles. It doesn't matter. What we do know is that they were called and chosen by the Lord to be the foundation stones of his church with the qualifications that they had been with him from the beginning and that they were witnesses of his resurrection.

My theological college was founded under their patronage - the College of the Resurrection at Mirfield in Yorkshire. The reason the monks of the community established the college here was to facilitate the nurture of vocations among working class boys of the north who had faith and intelligence but limited means or opportunity.

We men ordained to the sacred priesthood share the calling and vocation of the apostles and have been incorporated into their apostolic ministry for the church of today. "We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church".

Here at Dulverton, there are other flatdwellers, also formed for the priesthood at Mirfield. As we celebrate today's mass we shall be thanking God and interceeding for the continuing community and college life at Mirfield which is still faithfully preparing men for apostolic priesthood.