Rogation and Animal Blessing

Rogation and Blessing of the Animals, Quarley Village Hall

WELCOME to our service this afternoon. WE hope that you will enjoy this service, and that together we will be able to praise God for all the beauty of our world and the enjoyment that our pets and animals give us We ask that we will see clearly the responsibilities that we have towards animals in our care.
Order of Service
HYMN:         Let earth rejoice and heaven adore (Muriel Stammers)

Thanksgiving

Minister:     Heavenly Father, Creator of the Universe, we praise you for your goodness, love and mercy;
All:        We thank you, dear Lord.
Minister:     Creator of the world, You give us life and breath;
All:        We thank you, dear Lord.
Minister:     As Preserver of all life, You sustain us day by day;
All:        We thank you, dear Lord.
Minister:     As Redeemer of mankind, You show forth your love in Christ;
All:        We thank you, dear Lord.
Minister:     So in Christ we join with creation to praise, to worship and adore;
All:        Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Praise be to you, O Lord most high. AMEN.

The Reading     Isaiah 11.1—9

My Pet...

HYMN:         O teach us, Dear Father, Creator of all (Carol Williams)

The Address

HYMN:     PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS -- Make me a channel of your peace (Sebastian Temple)

All:        We praise You, Heavenly Father, for all the animals which are Your creatures. We thank You especially for our pets. May we never be unkind to them, but always treat them with gentle hands and kindly words. For the sake of Him who loved all helpless things, Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

From 'A Litany for Animals':

Leader:        We praise You for the creation of the world and all living creatures in the earth, sky and sea.

All:        We are thankful, O God.
Leader:        For the gentle eyes of the deer, the friendship of dogs, the purr of cats, the strength of bears, the beauty of a hippo, the humour of chimps, the intelligence of gorillas, the grace of dolphins, and the magnificence of whales. Help us to keep them safe.
All:        We are thankful, O God.
Leader:        Give us a voice to speak in protest when any of Your beloved creatures are treated cruelly. Help us to be advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves.
All:        Give us speech, O God.
Leader:        In this world so full of violence and unkindness, let us act in a gentle way towards all Your creatures. A simple stroke on a dog's head, a scratch on a cat's chin, food for birds in winter.
All:        Help us to be gentle, O God.
Help us to lessen the suffering of Your creatures, O God. Hasten the coming of Your kingdom when the sun will shine on all Your creation living in peace and love.
All:        Lord, we thank You for St Francis, for his love for You, for his love for all that You have made, for his care for the sick and the sad. Help us to follow in his steps, so that we may enter into Your glorious kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
The Lord's Prayer
The Blessing of the Animals
All:        May Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless these animals, protect them from all cruelty and grant them with us a share in the redemption of Your creation. Amen.
HYMN:        Creator on high, we sing to Your praise (Mark Bishop)
The Blessing
Minister:    Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
All:        In the name of Christ. Amen.

Alder-snaps

[gallery]

Aldersnapp Farm - November 2009

Richard Cole, whose family have farmed Aldersnapp, Steep since 1928, gave a warm welcome to the group.

The morning discussions were held in a barn, and members warmed to the topic of  'creation worship', introduced by a paper presented by Martin Coppen, the group's convenor (offered in full below). Various examples of services developed or adapted by members had been brought to share.

Warmed by Sue Cole's delicious soup, we were then taken by Richard on a brief guided tour of the 300 acre farm.

The afternoon then finished with a service including the reading of three Edward Thomas poems at All Saints Parish Church, Steep, led by the Vicar, Revd John Owen.

Creation Worship

“I did not know it was earth I loved
Until I tried to live there in the clouds
And the earth turned to cloud.”
from Edward Thomas, Wind and Mist

The poem reflects Thomas’ ambivalent feelings about The Red House, where he lived from 1909-16, high on the hill above Steep. In the worship of the rural church, we inhabit a place high and remote, heads in the cloud hiding God, but our feet have traces of earth’s mud. We are in a very privileged position, worshipping in places often of great natural beauty, graced by light and trees, big fields and bigger skies.

The Protestant tradition is strong on redemption, but how developed are we in our theology of creation? If our worship is measure of what we actually believe, do we give even a half adequate account of the earth or only of the clouds? As rural churches do we not have a greater responsibility to engage theologically and doxologically with the created world?

The belief that God is creator of all things is fundamental to Christian orthodox faith. But the traditional understanding of the relationship we have with him as created beings ourselves and the relationship we have with the rest of the created world, living and inanimate, need to be rethought. Dominion theology is by and large discredited. The concept of stewardship is criticised as being too managerial and man-centred. Dominic Coad (Note 1) begins from the relationship which the non-human creation has to God as in Psalm 148, 7-10  Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,  (8)  fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!  (9)  Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!  (10)  Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! The idea is that conscious human praise is accompanied by that of the non-conscious creation which worships God simply by being itself. This offers the beginnings of a theology for care for the environment. “Given that God's praise is incomplete without the participation of every created thing, we must assume that no created thing has been forgotten in God's dealings with the world. We must discover how the non-human creation shares with us in the history of redemption and realize its significance in the ultimate glory of God which that redemption brings.”

Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem, When kingfishers catch fire, leans in the same direction:

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:            5
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.

A century and half earlier, and significantly for us because he writes as a rural priest, George Herbert declares in his poem Providence that Man is the worlds high Priest. Perhaps that might prompt us to think about blessing to describe the relationship of man and the world.

In Creation at Worship, Christopher Voke (Note 2) points out that the Book of Common Prayer in its regular services values God as creator more than some modern liturgies, formal and informal, in which personal redemption is given exclusive prominence (clouds preferred to earth). For instance, the General Thanksgiving holds creation and redemption powerfully together. There is a Christian tendency to break into a dualism between material and spiritual. If doctrine is taught most effectively by liturgical practice (Lex orandi, lex credendi – the law of praying is the law of believing: or maybe  Lex cantandi ... -- we believe what we sing), then a credible doctrine of creation needs to be developed for our times within our services. Voke argues that services which balance creation and redemption are evangelistic, as they meet the seeker as a created being and point her on.

My concern is about the delivery. For one thing, it is just too easy to ratchet up ecological guilt in a responsive confession. Using incandescent filament rather than low wattage light bulbs, or a gas-guzzler instead of a low CO2 emission vehicle is a secular eco-sin. But we should not be increasing guilt but rather forgiveness which leads to new life. Equally it is easy to be sentimental about the non-human creation, which includes also all things dark and horrible. Some modern Celtic services flop in this direction. Life is not primroses but immense sacrifice for an uncertain future. Some worry about the implicit paganism of creation worship.

In the rural church we have the natural world as our context: open the church doors and see the fields, trees, hedgerows; hear the birds sing, badgers burrow, horses chew in the meadow. A response of thankfulness for the created world and God’s providence matches the thankfulness for our redemption (neatly expressed in the General Thanksgiving) which is the fresh spring of worship itself. Do our services adequately reflect both our own creatureliness and creation’s praise? How do we love the earth with a Benedicite spirituality of thankfulness?

Notes

(1) Dominic Coad, Creation’s Praise of God in Theology May/June 2009, Vol CXII pp181-189

(2) Christopher J Voke, Creation at Worship: Ecology, Creation & Christian Worship (Milton Keynes 2009)

Meeting with Bishop Trevor Willmott -June 2009

Notes from the Hampshire Rural Group Meeting held 30 June 2009 at Crawley Church Rooms, near Winchester

Pastoral reorganisation – why is this viewed negatively, asked the Bishop? Churches need to be revivified, not stultified. It is a challenge, not a regrettable lapse. There can be huge gains.

In response to HRG Paper on Mega-Parish Benefices,  Bp Trevor argued:-

1.    There is not one model for pastoral reorganisation. Linking rural and urban parishes can be revivifying. Mega-parish benefices can work and can produce life.

2.    History can freeze present life, but rural life has never been static. Mary and George Sumner started very badly at Old Alresford when they reduced servants from 37 to 18. The walls and fences of North Hampshire ... There needs to be a healing of memory.

3.    Takes points made about the inadequacy of the concept of sustainability. It is really about ‘critical mass’. No one church, no one ministry can provide all that is needed. The churches of Itchen Abbas were saying in interregnum, “We don’t need a vicar.” A critical mass is needed so that church can be experienced in all its fullness.

4.    There is a seeking of colleagueship and companionship in ministry and the new configurations offer better opportunities for this.

Meeting - November 2009

Here are some details of  our next meeting.

It is to be on Friday 6th November, 11.30am -- 3.00pm. To give it extra rural credibility, we shall be meeting on the farm of Richard Coles in Steep, Portsmouth Diocese Hampshire (kindly arranged by John Owen, vicar).

Richard farms Aldersnapp Farm. He is a lifelong farmer and keeps cattle and sheep and some grain. He hosted the parish Rogation Service in his barn, and he is also Chairman of the Parish Council. He is offering the use of a barn (with some animals in for autumn) for meeting/lunching, and would be glad to lead a tour of his farm in the afternoon (be prepared for wet and mud). Steep Church is a mile and a half away where there are toilets also. There is a mission church a 500 yard walk away, which may be more convenient for the concluding service.

Aldersnapp Farm, Steep, Petersfield GU32 1AS is directly off the A272  Winchester to Petersfield road, 2 miles from the A3, so is fairly accessible for people coming from west and north Hants.

From 11.00am    Arrival and coffee in Barn

11.30am     Welcome and discussion on ‘Creation theology and Creation Services’ – see examples of Harvest Services from The Arthur Rank Centre website and New Patterns for Worship. How do we celebrate creation without ignoring redemption? Creation AND Christ. If you have an example of any ‘creation services’ (Rogation, Lammas, Plough Sunday, Harvest etc.) could you bring it, please as a possible resource for sharing.

12.30pm    Update on Pastoral Reorganisation of rural benefices in the two dioceses

12.50pm    Lunch – please bring your own, drinks provided

1.30pm     Tour of Aldersnapp farm (be prepared for wet and mud).

2.40pm    Steep Church for short closing Service.

Martin Coppen    email: via link below

Rural Enterprise Visits

[gallery]

16 members met on a sunny 20th May at St Andrew, Timsbury near Romsey. Jonathan Durrant, River Keeper for Timsbury Fishery gave an illustrated talk on his work and then led a walking tour along the banks of the River Test. Emerging Mayfly, weed cutting, Rainbow and Brown Trout, Fly-fishing, carrier streams and water meadows are all a little less mysterious through Jonathan's enthusiastic talk and guided tour.

After lunch at the Timsbury Fishery Clubhouse, the party then drove to the nearby Choice Plants, a family run plant centre and nursery owned by Roger and Mary Savage. Roger explained the process of creating hanging baskets which is a main activity of the nursery, though with a short season. Members were very impressed with the work involved and organisation required to produce the baskets which bring colour and beauty to town and city centres. They were also very grateful for the kindness of a cup of tea to send then refreshed on their way.

The group would like to express their thanks to Jonathan Durrant and the Timsbury Fishery, to Roger and Mary Savage and the staff at Choice Plants -- and to Canon Bruce Kington for organising the day.

Mega-Parish Benefices

Headlines from A Consultation

held at Weston Patrick, near Basingstoke on Wednesday 18th February 2009

Twenty-four members of the Hampshire Rural Group (HRG), met for this consultation.  We are a network of practitioners in rural church ministry in the Dioceses of Portsmouth and Winchester, clergy and lay, meeting under the auspices of the Rural Theology Association. The Group wished to highlight to those involved in pastoral organisation both issues and reflections from their experience in rural benefices in both dioceses. Peter Dyson, rector of the newly formed North Hampshire Downs Benefice reflected on the experience of forming a benefice of twelve churches in eight parishes. Considering the cost borne by multi-parish clergy families, Lucy Kington offered a view of a clergy spouse. From these observations and the discussion they stimulated, we suggest the following points should be borne in mind in rural pastoral reorganisation.

“How far can love be stretched?”

The benefice exists to present and make flesh and word God’s love for the small part of the world which it covers. Any restructuring of its shape and ministry must remain faithful to this basic task. (Cf ‘Turning the Sod’, ACORA 1995, p3). The institution must serve the mission and the pastoral task. Looking at mega-parish benefices, how far can love be stretched – in the discussions, in the process of bringing together? What are our responsibilities towards each other?

1.    ‘Minster Model’ Not Appropriate.
2.    Sociological Coherence Essential within Benefice.
3.    Complex Benefice Histories Need Understanding.
4.    Building Mega-Parish benefices Can Damage Relationships.
5.    Money Brings out Parish Rivalries.
6.    Mega-Parish Priesthood Less Satisfying.
7.    Overwhelmed by Administration.
8.    Lay Leadership Issues.
9.    Define ‘Sustainability’.
10.    More Support and Resourcing Needed.
11.    The Hidden Cost of Mega-Parish Benefice Ministry Is Borne by Many.

The full notes of the consultation are found here.

If you would like to comment on any of the points made, please click on the word Comments immediately below and a box for you to type in should appear ...