THE WATERSIDE CHURCHES - KAREN'S CORNER

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‘ Giving God a good laugh’

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     There's an old Yiddish proverb, "We plan, God laughs" that expresses a degree of truth that when humans plan something to happen things turn out differently than hoped.

There is a quote with similar intent by Woody Allen, "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.”

       Last week I had planned a couple of quiet days to have a mini retreat/reading time. Well, I seem to have given God a good laugh because things didn’t work out that way. Priests are encouraged to take a retreat each year and I hadn’t, to date, had a retreat this year. A retreat is an opportunity to get away and to have some quiet time to pray/reflect/read or write.

       God had other plans and instead, events overcame the time for retreat and I will have to plan another time for a retreat.

      God had other plans for my life when I met Chris again 13 years ago. I was just on the verge of moving back to Harlow and starting a new job as a Pastoral Support manager in a secondary academy.

      Chris and I had been in touch again (we had first met when we were 11 years old) and we agreed to go to the cinema together after I moved. We went to the cinema, did not stop talking (apart from during the film, that would have been impolite!) and it was as if we had never been apart.

     We carried on going out and, after three outings, I told Chris that I was just getting used to living on my own again and wasn’t ready for another serious relationship. Well, unbeknownst to me, I had shattered his hopes! Full of quiet determination and with a plan to ‘woo’ me Chris didn’t give up on me.

    On our first Valentine’s day Chris arrived with a huge bouquet of my favourite white lilies and roses. I was beginning to be swayed…. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Chris very much but that I felt that I needed to live alone. We carried on seeing each other and he was still the same funny, loving, kind and supportive chap I had known all of those years ago. I gave myself a stiff talking to and realised that I would be foolish not to give my heart to Chris. I realised that God had other plans for my life. In November of 2011 we were married. 

     There have been many times along the way that God has shown us that He has other plans for our lives. We never thought that we would move to Dorset for my Curacy or that we would have the opportunity to move to Cornwall for my first post. I think that we human being must give God a real laugh at times as he sees the plans that we feel would be best for our lives.

      Sometimes God takes us by surprise and can soon our lives around when we least expect it.

    The Bible begins with a surprise: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). I have never read any other book with such a grandiose beginning. Here, we are not beginning with the story of Aeneas, Frodo, or Harry Potter. We are beginning with the very beginning of everything. Within the first few words, we learn that God exists, that there was a beginning, and that God was before the beginning. We learn that God, surprisingly, decided to create the universe. God surprises us in what He does.

     The Bible is full of more surprises. God calls a man named Abram from the city of Ur in Genesis 12. He tells him to leave home and go somewhere that God will show him. We are left asking ourselves: Who is this Abram? How did he come into the picture? Where is God taking him? We are not given God’s reasons. We don’t know the destination—at least, not yet. Genesis just tells us it was so. “Now the Lord said to Abram . . .” (Gen. 12:1). We can choose to keep reading, or we can put down the book in befuddlement. God surprises us in whom He calls.

     God calls Moses, Aaron, and others up to Mount Sinai to sit down and eat with Him in Exodus 24. Wasn’t it enough that God would guide His people out of Egypt? Wasn’t it enough that He would give them His commandments and lead them to the promised land? Apparently it was not. God decided to invite the leaders of Israel to a dinner party: “They beheld God, and ate and drank.

(Ex. 24:11) God surprises us by seeking fellowship with us.

     Consider another surprise. Elijah was discouraged and thought he would be better off dead in 1 Kings 19. He was running from Jezebel, who had promised to kill him. Instead of giving Elijah lodging with a widow for a time of recovery, as in 1 Kings 17, God sends an angel to give him cake. This cake was, apparently, some kind of super food. “And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights” (1 Kings 19:8). Not what we were expecting, right? God surprises us in the way He sustains us.

     These are just several of the ways God surprises us. God surprises us especially, of course, in the redemption He secures for us in and through Jesus Christ. Few among the Jews recognised who Jesus was, and even when they did, it wasn’t until after the resurrection that they truly understood and appreciated how God had orchestrated history in His people’s behalf (John 16). It wasn’t until after the resurrection that passages like Isaiah 53 were truly appreciated and understood. Who would have thought that God would send His Son to die? Who would have thought that He would be a Saviour who emptied Himself for us in His first coming (Phil. 2:7), but who will come in judgment at His second coming (Rev. 22:12)? God surprises us in how He redeems us.

I am sure that there have been times in your own life when God has surprised you and your life has taken an unexpected turn. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy and sometimes it takes us a long time to be able to see the reason for God’s plans.

Whatever your week holds, may it be blessed.

Revd Karen

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Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. – Thomas Merton.

This morning I was looking for a piece of scripture that I could add to our Ministry Team Agenda for September. We take time to reflect and to study a piece of scripture together during our regular meetings.

For reasons only known to God my Bible fell open at this piece of scripture; not once but twice.

 “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

This passage from Luke 14 reminds me of what it’s like to travel on commercial flights. I haven’t flown in many a year and much of that is to do with all of the waiting, queueing and general hassle.

Little in life is more stratified according to layers of honour. While I’m waiting for the airport staff to call my seating group, I watch all the important people go first: First Class, Platinum Flyers, Gold Flyers, Silver Flyers and so forth and so on. Finally, they get to the rest of us, and I get to board the plane.

But, on the way to my tiny seat in economy class, I pass through first class, where I see all the movers and shakers enjoying their comfy lounge chair seats, sipping their complimentary beverages while scowling at me for delaying the plane’s departure. Can you imagine how embarrassed I would be if I tried to sit in an empty first class seat, only to be told in no uncertain terms that I was not welcome among the rich and famous flyers? I wouldn’t even dare!

Humility can sometimes be a little under-rated in Western cultures. It’s also widely misunderstood — maybe that’s why it’s underrated.

Our popular media culture is saturated with themes of conflict, combat, and conquest. Popular films feature cops chasing baddies; the military fighting terrorists; the lone avenger pursuing the evil-doers. We say we love peacemakers, but heroes are often warriors. Some of our tv celebrities can be a bit cheeky, self-important, and even a bit narcissistic. 

Little wonder that humble people seem a bit strange to us, as if they’re following some syncopated life rhythm that few people around them quite “get.”

Humility is less a matter of self-restraint and more a matter of self-esteem. The greater your sense of self-worth, the easier it is to appreciate others, to praise them, and to encourage them.

A well-developed sense of humility shines through in our behaviour toward others. They feel affirmed, appreciated, encouraged, validated, and psychically nourished. Most of us are powerfully drawn to people who treat us that way, like bees to flowers.

The esteemed psychologist William James reminded us,“The deepest craving in all human beings is the desire to be appreciated.”

Jesus envisioned a similar situation, one that fit his own cultural milieu. Suppose, he said, you attend a wedding feast and sit in a seat at the head table. How will you feel when you are unceremoniously booted from your seat of honour? To be safe, Jesus advised, “take the lowest place at the foot of the table” (14:10). Then, you might very well be promoted to a better seat.

What point was Jesus trying to make? He summed it up in verse 11: “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Jesus was thinking of more than a wedding here. He was using the wedding analogy to communicate something about the kingdom of God. It would be a topsy-turvy kingdom, one in which the “first class flyers” would be sent to “economy class” while the lowly would be lifted up.

You could hear Jesus’ statement as a word of rebuke, especially if you tend to seek your own position and glory. Yet, you could also hear this as a word of invitation to a better and freer way of living.

Jesus is saying, ‘Just think about how you might feel and act if you were no longer preoccupied with your own position and reputation. How much richer your life would be if you were free to serve others rather than seek their praise’. To be sure, the wisdom of Jesus contradicts the ethos of our culture, whether we thinking about sports, politics, business, or even the church. Yet if we seek to live as citizens of the kingdom of God, we will be so devoted to God’s glory that we’ll forget about our own.

Last Sunday, during our Celtic Service of Worship I surprised our lovely Barbara and John Sellers. They had recently celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary and I planned a short blessing of their marriage, which they knew nothing about! The congregation ALL knew what was going to happen. It was a joy to celebrate their 60 years of marriage and to give thanks for their married life and for all of their dedicated service to our churches and community. Barbara plays the organ in Devoran for us and John serves as well as organises the reading rota. Both have served the churches of St Feock and Devoran for many many years. I appreciate all of their time, their faith and their support.

Before our service I popped into to see the ‘Sunday Stars’, which is always a delight. They were enjoying their meal together and told me all about their session. This group is growing and deepening their understanding and their faith, which is such a blessing.

As I look out of my study window I can see a strange yellow glowing light in the sky… we have a bit of sunshine here after all of the rain and Storm Betty! I hope that you are able to get out and to enjoy some of the warmth and sunny weather whilst it is with us.

Whatever your week holds, may it be blessed.

Revd Karen 

‘We are family…’

May I firstly say a huge thank you to everyone from across our three churches and communities who made last Saturday’s BBQ Sausage Sizzle such a fantastic event. A special thank you to Paul Stuart who arrived early to set up and to those who took over in the kitchen to wash up and to clear away.

I would also like to thank our chef for the morning, Chris. He donned his apron and cooked up a storm, despite the dodgy weather.

This was an event that Chris and I hosted and we wanted there to be no barriers to people coming along by charging for food and drink. As usual, the generosity of those who came along donated £249.00 to the benefice, which was beyond anything we could have hoped for.

47 people came together to share hospitality and the atmosphere was wonderful. The church hall in Perranarworthal was full of chatter and laughter as the 1950’s sound track played in the background. Many of those who attended spoke about the great atmosphere in the hall. The event had a real ‘buzz’ about it and there was a true sense of church family coming together to enjoy each others’ company.

Chris said, ‘There was an exciting atmosphere, full of fellowship, love and laughter. Everyone was welcome and there was a feeling of ‘family’. We are all in this together, with shared goals and aims. I enjoyed cooking on the BBQ and  hospitality is important to both of us. This is exactly what we had hoped for when we came here. The pop group Sister Sledge sang, ‘We are family’. The lyrics say, ‘Can they be that close, just let me state for the record, we’re giving love in a family dose’. That just about sums it up.’

Our friends Marion, Michael and their son Eli surprised Chris and I by coming along. They are on holiday in Cornwall at the moment and did not tell us they would be there. It was such a wonderful surprise and everyone made them all so very welcome.

Marion sends her thanks to everyone and she was overwhelmed by the welcome shown to them and they thoroughly enjoyed being with us all.

The event was everything that Chris and I had prayed that it would be and we hope that everyone enjoyed to as much as we did. Although, I think that Chris may not be looking at another sausage for quite a while!

With everything life throws at us it can be hard to stay grateful for what matters the most in our faith and discipleship: our relationship with God, our faith and our church family. When relationships are strained (or even when things are going great!), the Bible can help us to remember the importance of maintaining those strong family bonds and unity.

1 John 4:20

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

Psalm 133:1

"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

Galatians 6:2

"Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.”

Hebrews 10:24-25

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”

1 Peter 4:8-11

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Moving forward can be the scariest part of finding and focusing on your passion. You can do all the work to discover it, even uncover your strengths, and recognise the obstacles that get in your way. But often, even when we logically know all that and we feel the Holy Spirit within us, the thought of moving forward paralyses us.

Be willing to say yes and try – God likes to lead us in unexpected areas, but trust that if He does, He will have prepared you for them.
Grant yourself grace – we’re all works in progress, trying to live in the way God made us to live. We’re human, though, and won’t always get it right (I promise you that He gets it right). When the time comes that you realise you’ve got it wrong, back up and pray some more, read scripture more, and be patient as you fine-tune your hearing.

Always remember that what you do is for God – how blessed we are when we find the things that give us purpose. It’s not as easy to get to that place as we’d like. When we do, after a while it can become old hat and we may lose the reason we’re there in the first place. That’s when things begin to get tedious. Take the time to re-focus on Jesus.

I totally understand why moving forward can be so difficult, it can be make us feel very vulnerable. If we keep your eyes on the Lord, we will get to where we want to go!

Whatever your week holds, may it be blessed.

Revd Karen

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‘Are you tomato sauce or mustard?’

It never takes much for Chris to be persuaded to fire up the BBQ and start cooking. I recently purchased a new electric BBQ for him and he has been out in the garden giving it a whirl. One of the reasons that we bought the BBQ was that it is portable and can be taken to church events.

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On 5th August at 10.30am at Perranarworthal church hall he will be hosting a benefice wide sausage sizzle brunch. Sausages in baps will be on the menu with all of the ‘fixings’, as they say in the USA. Tea, coffee and soft drinks will be available and it is an opportunity for us all to get together. Chris will be cooking outside the hall and food can be taken into the hall where refreshments will be served. 

There will be no charge for this event and any donations will be given to the Waterside Churches. All are welcome to come along from any of our communities and it would be good to see you. The new BBQ is a little bit too ‘tecky’ for me and I have been charged with caramelising the onions!

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At our JCC meeting last week we have a preliminary discussion about returning to the Common Cup after the Covid pandemic. At the moment I intinct wafers for communicants. None of our churches has, to date, returned to the Common Cup.

After the JCC meeting I called our Archdeacon for his advice. Communicants intincting their own wafers is not acceptable and individual ‘thimble’ cups are also not an option. The decision will be made in consultation with congregations and the very last thing that I wish is for communicants to be uncomfortable or not to take the wine at all. If you have any opinions or wish to have a chat about this topic do please give me a call.

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I am reminded of the very last ‘Vicar School’ Holy Communion service that we held at our last residential before Ordination. It was a very hot July weekend and there were 350 of us gathered at High Leigh to celebrate. I was part of the Sacristy team but not responsible for charging the 6 chalices. Whoever had charged the chalices had been rather generous, to say the least!

After the service we were asked to consume the remainder of the consecrated wine. Some of us were driving but I was being collected by Chris.

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A few of the team (including me) consumed what was left in the 6 chalices, which was port wine. It was a challenge but everything was going well until I stepped out into the sunshine and the combination of heat and the wine hit me…

We had to do some shopping in Sainsbury’s on the way back home from the residential weekend. I got to the till, forgetting that I still had my college lanyard around my neck. The assistant saw my lanyard and asked me what I did at college. A simple question you may think dear reader, but oh no…. I replied, ‘I’m training to be a Pricker…’ Well, she laughed and Chris sniggered. I asked why he was laughing and he repeated my reply to me. I denied it, saying that I said ‘Vicar, not Pricker’ (apparently slurring slightly..Oh the shame). I looked the assistant square in the eye and asked her if that was what I had said. She looked back at me, nodding, and said, ‘ohhh, yes…’

At that precise moment dear reader I wished for the ground to open up and swallow me. Chris folded me back into the car and took me home for a little afternoon nap. Every Vicar I have ever met has a similar story. There is a serious side to this of course. One has to be very careful about what one consumes if one is driving after a holy communion service.

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Sharing Holy Communion at a college residential was always very moving. 350 Ordinands and staff sharing the bread and wine together was very special. We often had a guest president and preacher. The last service before he retired of the ex Bishop of London, Richard Chartres was one of those special times. I was asked to lead the procession at the start of the service, carrying the cross. Well, it was a low ceiling and a very tall cross…. At least one ceiling tile was punctured by the pointed top of the cross.

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We had some wonderful tutors at St Mellitus College. James Harding now heads up St Mellitus in Plymouth, The ex Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and his wife Jane and Bishop Graham Tomlin amongst them.

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My personal favourite was Michael Leyden, who now heads up a theological college in the north of England. He was a deeply spiritual and holy man who was a fantastic lecturer. At one residential weekend we sat together and had a long discussion about the need to be who God truly wants us to be in our ministry and the importance of being genuine and authentic.

Michael’s ‘take’ on this was that God has called us exactly as we are, not what we are expected to be or who others wish us to be. It was a conversation that has always stuck in my mind. If you have the time and are looking for some good theological books to read ‘Silence and Honeycakes’ by Rowan Williams is excellent and anything by Jane Williams is a great read.

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Sunday 30th July at 10am brings our joint Waterside Churches service of Holy Communion, which is being held at St Feock church. It marks two years since I joined you all in our brand new benefice. It is a service in which we are able to join together from across our three churches, to worship and to be in communion with one another. I believe that it is important for us all to come together in this way as we build up the Waterside Churches. I look forward to seeing you there.

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Whatever your week holds, may it be blessed.

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Revd Karen

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‘Friends, family and a bit of glamping…’

Chris and I have just had two weeks off, part of it going ‘upcountry’ to see family and friends and then we had a few days in the rural Devon countryside.

During our first week I wasn’t quite prepared for the M25 motorway again, if truth be told. After two years in Cornwall hitting the M25 was quite a shock to the system!

I’d forgotten about the speed, the huge trucks, the tailgating and the undertaking….Chris was driving so I could close my eyes and say a fervent prayer to God to keep us safe and sound as we headed around to the M11.

We started our holiday with a bit of a road trip upcountry. Our first stop was in Dorset to see some of our family, which was a real joy.

We then headed up to Harlow to see Chris’ parents. We were both born and raised in Harlow, although it is a very different place now to the one that we grew up in. Many an hour was spent chatting and catching up with my in laws and it was good to spend some time with them.

We managed to squeeze a visit to our favourite Indian restaurant in whilst we were there. Neither of us are fans of a hot curry but I am partial to a good Biryani. The ‘Garden of India’ is owned by a dear friend with whom we have the most fabulous theological discussions. Mo is a Muslim, a fierce defender of his local community and someone who looks after those who live in it.

Mo led prayers at the last session of the Alpha course I led 6 years ago, which we held in his restaurant during an evening service; poppadoms and prayers, Naan and psalms! Last week Mo had reserved ‘our table’ and over the BEST Biryani we had a good catch up.

Being back in Harlow was a little strange… it was like we had never been away but it felt as if were visitors and not ‘locals’.

To be honest, after the hustle and noise of Harlow it was almost a relief to be heading back to Dorset to spend time with my ex Training Incumbent and his family. I spent my title post with David, who has become a very good friend to us and was an excellent TI.

As a newly minted Curate he nicknamed me ‘Skywalker’ (as I was his ‘Paduan’, someone who is learning) and I called him ‘Master’ (as in a Star Wars Jedi). When we arrived at his Vicarage he opened the door and boomed ‘There you are Skywalker!’ before ushering us inside for lunch.

Over a glass of whisky we chewed over the past two years and the current state of the church, amongst other things.

We visited parishioners and admired the newly reordered Iwerne Minster church. The trip brought back very fond memories of my time in the Iwerne Valley and I’d forgotten just how beautiful rural Dorset, and it’s people, are.

The second week of our holiday took us, and the dogs, to Clawford Lakes in Devon. We stayed in a ‘cocoon’, which was a revelation! It was a huge canvas covered glamping tent (I use the term loosely…). It took glamping to a whole new level with a deck overlooking a lake and a ‘proper’ bathroom and kitchen. No blow up beds or camping stoves in sight, it was all very civilised and

Chris and I used to go camping quite a lot years ago but after a disaster with a mini tornado (that’s a whole other story…) at a campsite in Wadebridge we stopped going. One can never quite get over the trauma of seeing one’s underwear blown into hedgerows….

This ‘cocoon’ had a rigid metal frame and was not going to get blown halfway down a field…

We all had a wonderfully relaxing time in the most peaceful location. It was also the most dog friendly place and the girls were spoiled with very posh beds and lots of treats.

Now, I’m not one for sitting down much and find it quite tricky to truly switch off. A few days of enforced relaxation was just the ticket. I also don’t get much time to read for pleasure these days. I managed to polish of three novels whilst I was away, which was a real treat.

The ‘cocoon’ came with a fire pit and BBQ and one evening I Iit the fire pit and cooked up some sausages. We sat gazing over the lake as we all enjoyed sausage baps. There is something very meditative about sitting around a fire and watching the flames. It managed to send the dogs off to sleep (after their sausages!).

Every evening an owl started screeching and hunting at dusk and although we could hear it we never saw it. At midnight on our first night the owl was very close by and was screeching loudly. It woke the dogs up, they barked loudly and I was rudely jolted awake. I woke up with such a fright that I almost fell out of the bed! It was a close call but it did stop the dogs barking.

Our two weeks off together have been a real blessing, an opportunity to rest and relax. Whilst we were away we read the news that +Philip is going to be leaving the diocese and will become the next Bishop of Winchester. It was quite a surprise as we had been told that he was heading off on a sabbatical in the autumn, not moving. We live in interesting and challenging times in the church and I am sure that there will be some who will feel unsettled by further change.

I followed the commentary from the General Synod that was held whilst I was away but tried to leave it one side as I wanted to switch off from ministry and to be ‘present in the present’. I’ll be catching up on all that went on when I get back to my desk.

Whatever your week holds, I pray that it is blessed.

Revd Karen

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‘Drawing the line in the sand…’

Karen’s corner is looking a bit different this week. After my sermon on Sunday I was asked by parishioners to publish it. The sermon was all about drawing aline in the sand, of standing with Jesus, as He stands with us. I have attached the sermon, as requested. It was an emotional one to write and to give.

My sermon comes at time when I celebrate (today, Tuesday 27th June) the 4th Anniversary of my Priesting in Salisbury Cathedral. It is also two years ago that I said goodbye to parishioners in my Curacy placement in Dorset.

The Anniversary of Ordination holds very special and abiding memories for a Priest and it is a bit like a wedding anniversary in some ways!

I was Ordained Deacon on 1st July 2018 and Priested on 27th June 2019. My Curacy was spent in rural Dorset in five churches with The Revd David John as my TI. We got on from the first minute that we met each other and we are going to spend the night with his family next week.

Before David was ordained he was a senior police office in London. He has a great sense of humour, was incredibly supportive and generous with his time and energy. We became good friends and I still appreciate his wise counsel and advice. Like me, David had a long career prior to ordination and brought our life experiences to ministry.

I was blessed to work with him and Chris and I are still close to him and his lovely family.

The day of my priesting was a scorching hot one. Wearing a cassock, surplice and stole for hours was difficult for us all (there were 8 of us to be Priested that day) and we sat in the Cathedral trying to cool off before the service.

I had been on a silent retreat at Sarum college, opposite the Cathedral for four days and had not seen Chris. I can’t tell you how lovely it was to be able to give him a hug just before the service started. Friends and family came from Dorset and Essex to be with us and it was a day of tears, laughter and joy. It was amazing to be supported by so many people I loved on that special day.

Once Priested, I could give my blessing. As the great West door of the cathedral opened at the end of the service, Chris came forward and knelt before me, to receive my first blessing. It was a moment that I will never forget, tears flowed on both sides.

Later on today Chris and I will open a bottle of something fizzy and celebrate. No doubt we will share precious memories of that day too. Neither of us knew what would be in store for us in the future, it was in God’s hands and remains so. There have been great blessings and equally great challenges.

We are off on annual leave from the end of this week, an opportunity to visit family and friends and to get away with the dogs and to spend time together.

Annual leave is always a time for reflection as well as relaxation. It’s a time to switch off from ministry for two weeks but also a time to gather my thoughts and to look ahead.

Anywho, dear reader, here is the sermon that I said that I would publish (which feels incredibly grandiose and not like me at all!)….

‘In today’s reading Jesus draws a line between acknowledging Him before others and denying him before others.

He holds before us a set of values, a way of being, a truth that we either acknowledge or deny.

We can’t straddle that line, one foot here and one foot there… There is no middle ground.

I had a very different sermon written at the start of this week than I do this morning.

Sometimes, I write a sermon and it wakes me up in the middle of the night and I have a chat with The Boss about it.

This one woke me up in the middle of the night and God reminded me that it is  almost exactly five years since I was Ordained in Salisbury Cathedral.

The anniversary of Ordination is a bit like your wedding anniversary but for Vicars! Its an important day and it is always remembered and thanks given.

God gave me a nudge to think back to when I drew a line in the sand…. Reminding me about my Ordination Retreat (four days of prayer, legalities, oaths, worship and silence). You have no contact with your loved ones and you don’t see them until after the Ordination service. I’d never been away from Chris for that length of time before. In the silence you are alone with God to reflect upon the new life that lays ahead, one of acknowledging Jesus before anyone or anything else.

I lay in bed, remembering when there was ‘pre-ordination’ life and ‘post ordination’ life.

It’s a funny thing but life before Ordination is so very different that it becomes a memory. Not much of what went on before that day remains.

Of course, I was called by God to be a loving wife to Chris before Ordination and that call remains. Married life changes though and it can be hard for a clergy spouse to live such a public life.

Ordination training (Vicar School) deliberately dissembles everything about you, it turns you inside out, makes you look at who you are and what you are about for three years. Training shows you the line in the sand and it puts you back together again in a different way.

Being Ordained means that you turn your life over to the service of God and of others. There is no ‘off’ switch.  It means that you dedicate your life to being a ‘Parson’, an old English word meaning ‘person of God’. I don’t become a different person on my day off or when I am on holiday.

Setting boundaries and knowing when limits are reached can be a struggle at times.

I was so nervous the night before the service. Not about being Ordained but that I was wearing a cassock and there were processions, places to stand and steps to negotiate. It was a red hot day and there was no way of cooling down and I was melting!

It was the first time that I had ever worn my clerical collar under my cassock. Before the service ordinands are not allowed to wear a collar in public.

The Bishop was going to wash my feet and I was anxious that he would get to my hot feet and recoil!

I took oaths, I made promises before God, before my then Bishop, before other clergy and before my family and friends who had travelled to be with me.

In the Jewish tradition there’s a collection of teachings. In it one of the rabbis says this, ‘It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but neither are you free to desist from it’.

I heard those words as an invitation to truthfulness, authenticity, honesty and integrity. They held a vision of the work before me. I trust this words will lead me to a life worthy of Jesus, to be able to serve with my whole heart and soul.

During the service the Bishop lays hands of you and other clergy join in, until you are completely surrounded, hands laid on. I could feel the tears falling into my surplice, it was utterly overwhelming.

I knew that life would never be the same again. The line in the sand had been drawn. Years of discernment process and training had ended and life as a Parson had begun.

That evening, when our family and friends had left I walked to the gate of the garden of our Curate’s house, overlooking the fields with the sheep in them.

In the quiet of the evening it really hit me that I was not Mrs Wilson, I was Revd Wilson. The enormity of my Ordination and the reality of what lay ahead was joyous, it was a privilege, an honour and a

but it also felt like a huge responsibility.

I knew that God was in all of this but that now people would see me differently. I had stepped over a line in the sand.

I watched the sheep grazing and was reminded of Jesus as our great shepherd.

It was also now my job to be a shepherd of His people too.

I knew where Jesus had taken a stand; who and what he stood for. The Beatitudes tell us. His temptation in the wilderness tells us, his took a stand in the synagogue after his temptation.

Looking back over five years of ordained ministry I still stand where I did on July 2nd 2018; to serve others, to be a witness to the gospel, to stand for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised.

It isn’t always easy, just like it isn’t easy to be a Christian today.

The Anglican church has it’s serious issues and it can be hard to be the loving faces, hands and feet of a church who some in society perceive as damaging, painful to be a part of and who feel excluded from.

The line in the sand can be a difficult one to stand behind. The gospel is not a fluffy, cuddly, ‘it’s just about love’ one. It can be tough, gritty, hard work and demands our whole lives.During my time as a Priest I have been roundly abused in the street, ignored (sometimes people are unable to meet my eye if I am wearing my collar) and my ministry challenged in various ways. Wearing a clerical collar can bring emotions out in others that bubble up to the surface.

We are called to stand firm behind our line in the sand and to stand with Jesus.

As I reflect upon the anniversary of ordination I stand behind the line that Jesus drew.

As long as I am with you I stand next to you, not in front of you or behind you but with you.

At my licensing service in 2021 I promised to serve you, to stand with you behind that line as we work together to build a community of faithful disciples.

And that is still my promise to you, to be your shepherd, to be a Parson, to serve you, with all of my heart and soul. Amen’

Whatever the next two weeks brings you, I pray that it is blessed. Do take care of yourselves until I return and you will remain in my prayers as we travel around Dorset, Essex and Devon.

Revd Karen 

‘I needed three kettles and a Carmen Miranda impression…’

I held the inaugural ‘More Tea Vicar’ event in Devoran this morning. 25 people came along and I needed to put on three kettles and not just the one…

Conversation flowed along with the tea and coffee and we took a trip down memory lane…

Some folk remembered ‘the Corona man’ picking up their orders for fizzy pop. Some remembered a ‘muffin man’ from their childhood in London, some recalled the coal merchant with his horse and cart, the Salvation Army playing on a  Saturday evening in town and the rag and bone man.

Today I wore a very summery dress, not my usual black. It brought positive comments, which was lovely as I am not the greatest follower of fashion or the ‘in’ colours of the season. I was worried that I might look like a summer fruit salad…. Someone commented that it reminded them of Carmen Miranda, another trip down memory lane for some. Well, before I knew it I had launched into my impression of Carmen Miranda (minus the fruit bowl on her head). Something I hadn’t done for many a year. Much laughter ensued and it brought back happy memories of making my parents laugh. I was a very quiet child but, once comfortable with people, I warmed up. I am still pretty much the same now to be honest. Some things get left behind a bit when one is Ordained and I hadn’t thought of my ‘there’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil’ impression for years.

We talked about old fashioned sweet shops (which my parents had one of) with the rows and rows of sweets in glass jars, sherbet fountains and the ‘penny sweet’ counter.

All memories of a time gone by. Fondly held memories of childhood that stuck in our minds. Memories that were recalled with happiness but not with a longing or hope to who back to those days. There was an acknowledgement that times have changed.

Earlier this week a colleague talked to me about how things had changed since the pandemic. Three years have past and we are all three years older, we have been socially isolated for months on end and we long for life to be ‘normal’ again.

My colleague believes that life will never be exactly the same again and I have thought long and hard about this. I think that she has a point… our church congregations are three years older, priests have retired during the pandemic and the new deanery plan has brought changer and will continue to bring change.

Change can be a difficult thing to adapt to and some people find it easier than others. When we long for things to be the same as they were and we see that they can’t, or won’t, be the same, it can be difficult. Change can be a challenge.

Jesus brought change wherever he went during his ministry and there were some who didn’t like his challenge to think and act differently.  We read all through the gospels that Jesus had ‘push back’ against his message. Some groups argued with him, some tried to catch him out, some wanted him stoned and some wanted him dead.

His challengers found the message that Jesus was bringing difficult. In their difficulty they lashed out at him, abused him and finally had him put to death. They longed for their way of life and their faith to remain the same and that is understandable in many ways.

I am reminded of Corinthians 13: ‘4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.’

This reading tells us what love is but it also tells us what love isn’t. It can be hard, when you are hurting and when things are challenging to be loving, to keep no record of wrongs and to be kind.

I have been writing this weeks ‘Karen’s Corner’ in spurts as it has been an afternoon of phone calls. There have been funerals discussed and two Christenings. The death of a loved one and the birth of a new baby all bring huge changes in life.

Our human lives are often in a state of change and we are called to adapt. These are times when we can lean into God and to pray for His help and guidance. Jesus shows us how to handle challenge and change; with acceptance, with bravery and with faith that God is at work in all of it.

Whatever your week holds, may it be blessed. If you are looking for a Carmen Miranda impressionist for your event, I’m your woman…

Revd Karen

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A fete Accompli…’

The sun shone (after a mizzly morning) on Devoran Church’s summer fete on Saturday afternoon. It was lovely to hear Devoran School playing their recorders for us as we browsed the stalls and enjoyed tea and cake.

Many thanks to all of the volunteers who made it such a successful event where over £600 was raised for church funds. We took along the dogs who thoroughly enjoyed all of the fuss and it was good to see so many people enjoying the stalls, games and refreshments.

I am writing this on Sunday afternoon after getting back from presiding at two services of Holy Communion. Chris led the service at Perranarworthal and then enjoyed a lunch at The Cornish Arms with parishioners afterwards. They all enjoyed a delicious carvery and each other’s company. I, dear reader, came home and had mackerel on toast and got on with some work….

I am joking, I feel blessed that Chris has been made to feel so welcome and that people don’t feel that ‘the Vicar must come too’.

Chris and I joke that we are a ‘BOGOF’ ( buy one get one free). However, we both have our different ministries as well as times when we lead services and work together. It is a joy to be able to minister together and Chris has a very different role as a clergy spouse. I appreciate that it isn’t always easy to be married to a Vicar and we were married for years before I was ordained. Chris has known me as an educationalist and Safeguarding Officer as well as a Vicar. He has adapted to so many changes and challenges over the years and I am grateful for his ability to take things in his stride.

It’s a good job that we enjoy each other’s company and that we make a good team. In lots of ways we are very different people; Chris is very laid back and more of an extrovert. I am an introvert and could find something to be worried about in an empty room! We balance each other out and we share the same sense of humour. I often say that it is good that Chris has a sense of humour as he has to live with me….

People often have misconceptions about what being a Vicar is all about. I was stopped in Sainsbury’s the other day by a man who told me that it was unusual to see a Vicar wearing green ( I had on a Kermit green summer dress, it matches my skin tone…). His wife commented that it was nice to meet a Vicar who was ‘normal’. I didn’t go into what exactly she meant and I do know plenty of ‘normal’ Vicars! I hope that, in many ways, I am that kind of ‘normal’ Vicar. There was a very intense clergy discussion on Twitter last week (started by an Vicar and an author) who criticised an Ordinand who had dyed her hair red. She said that ordained woman should be ‘immaculate’. There followed a plethora of Ordained women tweeting about their dyed hair, painted nails, make up and unusual footwear, amongst other things. The idea that somehow, being Ordained should make you something that you are not, that being ‘immaculate’ is the only way that God longs for his Priests to be.

God calls all kinds of people, not only women, to be Priests. He doesn’t discriminate because they dye their hair or wear some funky shoes. He calls us just as we are. I don’t think that God expects or wants us to change and I certainly don’t think that He wants us to loose our individuality.

Jesus chose to spend time with all kinds of people during his ministry. He chose to eat with tax collectors, sinners as well as disciples. He accepted everyone just as they were. We never read that he asked people to follow him and then to change who they were. He did not criticise people for spending time with him and then moving on.

I am very glad that He called this Priest who wears boots with bees all over them, who sometimes sports pink highlights and who paints her toenails in five different shades….Of course there are times when I have thought about whether what I wear or how I look is appropriate. I have never thought that I need to be ‘immaculate’ because that wouldn’t be ‘me’ and God has called me to be the genuine, authentic me.

God loves each and every one of us, just as we are. Phew, I say, what a relief! None of us perfect and we have Jesus’ perfect example of how to love one another in Him.

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I say that we can learn a lot from animals about love. I have two dogs and they are a perfect example of unconditional love. They are loyal, they don’t criticise and they don’t expect either one of us to be perfect.

I was sitting in my armchair, minding my own business on Friday evening. I had just sat down with a brew and suddenly, out of nowhere, our bulldog pup (I say pup, she is 6 months old and weighs nearly three stone…) jumps up onto my armchair from behind and cracked me in the back of the head with hers in her effort to gain purchase. She balanced on the back of the armchair, threw her paws around my neck and proceeded to thoroughly wash (lick) the back of my head, interspersed with whiskery kisses to my face. I am not a fan of being licked by any dog but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by asking her to stop.

Marnie did a very thorough job of the washing and looked very pleased with herself as she pushed her face into mine.

I tried not to gag, I really tried. Chris was too busy laughing to be of any real help and I looked far from ‘immaculate’ when she had finished. For Marnie, it was an act of love, for me it was torture!

There are many ways to show love and I am not recommending that you lick the back of anybody’s head to show your love and devotion to them. Jesus accepted everyone and that is a good place to start. He shows us that mature faith is all about accepting people; however they speak, however they dress, however different they are to us. One tweet that struck me during the ‘immaculate Vicar’ Twitter conversation asked the author if we weren’t all a bit more grown up than to be doing others down by being superficial. I agree, aren’t we all bit beyond all this nonsense?

Well my friends, I am off to paint my toe nails in two shades of Percy Pig pink and get out my sky blue crocs with flowers on them for my day off tomorrow.

Whatever your week holds, be your most genuine self because you are loved beyond measure by God and may it be blessed.

Revd Karen

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'GOING WILD'

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The month of May is ‘no mow May’. This is easy for Chris as he cannot abide gardening! It has been tougher for me however as I have, to date, always liked a neat and today garden.

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‘No mow May’ has been a revelation! I have grown to love the sight of the daisies, buttercups and all sorts of plants (I am avoiding calling them weeds!) that have shot up in the back garden. The dogs have loved exploring the new meadow like garden and the wildlife has too. Early each morning we head out into the garden, the dogs snuffle around and Chris and I watch Mr and Mrs Blackbird flying to a from their nest which is hidden in a bush in the corner. We know there are tiny baby blackbirds in the nest because we now hear them calling whenever their parents fly back with beaks full of food.

Their calls have got louder and louder as this week has gone on and their parents are working very hard to keep them fed.

I have enjoyed having the garden taken over by nature so much that I am now working out how I can strim the garden and leave swathes of this new meadow. I would be loathe to cut it all back and may well ‘let it bloom in June’.

There is a beauty in the wildflowers, a more natural look than my usual beds of shrubs and annuals. I stood and listened as a bee went into a foxglove flower, it’s ‘buzz’ reverberating around the inside of the flower. It had been busy because it was already wearing pollen trousers.

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Chris and I have both found a peace in the wilding of the garden. Nature has a way of calming us in our busy and drought lives and we have certainly noticed this.

Marnie, our Bulldog pup, ran to us yesterday afternoon, with a petal attached to one of her eyes, looking as if she was wearing a lilac contact lens! She had obviously been investigating the wildlife and picked up more than she bargained for. A swift bit of first aiding was called for and Chris removed the offending petal. I don’t know how she had managed to get a petal to lie flat on her eyeball, it was quite a feat.

We have had some glorious weather over the past week and I hope that it remains for the Point and Penpol Regatta this weekend. Our churches in Devoran and St Feock will be closed on 4th June so that congregation members can attend the service on the quay at 10.30 with Bishop Philip preaching.

St Piran’s will be holding a service of Holy Communion at 10am  with a guest speaker from our Methodist friends.

Sunday 4th June is Trinity Sunday. As its name suggests, Trinity Sunday is a time to focus on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the teaching that there is one God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It has become a bit of a tradition for Curates to be asked to preach upon the Trinity as it is notoriously difficult! Somehow, with two churches being closed and a guest preacher at St Piran’s I have managed not to be preaching upon the Trinity this year….

The Trinity offers us a precious gift of relationship, a grounded connection with God, self, others and the world. This Easter Season invited us to be in relationship with Jesus; it awakened us to a way of living, loving and relating. We are invited to be like the Trinity-living in absolute relatedness.

During the recent pandemic, I realised more and more that we are all together in a web of mutual interdependence. When we recognise this on a spiritual level, we call it love.

We know it is through Love, we come to know God. As Christians we believe that God is revealed to us as a Trinity-three persons who are who they are because of how they love one another. It is in God’s nature to love, to reach out to all.

So, dear reader, the lawnmower sits in the garage like an elephant in the room…do I mow or not? I am pondering a bit off a strim and leaving nature to do it’s thing and not try to manipulate it. We are stewards of the earth and wildlife and nature is struggling enough without me trying to interfere and decree what grows in the garden. ‘No mow May’ has galvanised me to try and attract more nature and wildlife into our garden.

We have a ‘Green Champion’ at Devoran Church in the shape of Clare Chipman who is working with the Diocese on our green credentials. Thanks to Clare we are kept up to date on the projects and strategies that will help us to be better stewards of what God has given to us.

I do wish you could all share in my view at this moment… I am sitting at my desk and opposite me is a sofa. Willow (the Pug) is lying across the top of it and Marnie (Bulldog pup) is lying blow her, on the cushions. Both are stretched out, snoring like warthogs! It is a scene of absolute peace (for them, as their snoring may well be a call to any passing elephants or blue whales…!)

Whatever your week holds, I hope it too is peaceful and blessed.

Revd. Karen

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