Crockham Hill February 2025 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 19
From the Pulpit
Revd Dave, Vicar
At the start of Lent, spring has very much sprung, although somewhat in
confusion. Flowers that would normally be blooming at different times
seem to be racing each other to be first out. Others that never bloom at
this time of year are throwing their lot in too, while yet others never
stopped flowering all winter!
Nature seems to be bewildered, and little wonder as climate change
accelerates. The chaotic beauty around us is a reminder that we all need
to do our bit, and a bit more than that, to safeguard creation.
Alongside this, of course, there is chaos in the human world, too. Long held
assumptions about the relationships between nations have been, and are
being, challenged and re-shaped. We do not know what will come. Perhaps
we can hope that, by Easter, the people of Ukraine will be celebrating a just
and compassionate peace. But, as I write, I am more doubtful than hopeful.
Nonetheless, as we travel through April towards Good Friday and the
remembered mystery of the empty tomb on that first Easter morning two
thousand years ago, we can be comforted that, back then, all hope seemed
lost. Defeat was absolute.
Then, overnight, the world changed. Unbelievable, unlooked-for 8Good
News9 leaked out. Brought first by the women who were doubted and
ignored, then by Peter and the beloved disciple, and by travellers on the
road to Emmaus. The nation-changing, empire-shaking, life-transforming
news spread: He is Risen. Jesus lives. He lives, carrying his wounds, and
taking them into the love of God the Father.
The local church carries this message of hope and love for everyone down
through the generations. We inherit what we believe is eternal and
proclaim it anew, unchanging yet never quite the same. It is a sacred trust.
We celebrate it every week and offer it at baptisms, weddings and funerals
for anyone who lives locally.
Holy Trinity is now in a united Benefice with St Mary9s in Westerham,
bringing hope and a shared future for both parishes. But, of course, the
world does not sit still. I passionately believe in the transforming message
of the Gospel for the whole of creation, but I am also very aware that a
building like our beautiful parish church needs to be maintained, lit, heated
and tended. The cost of this is rising all the time and our parish, like all
parishes, only survives on the money we are able to raise.
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