Sunday Worship podcast links and other news: June 20

 

Dear friends The links to our audio podcasts, Zoom sessions etc are below, as usual.  Best wishes Revd Canon Anne Le Bas June 20 Trinity 3 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. 4pm Outdoor Church in the churchyard. With two hymns, a Bible story, and prayers. Very relaxed and informal - come along and join us.  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.   During the week, in person and on Zoom - email for Zoom links ZOFFEE - informal chat on Zoom at 11.15 am Wednesday Zoom Church 11am - email for the link   Wednesday 5-5.30pm Children's Choir  in the church hall garden from 5-5.30pm Wednesday Zoom Adult choir 7.15pm contact philiplebas@gmail.com for the link to join in with some simple hymn singing together. Friday - 9.30 Morning Prayer. A short, socially distanced service in church. Bible readings, psalms and prayers to start the day Anyone is welcome. You can see the service sheet here. Friday Group - 10.30-12 noon in the church hall garden Trinity 3 Job 38.1-11, Psalm 107,1-3,23-32, Mark 4,35-end “Some went down to the sea in ships” says today’s Psalm (107). The Israelites were not a great sea going nation, despite being on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. They had a healthy fear of water, associating it with the chaos which God had subdued at the creation of the world. As the Old Testament reading from the book of Job says, it was God who “shut in the sea with doors… saying ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped.’” In the Gospel, though, there are those who have to “go down to the sea”, or rather the inland lake of Galilee, which is a large body of water subject to sudden storms. Some of the disciples, in particular Peter, Andrew, James and John, were experienced fishermen, but even for them, the storm they encounter on this particular night turns out to be more than they can handle. The story invites us to consider what we do when we feel all at sea, out of our depth and “not waving but drowning” as the poet Stevie Smith put it.   We can read this story as an allegory of our own, often storm-tossed, lives, but it is good also to remember those who face the dangers of seafaring today, not just storms but also the political, economic and environmental challenges which can make life at sea a miserable experience. If you would like to find out more, and do something to help them, some of the most vulnerable and easily exploited workers in the world, you might like to find out more about the work of the Mission to Seafarers, and the Fishermen’s Mission, two organisations who are at the forefront of supporting those who work at sea. If you are a knitter, you might like to know that one very practical thing you can do is to knit hats, scarves and gloves for seafarers who may have embarked in the tropics never having needed to wear more than shorts and t-shirts, but find themselves landing in the cold of a British winter at container ports like Felixstowe or South Shields…The woollies that people knit for them are handed out regularly, and worn with gratitude! https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/wp-content/uploads/MtS-Knitting-Patterns.pdf ALL AGE IDEAS   Lots of lovely watery ideas from Together at Home in their weekly sheet today, and an invitation to talk together about what frightens you, and what you do about it.  https://af51dd98-adab-4c43-ba03-c87e019551a5.filesusr.com/ugd/ebdd71_7b6fbfb5ff8243f3b6ccac191396332d.pdf   Today's Gospel story retold. 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 We're starting to think about our plans as we come out of lockdown and restrictions are eased. We want to make sure we maintain some of the best of what we have been doing online and through things like this email newsletter, as we know that there are many who have connected with the church who might not be able to join us in the church building, but we need to balance this with what we want to resume doing face to face when we can, and the inevitable increase in workload that represents.  I plan to keep a weekly podcast worship going, starting from mid-August. It will be slightly shorter and available both online and via the telephone - and a simplified weekly email, probably just with the podcast link and news of what is going on in church. Those who receive the newsletter by post can continue to do so if they wish if they will not be in church.  I also plan to keep at least two Zoom Wednesday Church sessions per month in the calendar, alternating with Good Book Club and Lavender Fields Communion in person. There won't be any changes until  after July 19, and then I will be taking a couple of week's holiday, but I wanted to ask in advance for any thoughts you might have about what you have valued and what you would like to see continue of the things we have done during the pandemic, so that we can make sure we are putting our efforts where they are most needed from mid August onwards. Let me know what you think! CHURCH CLEANERS WANTED We could do with a couple more people to come onto the church cleaning rota. This would involve a commitment to cleaning the church with someone else, once a month at a time to suit you. If you think you can help, please contact Marion Gilchrist, marionjgilchrist@gmail.com, 07909 905975                                                      EMILY'S YORKSHIRE THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE She made it! Emily Durling understood the Yorkshire three peaks challenge last Saturday, and was still able to move enough to get to Outdoor Church on Sunday afternoon, looking remarkably fit and well rested. She sent the following message to all who supported her – and there is still time to donate online to the charities she was walking for, Tourettes Action (tourettes-action.org.uk) and Nova Respite care (novachildrensproject.co.uk) A huge thank you to everyone who supported me with my Yorkshire three peaks challenge. We ascended 5200 ft over 24 miles in less than 12 hours walking time. It was a memorable day and I am so grateful to all the wonderful people who have donated over £1,000 to make a different to the lives of young people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. It has given my NHS colleagues and I a real boost to see this level of care. The sponsorship page will close at the end of June https://gofund.me/cb59ae91    OUTDOOR CHURCH takes place (weather permitting) this afternoon at 4pm in the churchyard by the war memorial. As we are allowed to sing outside, we will include a couple of hymns in this short service (no more than 30 mins), which will be very informal, interactive and based around a Bible story. All ages are welcome.   MORNING PRAYER ON FRIDAYS Jess and I are saying Morning Prayer together on Friday mornings at 9.30 in church. If anyone would like to join us for this small service, you’d be very welcome. You don’t need to bring anything with you – the service sheet will be available when you get there, but if you want to have a look at the service (or pray it yourself at home when it is convenient for you) it is here.   DO YOU VALUE SEAL CHURCHYARD? It is a special place for many, for a variety of reasons. For some it is the last resting place of a loved one, for some it is simply a beautiful space full of wildlife, with lovely views to enjoy. We are hoping to recruit some people who might help us both to take care of the churchyard, litter picking and caring for it as an ecological haven, and to record memorials in some areas of the churchyard, mostly Victorian and Edwardian, for which we have never had a burial map. If you would like to help with either or both of these projects over the summer, please email me to let me know at sealpandp@gmail.com   The first CHURCHYARD MAPPING SESSION will be on Saturday July 3 from 10am – 12 noon. Anyone of any age will be welcome to come along and help us record who is buried where, and instructions will be given on the day to do this. Children and families are welcome.   FRIDAY GROUP - This group is meeting weekly on Fridays from  10.30 – 12 noon in the Church hall garden, or inside in socially distanced groups of six if necessary. Come along and join them for an informal natter in the sunshine (we hope…) HYMN OF THE WEEK  Will your anchor hold in the storms of life? In honour of the Gospel story, set in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, I thought we should hear the rousing hymn, “Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?” today. Written by Priscilla Owens (1829–1907) a day and Sunday school teacher from the port town of Baltimore, Maryland, it has become a favourite in seafaring communities. Owens was of Scottish and Welsh descent and was a member of the Methodist church. She wrote many hymns and songs for her pupils, but this is the only one which is still regularly sung today. It was set to a hymn by William James Kirkpatrick, a publisher and compiler of hymn collections, and a fellow Methodist.  (He also wrote the tune for “Away in a Manger”) The hymn was adopted as the official hymn  of the Boys Brigade, founded in 1883. This was long before the Scouts were formed and was part of the inspiration for Baden-Powell’s movement. The Poole branch of the Boys Brigade were among those who took part in his first experimental camp on Brownsea Island, which gave birth to the Scouting movement. The Boys Brigade has the motto,”Sure and Steadfast" and uses the symbol of an anchor. Both the hymn and the Boys Brigade draw on a verse from the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews (6.19) which says “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…” The passage encourages us to trust in God’s promise of his eternal love and welcome.   It’s a hymn which asks to be sung with gusto, and often is! Its words are profound, comforting and expansive in their vision, however. It invites us to think about what or who we place our trust in, and whether we are anchored in something which can hold us strongly enough through the storms which beset us all.  1 Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, when the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain, will your anchor drift, or firm remain? Refrain: We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll; fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love! 2 Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear, when the breakers roar and the reef is near? While the surges rage, and the wild winds blow, shall the angry waves then your bark o'erflow? [Refrain] 3 Will your anchor hold in the floods of death, when the waters cold chill your latest breath? On the rising tide you can never fail, while your anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain] 4 Will your eyes behold through the morning light the city of gold and the harbour bright? Will you anchor safe by the heavenly shore, when life's storms are past for evermore? [Refrain] What has helped you to get through this difficult last year or so, or other times in your life?

PRAYER OF THE WEEK    Prayer of St Richard of Chichester   Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ For all the benefits thou hast given me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, May I know thee more clearly Love thee more dearly, Follow thee more nearly. Amen   Many people will know some version of this prayer, or often just the last three lines, in the form “Day by day, dear Lord of thee three things I pray. To know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day.” It was set to music as part of the musical Godspell in the 1960s, and had been sung as a hymn from the 1930s when it was included in a Hymn Book called Songs of Praise, which was often used in schools. The prayer is attributed to St Richard of Chichester (1197 – 1253), Bishop of Chichester, whose feast day was last Wednesday. Richard was born in Droitwich to a gentry family, but he was orphaned as a child. When he was old enough a marriage was arranged for him, but he chose to become a priest instead, and encouraged his older brother to marry his intended wife (whose feelings on the matter don’t seem to have been recorded…) and take his inheritance too. His career in the Church was  far from straightforward. After a time as a priest in Canterbury Diocese, as vicar of Deal and Charing, he was eventually elected as Bishop of Chichester, but King Henry III wanted another candidate, in defiance of the Pope’s wishes and declared that no one in his new Diocese should house or feed him. He was taken in by the Vicar of Tarring, now part of Worthing, who was an old friend, and eventually King Henry had to give way. He was a great supporter of the clergy in his Diocese, but expected high standards of behaviour from them and challenged corruption and idleness wherever he found it. He never ate meat, wore a hair shirt, and was also renowned for visiting his Diocese on foot, rather than horseback. He also had passion for cultivating figs… He eventually died in Dover, while on a preaching tour to encourage support for one of the Crusades. His internal organs were buried in the Maison Dieu in Dover, but the rest of his body was taken back to his Cathedral in Chichester, where a shrine was established at his grave site. The shrine was destroyed at the time of the Reformation - Henry VIII did not want to encourage devotion to a saint who had stood up to another king, particularly a namesake of his – but despite this he was, and is, a popular saint, especially in Sussex, whose patron saint he is. His shrine was restored in the twentieth century, and a relic of his body, which had been kept safe elsewhere, was returned to the cathedral in 1990.   But back to the prayer, because all is not as it might seem. In fact, the original prayer, written down on his deathbed in Latin, was rather different from the “Day by Day” setting that we know. A literal translation of it runs: Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for all the blessings You have given me, and for all the sufferings and shame You have endured for me, on which account that pitiable cry of sorrow was Thine: ” Behold and see, if there was any sorrow like unto My sorrow!” ” You know, Lord, how willing I should be to bear insult, and pain, and death for You; therefore have mercy on me, for to You, I commend my spirit.” Amen   Where is the memorable little triplet of “dearly, clearly, nearly” we expect? Where is the “Day by Day”? Alas, it seems they were additions by an anonymous author at the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Ironically, the most famous part of the prayer wasn’t Richard’s at all, and we will probably never know who added it. Perhaps it’s good to be reminded, though, that every time we pray a traditional prayer, however ancient it is, we should be bringing something new to it, our own experiences, our own thoughts. Prayer is a living thing, not just words on a page!   Here’s a version of the prayer, set by L.J White. https://youtu.be/LBBFZIytfiU And the version from Godspell, sung by Shirley Bassey https://youtu.be/lXSx9NUfmsI AND FINALLY... Continuing the maritime theme of this newsletter, the G7 summit in Cornwall was full of serious business, but one reporter discovered that being in a seaside resort brought challenges she hadn’t anticipated. Here's the report from Cornwall Live... See the moment here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1404151219527073800 ...and the report from Cornwall Live here.  Brilliant moment CNN news anchor is interrupted by Cornish singers Luckily Hala Gorani took the unexpected performance in good spirit   An international news anchor had to think on her feet after her broadcast link to Israel was interrupted - by a group of Cornish singers. Hala Gorani from CNN was linked to a colleague in Jerusalem, Israel who was reporting the crucial no confidence vote in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.   Ms Gorani was presenting the bulletin from the G7 Summit at the Royal Yacht Club in Falmouth where, unknown to her, Cornish singers The Oggymen were performing a surprise concert on a floating vessel metres from the media centre. The Oggymen’s concert was to raise awareness about child poverty in Cornwall. In the hilarious clips shared by Ms Gorani, you can hear The Oggymen over her as she attempts to speak to the correspondent in Israel. Luckily, Ms Gorani saw the funny side. She said: “Apologies there’s an a capella group, a wonderfully harmonious group of a capella singers behind me so apologies to our viewers if there’s a few audio issues.” She later shared the clips on Twitter with the caption: “When you’re anchoring the Israeli Knesset confidence vote and a traditional a capella sea shanty singing barge floats past your location.” https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/brilliant-moment-cnn-news-anchor-5528095