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How well are we passing on the good news in this parish?


This year St Michael’s church is celebrating its foun- dation, 150 years ago, when it was built to serve the needs of the growing population of Abingdon. All three churches in the parish have re-ordered their inte- riors to meet the needs of their current congregations, to welcome visitors, to maintain their unique buildings – and to look towards the future needs of Christians in this town. But what will that future bring? Can we have the confidence of those Victorian builders that we are planning for 150 years, 100 years, 50 years…?


Our country was built on Christian traditions, which have been maintained in our town for well over a thou- sand years. But now our congregations are ageing, our churches are difficult to maintain and keep open, to reach out to the town community and visitors.


A recent national survey shows that 42% of people now have no faith. The majority of weddings and fu- nerals are now humanist in nature, and schools are being urged to teach humanism as a religion. Islam is the predominant religion in many inner city schools, including those in Oxford.


Can we ensure the younger generation will keep the Faith strong in Abingdon-on-Thames?


Recall the words of psalm 78:


We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s power


And his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done…


So they may learn them and in turn should tell their children…


If you regularly worship, as I do, at St Helen’s at the 10.30am Eucharist on Sundays, you will no doubt be delighted by the Junior Church and Quest presenta- tions at the end of the service. It is obvious that these young people are enjoying learning about ‘the Lord’s power, his great deeds, and the wonderful things he has done’, through Bible stories and exciting activities. They are very keen and excited to show us what they have learnt. I am sure this also happens in the other parish churches. But these are children whose parents bring them to church regularly and encourage them in the faith.


Over the Christmas period, several local schools held their Carol Services in St Helen’s, and the one which I attended gave a wonderfully colourful and reverent rendering of the Christmas story. On Christmas Eve, the Christingle service was attended by 903 people; the atmosphere was joyful; whole families came, and


February 2017


Passing on the Good News Carol Worthington


waited patiently for half an hour while the church filled up. When the service started, everyone was at- tentive, watching closely as children brought the Holy family to the crib, singing the carols with true feeling, and carefully lighting their Christingles – it was a very spiritual occasion, in which I, and many others, re- joiced.


When I remarked on this to a fellow congregation member who had not been there, she said, “but they only come once a year; we won’t see them again”.


She was probably right, but what can we do to redress this? I certainly felt that the atmosphere at the Christingle, and midnight Eucharist too, to a certain extent, was subtly different from before. I felt people were more involved in the worship; they were listen- ing to the readings and the prayers with great attention. I wondered if it had to do with the feeling of insecurity engendered by the momentous happenings of 2016, in this country and around the world…


I have written several times for this magazine about the parish ministry to schools, and have set up presen- tations about Diocesan initiatives such as ‘Open the Book’ and prayer spaces. There has been some posi- tive progress; we have joined with other CiA churches and the Prayer Space Movement to set up and super- vise prayer spaces in local schools. These are very popular and welcomed by head teachers, but school demand outstrips the supply of volunteers…


‘Open the Book’ is a Bi- ble Society course which enables primary school children to hear and act out Bible stories, taken from both the Old and New Testaments, during assemblies. They are very popular with children and their teachers. The course is welcomed in many schools with Muslim populations, since Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is an Abrahamic religion. It also recognises Jesus as a prophet and Mary as his mother.


We are trying to get together a group to start ‘Open the Book’ in the Parish, building on the experience of other CiA groups with whom we have contact. In this we are very lucky to have our new Associate Priest, the Revd Mary Williamson, who has experience of running the course in her previous parish.


Can you volunteer to ‘tell the next generation’, with the hope of helping to preserve Christian Worship in this town for the future?


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