ROUNDABOUT  PAGE

On this page we reproduce the Buckden Churches Together articles that appeared in the
"Roundabout" - the Buckden Village Monthly Journal.

2007
2008
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep

SEPTEMBER 2008
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A New Academic Year Begins

It so happens that our School is not mentioned this month in our regular cycle which rolls on from year to year. So let us add to our prayers this month the schools and colleges which serve our young people as their new year begins.

A View from St Hugh's

As I write in what is generally known as the 'silly season' I thought that a humorous look at one of as our more popular Bible stories might not be taken amiss.

It came to pass in the year 2008 that the Lord came unto Noah where he dwelt in England and said unto him, "Your country is becoming wicked and over-populated. I see an end to all flesh before me. Build me another Ark in order to save you and your family and two of all living creatures." He gave Noah the drawings saying, "You have six months to build the Ark and after that I will start the unending rain for forty days and forty nights."

Six months later the Lord came to Noah and found him sitting, weeping in his yard - but no Ark. "Noah," the Lord roared, " I am about to start the rain! Why is there no Ark?" "Forgive me Lord," begged Noah. "Things have changed. I needed Buildings Regulations Approval because the Ark is over 30m and the Fire Brigade insisted on the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbours say that I should have planning permission before building the Ark in my garden because it is developing the site, even though I said it was only a temporary structure. Then I was told the roof was too high and I had to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

The Local Area Access Group said my ramp was too steep and the inside wasn't fully accessible. Then, the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the Ark's passage to the sea. I did tell them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would have none of it. Getting the wood was a problem too. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation orders on them, and we live in a site of Special Scientific Interest set up to protect the Lesser Spotted Owl. I did try to explain to the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, the RSPCA sued me. They said I was confining wild animals against their will, and that the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in such a confined space.

Then The County Council, The Environment Agency and The Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they had conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. Also, I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many ethnic minority people I am supposed to hire for my building team, and the Trades Unions say that I cannot employ my sons. I must hire only CSCS- accredited workers with Ark building experience.

To make matters worse, the Customs and Exercise seized all my assets, claiming that I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, please Lord, forgive me, but it would take ten years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine and a magnificent rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in amazement and asked, "Does this mean you're not going to destroy England after all?"

"No," replied the Lord. "The Government has obviously beaten me to it!"

May the good Lord preserve our sanity and our sense of humour!

AUGUST 2008
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New Arrivals in Buckden
We wish all of you a happy and fruitful stay in the village. You will be welcome at our churches. Do make yourselves known to the minister or priest or indeed any member of the congregation. Details of services may be found on the churches' own websites.

JULY 2008
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Festival Week
We shall be at the Saturday Fete on 12 July with some family entertainment and Fair Trade goods for sale. Village societies have been invited to provide flower arrangements around St Mary's Church. This is a longstanding Buckden tradition as the week's festivities originated as a celebration of the village and church's patron, St Mary.

Songs of Praise on Sunday 13 July at 6.00pm
Again following tradition, on Sunday evening, there will be a service of thanksgiving in St Mary's to mark the end of the week. Thanksgiving for so many things especially for the work of the organisers, doers and contributors who will have made the events of Festival Week available to us all and for the support given to the Village Hall Trust. The service will include well-known hymns and readings and we will be surrounded by the flower displays.

JUNE 2008
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Welcome

If you are new to Buckden Village, interested in knowing more about what it means to be a Christian or curious about what we believe, please do contact one of the Ministers listed here or any members of the congregations that you see involved with one of the churches. You can be sure of a warm welcome and listening ear.

Pastoral Letter

I tried to think of a witty joke to start this letter, as I sometimes try to do, but as I write, the news is on, telling of thousands of people dead in Burma in the latest tragedy to hit our planet. So maybe we should ask instead how Christians should respond to this? Well, we could investigate what kind of a God we serve; knowing him and how he works is crucial because that determines how we act in situations like this.

So who is God? What is He like? We can only touch the tip of the iceberg here, because God is hugely magnificent. He created us, and so understands us, but is more advanced than us, and we can't fully understand him (many Christians today believe that God created the world, but may have used some process in which evolution plays a part, as modern science is discovering more and more - what science hasn't found is how it all started -the two can work together).

He created all the natural things we see around us, so he is more powerful than anything else we know, and is magnificently clever and creative. Imagine the most beautiful parts of nature, and picture our God as more beautiful than that.

To live in the physical world we live in would confine him too much. He is a spiritual being, which is why some find it hard to believe in him - because there is no physical proof (apart from miracles -an everyday occurrence in some parts of the world). And yet he is an active God. He moves, he is intimately involved in creation, and works for the good of us all -it's just us who mess up!

Probably the most important thing to God is love. That may sound like a cliche^ but it's true. He loves us - every one of us, and desires and craves personal relationship whoever we are, though we often don't give him that privilege. He is patient and forgiving, waiting for us to catch up with his plans, and do the right thing - but he is also jealous and fierce, and this is why Christians speak of the fear of the Lord. We do the right thing not out of a scared, shaking fear, but a holy, reverent fear.

Oh! There is so much more and not enough space!!

So our wonderful, creative, loving, generous, holy, magnificent God calls us as his followers to be like him. So when we see disaster, whether the other side of the world or next door, he calls us to act. Our faith is not passive, and it is certainly not 'religious' - it is a life calling, to represent God in the time we are given to live on this planet. And it is worth it! Our reward is, as promised, a new heaven and a new earth - with no suffering, for those who are faithful. Yippee!!!

Debbie Newson
Baptist Group, part of Churches Together in Buckden

MAY 2008
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Pastoral Letter

Dear Friends

I wonder if you know when the church's birthday is? I don't just mean 'St Mary's' or 'St Hugh's' or 'Buckden Methodist Church' or any other particular church, but the whole Christian church throughout the world. It can sometimes seem as if the church has been around for ever - so it can't possibly have a birthday! But it is at Pentecost (Whit Sunday), 50 days after Easter, that the church traditionally celebrates its birthday each year.

So on 11 May, the Buckden Churches will be celebrating by holding the annual 'Pentecost Picnic' in the grounds of Buckden Towers, with a picnic, birthday cake, garden games, rounders, and a bouncy castle. All are welcome to come along for a fun afternoon.

So what are we celebrating? As well as giving thanks for the way that the churches in Buckden work together (and renewing our covenant with each other), Pentecost is a time for remembering the very beginnings of the church, at a time when there were just a handful of ordinary men, women and children who had been friends and followers of Jesus during his life on earth, and who wanted to carry on his work after he had returned to heaven. But the world is a big place, and they were so few in number, it must have seemed impossible!

But with God all things are possible, and Jesus had promised them that he would not leave them on their own. Although he wouldn't be with them in the same way as he had been, he would still be with them, in a new and special way, through the Holy Spirit. They didn't know what Jesus had meant, but when the Holy Spirit came a few days later, they felt so inspired and encouraged and full of joy, that they managed to communicate the good news about God's love to a whole crowd of people, who all heard clearly as if the words were being spoken in their own languages! It was a miracle, and the worldwide church was born.

The idea of the Holy Spirit is still a strange idea to many of us. Perhaps we can understand God as a Father or creator, and
perhaps we can also recognise Jesus as being God, but what on earth is the Holy Spirit?

Well, the Holy Spirit is God's way of still being with us. Even though Jesus is not still walking about on earth in human form, God has not 'gone' and left us alone. If we are open to God's presence in the world, then it is through the Holy Spirit that we will be aware of God walking with us in our journey of life and faith, through times of celebration and times of sorrow, in our greatest joys and in our darkest days.

As the churches celebrate Pentecost this year - and as Christians around the world renew our commitment to work together — we pray that all people might come to know the comfort and joy of the Holy Spirit - God's way of being with us every day of our lives.


Ally Barrett (Vicar)

APRIL 2008
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Easter Day

Many years ago, as a young lad up in Liverpool, I remember that we used to celebrate, if that is word, Spy Wednesday. This was the Wednesday before Good Friday and it was our way of re-living the terrible days leading up to Good Friday and the crucifixion of Christ.

Judas had to make contact with the High Priest to arrange the handing over of Christ. The price was set at thirty pieces of silver. He would let the authorities know the exact whereabouts of Jesus after the Passover meal. The man they wanted would be the one he greeted with a kiss!

On the Thursday of the week we call Holy Week we went to Church for a very special celebration of the Mass, when we remembered the night when Jesus led his apostles through the darkened streets of Jerusalem to the Upper Room.

There Jesus did two things. He washed the feet of his disciples, a service normally carried out by a servant or a slave. Then he said those mysterious words over the bread and wine: this is my body, this is my blood.

There was a re-enactment of the washing of the feet to make it all very vivid. One of the priests would wash the feet of his fellow priests. I must admit that for us young altar servers there was a special interest in this part of the service. Our main interest was to watch to see if any of the priests had a hole in his socks!

It's not difficult to enter into the minds and hearts of the first followers of Christ. They watched from afar as they realised that Jesus was not going to do any miracles to save himself. They had come to see Jesus as the very focal point around which their whole life revolved.

I have often watched the members of a bereaved family as they walked by the coffin of their mother or father. Almost without thinking, they put out a hand to touch the wood that contains somebody so dear to them. Somehow they want to express their desire to touch once more their loved one. There were at least two followers who stood by the wood of the cross as Jesus finally bowed his head and
died. They were Mary, his mother, and John, the beloved disciple.

When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus on the morning of the resurrection, her first reaction is to touch Jesus. Is it really him? She seems to be saying. It was him and it is him.

As children we all wanted the biggest and the best Easter Egg. The real egg is one of the very best symbols of the risen Christ. Imagine for a moment the baby chick inside that shell, finally forcing his way through the hard shell and into the great world beyond.

Christ too breaks out from the cave where he has been laid after his crucifixion. The rock at the entrance is pushed aside and Christ triumphant stands before the world. His words are true, "I am the resurrection".

Who will believe it! And still more demanding of our faith; that we too will rise again. The resurrection of Christ is not a one off. I don't know how it will happen, but happen it will. .

Easter Day is the day par excellence to rejoice and be glad. The Lord has risen. Death has been conquered.

Peter Wareing cmf

What's on in April?
The big events of the western Christian year fall outside April this year. Easter fell in March and Pentecost or Whitsun comes in May. Our Easter Day was Sunday 23 March but in the Eastern Orthodox Church it falls on 27 April.

Every day of the year has a saint attached to it. The best known to the English should be that of St George on 23 April but celebrations of it are more conspicuous by their absence.

Buckden Churches Monthly Study Lunch
7 April, Methodist Schoolroom 12.30 - 2pm. All welcome.

Newcomers to Buckden
If you have not made yourself known please come to any of our churches. You will be welcome. You can find church service and personnel details every month in the Roundabout magazine which is delivered to every house in the village if not the parish.

MARCH 2008
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Dates and Periods in the Church Year - What do they Signify?

Mothering Sunday - the fourth Sunday in Lent (2 March 2008) - Widely celebrated as Mothers' Day. Also known as Refreshment Sunday when those who are fasting may relax their regime.

Good Friday 21 March 2008 - A service marking this day will be held at the Green at 11.30am. Everyone welcome.

But what is Good Friday and why Good? It's the day that Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross after a vote by the mob who preferred to save a thief when given the choice, so how can it be Good? The Good part is that Christians believe that Jesus died to free us from sin and to be reconciled to God.

Easter Sunday 23 March
The story of Christ's resurrection and this extraordinary day 2000 years ago can be read in any of the books ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Services to mark this wonderful event are to be held in all our churches and those throughout the land.
Click here to find the individual Churches' web sites.

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Annual General Meeting
Buckden Churches Together are to held their AGM on Monday 31 March 2008 at 7.30pm in the Meeting Room at The Towers.

The BCTC Committee's Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2007 can be viewed by clicking here.

FEBRUARY 2008
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Shrove Tuesday is on 5 February this year

Shrove Tuesday? It is the day before Lent begins. The name is based on the habit of being "shriven" on that day in preparation for Lent; that is, confessing one's sins and being granted absolution.

Don't you mean Pancake Day? Yes - it's a small scale Mardi Gras, a little festival with special food before the fasting and/or extra devotions which start the next day - Ash Wednesday.

Pastoral Letter

God said to Adam, "I am going to make you a helper, a companion. What would you like your companion to be like?" Adam replied, "Well I want someone that is humorous, witty, intelligent, compassionate, caring, loving, trusting, polite, generous and beautiful."

God paused for a moment after Adam's wish list and then told him that a companion like that "would cost him an arm and a leg". Adam seemed a little dejected and then brightly replied: "What can I get for a rib?"

Ok, so I thought I'd start this pastoral letter with some fun!

Last month we heard some lovely thoughts and prayers, which highlighted things lots of us are thinking about — New Year Resolutions, and thoughts of things we did or didn't do so well last year. Some of the words were - to people we have yet to love, and answers we have yet to find.... Loving God, guide us and lead us.

We all have challenges and difficult times to face this year; it may be that you are going through some of those now — with unanswered questions, or just simply questioning what life is all about -whether the hundreds of Kenyans that are now dead in violence which is no fault of their own, or seeing our own friends and relatives going through hard times; we have to admit that sometimes things don't seem to add up.

I heard a story a while ago of a pastor in the USA driving home from a weekend convention. He was involved in a fatal accident, where his car was crushed from the side by a lorry, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic. His body was covered with a tarpaulin as the medic went to help the other people involved. In the queue of traffic behind was another pastor. As he sat there, he heard God say to him "pray for the guy in the red car". When he reached the scene of the accident, he asked the paramedic if he could do this, but the paramedic said he was dead and there was no point. The pastor persisted, and the paramedic eventually said yes. He crawled into the trashed car, and prayed for 90 minutes!

After that time, he started to sing songs they had been singing at the convention, and as he was singing, he suddenly realised the dead pastor was singing with him!!! The guy was healed! What a testimony!

So in this world where all these bad things happen, God gives an alternative message - there is healing, there is peace, there is joy, and there is answered prayer. Not all our prayers get answered, but we must ask, and we must ask in faith that God will do what we ask of him. We just have to be in the right place with him - in relationship -not just performing religious duties - to hear him.

As I say, I have comparatively little experience compared to some, but I know this - God is worth getting to know, and having a relationship with. It's not boring - it's anything but, and as I say, He never lets you down!

Debbie Newson for Buckden Churches Together

JANUARY 2008
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Epiphany (i.e. 6 January) and Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night is the Eve of the twelfth day after Christmas or Epiphany. What is Epiphany? Like many words in our language it is based on a Greek one. This (which our PC cannot reproduce without much button-pushing) means in English "appearance" or "shining out" and is associated with the visit of the wise men to Jesus and His baptism.

New Year Resolutions

Try just this one:    "I will love my neighbour as myself"

New Year - New Start

Dear Friends

This letter comes to you in the hope that you have enjoyed a peaceful Christmas, and that the New Year will be for you one that is filled with promise.

Early January is a time when many people try to make a new start - diets, exercise, getting our work-life balance right, or trying to put behind us things that have been difficult in the year that's ended.

Whatever our situation, as 2008 begins most of us will be thinking a little bit about the past - and in particular the things that we regret - but also looking forward to the future, and reflecting on our hopes, fears and dreams, both for ourselves and for the world.

Instead of the usual letter, I thought I would share with you some prayers and reflections for the turning of the year, in the hope that they might help you with whatever you are thinking about as 2008 dawns.

May the past be neither a ghost to haunt us, not a stick to beat us,
But a teacher and a guide by which we learn to live
in wholeness and holiness with all creation.

God of all eternity,
Gently speak to us of the reality of our story.
And through the honest exchange of love and judgement
Help us to remember without fantasy
And to redeem within our power
So that even memories that are paved with gold
Can beckon a way towards the future.

Eternal God
As we look into time unknown,
We pray for the people and the tasks
That will weave the pattern of our future days.

To people we have yet to love,
And answers we have yet to find:
Loving God, guide us and lead us.

Through challenges we have yet to face
And to courage we have yet to need:
Loving God, guide us and lead us.

Through suffering we have yet to endure
And pain we have yet to know:
Loving God, guide us and lead us.

Towards dreams we have yet to follow
And horizons we have yet to see:
Loving God, guide us and lead us.

In the freedom of hope
And the promise of all creation:
Loving God, guide us and lead us.


May God bless you all this New Year and always.

DECEMBER 2007
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Advent
This is the season leading up to Christmas. The word Advent means "coming" and during this time we look forward to the coming of Christ, both the celebration of his birthday and his hoped-for return as King and Judge at the end of history. Advent is traditionally a season of penitence and church activities are modified accordingly.
Christmas
The festival at which Jesus' birth is celebrated. How the date was fixed is not known but it may have been coupled to a pagan winter solstice festival. The core of the story is Christian but many of the customs are based on later traditions or are non-Christian. Details of services at Christmastide will be found on a pull-out sheet in this magazine.
New Arrivals in Buckden
We wish all of you a happy and rewarding stay in the village. You will be welcome at our churches. Do make yourselves known to the minister or priest or indeed any member of the congregation.'

A View from St Hugh's
Can you imagine God the Creator, some thousands of years ago, trying to figure out where on earth to send his Son who will come to redeem the world? Knowing all things, the Divine realises that there may be many jealousies if the Redeemer comes as a Roman or Greek, the most powerful and wealthiest nations of the ancient world.

So God chooses a tiny nation without great armies, wealth or political power. What race should the Saviour be? If he is simply yellow, or black, or white, might not this seem to be favouritism towards that race? In the divine wisdom, God decides that Jesus should come into a line of people who were racially mixed, who lived on the crossroads of the ancient world, a land near Africa, in the Middle East, touching the Orient, and connected with Europe by the sea routes of the Mediterranean - the land of Palestine.

And so Jesus is born of a race that is a melting pot of Chaldeans, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Kushites, Babylonians, Midianites, many of whom were dark skinned and Middle Eastern or African in lineage. The Saviour comes to earth, a living symbol of the unity of mankind, a living complexity of the races and nations within his own person.

Consider for a moment what this means to the white European in our present culture. It means that Jesus Christ, the universal Saviour is non-white! It is characteristic of white society to consider a person whose blood lineage is even a small part African or Asian to be Negro or Oriental. White society itself declares Jesus to be non-white.

Christ's physical appearance was probably comparable to what we would call Arabic today, dark skinned, dark hair and Middle Eastern features. In parts of our society he would be viewed with considerable suspicion, racially taunted in the streets or in the work place. He would be liable to be stopped and searched far more frequently than a white person. He would probably have considerable difficulty in finding employment matching his qualifications and being accepted in certain residential areas. Many white parents would be deeply upset for their daughters to marry his cousins!

Yet he is the Son of God, the Divine Saviour on earth, the perfect symbol of human sisterhood and brotherhood, the ideal person.

Can we accept the non-white baby into our homes this Christmas?

NOVEMBER 2007
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All Saints Day -1 November

All Souls' Day directly follows All Saints' Day and is an opportunity for Anglicans and Roman Catholics to commemorate the faithful departed. An All Souls Service will be held in St Mary's Church on Sunday 4 November at 4pm to which all who wish to remember their friends and relations are welcome. Please let St Mary's know the names of the departed via the list inside the entrance.

OCTOBER 2007
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One World Week 21 - 28 October

It is One World Week, when we are invited to reflect on the increasingly evident fact that all our natures on the single planet we occupy are inextricably bound together. Pollution and greenhouse gases do not remain within national boundaries. Depletion of fish stocks, loss of bio-diversity, destruction of forests are a loss for us all. Unsustainable and unequal consumption means that the world's resources are being plundered to support the lifestyles of the rich while almost half the world's population lives on less than two dollars per day. See www.oneworldweek.org and www.wdm.org.uk among others.

Pastoral Letter

"If you can't fly, then run.
If you can't run, then walk.
If you can't walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, keep moving."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I cannot stop thinking about something that is really burning me up at the moment. Here's a quote from a Burger King flyer from a few years ago:
"Have it your way. You have the right to have whatever you want, exactly when you want it. Because on the menu of life, you are 'Today's Special'. And tomorrow's. And the day after that. And... well, you get the drift? Yes, that's right. We may be the king, but you, my friend, are the almighty ruler."

This seems to be the thought in today's world - we can have whatever we want, whenever we want it. Great! But.. .did you know that 25,000 people died today because they have no food? The World Food Programme needs £118 million to feed 3 million starving Zimbabweans right now, and get this — in 2005 hi this country we spent £9.58 billion on Christmas - when 43% of people don't even want Christmas! (www.eauk.org). They can't wait for it to be over! I can't seem to get this right in my mind. We are happy to let thousands die each day, and not seem to pass them a thought, while we go on spending? Humm.

The thing is, when you or I hear statistics like that, we tend to think it's too much to do anything about — what difference can I make? Well, there was the story of the boy with the starfish — a man was walking along the beach one day where thousands of starfish had been washed up. There was a young boy throwing some back into the water, and the man comes up to him and says, 'what you're doing is ridiculous! There are thousands here, what difference can you possibly
make?' The boy picks up another starfish to throw it back in and says. 'Well, it made a difference to that one.'

I always wanted to be a hero. I always dreamed of saving someone from a fire, or saving someone's life in some way. You may have felt the same; I guess it makes you feel good! But you know, you or I can be a hero today! In this country we seem to have an insatiable appetite for more Play stations, Ipods, satnav; none of which brings happiness because we invariably want more when we have got what we think we always wanted! However, there are thousands of charities working to save lives in all sorts of ways. Giving away money, time on short term charity projects, selling unwanted items to generate money to give, giving money to charity this Christmas instead of buying presents for people — all make us feel like we're making a difference, rather than just getting that thing I always wanted. If you're a Christian, do it because God tells us to. If you're not -do it anyway! It will make you feel good!

Do you want to make a difference? I do. Don't forget — whatever you do, keep moving.

Debbie Newson
Godmanchester Baptist Church Buckden Cell Group


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