Dear Friends
PEOPLE THE LIGHT SHINES THROUGH
On 1st November, many churches celebrate All Saints Day. Perhaps we don’t do this very often in the URC, but I think it’s a really important one to mark. Why? Because saints are all around us, in our lives and our world.
So, what is a saint? In the past I used to think that saints were individuals who were perfect in every way and rather distant from our everyday lives. Now, my favourite description of a saint comes from a story about a little girl. She was on a school trip to a nearby church. When she was looking at the stained glass windows depicting different saints, she exclaimed: “Now I know what a saint is! A saint is a person the light shines through!”
I wonder, can we call recognise—and gave thanks for—all those people in our lives who have been saints to us. All those individuals who have let the light of God’s love, justice and compassion shine through—and transformed our lives as a result?
And can we look more widely and call to mind all those people in our world who by their very lives, let the light shine in deeply challenging times. People who through their words and actions, work to create a better world.
People like:
Martin Luther King who advocated for civil rights in the US
Greta Thunberg who raises awareness about the destructiveness of climate change
Harvey Milk who advocated against the discrimination of LGBTQI people
And I’m sure, each one of us could come up with so many other inspiring individuals.
I also think we can all be saints. Letting the light shine through us by supporting each other, embracing diversity and creating a world where all are safe and loved.
All Saints for yesterday, today and tomorrow.
In peace,
Nicola
Searching for a picture of a stained glass window to illustrate Nicola’s letter I came across the following.
The photograph is of the RAF Memorial window in Durham Cathedral. No doubt, none of the young men who gave their lives on land, sea or air would consider themselves to be saints; but the light continues to shine through that young airman onto us. This month we remember and give thanks for all those young men and women who made that great sacrifice and for all those who still risk their lives in the defence of others.
MJB
| CALENDAR | |||
| NOVEMBER | |||
| 3rd | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers We shall be joined by our friends from Headingley Methodist Church |
| 10th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY. Morning Worship led by Mrs. Sheila Telfer from St. Andrew’s, Roundhay |
| 12th | Tuesday | 12.30pm | Guild Lunch |
| 13th | Wednesday | 9.30am | Elders’ Meeting |
| 17th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 24th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by our Minister, Rev Dr Nicola Robinson We shall be joined by our friends from West Park URC |
| DECEMBER | |||
| 1st | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship for the first Sunday of Advent, led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 12 noon | Advent Lunch | ||
HARVEST GIVING
Our Harvest Appeal for Zarach, the children’s bed poverty charity, raised £930 of which £634 was Gift-aided. Each bed bundle costs the charity £150 and comprises a bed and mattress, bed linen and pyjamas.
This month the Guild were able to send ‘Save the Children’ the sum of £200. We are no longer able to hold special charity events but, over the month, accumulate a small amount from the lunches.
And a reminder that Joan McShane has recently distributed Christian Aid envelopes to support their work in these sad times. If you would like to contribute and have not done so yet, please contact her.
ADVENT LUNCH
We shall be holding our Advent Lunch on the first Sunday of Advent which falls on 1st December. Susan Bollon will be putting a notice up in the Large Hall so you can sign up if you hope to attend and we may have an idea of numbers for catering.
Haphazard by Starlight: Advent Gatherings
A time for reflection and discussion over four weeks, led by the Leeds URC Partnership Ministry Team
Beginning on:
Tuesday 26 November 2:15pm,
West Park URC, Spen Lane, LS16 5BB
Wednesday 27 November 10:45am,
Beeston Hill Church, Malvern Road, LS11 8PD
Thursday 28 November 7:30pm,
on Zoom
For more information, email: revnicola.robinson@gmail.com
GUILD LUNCH
Our November lunch will be held on Tuesday, 12th meeting, as usual at about 12.30pm for lunch at 1o’clock. Friends are welcome to join us for a home-made meal and chat if you have a free day.
CHRISTMAS GIFT SERVICE
Our Gift Service will be on Sunday, 8th December. Monetary donations, toiletries or toys will be divided between Leeds Women’s Aid and the Salvation Army.
Teenagers are usually the age group most difficult to buy for and the Leeds Women’s Aid make sure they are included by giving them gift cards to spend on items they would like.
Monetary donations can be either cheque or cash made out to either charity.
I apologise the lateness of this month’s newsletter. My laptop developed a fault which required a repair. By then, I had already written an article which repeats some of Nicola’s thoughts and I apologise to Nicola and to you for this. But I did want to include Malcolm Guite’s poem and it gave me to excuse for that and to give thanks for some lovely people.
NOVEMBER – a month for Remembering
By the beginning of November the aisles of pumpkins, cobwebs and skeletons and fantastic fancy dress costumes in our supermarkets will be replaced by the sparkle and excitement of Christmas decorations and gifts. But, before we indulge in mince pies and turkey, the church has another festival of celebration and then, later in the month we shall all remember the supreme sacrifice made by so many in two World Wars and the wars that have been waged round the world since then.
So, on 1st November the church celebrates ‘All Saints Day’. On All Saints Day we give ”God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints”, including those who are “famous or obscure”. It is also a day on which to remember those whose ‘saintly acts’ have reached out to others, helped the church to grow or nurtured those of all ages within it. From my childhood I hold dear the teachers in Junior Church who shared their knowledge and faith – I still hear their voices as we recite the Lord’s Prayer together. And those who ran our Youth Groups where we had such fun as we grew in faith and independence- I particularly remember the couple (and her sister) who each week prepared the tea we shared together between our afternoon meeting and evening worship. How we took things for granted! There were over 100 of us!!
I am sure you will all have memories of ‘saints’ in your own lives and of those who lived amongst us at Headingley St Columba; when we arrived in Leeds it was a joy to find own children surrounded by the same love and support that I had experienced. Recently we were reminded one Sunday morning that we were praying surrounded by saints. Malcolm Guite in his sonnet – ‘A Last Beatitude’ reminds us who they are. Our thanks to him for waiving his copyright on reproducing it.
A LAST BEATITUDE
And blessèd are the ones we overlook;
The faithful servers on the coffee rota,
The ones who hold no candle, bell or book
But keep the books and tally up the quota,
The gentle souls who come to “do the flowers”,
The quiet ones who organise the fête,
Church sitters who give up their weekday hours,
Doorkeepers who may open heaven’s gate.
God knows the depths that often go unspoken
Amongst the shy, the quiet, and the kind,
Or the slow healing of a heart long broken
Placing each flower so, for a year’s mind.
Invisible on earth, without a voice,
In heaven their angels glory and rejoice.
MALCOLM GUITE