Month: November 2024

The House of Commons have now voted to legalise assisted dying. The very fact that was  a free vote indicates the complex moral issues around this issue. Earlier this week, in a Thought for the Day, the Rev. Sam Wells gave a very balanced account of the different Christian perspectives around the issue; he presented arguments for both sides. Perhaps that is why I personally find it hard to come to a decision; in my ministry I have seen people suffer terrible, intractable pain at the end of their lives, but I also worry about the practicalities of what is being proposed; safeguards that seem to me to be very difficult to make work, people making decisions based on the lottery of how well end-of-life care works in different regions. And I have heard what I find are repugnant arguments based on the best use of resources. So, sitting on my fence, my only contribution is to give thanks that this debate has taken place on the eve of Advent. Advent is the time when the Church looks forward to the final coming of the Kingdom of God. In it, we talk a lot about hope. We have hope because, no matter what knots we tie ourselves up in, no matter what decisions we make, wise or foolish, God has the final word; love will always find a way to win.

Rev David Poyner

Earlier this week, I thanked one of our volunteers who helps tidy the church. I was struck by her reply; she described helping as a “pleasure and a privilege”. The work of the church relies very heavily on unpaid volunteers. This week, in addition to the volunteer cleaners at Billingsley, I have welcomed a group from “Caring for God’s Acre” who cut the church hedge in the snow, today a volunteer will have been at the church to set up heaters and switch them on before a funeral. This article appears on Facebook thanks to a volunteer. Tomorrow, I will attend a breakfast at the Down Inn, organised and run entirely by volunteers from Glazeley and Chetton. This is the main way we can reach out to members of the wider community who do not normally attend church. A volunteer will walk to the church to open it today. At Chelmarsh, today volunteers are ensuring that a funeral runs smoothly; tomorrow, a larger group will be in church all day serving soup and scones as it reaches out to the village. Volunteers at Sidbury are planning their Christmas service. Oddly enough, at Billingsley and Glazeley congregations are growing; Chelmarsh and Sidbury are at least holding their own. Service is not only a pleasure and a privilege; it is mission.

Rev David Poyner

I cannot remember the last time the BBC led their news with a story featuring the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Unfortunately….

As I followed the news, I realised I knew some of the victims, from 40 years ago when we were students together. I had no idea what they had been subject to, although I was never very close to any of them. I have been reflecting on how we currently so safeguarding; I write this before chairing a PCC meeting where I had already been planning to run a safeguarding exercise, one I used at another PCC meeting I chaired last week and which worked well. Both the current and previous Safeguarding Officers employed by the diocese are ex-police officers. I do not think they are technically “independent”, but when they tell me something, I take action; I would not wish to cross either. From what I have seen of senior clergy, they also appear to me to share that same respect. But perhaps I have already said too much, too much in self-justification of the church and myself. I wonder if the words that really count are those recently written by a current Bishop, Guli Francis-Dehqani, who I respect; that history shows that when the Church is large and powerful, it has rarely acted at its best.

Rev David Poyner

The people of the USA have made their choice and we have had the speeches, both of victory and defeat. President-elect Trump has called for healing, but for me, the most profound speech came from the soon-to-be-outgoing President, Joe Biden. The result was clearly a blow for him; he had already been humiliated in that debate and now he had to face that his term in office had been found wanting by the majority of the US electorate. He spoke about accepting the will of the people; the virtue of humility. And he had a memorable line about how to disagree with grace; “we cannot only love our neighbour when we agree with them”. In that, he reconnected with the message of the parable of the Good Samaritan as told by Jesus 2000 years ago. More than ever, particularly this weekend as we commemorate the dead of over a century of wars, that message is one we need to hear. 

Rev David Poyner

I write this article on 1^st November, All Saints Day when the church remembers what might be called the “heroes” of faith, although some had darker sides to their nature. Tomorrow we have All Souls Day, when the focus becomes broader and we recall all those who have died in faith. I can relate to these better than to most of the saints and the occasion is particularly poignant for me; on Monday one of the most faithful members of one of our congregations died. At a time when the attendance at the monthly church service was down to two people, his continuing presence gave us hope that the church still had a future. In more recent times, when he was struggling with his health, the highlight of my Friday mornings would be my weekly visit to him, with his copy of the Times for the crossword. Over a cup of tea, we would dissect the week’s football results; as a Liverpool supporter he was generous to myself as a Manchester Utd fan. I wonder who was ministering to whom in our conversations? Some are uneasy about praying for the dead and, intellectually, I do not really understand this. However, most of prayer is a mystery, at least to me. Over the next few days I will be giving thanks for the life of John and praying that he rests in peace and rises in glory.

Rev David Poyner