Welcome to St Swithins Church

By The Rev Matt earwicker

Villages - April 2024...

Dear Friends

It’s Easter again. The highest point in the Christian year. Christmas might have the bigger parties, but it is Easter which Christians have always considered the turning point in the history of the world (even if St Bede understandably felt that our years should be counted from the birth of Jesus, not his death). Because Easter marks both the lowest point in human existence—when humanity was willing to kill the creator of all that exists, animate and inanimate—and the starting point of hope for the future. It is the point where God shows how much he is committed to making this work.

That’s a challenging phrase, isn’t it - “make it work”? It reminds us that some important decisions—even though we feel relatively certain we are making the right choice—require effort even after the decision is made. Whether that is a business deal with a new supplier, a tricky family situation, or some other commitment that stretches our resources, we want it to be successful, but that will only happen if we throw ourselves at it. At which point what really matters is the reason or reasons why we made that decision.

When I was a teenager, my school day began with getting up at 5.45 to get to the station to catch a train that took about an hour, and then walk a mile to school. The school day finished at 6.05pm, and I would be home just before 8, ready to eat, do some homework and go to bed. And I imagine that many of you have had similar times in your lives, whether the reason was school, work, family or something else. The point is not that I think I’m amazing for doing it, but rather that it never bothered me because I loved my school time so much (well, most of it, anyway - I never enjoyed cross country running). It wasn’t will power, nor fear of my parents that got me up in the morning, but a desire to make the most of the amazing opportunity I had.

And it’s similar with God. The Bible teaches us that Jesus didn’t die out of a sense of duty, nor an exaggerated desire to prove himself, but because the reason mattered to him so much: his love for all humanity. God didn’t look at his creation and think, “well, it’s a mess, but it’s all I’ve got, so I’d better make the most of it.” Jesus famously says that it was because God loved the world so much that he sent his son to die for us.

Easter is a time of joy as spring returns, hopefully with a little less rain in store for us this year. The lengthening days, the blossoming flowers and the fresh food to eat raise our spirits. But the greatest joy of all is that it is a time when we remember that God truly does love us all and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that relationship work. And that lifts my heart even more than the sunniest day.

“May Christ, who out of defeat brings new hope and a new future, fill you with his new life.”

With every blessing, Matt

From Bishop Karen~ Bishop of SHERBORNE

January 2025

At the end of 1992 we all remember the late Queen describing the year as an Annus Horribilis. Well, in a way 2024 has been an Annus Horribilis for the Church of England. The publication of the Makin Report into the horrific abuse of boys by a trusted lay leader which went unchecked for years and the subsequent resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury has caused a mirror to be held up to the church. The use and abuse of power, the nature of deference, the lack of transparency of processes, the need for truth and the ability or inability of the church to govern itself have all been called into question.

There is an urgent need for us to look honestly at ourselves afresh, to right the wrongs where we can, and when I say ‘we’ I mean all of us affiliated to the Church of England. To listen and learn from the victims and survivors of abuse and to support them in whatever way possible; to create greater transparency within our structures local, diocesan and national, and to consider where our own behaviour falls short as we follow the way of Christ.

A New Year creates the opportunity to resolve to change things. To be a church that is honest about its failings and determined to bring to the light things which have been hidden. To talk about hard topics honestly and safely where every voice counts, including safeguarding, human sexuality, our financial obligations, racial justice, and how we include or exclude. Too often as we look back, we can see it is fear that entraps us, and causes us to act in certain ways, to remain silent. So in response as we look ahead let’s declare 2025 as the year we begin to banish fear, and pay heed to the Psalmist ' The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1.

The Rt Revd Karen Gorham, Bishop of Sherborne