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What are the big questions that are being asked in households or ‘bubbles’ up and down our country?

How are we going to celebrate Christmas this year?

How are we able to enjoy Christmas whilst staying safe and protecting our vulnerable loved ones?

How are we able to mix households whilst ensuring that we don’t become ‘spreaders’ of the Covid 19 virus?

This year, there were fears that Christmas would be ‘banned’, and although regulations are not as extreme as many feared, we have been advised that “Christmas is the season to be jolly … careful!” However, over the years this season has been ‘celebrated’ in many different ways.

It wasn’t until the 4th century when Pope Julius, during the reign of Emperor Constantine, declared that 25th December was to be first recognised as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Pope Julius held a simple Communion service. From that small beginning, it took several centuries before the festival of Christmas was universally embraced in Christian countries.

But, as we have heard a lot about recently, it was a faction of Christianity, the Puritans in the 17th century under Oliver Cromwell who first ‘banned’ Christmas, or at least tried to curtail the revelry that accompanied the Christian festival in Britain. This was followed up by Puritans in America when between 1659 and 1681 you could be fined for eating so much as a mince pie!

Since that time not even the horrors of the trenches during WW1 or hostilities of war in WW2 could stop a time of peace and goodwill spontaneously breaking out on the frontline and leading to stories of exchange of gifts and football matches between opposition troops.
Until 2020, and the threat of the spread of Covid 19 through mixing of households and unregulated gatherings of people in confined spaces. However not even a global pandemic – though it has brought about fear, anxiety, sadness and desperation to many – can snuff out the true Christmas celebrations.

For Christmas is a time when Christians celebrate God’s great love for our world when he sent Jesus to be the Saviour of all mankind. So how are we are going to celebrate Christmas this year? Like we do every year by giving thanks for the birth of a baby and at St Saviour’s that will be similar to the way that Pope Julius first celebrated Christmas – with a simple service, including a service of Holy Communion.

So may the joy of the angels,
The gladness of the shepherds,
The worship of the wise men
And the peace of the Christ child be yours,
This Christmas and for evermore.

God bless you all and very merry Christmas.

Andy and Mel McPherson

Our churchwardens look forward with confidence in the Lord

Every year, after churches have held their Annual Parish Meetings and churchwardens have been elected, the wardens attend a service of celebration of their ministry, usually in early summer. For Bev and me, we usually look forward to a service at Christchurch Priory with our fellow churchwardens from all around the Diocese. This year, of course, no such service could take place and, in November, Zoom became the order of the day. Two services were arranged and, amazingly, over 200 people were involved in each one from their homes including us and Bishop Tim. Our Bishop spoke about how the stronger church members are called to support the weaker ones in our communities and how we rely on God for our joy, peace and hope (Romans 15:1-13). We both agreed that the service we attended seemed more personal and meaningful because of the low-key nature.

As we wardens said our promises, we were united in the desire to serve God by serving our churches – a unity that was and is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. Currently life may be different in many ways, but not even Covid-19 can separate the People of God! Not even Covid-19 can stop us caring, loving, and serving in His name! The church buildings may not be in use as before, but the People of God are as alive and as active as they have ever been.

We pray that you and your families will all stay well and hold firm trusting God. We so look forward to the day when we are able to welcome you back to church, so that we can worship together again as a church family once more.

May God’s peace and joy completely fill our hearts this Christmas. May we overflow in confident Hope.

With our love and prayers,

Bev Collum-Mills and Christine Moyes, churchwardens

Laura Simpkins invites us to take part in a scripture challenge!

One morning back in November, part of my reading was Isaiah 54 verse 13: ‘All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.’

It’s so easy in our wealthy multi-media lives to forget how precious the Word is, and how simple it is for us to access it. It’s not, of course, been this easy throughout most of history and this is still the case in many parts of the world.

Not only is the Word the saving power of Christ for our eternal salvation, but our source of life for today. In these times of isolation and restricted fellowship, we perhaps need it even more than ever to help us worship, and to encourage, guide, bring peace, and combat loneliness.

In the same way we look into God’s magnificent night sky and take comfort that we are under the same stars as friends and loved ones elsewhere. We are bound together with others by the Word, as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are comforted that God loves us, and our loved ones, more than we can imagine. And, we are therefore not alone.

In days before the printing press, and even today in dire situations (war, imprisonment, hostile governments, and the like), believers relied and continue to rely on memorised Scripture to sustain them. Most of us could probably benefit from having a fuller tool kit of verses to draw from in everyday challenges!

I would like to invite everyone to join together in a simple Scripture Challenge. I have found a succinct and powerful verse that we can all learn and practise together this autumn.

‘Every word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.’ Proverbs 30:5

Something for the holidays! We can look forward to saying this together as a congregation when we meet together again in church.

Laura Simpkins, discipleship coordinator

Every year, all across the country, Christingle celebrations bring people together to celebrate light, hope, and community. They create a space to stop and reflect on the birth of Jesus and why he came.

The Christingle itself is a symbol that tells the story of Jesus – you can find out what the different parts mean during our Christingle Service, which this year will be online and available from Monday 21 December. It will include the making and meaning of a Christingle, and the puppets will be coming along to help – including Flicker the Candle and his friends!

What you will need to make your own Christingle

To be able to join in and make a Christingle whilst you watch the service, you will need to make sure you have the items listed below:

• An orange
• Red ribbon or tape (or even a piece of red string or wool)
• A small candle (it needs to be inserted into the orange)
• Four cocktail sticks
• Sweets (e.g. Dolly mixtures, jelly sweets, or Liquorice Allsorts work well) or dried fruits to add to the cocktail sticks – both need to be soft enough to push a cocktail stick through
• Scissors or a knife to make an incision in the orange to push a cocktail stick through

You should be able to find all this items easily. However, if you would like a white candle and a piece of the red tape that we usually use, you can come along to the Link on Wednesday 16 December between 4pm and 5pm. These items will also be available at our open air carol singing next Saturday 19 December at 5.30pm.

Christingle Prayer Card

The Children’s Society, for which Christingle raises money to help with their work, has also designed a Christingle Prayer Card for you to colour and place in your window. This is attached (in the email) with this newsletter so that you can print it off, or I will have a few available to be picked up with your candle and tape.

Lastly, don’t forget to invite friends and family to join us online for the service – it’s a great way to spread the message and Light of Jesus!

Caz Gatehouse, children’s minister

Phil Smith asks us to contemplate this simple but profound question

The worth of things very quickly changes, depending on whose hands they are in. For example, a £100 golf club in my hands would be worth many times more in the hands of Tiger Woods.

Take a £500 guitar from my hands, place them into those of Eric Clapton, and see the price tag explode!

Take five loaves and two small fish from the hands of a small boy, place them into Jesus’ hands, and see their worth (and volume) multiply beyond count!

Take two nails, worth a matter of a few pence, from your hands and put them into Jesus’ hands. Their value increases beyond measure.
Take the Son of God from the hands of the Jews and Romans and place His spirit into the hands of the Father – the salvation of the entire human race is bought: ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ Luke 23:46.

Whose hands are you in today? During His lifetime, Jesus’ hands touched and healed the blind, sick and lame. Jesus’ hands welcomed and blessed the little children. They lifted a small picnic to heaven to create a feast for thousands. They willingly washed the feet of 11 closest friends and one betrayer. Jesus’ hands willingly spread out to be nailed to a cross. Several days later, Jesus’ scarred hands silenced the unbelievers.

Whose hands are you in today? I have recently had the privilege of meeting with and encouraging several young persons within the church as they explore potential callings from God to be future worship leaders. I am excited for them as they put themselves into His hands in this way. I would be pleased to guide others who feel a similar call into this area of service, so please get in touch at worship@stsaviours.net.

Phil Smith, worship leader

Mud, glorious mud!

Laura Simpkins ponders our response to the ‘mud’ in our lives.

Are you getting stuck in the metaphorical mud as we slip and slide into the wet winter months? Are your four walls closing in on you? Perhaps you are feeling isolated. Are health issues particularly difficult for you under current circumstances? Is your financial position unsure? For some, these are just the start of their concerns at this moment. I know my family and I have been finding life challenging with our house move being frustrated and my health condition (ME/CFS) flaring up quite a bit. Writing this is actually a cognitive and physical challenge. And my wellies and I have not literally been out in any mud for quite a while!

Do you recall the Flanders and Swann comic classic Mud, Glorious Mud? For the hippopotamus, mud was an absolute pleasure, a veritable spa experience. And for some humans too, it is a timeless solution to clarifying and soothing the complexion. Natives of some parts of the world build homes with it, or even bake in it. Maybe the value of mud is a case of perspective?

Super-typhoon Goni battered the Philippines on 1 November, and what was left was devastated ten days later by hurricane Vamco. I received prayer requests and shocking photos of the storm from a friend. There is a brave Christian community in Manila who are grateful to be alive and seeking to draw closer to each other and to God in the tragic aftermath. They were awash in torn trees, pieces of destroyed homes, vehicles, sewage and massive volumes of water, and thrashed about in sustained 90 miles per hour winds. How do they begin to recover from this?

In the words of Henri Nouwen (from You are the Beloved), ‘we have to learn how to think about the events of the day that take place in our community or our larger world … as ways to come to know God in new ways.’ Do we believe that God is alive, and that He is working in the everyday? Is our half-empty view keeping us from recognising God’s presence? We must ‘… learn to read the newspaper with a heart that sees God at work among his people …’ Will we struggle with evil? Yes! Is God still at work? Yes! ‘To pray is to look at Jesus who is real and to believe more and more.’ As we live through and witness suffering, we mustn’t let it distract us from the truth; these events bring into focus proof of God’s presence in our broken world. ‘The greatest of all reality is the presence of God in the world.’ Let’s read our daily realities with the heart and mind of God for His people, and pray accordingly, in hope.

Laura Simpkins, discipleship coordinator