Sunday Worship podcast links and other news May 30

 

May 30  Trinity Sunday Online Morning Worship podcast   Morning service sheet       Hymn words (both services) Evensong podcast  Evensong service sheet Don't forget that you can also listen to a shortened version of the podcast by phoning 01732 928061 -  if you know someone who doesn't "do" the internet, please pass on the number to them. It costs the same as any phone call to a Sevenoaks number. In Church 10 am Holy Communion with a hymn outside the church after the service. 6.30pm Breathing Space Holy Communion    Numbers limited to 35 people. Facemasks required unless medically exempt. Services are said, with recorded music – there is no singing in church, but we do now have permission to sing outside, so there will be a congregational hymn at the end of the 10 am service outside.   On Zoom this week  email sealpandp@gmail.com for links NO ZOFFEE chat today, as we are holding our ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING instead. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting, but only those on the Electoral Roll are able to vote. May 30, 2021 11:15 AM  Please email sealpandp@gmail.com for the link. THE ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS can be found here (there is also a link on the church website) . There is a limited number of printed copies on the red table at the back of church.  Click here for the agenda for this year and minutes of last year's APCM. As it is half term, our Zoom activities are taking a break this week There will be NO Wednesday Zoom Church this week   No Zoom Children's Choir. On June 9 we will resume our Children's Choir meetings in person, singing in the garden outside the church hall at 5pm on Wednesdays. All children are welcome. We will be careful to make this activity Covid safe. NO Zoom Adult choir  this week. Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6.1-8, John 3.1-17   Today’s readings feature two frightened men. As I explore in today’s sermon, fear often gets a bad press, but can be an important emotion, and one which we should face and explore rather than trying to avoid.   In particular, the sermon explores what it might mean to “fear God”, not in the sense that one might fear a capricious ruler or a brutal dictator, but recognising that we are in the presence of the one who created us, and who takes us seriously, as people who are loved and called, people who matter, with lives that matter.   ALL AGE IDEAS Together at home sheet for Trinity Sunday   Would you like us to pray for you? Email your prayer requests to: sealchurchprayer@gmail.com Your email will be read by Anne Le Bas and Kevin Bright, the Vicar and Reader of Seal Church who will hold you in their prayers.  CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS Our ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING will be held today via Zoom at 11.15 am. It will be possible to join in by phone if you have no computer. The joining details for this are above.   Only those who are on the church Electoral Roll are allowed to vote at this meeting, but everyone is welcome to ‘attend’. If anyone is interested in coming onto the Parochial Church Council, which is responsible for making decisions about Seal Church, please let me know. THE ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS can be found here (there is also a link on the church website) . There is a limited number of printed copies on the red table at the back of church.  Click here for the agenda for this year and minutes of last year's APCM.   FRIDAY GROUP This group is now back to meeting weekly on Fridays at 10.30am in the Church hall garden. When the weather is really bad (this is a very tenacious group) you can obtain a zoom invitation by contacting Marion on this email address. marionjgilchrist@gmail.com. Help Rochester Diocese find a new bishop! The current Bishop of Rochester James Langstaff, will be retiring soon. The Diocese of Rochester, which serves communities across Medway, north and west Kent and the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley will need a new Bishop. What matters to you, your church, and your local area? Help identify the qualities needed in the next Bishop of Rochester and the issues and concerns that should be their top priority. Share your views. Take a survey. Visit: http://ow.ly/1rOR50EXOup And in other news... The Archdeacon of Tonbridge, Julie Conalty, is to be made Bishop of Birkenhead, and the Area Dean of Sevenoaks is moving to become an Associate Priest at Chelsfield, so it's all change in Rochester Diocese at the moment. Please pray for those who are moving and for all who are involved in filling these posts! Know Your Neighbours information from Marion Gilchrist This month, things have started to return to some sort of normality around the village, so we will take this opportunity to let you know what we do. I feel sure there is more going on, that we have not been made aware of, so please let me know if your organisation is returning or starting new activities locally in Seal.   The KYN 100 Club draw has continued throughout the year, so we have continually raised funds for the community coffers, to pay for such things as Christmas lights, parties and other community projects.If you would like to take part in this monthly draw, which raises funds for village projects and organisations, please respond to this email for joining instructions. The cost is £5 each calendar month, preferably paid by standing order, with currently, a 1 in 64 chance of winning.  We are still taking donations of second hand laptops, which Derek, our local IT hero, is cleansing and preparing for use of Seal School pupils to use . If you have such a device, please contact marionjgilchrist@gmail.com and she will collect. Many thanks to those of you who have already donated. HYMN OF THE WEEK  St Patrick’s Breastplate This week’s hymn of the week is one which is much associated with Trinity Sunday. It is attributed to St Patrick (372 -466), and is called his ‘breastplate’ or ‘lorica’, a traditional prayer of protection. According to legend Patrick composed it shortly after landing in Ireland in 432, and sang it as he journeyed to Tara to confront the pagan High King of Ireland. Whether any of that is true, it is a fine hymn which invokes all of creation, earthly and heavenly, in praise of the Trinity, a favourite theme of Patrick’s. The translation that we are most familiar with is by Mrs C.F. Alexander (Once in Royal, There is a Green Hill, All things Bright and Beautiful) She was the wife of the Archbishop of Armagh. It is normally sung to an arrangement by Charles Villiers Stanford of a traditional Irish tune called St Patrick and is often abbreviated, with some verses being left out. The fifth verse in the version below, sometimes veers off into the tune Deirdre, which causes endless confusion to the unwary in the congregation.   It is a ‘big sing’, the kind of hymn which people embark on with gusto, but then begin to flag in singing as they go along, which makes it a difficult choice for a congregation. Sung as it should be, with conviction and energy, it is splendid.     I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.   2 I bind this day to me forever, by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation, his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on cross for my salvation, his bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way, his coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today.   3 I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven, the glorious sun’s life-giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.   4 I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, God’s eye to watch, God’s might to stay, God’s ear to hearken to my need, the wisdom of my God to teach, God’s hand to guide, God’s shield to ward, the word of God to give me speech, God’s heavenly host to be my guard.   5 Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.   6 I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three, of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation; salvation is of Christ the Lord!

A traditional version of St Patrick's Breastplate A modern version of the hymn. PRAYER OF THE WEEK   Te Deum   Those familiar with the service of Matins from the Book of Common Prayer will recognise this week’s prayer of the week, known as the Te Deum, the first two words of the prayer in its original Latin form.   It is one of the most ancient prayers – often sung – in the Christian world, dating back at least to the end of the 4th Century AD, but possibly long before that. It is a hymn of praise, which invites us to imagine ourselves joining in with the heavenly courts. It is echoed in the eucharistic prayer for Trinity Sunday, which focuses our attention on the majesty and mystery of God.   We praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubin and Seraphin : continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee; The Father : of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true : and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :     thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :     whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.    The Te Deum had accumulated an assortment of colourful, but possibly not all accurate stories and legends to itself over the centuries. Legend has it that it was composed on the hoof by St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and St Augstine of Hippo, as the former baptised the latter during the Easter Vigil in 387. Ambrose struck up with the first line, ‘Te Deum laudamus’ and Augustine responded with ‘ Te Dominum confitemur’ and they carried on, alternating their praises until the prayer was finished. It is also said to have been the final song which the Orthodox priests and monks sang in the great church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople as the Muslim Ottoman army invaded it. According to the story, the choir withdrew behind a wall and are still there somewhere, singing away, waiting for the moment when the church is returned to their care… Many composers have set it to music, including Handel, Haydn, Mozart , Kodaly, Britten and Arvo Part. One of the most famous settings is by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) whose prelude has often accompanied wedding couples down the aisle, and which is also the Eurovision theme tune, heard at the beginning of the famous Eurovision Song Contest - perhaps not a happy association after ‘our’ entry achieved the dubious distinction of getting ‘nul points’ this year. The unluckiest composer to have set the Te Deum is undoubtedly Jean Baptiste Lully,(1632-1687) however, who injured his foot while conducting his own setting of it for the court of  King Louis XIV, striking it with his conductor’s staff – a full length stick rather than the small baton. Gangrene set in, but Lully, who loved to dance, refused to have his foot amputated and eventually died of the wound.   Charpentier's Te Deum AND FINALLY... I don't  know what sort of bird life you have in your garden, but I know the birds in the vicarage garden have been busy over the last few weeks. There's not just a boom in blue tits, however. Apparently it's been a bumper year on Skomer island for puffins. So, on the grounds that people can never have too many puffins in their lives, here's a story all about it. https://www.itv.com/news/2021-05-28/puffin-population-soars-to-highest-level-on-welsh-island-since-wwii-skomer   "It is only three of four years ago that we were reporting the decline in the UK's puffin population. Climate change and warmer sea waters were thought to be among the causes. But the latest puffin count on the Island of Skomer, off the coast of south west wales, shows that numbers there are booming. They are a third up on two years ago and at their highest level since the Second World War."

Sunday Worship Links and other news May 23: Pentecost (Whitsunday)

May 23  Pentecost (Whitsun) Online Morning Worship podcast   Morning service sheet       Hymn words (both services) Evensong podcast  Evensong service sheet Don't forget that you can also listen to a shortened version of the podcast by phoning 01732 928061 -  if you know someone who doesn't "do" the internet, please pass on the number to them. It costs the same as any phone call to a Sevenoaks number. In Church 10 am Holy Communion with a hymn outside the church after the service. 6.30pm Breathing Space Holy Communion    Numbers limited to 35 people. Facemasks required unless medically exempt. Services are said, with recorded music – there is no singing in church, but we do now have permission to sing outside, so there will be a congregational hymn at the end of the 10 am service outside.   On Zoom this week  email sealpandp@gmail.com for links Zoffee - Sunday morning chat 11:15 AM  Wednesday Zoom Church 11 am. An informal service including Bible reading, prayer and a short talk.   Zoom Children's Choir Wednesday 5 pm Fun singing with Anne Le Bas. Any child welcome. Zoom Adult choir  - Wednesday 7.15 pm Email philiplebas@gmail.com for the link. Pentecos (Whitsunday) Acts 2.1-21, Psalm 104.25-35, 37, John 15.26-27   Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, or Whitsun as it is traditionally called. The Christian Church celebrates the gift of God’s Holy Spirit on this day, but originally, as I explain in today’s sermon, Pentecost (Shavuot in Hebrew) was a Jewish feast, which is why Acts 2 starts by telling us that the disciples were in Jerusalem ‘on the Day of Pentecost’. It was an agricultural feast, at which the first fruits of the harvest were offered to God, as the law given to Moses prescribed (Leviticus 23, Numbers 28.26). Modern Jewish celebrations of Shavuot include the presentation of a basket of seven of the ‘first fruits’ ripening in Israel at this time – figs, dates, olives, pomegranates, grapes, barley and wheat. (Here in the UK, the traditional “first fruits” celebration is Lammastide on Aug 1, when a loaf (Loaf-mass-tide was baked from the first cut of the wheat and brought to church.) The name of the feast of Pentecost or Shavuot gives us a hint, though, of its connection to another feast. ‘Pentecost’ means fiftieth in Greek, and ‘Shavuot’ means ‘weeks’. (A week has seven days, and this feast comes after seven weeks of seven days – i.e. 49+1 = 50). The Jewish Day of Pentecost happened fifty days after another big feast, the feast of the Passover, which also had agricultural associations, as it was at the time of the sowing of seeds. Passover’s main focus, though, was on the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and for that reason Pentecost also became associated with the story of the giving of the law to Moses on Mt Sinai, during the time they wandered in the wilderness after their escape. It was through this time of wandering that they began to form themselves into a distinctive community, and the commandments they received encoded this distinctiveness, showing them how they were to live as the people of God. It’s no accident, then that Jesus’ disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower and encourage them on the day of this feast. They too were being formed into a new community, a new people. As they rushed out into the streets of Jerusalem to proclaim their message, they were showing the ‘first fruits’ of that new life which had begun fifty days before, when Jesus had risen from the dead. Incidentally, this may be why St Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians about the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5.22)     ALL AGE IDEAS When the Holy Spirit filled Jesus' disciples, they found they could speak about God's love and people from all over the world understood them. Do you know any words in other languages. You could print out, colour and make this candle, which has greetings in many languages. If you don't have a printer, you could just write the words on a piece of paper and decorate it as you like to make the candle. https://www.sunhatsandwellieboots.com/2021/05/paper-pentecost-candle-celebrating-with.html?m=1 Would you like us to pray for you? Email your prayer requests to: sealchurchprayer@gmail.com Your email will be read by Anne Le Bas and Kevin Bright, the Vicar and Reader of Seal Church who will hold you in their prayers.  CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS Our ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING will be held via Zoom next Sunday May 30 at 11.15 am. It will be possible to join in by phone if you have no computer. Email for the link to join the meeting. It will also be possible to join by phone. Contact me to ask for the details.   Only those who are on the church Electoral Roll are allowed to vote at this meeting, but everyone is welcome to ‘attend’. If anyone is interested in coming onto the Parochial Church Council, which is responsible for making decisions about Seal Church, please let me know. THE ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS can be found here (there is also a link on the church website) . There is a limited number of printed copies on the red table at the back of church.  Click here for the agenda for this year and minutes of last year's APCM.    FRIDAY GROUP This group is now back to meeting weekly on Fridays from 10 am at the Church Hall. A group of 6 will be able to meet inside the hall, and others will meet in the garden outside the hall. When the weather is really bad (this is a very tenacious group) you can obtain a zoom invitation by contacting Marion on this email address. marionjgilchrist@gmail.com. Know Your Neighbours information from Marion Gilchrist This month, things have started to return to some sort of normality around the village, so we will take this opportunity to let you know what we do. I feel sure there is more going on, that we have not been made aware of, so please let me know if your organisation is returning or starting new activities locally in Seal.   The KYN 100 Club draw has continued throughout the year, so we have continually raised funds for the community coffers, to pay for such things as Christmas lights, parties and other community projects.If you would like to take part in this monthly draw, which raises funds for village projects and organisations, please respond to this email for joining instructions. The cost is £5 each calendar month, preferably paid by standing order, with currently, a 1 in 64 chance of winning.  The Village Hall is opening its doors and ready to take extra bookings from Monday 17th May. To book this facility, please contact Gerry on 01959 522545. So Luci's Dance For Fun classes will be returning to the hall. Please contact Luci on 07748 008431. Likewise, Seal Church Hall will be opening again, and Maggie will be taking bookings on 01732 762840.   We are still taking donations of second hand laptops, which Derek, our local IT hero, is cleansing and preparing for use of Seal School pupils to use . If you have such a device, please contact marionjgilchrist@gmail.com and she will collect. Many thanks to those of you who have already donated. HYMN OF THE WEEK Breathe on me breath of God   This week’s hymn of the week was written by Edwin Hatch (1835-1889), a theologian who was vice-principal of St Mary’s Hall, Oxford. He was very involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and the Pre-Raphaelites, and a friend of fellow academic, Charles Luttwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. This hymn is the only one Hatch is known to have written, just three short verses, but a genuine and simple prayer for the transforming power of God’s Spirit. In Hebrew, the words for Spirit, Breath and Wind are the same, ru’ach. In the Book of Genesis, the ru’ach  of God sweeps over the waters bringing order out of chaos. God breathes the same ru’ach into the body of Adam to bring him to life. In the book of Ezekiel 37, it is God’s ru’ach which brings the dry bones scattered across an ancient battlefield to life in the prophet’s vision. In the Acts of the Apostles, then, it is no accident that Jesus’ disciples become aware of  the presence of the Spirit as the sound of a rushing wind. Hatch’s hymn draws on all these ideas to invite God’s life-giving influence.   Although it is often sung to the tune Carlisle, the second of the tunes below, I infinitely prefer it sung to Trentham. Carlisle is a fine tune, written by the blind composer, Charles Lockhart (1745-1815) and does well for some other hymns, like “tis good Lord, to be here”, but set to these words it forces you to sing “Breath ON me, breath of God”, which puts the emphasis in completely the wrong place. Trentham, written by Robert Jackson (1840-1914) is much more in keeping with the words, with its gentle, almost breath-like rhythm, which put the stress on the words Breathe, Breath and God, surely the point of the hymn! I have included both tunes, so you can take your pick!   1 Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love the way you love, and do what you would do.   2 Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure, until my will is one with yours, to do and to endure.   3 Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with you the perfect life for all eternity.

Tune: Trentham Tune: Carlisle PRAYER OF THE WEEK    Veni Sancte Spiritus (The Golden Sequence) Holy Spirit, Lord of light, From Thy clear celestial height Thy pure beaming radiance give. Come, Thou Father of the poor, Come with treasures which endure, Come, Thou Light of all that live. Thou, of all consolers best, Thou, the soul’s delightsome Guest, Dost refreshing peace bestow. Thou in toil art comfort sweet, Pleasant coolness in the heat, Solace in the midst of woe. Light immortal, Light divine, Visit Thou these hearts of Thine, And our inmost being fill. If Thou take Thy grace away, Nothing pure in man will stay; All his good is turned to ill. Heal our wounds; our strength renew; On our dryness pour Thy dew; Wash the stains of guilt away. Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray. Thou, on those who evermore Thee confess and Thee adore, In Thy sevenfold gifts descend: Give them comfort when they die, Give them life with Thee on high; Give them joys that never end.   https://youtu.be/Zd4so4fU2rQ   https://youtu.be/WmxXwAgkhWQ  Taize   This week’s prayer is a translation from the Latin of a liturgical poem which became known as The Golden Sequence. It was written in the Middle Ages to be chanted during Pentecost services, almost certainly by Stephen Langton, (1150-1228) who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 until his death, though some people ascribe it to Pope Innocent III who was Pope at the same time.  Langton was a prolific writer and thinker, who, among other things was responsible for dividing the Bible up into the chapters we see today.   He was also very influential in the politics of the day. He was chosen as Archbishop after a fierce struggle between supporters of two other candidates, one of whom was the choice of Canterbury Cathedral’s canons, and the other the choice of King John. Eventually the Pope intervened and Langton was chosen instead of either of them. King John was not pleased and declared that anyone who supported Langton was a public enemy. The Pope responded by placing the whole of England under interdict, which meant that no services could be held in churches, and no one could receive any of the rites of the Church. Babies couldn’t be baptised, the Mass couldn’t be celebrated, and the dying couldn’t receive the last rites – a serious situation for those who believed that this might lead to them not going to heaven. This lasted for six years, putting the lockdowns of this last year into perspective!    Eventually King John had to cave in and recognise Langton as Archbishop. Langton’s first act was to absolve King John, but also to launch a campaign for more just laws, which eventually led to King John being forced to sign Magna Carta.   Anyway… back to Veni, Sancte Spiritus! It’s a beautiful invitation to the Holy Spirit to come, with all his gifts, on the church and on the individual, bringing consolation and comfort, light and healing, bending stubborn hearts, and melting frozen ones, so that those who receive them have “joys that never end”. In Latin there are clever rhymes and patterns which are lost in the English translation, but it is still a profound work, which can be a gateway into meditation and prayer.   It has been set to music many times, from the original plainchant to modern settings like the one sung at the Taize community in France, and retranslated into metrical versions like the hymn “Come thou Holy Spirit Come” by Edward Caswell (1815-1878)   Veni Sancte Spiritus, sung to traditional Gregorian Plainchant A setting from the Taize Community in France. AND FINALLY... My lovely husband, Philip has been busy again… (it keeps him out of mischief!) As well as putting together the choir recording of “Come Down, O Love Divine” which is included in this week’s podcasts, he has made another of his extraordinary bassoon duets, with himself. This time it is the “Evening Prayer” from Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera “Hansel and Gretel”. (That’s Engelbert Humperdinck, the German composer, not Engelbert Humperdinck the singer, who pinched his name…) Enjoy!

 

Sunday worship podcast links and other news: May 16

 

May 16  Easter 7 Online Morning Worship podcast   Morning service sheet       Hymn words (both services) Evensong podcast  Evensong service sheet Don't forget that you can also listen to a shortened version of the podcast by phoning 01732 928061 -  if you know someone who doesn't "do" the internet, please pass on the number to them. It costs the same as any phone call to a Sevenoaks number. In Church 10 am Holy Communion with a hymn outside the church after the service. 6.30pm Breathing Space Holy Communion    Numbers limited to 35 people. Facemasks required unless medically exempt. Services are said, with recorded music – there is no singing in church, but we do now have permission to sing outside, so there will be a congregational hymn at the end of the 10 am service outside.   On Zoom this week  email sealpandp@gmail.com for links Zoffee - Sunday morning chat Zoffee:  May 16, 2021 11:15 AM  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89759819321?pwd=cHJTNkZSWTVrMGZ3cHcxMU1hMUZndz09 Meeting ID: 897 5981 9321 Passcode: 809064 You can also join the meeting by phoning  02039 017895, and entering the Meeting ID and Passcode above when prompted to do so. Wednesday Zoom Church 11 am. An informal service including Bible reading, prayer and a short talk.   Zoom Children's Choir Wednesday 5 pm Fun singing with Anne Le Bas. Any child welcome. Zoom Adult choir  - Wednesday 7.15 pm Email philiplebas@gmail.com for the link. Seventh Sunday of Eastertide Acts 1.15-17, 21-end,  John 17.6-19   This Sunday falls between Ascension Day and Pentecost (Whitsun). For Jesus’ disciples it was a time of waiting. Just before he ascended into heaven he had told them to wait in Jerusalem for the power of the Holy Spirit, for the moment when they would feel God’s presence giving them the courage to take his message out into the world. We might wonder why they had to wait, but there was wisdom in it. Sometimes it’s important just to sit still and breathe, rather than rush ahead,. Jesus knew that they couldn’t take the Gospel out to the ends of the world in their own strength, but they needed to know that too, and to be aware that it wasn’t their work, but God’s. In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus’ final prayer for them before his crucifixion. He recognises the scale of the task they are being asked to do, and the dangers of it, and knows they need all the help they can get. Whatever the challenges we face, which are probably very different from the challenges of Jesus’ first followers, this message is relevant to us too. What do you tend to do when you feel anxious or overwhelmed? How might you remind yourself to slow down, sit still, breathe and wait?   ALL AGE IDEAS Together at Home sheet, linked to today's Gospel reading  Would you like us to pray for you? Email your prayer requests to: sealchurchprayer@gmail.com Your email will be read by Anne Le Bas and Kevin Bright, the Vicar and Reader of Seal Church who will hold you in their prayers.  CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS Congratulations to Jess Heeb    Our very own Jess Heeb was licensed as an LLM (Licenced Lay Minister) in Rochester Cathedral on Saturday. The service, which was livestreamed, is available to watch on the Diocesan Facebook page (you don’t have to have signed up to Facebook to watch it. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/CofERochester and look for the link.   Licensed Lay Ministers are lay people (i.e. they are not ordained clergy) who have been authorised by the Bishop to preach, lead worship, and take a lead in pastoral work and outreach on behalf of the church. They aren’t paid, and each LLM will come with different skills and enthusiasms, so no two ministries are the same. Our Reader, Kevin, is also , in effect, an LLM, though the terminology was changed a few years ago, so we are used to this pattern of ministry. The training takes several years, and includes modules on theology, worship and pastoral care, as well as practical involvement in church life, learning ‘on the job’. Jess came to us part way through her training, and decided she wanted to stay here at Seal, which is great news for us. We congratulate her, and look forward to all that her ministry will bring. Our ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING will be held via Zoom on Sunday May 30 at 11.15am. It will be possible to join in by phone if you have no computer - please contact me if you want to do this. I will circulate the joining details nearer the time. Only those who are on the church Electoral Roll are allowed to vote at this meeting, but all are welcome to attend. If anyone is interested in coming onto the Parochial Church Council, which is responsible for making decisions about Seal Church, please let me know.   We are still taking donations of second hand laptops, which Derek, our local IT hero, is cleansing and preparing for use of Seal School pupils to use . If you have such a device, please contact marionjgilchrist@gmail.com and she will collect. Many thanks to those of you who have already donated.   FRIDAY GROUP From next Friday, May 21st, this group will be back to meeting weekly on Fridays from 10.30am at the Church Hall. A group of 6 will be able to meet inside the hall, and others will meet in the garden outside the hall. When the weather is really bad (this is a very tenacious group) you can obtain a zoom invitation by contacting me on this email address. marionjgilchrist@gmail.com. Seal Village Allotments are planning to hold their Spring Plant Sale on Saturday May 22nd from 12pm - 3pm. There will be a wide variety of both vegetable and flower plants for sale suitable for gardens and those with more limited space. We are also hoping to provide our usual refreshments of tea, coffees and homemade cakes however this is dependent on the covid restrictions at that time. This will all take place on the allotments in Childsbridge Lane.   HYMN OF THE WEEK   Alleluia, sing to Jesus Our hymn of the week picks up the theme of the prayer. It is the great Ascension hymn by William Chatterton Dix, “Alleluia, sing to Jesus”. The second verse begins “Alleluia, not as orphans are we left in sorrow now…shall our hearts forget his promise ‘I am with you evermore’? William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898) was born in Bristol, the son of a local surgeon who had written a biography of the poet, Thomas Chatterton, which is why he gave his son his distinctive middle name. Dix earned his living as the manager of a maritime insurance agency in Glasgow, but hymn writing was his love. He also gave us the Christmas carols “As with gladness, men of old, did the guiding star behold” and “What child is this?”   At the age of 29, he suffered a near-fatal illness. He was confined to bed for a long period, and was very depressed, but this seems to have been what spurred him into hymn writing. He was influenced by the High Church Oxford movement, and was particularly concerned at the lack of eucharistic hymns sung in the Church of England. Although this hymn, written in 1866, during this time of trouble, clearly references the Ascension, its last two verses clearly show that he intended it to be a celebration of Jesus presence with us in communion. He is the ‘bread of angels’ who is known to us in the ‘eucharistic feast’.     The tune to which this hymn is most often sung is the splendid Welsh hymn tune Hyfrydol. It was written by Rowland Huw Prichard (1811-1887), who came from Bala in Snowdonia. His grandfather Rowland Prichard had been a famous bard, and his grandson became a noted choir director. He lived near Bala most of his life, but eventually became a loom-tender’s assistant in the Welsh Flannel Manufacturing Company in Holywell, North Wales. He was only 20 when he wrote this tune, originally for a book of children’s songs called The Singer’s Friend. Hyfrydol is a Welsh word which means "delightful, agreeable, pleasing, pleasant, beautiful, fair, fine; sweet, melodious”, and Prichard’s tune certainly fits the bill. It is also a very useful tune, because it is in a metre (the measure of the number of syllables in a poem or hymn) in which many hymns are written. It is known as 8.7.8.7.D (doubled), because it is designed to be used for hymns with eight lines, in which the first line has 8 syllables, the second 7 etc. That has meant that Hyfrydol has become something of an all purpose tune which can be pressed into service for a hymn which might be unfamiliar to the congregation otherwise. Generally speaking, people don’t mind singing new words, but they do mind if they don’t know the tune.  In our hymnbooks it is the suggested tune for for “I will sing the wondrous story”, but you can sing “Love Divine” to it, “Come, thou long-expected Jesus” and many others. In my previo us parish, when planning the hymns with the organist, we realised we had accidentally chosen hymns set to Hyfrydol two weeks running.  When it came to the third week, there was another hymn which we wanted to use, but its tune was Hyfrydol too. “Will anyone notice?” we wondered. They didn’t. Feeling a bit wicked, we carried on in the same way, and managed to have five successive Sundays with different hymns set to Hyfrydol. It wasn’t until the fifth week that someone in the choir said, “Didn’t we sing this last week?”… I have never tried it at Seal!   Alleluia, sing the Jesus! His the sceptre, his the throne; alleluia, his the triumph, his the victory alone: hark, the songs of peaceful Sion thunder like a mighty flood; Jesus out of every nation hath redeemed us by his blood.   Alleluia, not as orphans are we left in sorrow now; alleluia, he is near us, faith believes, nor questions how: though the cloud from sight received him, when the forty days were o’er, shall our hearts forget his promise, ‘I am with you evermore’? Alleluia, bread of angels, thou on earth out food, our stay; alleluia, here the sinful flee to thee from day to day: Intercessor, Friend of sinners, earth’s Redeemer, plead for me, where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.   Alleluia, King eternal, thee the Lord of lords we own; alleluia, born of May, earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne, thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh, our great High Priest: thou on earth both Priest and Victim in the eucharistic feast.

PRAYER OF THE WEEK    The Collect for the Seventh Sunday of Easter O God, the King of Glory, Who has exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless, but send to us thine Holy Ghost Holy Spirit to comfort us and exalt us to the place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen   A Collect is so named because it ‘collects’ together the ideas being explored in worship and the thoughts of the people as they gather in church. It’s nothing to do with the collection! There is a Collect set for each Sunday in the Church of England calendar, so each week there is something which in some way sets the tone for worship. Many of them are very ancient and contain memorable phrases which have shaped the spirituality of those who pray them.   The Collect for the Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost is one such prayer. Some Collects go right back into the Middle Ages, and were directly translated from the pre-Reformation Latin of the Roman Catholic Collects into English by the English Reformer and Archbishop of Canterbury,Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556). Others, like this one, were his own composition. (You will hear a slightly modernised version in the Morning Worship podcast, but it is essentially the same).   It is one of my favourites, with its poignant plea that God should “leave us not comfortless”. Cranmer based it on a prayer which had been sung as part of the service of Vespers on Ascension Day in the Catholic church “O King of Glory, Lord of Hosts, who today didst ascend in triumph far above the heavens, do not leave us as orphans…” quoting a promise of Jesus in his last conversation with his disciples on the night before he died, when he promised “ I will not leave you orphaned” (John 14.18). Abandonment is one of our most basic fears, rooted in our absolute dependence on the adults around us when we are babies. We cannot survive on our own, physically or psychologically. The fear that we are or might be forgotten is a deep one, and the Collect gives us a chance to give voice to that fear. With its link to Jesus’ words, though, it reminds us that through his Holy Spirit he is with us always. Our fears may be real, but so is his love.   AND FINALLY... It’s all go in the animal kingdom in Seal. The sheep at Seal School farm have been producing lambs. Welcome to the world, Hamish! . I am really looking forward to the time when the school farm can welcome visitors, so we can all go and see the transformation in the school grounds.   Meanwhile in Seal Vicarage  we seem to have been adopted by a pair of ducks, who have decided that our tiny garden pond is a great place to drop in on. We don’t know if they are planning on laying eggs, but we do hope we don’t come out one day soon to find the local fox has got them! They seem to arrive every morning to rootle around in the mud for breakfast at the moment…I am hoping that they find their way to the veg garden and eat some of the resident slugs before I plant out my veggies.