VICAR'S LETTER
September 2010
Dear
All
Well, I guess this will be my last ‘Vicar’s Letter’ as we are now, happily, at the end of our vacancy. As you know, I have contact with most of the parishes in this Diocese, and we may count ourselves very lucky that we have a new incumbent only eleven months after Roger’s retirement; some parishes have waited much longer!
With that, I would like to welcome, on behalf of the congregation and parish of St Margaret’s, the Rev’d Steve Wood, coming to us from St Mary’s Hitchin where he has been a non-stipendiary curate. I ask you all to welcome him and to offer him every assistance, especially in his first few months. It is the first time he has ‘had the cure’ of his own parish and the precise way we do things will be unfamiliar to him. Steve’s Licensing Service will be held in church at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 7th September. You’re advised to get there early.
Steve will, no doubt, tell us more about himself in future issues, but I will say this, which I hope does not embarrass him. I have several friends at St Mary’s Hitchin, and they say two things: they are very sorry to lose him and we are very lucky to have him! He comes highly recommended, so we may look forward to some happy and fruitful years ahead.
I can hardly believe that we are looking into Autumn just ahead of us already! They say that time appears to go faster as one gets older and I am beginning to realise that this is very true. Advent will be on us before we are able to blink an eye and Lectionaries and Diaries are, as they say, ‘going like hot cakes’ at the centre.
Talking of the Lectionary, I was looking at the September lectionary to check some readings and I noticed that on the 13th September the church celebrates the feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople in the fifth century. The name has always fascinated me, even more so since I read more about him after becoming a Reader.
John was born in 349 AD in Antioch, the son of a high ranking military officer. His mother is variously described as a Pagan and a Christian. The latter is more likely as we see John being ‘tonsured’ as a Reader in the church in 373 AD then, as now, a minor order in the church, more properly described as lector, which included some of the duties of a modern day Reader.
He was made Priest in 386 AD and later became, against his will it is said, Bishop of Constantinople. He is interesting for two reasons: firstly, he was renowned for the eloquence of his public preaching and his insightful expositions of Bible passages and moral teaching, emphasising charitable giving and the temporal and spiritual needs of the poor. He was vehemently against the abuse of wealth and personal property. He was given the Greek name ‘Chrysostemos’ (in English Chrysostom) by his peers. The name means ‘Golden Mouthed’.
Secondly, he began his career in the church as a lector which is roughly the equivalent, in those days, of a modern Reader in the Church of England, the office which Martin, Michael and I hold and which Noel Houlston, Wendy Foster’s father, held. I hope some of you remember him.
John Chrysostom was renowned for his straightforward preaching at a time when most preachers preached obscure allegorical sermons. We at Streatley have a long tradition of short, understandable and to the point sermons, upholding the tradition of the one with the golden mouth; long may it continue.
Incidentally, does the title ‘Reader’ confuse you? Do you understand where the office sits in the hierarchy of the Church of England? Would the somewhat cumbersome title of ‘Licensed Lay Minister – Reader’ as has been suggested, mean more to you? Let me know what you think, and if you have any better ideas, polite ones of course, or any questions about Reader Ministry, please tell me. It is being discussed at General Synod level.
Much love
Ron