Today is the Second Sunday before Advent, but it is also known as Safeguarding Sunday, and has provided an apposite moment for us
to speak to each other about everything that has been happening in The Church of England over the past week. It has provided an
opportunity for people to share some very strong emotions - especially anger and sadness - and the unpleasant experience of wounds
reopened by the terrible stories of abuse being told. Within today's pewsheet the Rector released, with the support of the
churchwardens and our Parochial Church Council, the following statement. It includes an offer of support for any and all who have
been impacted, and the various ways that support can be accessed.
The publication of the Makin Review last week has rightly aroused great distress in our church, and well beyond it. The facts of
the appalling abuse, violence, and pain inflicted by John Smyth were already known due to the forensic and courageous work of those
who sought them out and who provided a safe space for those who were Smyth's victims to share what they suffered. What was not fully
known was the extent of the cover-up that followed, perpetrated by those who believed themselves zealous for the faith, but who - it
is clear - have been the cause of great hurt to the very thing they claimed to love.
Due to the passage of time, many of those most closely implicated have died. The reaction to this report has, therefore, centred on
the failures of the senior leadership of our church to properly hear, listen, and respond to the hundreds of stories that could be
told. Those failures have been particularly associated with the person of Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, but only a
fool would fail to recognise that there were others, or that anything short of a systemic failure could produce such deafness to
the voices of so many who merely wanted to be heard.
Moments of crisis in the Church of God often arise when we have come to trust too much in ourselves and fail to attend to the reality
of whose church this is. Our head is not an archbishop nor a king, but Jesus Christ who alone ransoms, heals, restores, and forgives.
In this time of distress, we must return to him - who gives us more than we could desire or deserve - and be renewed as his servants
once again. It is to him that we shall render account, but it is also for love of him and of our neighbour, that we strive to do all
that is possible to protect people from harm and to promote a safe and healthy church. The responsibility for safeguarding belongs
to us all, but our clergy, staff, wardens, and volunteers understand well the leadership responsibility that falls to them, and their
role in setting culture and vision.
There will be much of this in our prayers in the coming days, not least as this Sunday is designated Safeguarding Sunday, and as we
pray for the victims and survivors and for the archbishop and his family. If we can offer specific space for anyone to discuss the
issues that the Makin Review has raised, or for those who wish to raise concerns, we would be very glad to do so.
The Bishop of Peterborough has issued a statement
If you have been affected in any way by the Makin Review, Safespaces is a charity offering confidential, independent, support.
If you would like to report a safeguarding concern, you can do so by speaking to our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Dr Robin Shepherd.
You can contact Robin via form on the contact us page.
You can also speak to Oliver Longden or Rachel Hewison the Deputy Parish Safeguarding Officers. Their contact details are available
from the Parish Office, which you can call on 01604 632845 or contact the office via form on the contact us page.
Alternatively, the Peterborough Diocesan Safeguarding team can be contacted by email safeguarding@peterborough-diocese.org.uk
Oliver J Coss
Rector
Today is the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, and the gospel will speak of Jesus healing a blind man and his meeting with the Syrophoenician
woman, and we shall pray for His Majesty the King on this his second Accession Day.
Services are at 8:00am, 9:15am, and 10:30am this morning. The town will be holding Northampton Music Festival this weekend, meaning road closures
around St Giles' Square, but we're delighted to hear news from West Northamptonshire Council that after a very, very long closure Bridge
Street is finally open. This marks the end of a significant period of hardship for traders, residents, and worshippers in the town centre,
and we look forward to further easing in restriction as works to the Market Square and Abington Street come closer to a conclusion as the Autumn progresses.
All are welcome to our worship, and there's no charge to enter.
Praiséd be the Lord of the Harvest, who hast sent labourers into his harvest!
A huge congratulations to Father Nicolas, who was made a deacon in the Church of God yesterday (18th July). He will deacon the Holy Mysteries, proclaiming the gospel
and preparing the altar next Sunday at 8:00am and 10.30am.
It'll also be the final choir Sunday of the year, and so some spectacular music is in store together with valedictions for departing choristers.
We'll also be making up some of our probationers.
Additionally, It'll also be Dr Robin Sheppard's 90th Birthday, and with huge gladness we shall be giving thanks with him.
Armed Forces Day will be marked in Northampton this year on Saturday 29th June. There will be stalls and events on the Piazza in front of All Saints.
We're also delighted to note that two others known well to All Saints' are also preparing for ordination. Please remember former All Saints' Director
of Music, Lee Dunleavy, who will be made deacon on Sunday 30th June at 7.00pm at St George in the Meadow, Nottingham. Ember cards are available at
the back of church. He would love to see anyone who remembers him on this very special occasion - if you would like to attend, please be in touch
with the parish office. Fr Joshua Pollard, who was on placement here in 2022, who will be ordained priest on Sunday 7th July at St Alban's South Norwood.
Please pray for all preparing for ordination, and those in discernment.
I met a lady yesterday who told me that, while watching our broadcast of A Celebration for Pentecost, she nearly called the fire brigade! It has,
nevertheless, been wonderfully overwhelming to see so many kind and enthusiastic comments about Sunday's worship. If you missed it, it's going to
be available on BBC iPlayer for some time, and you can find that here:
Watch 2024: A Celebration for Pentecost on BBC iPlayer
A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the many people who contributed spectacularly to the service, and among them our choristers and our servers
have rightly attracted the highest praise. Jem Lowther is rightly to be lauded for the choir's outstanding performance, and each and every member
of the choir for their skill and commitment. The vast majority of our choir are young people, and my thanks go to parents and carers who enabled
the whole group to keep a highly demanding schedule as the production took shape. The serving was meticulous, and owes much to the leadership
of Tom Brown-Flowers in the sacristy. The preparations and dedication of choir and servers were brought to incredible effect in the 58 minutes
we were 'on air', but most importantly as everyone prepared for a nail-biting experience. While we mostly only saw the back of his head, we
certainly heard Laurence Caldecote give something of a masterclass as he accompanied the choir and the liturgy, demonstrating not merely a highly
enviable talent as an improviser, but a deep bond with our two instruments that brings them to such great effect.
A huge thank you to Alison and Robin, our churchwardens and to their deputies. They knew - I think - from the very start that this would be an
ambitious project, but have been a massive support right the way through. It was they who chose Pradeep and Obi to lead the scripture readings,
and I'm very grateful that they said yes. It was also wonderful to welcome Debbie Sellin, our new diocesan bishop, to preach so splendidly for
us, and to share with our parish in such an undertaking.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to the team from BBC Events who produced this programme. At Easter they were with our Archbishop at Canterbury
Cathedral, and two years ago many were part of the spectacular Coronation Service in Westminster Abbey. Not unreasonably, we mused that hosting
them was somewhat beyond our paygrade. But not only did they take us as we are, supporting us fully right through the planning process, but
having entrusted to them our worship they were hugely sensitive to what we were attempting to share. The result was a programme that seemed to
comprehend the worship of our parish community in a beautifully moving way. Watching it back was a very emotional experience.
Lastly, some of you have been kind enough to point to my own contribution to this. At the outset, we were certain that nothing would go into
this service that wasn't already a part of how we worship: the cameras provided a window into that and the message that this was 'just an
ordinary Sunday' was very important - come on another Sunday, and you'll have a very similar worshipping experience, just without the Floor
Manager helping us start on time! As we did early rehearsals with just a few of us, enabling the crew to set their cameras and other equipment,
a deep apprehensiveness set in. But for the dress rehearsal on Saturday night, our full choir, servers, and team of wardens were there: the
presence of a decent chunk of our church family was a potent reminder of the purpose of our parish life. As Bishop Debbie led us in prayer
while we waited for the Floor Manager to count us down the apprehensiveness melted away, and the Spirit of the Lord led us to the altar. So,
thanks be to God for shattering any sense of performativeness and calling us to worship, as he does daily.
I hope that you were able to participate - whether in church or at home - joyfully in this year's celebration of Pentecost. The response
has been great to read, and it's wonderful to see Northampton positively shown as the excellent place it is.
Oliver J Coss,
Rector
Some months ago we were given permission by the Diocese of Peterborough to assemble a profile and seek a candidate to serve a curacy at All Saints'
Church. This marks a considerable event in the life of any parish, but as it has been some thirty years since we last had a curate here, it is of
particular moment.
I am delighted to announce that Mr Nicolas Boisson will join us from Petertide 2024 as our Assistant Curate. At the time of writing, he is coming to
the end of residential training at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield in West Yorkshire. He will move to Northampton following the conclusion
of his studies in the early summer, and be ordained deacon by Jonathan, Bishop of Fulham (who is kindly overseeing parishes in the Diocese of
Peterborough following Bishop Norman's retirement) sometime in mid-July, at a date and time to be confirmed.
I am very grateful to the diocese for entrusting me and our parish with this training role. It will be something of an adjustment for us all to
reorient our parish life toward equipping and preparing a new minister for ordained ministry in the Church of England. It will involve walking with
him through the intricate process of preparing for ordination to the priesthood in 2025, together with all of the joys and sorrows that will punctuate
that journey. In my (nearly) eight years as your Rector, you have all been part of holding me up, encouraging me on, and helping me to grow and mature.
I am very confident that we will be the same for a new colleague, and a new pastor among us.
I am also indebted to a small group of people, drawn from the membership of our Parochial Church Council, who kindly agreed to meet Nicolas with me and
to provide invaluable advice. While training posts are selected on the basis of the trainer, the role of supporting, equipping, encouraging, and upholding
a new gospel minister belongs to the whole Church. As Nicolas is ordained to the diaconate and to the priesthood among us we will all have our moment to
call out 'Axios!', or 'worthy', in hopeful, prayerful confidence that Jesus Christ has made him so.
I know that you will make Father Nicolas (as he will be known) very welcome. Please remember to keep him continually in your prayers, not merely as he
prepares to be ordained deacon, but as his share in the ministry of Jesus Christ the High Priest unfolds among us in the years to come.
Nicolas writes:
Greetings everyone,
|
I look forward to announcing further details of Nicolas' (nb -- the 's' is silent!) arrival and the arrangements for his ordination in due course.
With every good wish,
Oliver J Coss,
Rector
We are delighted to announce that on Sunday 19th May 2024, the BBC will broadcast our Pentecost morning service live on BBC One. This
special airing will seamlessly integrate with our standard worship practices, likely eliminating the need for our own livestream of the service.
The sermon will be delivered by the Bishop of Peterborough. We will share more details as they become available.
In the meantime, please extend an invitation to your family and friends. We aim to gather as large a congregation as possible for this significant occasion.
The media can often be a dark place, and social media doubly so. The past weeks have seen unhinged speculation, unfounded allegation, and heartless
gossip invade the lives of, presumably, otherwise rational people, as rumours mounted about the Princess of Wales.
The message she has shared this afternoon, and the steadfastness of the Prince is astonishingly moving to watch, not least as we think of their
young family - who are also coping with the illness of their grandfather - and how difficult news like this must be to assimilate.
We shall, in full knowledge of our tendency toward sinful gossip and idle speculation, embark on Holy Week praying that - piece by piece - we might
die to sin and be raised to life. May faith, hope, and light surround the Princess, her family, and all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit.
It has, I think, been no secret that our former Lord-Lieutenant David Laing has been ill recently, and we received the sad news of his death last week. We seem
to be entering another period where our public institutions are short of resource, and even shorter of good ideas. Under David's leadership Northamptonshire
Lieutenancy ably made up what was lacking in so much of our county, reasserting the centrality of Northampton as the County Town, and surrounding himself with
a team who could drive innovation and civic pride in a way that continues to speak powerfully.
In that role, and subsequent to his retirement in 2020, David has been a wise, generous, and faithful friend to All Saints' Church, and was instrumental in
helping us out of a financial crisis in 2017-18 and unto more sound foundations. As the news of his death has reached across the county, countless more
stories of his generosity and kindness have emerged from so many quarters. A private funeral will be celebrated in the coming days, but we have been asked
to hold a memorial service for him later this year, which we shall do with no small measure of pride and privilege. A motto he often used
'let your light shine' was excerpted from St Matthew's Gospel - we all know how that passage ends, and how the shining lights of human beings reflect
the "glory of our Father in heaven". In thanksgiving for David's part in this, we commend him to God in sure hope of the resurrection to eternal life.
It's estimated that 1,100 people receive a cancer diagnosis each day in the United Kingdom. Though medical advances, treatments, and therapies continue to work
wonders for so many people, we will all have the memory of someone close who has not been so fortunate. And one in every two people will have experienced the
terrifying moment when they received a diagnosis, and have had to adjust to life 'with cancer', and whatever that means for them individually.
Yesterday, breaking news bore the unwelcome tidings that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. We are told it has been 'caught early' and have heard from
the statement issued by Buckingham Palace (what will doubtless be comforting news for his family) that his condition it is treatable. For those able, from their
own experience, to empathise, even the terminology will stir strong emotions.
We shall continue our prayers for the King, as (in the spirit of 1 Peter 2) we regularly do, and while we shall ask for his healing and restoration we shall also
pray that whatever suffering he endures might strengthen him in his service of our nation. For "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."
May almighty God, at the intercession of Blessed Mary and Saint Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer sufferers, grant to Charles our King, and to all God's
people, healing, life, and peace.
Our Bishop Norman is retiring on 31st March 2024. He had his last pastoral visit to All Saints' Church as we marked Candlemas on
Sunday 4th February.
We were able to share with him in the celebration of the eucharist, hear a mighty word from the pulpit, and pay tribute to his
generous ministry among us since his consecration in 2011. We shall be remembering him in our prayers as Easter Day approaches,
as well as asking God's blessing on those who will be seeking his successor.
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