Dear Friends

Below is a sample of the May edition of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Magazine, which includes the Table of Contents and the Editorial. 

If you would like to subscribe please forward your subscriptions to The Business Manager, Neil Brown, 53 Tullygarvan Road, Ballygowan, Newtownards, BT23 6NB. Annual subscription £16 (£18 overseas).

Dear Friends

Licentiate Paul Jeffrey's has very kindly put together a resource for home worship for those who may not be able to use Facebook or Youtube or who may not have access to the internet. 

It could be printed off and put in a persons postbox if they are in need of such a resource.  Please click on the link Worship from the Home for a pdf version. 

See below for the text: 

WORSHIPPING FROM HOME

ORDER OF SERVICE

It is recommended that you read the prayers and readings aloud.

Before starting, consider taking a few moments of silence to prepare yourself for worship; and to dedicate this time to God. You could use this time to review the past day or week; thanking God for the blessings in your life; asking God for forgiveness for what you got wrong; and asking for God’s help with things or situations that are causing you to worry. If there is anything in particular on your heart or mind, take a moment to pray about it now.

Opening Words

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.

Readings of the Day

(See below)

Silence

Concluding Prayer

You may add a prayer of thanksgiving of your own choosing before concluding with:

Now, let your servant be in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation. Which You have prepared in the sight of all people; To be a light to lighten all Nations and to be the glory of your people Israel.

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday19 April 2020

Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20: 19-31

Sunday 26 April 2020

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; Psalm 116: 1-4, 12-19; 1 Peter 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 13-35

Sunday 3 May 2020

Acts 2: 42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2: 19-25; John 10: 1-10

Sunday 10 May 2020

Acts 7: 55-60; Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2: 2-10; John 14: 1-14

Sunday 17 May 2020

Acts 17: 22-31; Psalm 66: 8-20; 1 Peter 3: 13-22; John 14: 15-21

Thursday 21 May 2020

Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1: 1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1: 15-23; Luke 24: 44-53

Sunday 24 May 2020

If Ascension not observed here:

Acts 1: 6-14; Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35; 1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11

Sunday 31 May 2020

Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth

1 Samuel 2: 1-10; Psalm 113; Romans 12: 9-16b; Luke 1: 39-57

Day of Pentecost

Numbers 11: 24-30; Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13 or Acts 2: 1-21; John 20: 19-23 or John 7: 37-39

The readings after Sunday 31 May 2020 can be found here:

https://www.lectionary.com

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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

OR

LECTIO DIVINA

This is a dynamic way of reading the Scriptures that has been around since AD 300. It has four steps; (i)Reading; (ii)Meditation; (iii)Praying; and (iv)Contemplation.

It invites you to savour and mull over God's word quietly, slowly and intently. It gives you the space to respond to what you feel God is saying and helps you build a vital bridge between your encounters with God and everyday life with its joys, humdrum routine and challenges.

Rather than approaching the Bible as a text to be studied, this approaches the Bible as the living word and seeks an increased knowledge of Christ through a prayerful reading of Scripture. A useful way is through a continuous reading of the Gospels. Starting with Matthew, read and reflect on a small number of verses every day. When you eventually reach the end of John, go back to Matthew. Another way is to use the Sunday Gospel reading. If a Gospel reading is particularly long, you could break it down and work your way through it in the week ahead.

Instructions

Preparation – Centering Prayer:

Choose a sacred word (for example, Maranatha, meaning “come our lord”) or short phrase (for example, “Lord, have mercy”, “Lord hear us” etc) as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within. When engaged with your thoughts*, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes. *Thoughts include body sensations, feeling, images, and reflections.

Step 1 – Reading: Read through the Bible verses of the day slowly and aloud. Listen for a word or a phrase that feels significant right now and is capturing your attention – even if you don’t know why. Gently repeat this word to yourself in silence.

Step 2 – Meditation: As the same Bible verses are read again, allow the word or the phrase that caught your attention in the first step to spark your imagination. Savour the word or the phrase with all your senses; notice what smells, sounds, tastes, sights, and feelings are evoked. Then listen for what images, feelings, and memories are stirring, welcoming them in, and then savouring and resting into this experience.

Step 3 – Praying: As the Bible verses are read for a third time, listen for an invitation rising up from your experience of prayer so far. Consider the word or phrase and what it has evoked for you in memory, image, or feeling; what is the invitation? This invitation may be a summons towards a new awareness or action.

Step 4 – Contemplation: We move into a time for resting, and allowing your heart to fill with gratitude. Slow your thoughts and reflections even further and sink into the experience of stillness. Rest here for a few minutes, and allow yourself to simply be. Return to your breath if you find yourself distracted.

Closing – The Lord’s Prayer.

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SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen.

Silent prayer of intercession

“The tradition which I received from the Lord, and handed on to you,” wrote the Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth, “is that the Lord Jesus, on the night the he was betrayed, took bread and gave thanks, and broke it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, given up for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. And so with the cup, when supper was ended, This cup, he said, is the new testament, in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, for a commemoration of me.

So it is the Lord’s death that you are heralding, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, until he comes. (1 Cor 11: 23-26)

Scripture

• Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me. (Rev 3: 20)

• You prepare a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over. Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Ps 23: 5-6)

• I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me, you can do nothing. (John 15: 5)

Silent prayer of confession

The Lord’s Prayer

The Communion

Lord Jesus Christ, just as the hem of your garment, touched in faith, healed the woman who could not touch your body, so may my soul be healed by like faith in you, whom I cannot receive now in bread and wine. Come spiritually into my heart as I unite myself to you; praying that I should never be separated from you. Amen.

Silent prayer of thanksgiving

Concluding Prayer: A prayer for your nearest and dearest; and for yourself

The Lord bless us and keep us; The Lord make his face to shine upon us

And be gracious to us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us;

And give us peace. Amen.

Dear Friends

Below is a sample of the April edition of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Magazine, which includes the Table of Contents and the Editorial. 

If you would like to subscribe please forward your subscriptions to The Business Manager, Neil Brown, 53 Tullygarvan Road, Ballygowan, Newtownards, BT23 6NB. Annual subscription £16 (£18 overseas).

April
Contents
1. Editorial
2. Good Practice Guidelines to Slow the Spread of COVID-19
3. An Update from the Moderator and Clerk of Synod
4. Report on the Sunday School Games
5. Book Review: The Endless Practice
6. Article: Appril Fools
7. News of the Churches
8. Advertisement for Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society
9. Reflection: Some Thought on the Uncreated Mystery
10. A Tribute to the Very Rev McMillan, from the Congregations of Newry and Warrenpoint
11. Article: Who Am I?
12. Report from the Christian Ministries Committee
13. Children's Corner
14. Poem: Tae a Virus
15. A Message from Rev Dr David Steers
16. Dates for Your Diary (Back Page)

Cover caption: Laura, Kellie and Ellen from Downpatrick share their smiles (and matching piggy art) at the Sunday School Games. In this time of uncertainty, let their joy raise a smile, and remind us of a bright and hopeful future.

Editorial
I have written and re-written this editorial many times over the past few days; as events, advice and guidance seem to change almost by the hour.
By this stage, the decision has been taken to suspend services indefinitely, to thus preserve the health and wellbeing of our more vulnerable members. While on many levels this fills me with sorrow, I recognise the wisdom within it.
And indeed, the timing is interesting. It's Lent, a time in which the church reflects on Jesus' self-isolation in the wilderness, a place to which he was led by the Holy Spirit'. If we accept that '40 days and nights' is Israelite idiom for 'a lengthy period of indeterminate time' (or as we say in Northern Ireland, "donkeys' years") then like us, He had no means of knowing how long the time of trial would last, and he was hungry, and anxious about the road ahead. Perhaps we, like Him, have felt tempted in various ways. Hopefully, we can follow His example and counter each of these moments with words of Scripture.
There are a number of Bible Reading resources which can be accessed from home, including audiobooks and study guides. Beginning next month, if distancing is still in effect, we will include a little 'verse of the day' section to offer some ideas for prayer and contemplation also.
It is also useful to note the element of choice in Jesus' response to the tests he faced while self-isolating. He could indeed have turned the stones into bread. He chose not to. He knew that withdrawing from earthly things would bring Him closer to His Father. He could have trusted the angels to catch Him. He chose not to. Instead He chose to trust that this trial was not too great to bear in His humanity. Three years later, in the Garden of betrayal, when his anxiety was so strong that blood mingled with His sweat, He welcomed the ministering of angels; but here, at the beginning of His ministry, He used only the tools that we all have: patience, perseverance, prayer, and the Words of the Father. We too can choose to be generous with our food and other earthly possessions, seeing them as secondary to the presence and peace of God. We can choose to trust the words of Romans 10:13: "And God is Faithful, He will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear." And we can choose to be comforted by the Spirit around us - the Advocate, the Comforter, whichever term you prefer - because again and again in scripture we are reminded that true Worship; worship in Spirit and Truth, occurs not in buildings (however beautiful and beloved they might be) but in the heart.
I long for a return to fellowship with my congregation. Yet, I remain in fellowship with my God. That cannot be taken away, from any of us.
When Jesus returned from the wilderness, He was strengthened. He knew who He was, and His purpose was clear. As He joined in fellowship once again in the synagogues, He spoke with authority. He healed with impudence. He loved with abandon.

May we return to our places of worship at the end of this season as blessed and as bold as the One we serve.

Yours in the Enduring Spirit,
Heather.

Dear Colleagues and Friends

We are grateful that most of our church family have been getting alongside people in various creative ways through telephone, text, letter or social media, providing that vital connexion which is so effective, particularly for the isolated and the lonely. 

Many churches are continuing to provide streaming of Church services and many of our clergy have lifted us with reflexions and moments of prayer so that although we cannot meet physically, we can still come together in hope and love and faith.

So many instances of care and support and kindness have been shown by ordinary people stepping up into this togetherness and experimenting in wonderful ways proclaiming the Good News.

And so :-

• To those ministers who have provided daily reflections and/or Sunday Services either by video or audio,
• To those ministers who are not into technology but who regularly keep contact with their parishioners by letter, phone, or “Window Messaging”,
• To all parishioners and laypeople who are helping their congregational members by regularly keeping contact, shopping or assisting in any way they can,
• To all those who are staying in isolation enduring with patience and grace this temporary inconvenience,

a very warm and heartfelt thank you to you all!

We cannot be together physically, even at this special Easter time but there is a  bond which is much, much stronger. This is the bond of love and care for one another and this is the tie which will keep us together. May God bless you.

Yours in the Lord, 

Rt. Rev. Chris and Rev. Robert