In the epistle to the Hebrews (11:1-3 and 8-16) we are reminded that Abraham obeyed God’s call when, as an old man, he "set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance". This place, that Abraham and many after him were seeking, as the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, was a "homeland… a better country, that is, a heavenly one", or the city of God. That Abraham was sent on this journey late in his life was indicative of the hope that God gives us all: it is never too late! In the same way Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who was to conceive and bear children when she thought she was too old, also demonstrates that we are all valued as children of God. Moreover Abraham and Sarah were given the responsibility to be the parents of a nation – a nation whose identity was built upon their relationship to God. That is what the Old Testament defines as Israel – the people of God: seeking God and loved by God.

In the New Testament the church is defined as the body of Christ, because we are brought together through faith in him, but we are still the people of God. We are so used to the term ‘church’, as meaning a building, often, like St Faith’s, a beautiful, historic building. But church really means the pilgrim people – the people sent out by Christ to convey the love of God and gospel of Christ to those around them. The disciples were sent out by Jesus to teach, preach and heal and in the Acts of the Apostles we read how they did this and formed communities of faith.

In the same vein then we are the latter day pilgrim people of God, setting out in faith and love, leaving the security of ‘home’ and seeking God’s city, homeland or better country. This metaphor of pilgrim is a helpful one in our contemporary culture. There is a great sense of transience and change (probably more than we like) so travelling along our journey with fellow pilgrims is a comfort as well as a unifying identity.

This then spells out challenges for the church. We need to travel light and free ourselves of excess baggage and face the uncertain future with confidence and hope. As we travel we offer to those we meet our faith and access to the infinite, loving God who has become one with us in Jesus. At the same time we seek to find Christ in all whom we meet and to affirm their importance and unique value in the eyes of God.

But travelling on a journey is not nearly as secure as staying at home, locking the door, putting on the TV and drinking a cup of tea! Being pilgrim people is risky business and I sense the fears in our community at this time. One of those is about the adoption of contemporary language in our worship, which boils down to saying ‘you’ and ‘your’ rather than ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ and the response to ‘The Lord be with you’ becomes ‘and also with you’ rather ‘and with thy spirit’. The P.C.C. decided to accept contemporary language in their July meeting, but the majority was small. It seems to me that the best way to proceed is to draw up orders of service that the P.C.C. can approve. Only when the P.C.C. approves the form of worship by a sizeable (75%) majority shall we adopt it.

Another fear is the removal of pews from our church! The pews are loved as symbols of tradition and order and, understandably, they are greatly valued. On the other hand it is good to have a flexibility to our worship space, as was seen by the successful Family Service in the Hall on the 4^th July. So how are we to move forward the proposal to improve the flexibility of space and give everyone the chance to comment? The process is set up like this: in the first place the Worship group is drawing up a specification for the needs and desires of our worship space. This specification will be put together with one concurrently being produced by the Property Development Group, which will describe our needs for the church as a whole. This may list such things as storage space, improved toilet facilities, upgraded choir vestry or clergy vestry and perhaps a suite of rooms for the Sunday Club and decent catering facilities, etc. (I’m just making educated guesses at this stage).

This specification of the needs for the church building and surrounding churchyard would be shared with the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC). They in turn would recommend a number of ‘visionary’ architects, who would demonstrate to us the way they might go about meeting those needs. We would then appoint the architect who best represented our aspirations, and s/he would produce plans for us to consider. At this point we would consult widely and you would have the chance to comment on the plans before the P.C.C. approves the final version. Only when the P.C.C. approves by a sizeable majority (75%) would we move forward with these plans. In terms of time we hope to be in the consultation stage by summer 2005.

So you can see that being a pilgrim people has its share of uncertainty as we step out in faith. Yet we have other securities – such as the knowledge that only schemes approved by the considerable majority of the P.C.C. will come into being. May God go with us as we venture forth in the name of Christ, and may our journey bring us to the city of God.                                                              Fr. David

I have from an early age always admired writers, so not surprisingly I thought I would look this month (and next!) at the gospel writers. When I first read the Bible as a teenager, I thought the four gospel writers - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - were contemporaries of Jesus, writing about events they had witnessed at first hand. This is true of John, who was one of our Lord's disciples, but not of the other three. Luke tells us that many others had written gospels and traces of them have been found, notably one of Thomas who, from the fragments found, seemed to have concentrated on the words of Jesus rather than the events of his ministry. The early Church considered merging the four gospels into one but wisely chose to retain them. The gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke are very similar in detail, so much so that they are termed the Synoptic Gospels (from the Greek word meaning to view together). Unlike the other three, John's gospel starts where the other three finish. In effect, it gives a theological discourse on our Lord's ministry. So what do we know about the four gospel writers?

We do not know who Matthew was, although most experts consider that Matthew was the Christian name of the tax collector Levi mentioned in both Mark's and Luke's Gospels. In these accounts, Levi is called by our Lord as he was "collecting custom", and Levi invites our Lord and others, considered undesirables at the time, to a meal in his home. Tax collectors were hated, not like the Inland Revenue today (who am I kidding!). The reason being that they were working for the occupying power, the Romans, and they were required to extort more money than the taxes levied to give themselves an income. In fact it was a very lucrative income, so much so that the posts were auctioned to the highest bidders! Matthew's Gospel has been described as written by a Jew to Jews about a Jew. There is uncertainty about when it was written and the best that experts have come up with is between AD 50-1OO. Much of his Gospel is identical with Mark's, which experts consider was the original text.

We can be a little more precise about Mark. There is strong evidence that he was John (the Jewish name) Mark (the Christian name) and that the Church met in his mother's house in Jerusalem. He was a cousin of Barnabas, who travelled with Paul. In fact Mark travelled on Paul's first missionary journey but returned home halfway through the tour. He subsequently gave great support to Paul when he was in prison. Without doubt, Mark's was the first Gospel written, probably AD 65-70 or earlier, and it was the shortest.

Mark's Gospel contrasts sharply with Matthew's, which is more formal and concentrates more on the words of Jesus. Mark's was written in the same chronological sequence as our Lord's ministry. It is lively and vivid, suggesting that it was based on a first-hand account from an eyewitness, giving credence to the theory that Mark wrote it in Rome with Peter. Mark took trouble to explain Jewish customs, which suggests he was also writing for non-Jews.

What of Luke and John? For that you must get next month's "Faith Matters".               Roger Bryant

The Kairos programme is a challenge to fresh thinking about our churches and our parishes. As part of this I'd like to invite you to revise your impression of the Mothers' Union (MU), the largest Christian charity in the world, with 3 million members in over 72 countries.

The MU has undergone a great transformation in recent years, and is no longer the same as most people's image of it. Many people still assume it consists of small local groups of elderly women who frown on divorcees and who meet to exchange recipes and gossip. In reality it is very different. It is now open to all baptised Christians, including single, separated and divorced women, and there are even 1,000 men members in this country. It also leads the way in social concern and in community service, in this country and abroad. This means that the original name 'Mothers' Union doesn't exactly reflect its membership, but it is hard to think of another name which would do. At least the name is a reminder of one of its main concerns, which is Christian marriage and family life. The modem MU is working hard to encourage and support parents, including single parents, and to promote conditions in society favourable to stable family life and the protection of children.

Finally, the MU is firmly based on prayer and worship. A recent "Quiet Day" in Holy Week attracted over 50 MU members from the parishes on the Island. Members are linked around the world between local branches, in mutual prayer and support, many branches have a regular corporate Communion in their parish church, and there is a monthly diocesan Communion at 12 noon on the third Wednesday of every month, attended by an increasing number of members. Altogether the 21^st century MU is something we should be proud of, and something for which we should give thanks.

This year was the first year I have had the chance to do the sponsored abseil for the church. It was to raise funds to restore the church buildings. It was very exiting, but very nerve racking, as it was a 220ft drop. This year I was the youngest person doing the abseil (12 years old), which was a bit scarier, but I still did the abseil. When we reached to the top, we put on the equipment (harness and hard hat). Then we went down a level to practice using the equipment, by being tied to a metal fence. Then we all lined up at the top, until we were called. When I was called up, the rope was connected to my harness, right handed, so I had to climb back over the edge to reconnect the rope, as I am left handed. And my Mum and Dad thought I had chickened out! But when I got to the bottom I was really pleased because I had just abseiled 220ft down the side of a building. But I was relieved to be back on the ground!

How many of us haven’t sat in a pew and been charmed by a baby or child sitting close by? even our own? However, how much of the service have you remembered? Mothers monitor behaviour rather than receive spiritual nourishment themselves. But raising children takes years and that is too long to deny your spiritual longings. These were the musings of Sue Delaney in The Tablet (17 July 04). She went on to say that at home, you can’t meditate while the child is awake. When the child sleeps, there are other things to do, including maybe falling asleep yourself - not surprising for a physically demanding job, especially if mum works outside the home as well. She wondered if older mothers could become spiritual companions. Her article set off a few letters in response. One said we should live with our distractions and meet God there. Another suggested that our children are a means to maturity, wisdom and insight and that spiritual opportunities abound? e.g., through hands-on serving, nurturing ourselves as we nurture others. This is given maximum opportunity as we teach prayers to children at home and thus enhancing our own prayer life. Who expects or needs solitude and silence, she asks.

I for one. And I remember one place where I got it when the children were small was while washing up, although at the time I remember my parish priest suggesting that I should concentrate on the job in hand. In fact I could do that job on automatic pilot, but he probably could not, and I guess that is the point. As individuals our needs are different. What speaks to one is different for another. I would be willing to be a spiritual companion and accompany any who were interested, to go to a Taize service in Portsmouth Cathedral, 8pm 26^th September or 31^st October. This is a reflective service with readings and singing simple chants, which originated in Taize, France, and lots of atmosphere. Phone me on 023 9247 2489 to make arrangements.                                                                                Sybel Laird

It was sad to attend the funeral service at Havant Methodist Church on 6^th August of Alan Eastwick who was a member of our group for approximately 18 months.

Although he was struggling with a progressive illness and had limited mobility, he always showed a lively interest in his artwork and never failed in his quiet, smiling way to share his enthusiasm with other members of the group.

He will be sorely missed.                                                                                                            Derek Bowley

Question: "What is a Faculty and why do we need it?" (This is in relation to getting work done in the church. Why can't we, as a parish, just get somebody to do the job without a faculty?)

Answer: The faculty system exists to protect the Church’s heritage. If, for example, the wrong paint was applied to church walls and irreparable damage ensued because they couldn’t ‘breathe’ properly, then who would be responsible? The process of applying to the Chancellor of the Diocese for permission to decorate or affect the structure of the church is administered through the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC). So any application for works goes to the DAC, and only when they give their approval can the proposal then go to the Chancellor for final approval. The system is in the process of being simplified to reduce time, money and unnecessary administration, but it is still an important and vital system to protect churches from abuse – even well intentioned abuse!

Did you read what the Right Reverend Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme, Manchester, wrote in a newsletter for the Manchester diocese? "I will not sing the hymn, ‘I vow to thee my country all earthly things above’ despite the good tune. I think it is heretical because a Christian’s ultimate responsibility and accountability is to God. And this is where my unease is focused. I see all humankind as my brothers and sisters. I want to enjoy and celebrate the kaleidoscope of the world in which I live, not cut myself off from it. Any notion of national superiority or fierce independence, while pouring scorn on our neighbours, is profoundly unchristian and wrong."

His newsletter went on to say "The belief that we can survive economically and politically on our own, and indeed that it is something to be proud of, is frankly foolish myth. Undergirding it, I suspect is a deep-seated fear of difference, a wish for a white-dominated simple world of Englishness."

His attack on English nationalism, he says, was prompted by the flags that swept the country for St. George’s Day and Euro 2004 and by the commemoration of the 60^th anniversary of D-Day. Bishop Lowe said that he believes the hymn is "dangerous" and added "My country, right or wrong, is not an appropriate sentiment for Christians to uphold."

Do you agree with the Bishop? Following his argument, then we should ban "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory". Is there anything wrong with English nationalism? Some would say that we don’t do enough of it.

This miracle appears in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark (10.v46). It took place in Jericho where Jesus had been resting. Lang describes how "the great feast was drawing near and the city was full of people on their way to Jerusalem, in all the mingled fervour of a religious holiday. But the centre of excitement was the great Prophet of Galilee. He was also going to Jerusalem."

An eager and expectant crowd gathered around Him as He set off because they had heard of His words and works. Included in their number was a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. He sat by the wayside listening for the approach of Jesus, of whom he had heard such tales. As the noise of the crowd increased, he realised that Jesus was passing by and he shouted "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me." He kept shouting but the crowd in its excitement rebuked him, telling him to be silent. Still he kept shouting until Jesus became aware of him and commanded that he be brought to Him. Someone in the crowd said to Bartimaeus, "Be of good cheer, arise, He calleth thee."

Our Lord said, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Bartimaeus replied, "Lord, that I might receive my sight." Jesus said, "Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." Immediately, his sight was restored. Lang marvels, "How wonderful that a man's first sight should have been the face of Jesus." Lang sees this miracle in the context of a crowd rather resentful of the intrusion of the blind beggar. He was a hindrance, the crowd wanted to surround and follow Jesus. They did not want to share Him with the beggar and yet now Bartimaeus is walking with the crowd, loudly glorifying God.

Lang says that the blind man is a beggar because he cannot be master of himself. "His steps are uncertain, there comes a time when he is helpless and depends on the guidance or pity of others." Our spiritual blindness beggars us. It robs us of sureness and confidence. Lang asks how the light of Jesus can reach our eyes. By faith is his answer. Lang reasons that, "We must have an eager desire for sight; the belief that Jesus can give it and that He is present to give; and the actual coming to Him to claim." We need Jesus - the Light of the World - to give us clear sight of the final truth. Amen.                                                                                                                                             Roger Bryant

And there's more! In fact, just three more captions from postcards. Joy Bryant

"Indecision is the key to flexibility!"

We had arrived after the first major shock, but there followed many after shocks and tremors which shook down those few buildings and walls which had remained standing, leaving Argostoli completely in ruins. These tremors were enough for me, I certainly would not have relished experiencing the first major shock which, so it was said, caused the water in the harbour to rush completely out seawards and then surge back in a huge tidal wave.

I met and talked with many local people whilst I was there – most could speak some English – they all expressed their thanks for our help and assistance. However, I did feel that there were some deep animosities remaining among them from the wartime occupation and the troubled post war period. Thankfully that troubled period is now well in the past and Cephalonia is once again a unique and blessed isle.                                                                                                                                     John Bradey

The parish of Havant has begun its participation in Kairos. Fortnightly meetings of the ‘Cluster’ group began in July where Victoria Smith, Martin Poliszczuk, Fr David Williams and Fr David Gibbons representing St Faith and St Nicholas, Havant, joined others from the parishes of St Mary, St Andrew and St Peter, Hayling Island, St James, Emsworth and St Thomas, Warblington.

Within the parish a group, called the Property and Development Group, is assisting in the work of Kairos. Our first priority is to undertake an internal audit. This consists of:

• The Buildings Questionnaire
• A Property and Finance Audit
• A SWOT analysis of all our buildings (SWOT means Strengths/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats)
• A Spirituality audit
• An audit of People and Ministry

The first three are complete and are on display on the Kairos Notice board in church. The last two are due for completion by the end of September, and we will need your assistance to complete this audit, in the shape of another questionnaire, which is currently being devised. Thank you for your help.

The purpose of gathering this information is to enable us to assess our strengths as a community and to recognise our potential as well as our needs.

In the second and largest part of the Kairos Research process we will examine the needs of the Community. This phase of the research begins in September. By meeting with various community leaders we will establish the ways in which we may be able to respond to the community’s needs. This in turn informs the way we organize ourselves in order to most effectively meet those identified needs for which we are uniquely able to respond.

A small boy, seeing a funeral passing, asked what was in the coffin. On being told, 'A body', asked, "If there's room do they put the head in as well?"

Pam LeGoaziou is our representative for this link to West Africa. We have recently formed a link to the parish of St John the Divine in Nsawam, Ghana. As it happens their priest, the Ven. Felix Annuncy (who is also Archdeacon of Koforidua) is a friend of my father, the Ven. Kenneth Gibbons – it’s a small world! Their friendship is purely coincidental and of no consequence in our link to Nsawam, which was set up by the Diocese of Portsmouth’s IDWAL co-ordinator.

The link gives us the chance to learn about the church in Ghana and the community of Nsawam, as well as the Diocese of Koforidua. Pam is set to visit Koforidua in October and we look forward to hearing about her trip on her return. The link also gives us the chance to be helped by the church of Ghana and for us to help them. Perhaps there are resources available to them of which we are ignorant and vice-versa. We shall see.

One of the aims with the links we have set up this year, such as this one, the Mercy Ships, Christian Aid, Rod and Glenda Thomas in Japan and Mission to Seafarers is to understand more about these areas of mission we support financially. It is my hope that by also supporting them in prayer and learning more about their work we will be able to increase the amount we support them as a whole.

It has been suggested we have a prayer page in the Magazine. Maybe, if there is a favourite prayer you have, you can share it with us. The children are very good at writing their prayers, so let’s have some please. If you can let Colin Carter have them. Here are a couple to start off with (the second will appear in next month’s magazine).                                                                                  Jenny Sagrott

God of all time,

God beyond and behind time

May we know what is too late,

And what is too soon.

May we always recognise

The right time

In the light of

Your timeless love. Amen

Wilton House stands on the site of a ninth century nunnery founded by King Alfred. This, in turn, was replaced by a twelfth century Benedictine abbey which, with its surrounding lands, was surrendered at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries, to King Henry VIII, who gave them to William Herbert around 1542. Wilton House has remained in the family since that time and is the home of the Earl of Pembroke.

Most parishioners had brought a picnic lunch and had it in the beautiful gardens. The weather was warm with long sunny periods and ideal for enjoying the tranquillity of the river with the ducks. After the picnic many walked alongside the River Nadder from the Palladian Bridge, past the Victorian boathouse, Egyptian column and loggia, around the Woodland Walk, Water Garden, Whispering Seat, Old English Rose garden and the huge children's adventure playground.

Separate from the house was a room showing past times. It included a Victorian Laundry, extracts from newspapers from the Second World War, details of the D-Day landings, and many other interesting relics.

At 4pm, we departed Wilton House for Salisbury Cathedral and had a cream tea in the restaurant under its glass roof, with views to the spire soaring 404 ft. above us. The restaurant looks like a conservatory built between two walls. (Many parishioners commented how nice it would be if St. Faith’s could have something similar).

Adjacent to the restaurant, purchases were made in the Cathedral Shop, which had a wide range of confectionery, souvenirs, gifts and books.

After tea, we had time to quickly look around the cathedral, before the 5.30pm Choral Evensong. We sat in the South Quire Aisle alongside the choir of St. Peter’s in Limpsfield, Kent (the cathedrals own choir was singing at Chichester Cathedral).

After evensong, it was time to depart, and we arrived back at the old Post Office at 7.25pm, reflecting on a wonderful day’s outing that was organised superbly by Sandra Haggan.

Tonight's sermon will be "What is hell". Come early and listen to our choir practice.