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HOLY TRINITY’S NEWS
LAST WORD MONTHLY PAGE 2
PENTECOST 20 SUNDAY 26h. OCTOBER 2008
LAST WORD
It’s been one of those weeks. Remember the cavity wall insulation? They came last Saturday, but even
with the help of my battery charger couldn’t
start the compressor on their van, and disappeared with it back to the depot. Sunday I was in Newton for morning services, then Evening Praise. Monday wasn’t too bad, though I struggled with a letter for the Clyne Deanery clergy protesting at the new Parish Share allocations, and went to a meeting on the same subject in Gorseinon that evening.
Tuesday there were a couple of meetings in the morning, and I took a bit of time to garden before service and PCC. The big issue was the rearrangement of the Sunday service rota. Since there is now only one of me (you know what I mean – one priest working in the parish), we can’t
have two eucharists at the same time. More difficult was how many services I could handle. Would people say I ought to do more? In the event,
they said I ought to do less, and I was both relieved and grateful. We haven’t solved the rota, but we’re working on it.
Wednesday looked routine (2 morning services and a committee over lunch), until I was nearly made late
for the first service by a phone call about finding Nursing home care for my cousin in Plymouth, currently in hospital. Four or five phone calls later, we may have resolved that happily.
Stress is always part of ministry, and this has not been a low tension week. The good thing has been the awareness of prayer (I’ve always needed other people praying for me!), and its effectiveness. Praying in tongues has particularly helped when it was not clear what to ask. Andrew Knight
PENTECOST 23 SUNDAY 19th. OCTOBER 2008
LAST WORD
Writing on Friday morning, I am preparing for the cavity wall insulation of the Vicarage tomorrow. Thanks to
subsidies this is now remarkably inexpensive (and met from this year’s Easter Offering – thank you very much!).
Indeed, for those over a certain age, or receiving benefits, it may be actually free – so you might want to look into
it for yourselves or for relatives!
I hope it will mean both a slightly warmer house, and lower costs for heating – you can imagine that a house this size takes some warming, with the result that we tend to heat rooms rather than the whole in cold weather. Some rooms have two or even three outside walls, with the inevitable results.
The low cost – I was told that a few years ago it would have been around £2,000, whereas now it is just £600 – are because of subsidies offered to counter climate change. We need to release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from fossil fuels, so using less heating (mainly coal, gas or oil) will help to meet targets. It’s nice to feel that not only are we going to be more comfortable, but that we are also doing something good for the community.
Of course there are still some Christians who don’t take green issues seriously as a matter of faith. (As there were those unconcerned about slavery, apartheid, and other “social” issues). I can’t accept that. The environment is not the only Christian concern, and perhaps not the first issue to deal with, but our attitude does reflect on our belief in, and respect for, a creator God. You can’t rubbish the planet without deeply injuring your neighbour, and there’s no excuse now for not knowing the consequences of your actions. ANDREW KNIGHT