The Ven Richard Ormston, Archdeacon of Northampton
Sat-Nav Candlemas
It’s February, and around the
world churches are
celebrating Candlemas.
So what’s that all about?
An event is described in
Luke’s Gospel when Mary and
Joseph take Jesus to the
temple forty days after his
birth. They were going there
as part of the rituals
associated with childbirth.
Once in the temple, Joseph
and Mary meet an old man
named Simeon, who takes
Jesus in his arms and says:
“Now, Lord, you let your
servant go in peace … My
own eyes have seen your
salvation … a Light to reveal
you to the nations …”
Candlemas celebrates the day
that Jesus is proclaimed as
being the light for the whole
world.
Ever been lost in the dark?
Recently I drove from
Peterborough to Daventry with
one headlight not working …
in the dark and the fog. Not
ideal! In my defence, I was
unaware the headlight wasn’t
working until I started. What
made the journey easier? An
Irish-accented Sat-Nav
warning me of every twist and
turn in the road. She’s
become a very good friend
over the years! She got me
safely to Daventry and then to
Halfords the following day to
buy a new bulb!
What a great invention –
someone to go with you on
your journey, offering
directions (yet never forcing
you to follow), never giving up
on you – and helping you
through on even the foggiest
and darkest night. Jesus got
there before Sat-Nav: a light
in the darkness for the whole
world.
Whatever darkness surrounds
you today – he is your light.
Richard Ormston
New Historic Churches
Support Officer
Ben Smith has been
appointed as Historic
Churches Support Officer for
the diocese.
Based at Bouverie Court, Ben
is working closely with the
Diocesan Mission Team and
the Diocesan Advisory
Committee, to support PCCs
in their care for the historic
church buildings which grace
our diocese.
The post, which is full time for
three years, is jointly funded
by English Heritage and the
diocese.
One of Ben’s first priorities is
to encourage and support,
with practical advice, those
churches which have been
identified as being at risk on
the recently published
“Heritage at Risk” Register.
Coming from working with the
East Midlands office of
English Heritage in
Northampton, Ben is already
familiar with the challenges
facing many of our historic
churches and has experience
of funding issues.
Ben can be contacted on
ben.smith@peterboroughdiocese.org.uk or on 01604
887046.
Bowled over with
success at twinning loos
Four toilets in our diocesan
centre at Bouverie Court have
been twinned with loos in
Bangladesh, India, Zambia
and Burundi, after a campaign
which raised over £275.
Flushed with success, the
team at Bouverie now have
framed photos and the exact
GPS locations of their paired
privies, thanks to the charity,
toilettwinning.org
After seeing posters at the
New Wine Festival, the
Diocesan Director of Mission
Miles Baker, asked the staff to
consider twinning the
Bouverie Court toilets.
“Two and a half billion people
don’t have somewhere safe,
clean and hygienic to go to
the loo. That’s more than a
third of the people on the
planet,” says Miles. “For just
£60, the charity help those in
poverty in the developing
world to have access to a
proper latrine, clean water and
the information they need to
be healthy. The work they do
with communities also
enables women to have a say
in household decisions, often
for the first time.”
Through a combination of
money-raising and the sale of
jam, the team were able to
sponsor four new latrines.
“We hope this will be a
springboard to encourage
other churches to consider
twinning their loos,” says
Miles.
Photo: Frances Le Pla,
Bishop Donald, Miles Baker
and Paul Downing.
Reaping the benefits of
investing in young
families
Julie Hunt is the new Children
and Families’ Worker at Holy
Trinity Deanshanger, a small
(but growing) rural church in
South Northamptonshire. She
writes about the first few
months in the role.
We are a forward thinking
church who, after reading the
Spotlight research about the
parish, identified that the
biggest demographic was 3045 year olds with school age
children. So I have been
commissioned to set up new
initiatives and strengthen
existing relationships in order
to serve the wider community
and to develop the profile of a
family-centred church in the
heart of the village.
The first few months have
been wonderfully busy. As a
Church we have been blessed
by so many opportunities that
God has brought before us. I
have spent most of my time
building relationships with the
local head teachers and
meeting children and families
in our community.
In addition I have also
developed a questionnaire
that asks how we can best
serve the community and
helps identify what might bring
them more readily into church;
Conducted a two day prayer
workshop in a local school;
Made links with Bridgebuilder
Trust to come and run a
Christian assembly in a local
school; Planned a movie night
for the school Christmas
holiday; Helped make
changes to the church Sunday
school groups and established
and ran a crèche for the
village school whilst they held
their Christmas performances
at church.
The best part of my job is
definitely the people I am
surrounded by. The children I
have met have all been
wonderful. Every call for
volunteers has been
answered. If I don’t know
something, there is always
somebody who will help; I
am surrounded by people
who pray for me and my
work and I feel God’s
presence in all the work I
do, which brings the sort of
job satisfaction you just
can’t quantify!
Ministry role for
Northampton priest
Canon Jonathan Kimber, the
Vicar of St. Benedict’s church
Northampton for the past nine
years, has been appointed as
the next Director of Ministry
and Discipleship in Worcester
Diocese. The role
concentrates on helping to
develop the ministry of people
in churches across
Worcestershire and Dudley.
Jonathan has considerable
experience, as a parish priest,
in training including curate
training in the diocese. He
chaired the planning group for
the 2011 Bishop’s Conference
for clergy and lay ministers.
“I really warm to the broad
and rich Kingdom People
vision that has already been
developed, and look forward
to learning from the
understanding and wisdom of
those already in the
Worcester Diocese,” said
Jonathan. “I hope to
contribute to our growth in
faith, as lay and ordained
people together, deeply
rooted in the goodness of
God, and creatively
encouraging each other to
serve Him with joy in the
world.”
Jonathan expects to start
work in Worcester around
Easter 2015. “We’ll miss him
very much in Peterborough
Diocese and we wish him well
in his new post,” said Bishop
Donald. Jonathan has been
made a Canon Emeritus of
Peterborough Cathedral.
February events
Fri 30 Jan The Big Sleepout.
In aid of the Hope Centre
Northampton. Christ Church,
Northampton. Contact
sue@nothamptonhopecentre.
org.uk
Mon 2 Prayer and Praise for
Northampton. Come and pray
together with Christians from
different churches for the
needs of the town. 7.30pm All
Nations church, Kettering
Road NN1 4AH.
Thurs 19 Domestic Abuse
Workshop. Presented by
Louise Drage and Garry
Johnson, the Diocesan
Safeguarding Adviser. Louise,
is a BACP accredited
counsellor. Booking
sharon.welbourne@peterboro
ugh-diocese.org.uk. 9.30am3.30pm Bouverie Court.
Wed 25 Peterborough
Theological Society. The
Revd David Thompson,
Emeritus Professor of Modern
Church History, “The
Evangelisation of the Fens; a
reflection on the 1851
Census”. 7.30pm Friends
Meeting House, Thorpe Rd,
Peterborough.