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FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY
In calculating the period of Lent, Christians do not count Sundays in the forty days and so Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. If you were passing St. Giles’ church at about 11am in the morning or 9.00pm in the evening on Wednesday 22nd February (Ash Wednesday), you may have seen people leaving the church with the sign of the Cross drawn in ash on their foreheads. This is done as a sign of repentance and to show that the person belongs to God, and is known as ‘ashing’. The word ‘Lent’ is not found in the Bible, but then, neither is the word ‘Bible! Originally, “Lent” was nothing more than the English name of the season between winter and summer, the season when the snow melts and the flowers bloom. In Dutch, the word “lente” never changed its meaning. It is still the name of the season between winter and summer, and it is still used in everyday speech. In England, “Lent” came to mean the observance rather than the season, leaving the season without a name until the word “spring” was invented. Now we only tend to use “Lent” instead of “spring” when we refer to the season in the church calendar. When most people think of ‘observing Lent’, they think about giving something up. Indeed, I have heard of four bishops who are giving up eating meat during Lent. They are doing this to show support for the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals which, until I read about it in the Church Times, I never knew existed! However, I prefer to suggest that people give up time and use it to read the Bible and study God’s word. Just 10 minutes a day would be a good start. If you think of it as 600 seconds out of the 86,400 seconds you are given every day, then it does not seem that much of a burden, does it? Ken Tombs
FROM THE URC MINISTER
Healing the Past, Building the Future was the title of a joint report agreed by the General Synod of the Church of England and the Mission Council of the United Reformed Church last summer, and the joint service was one of the outcomes. The past that needs healing was focused through this year being the 350th Anniversary of the Act of Uniformity. In 1662 Parliament insisted that the Book of Common Prayer be used in the Church of England, and imposed restrictions on education and public office for those who would not conform. About 2000 ministers, about 20% of the clergy at the time, were unhappy about this, believing it prevented people’s freedom to respond to the Holy Spirit’s guidance; they felt unable to order Church life according to the Bible’s accounts of Jesus, the early Church and its teaching. When they would not ‘conform’ they were ejected from their work in the Church. Many of them went on to develop “non-conformist” congregations. That is how the fellowship started that is now Trinity United Reformed Church in High Wycombe, where my wife is minister. Non-conformism in Uxbridge dates from that period, and earlier during the disputes before the King James Bible was written. The house fellowship in Ickenham that built the Independent Chapel in the High Road began in the early 1830s. This was during a thaw in relationships nationally, when legislative changes allowed non-conformists back into the mainstream of public life again, and the Congregational Union was formed. At the Westminster Abbey service
The next stage, building the future, will include discussion on how the two Churches can co-operate more effectively for mission at the local level. In Ickenham we already do so much of our work in the community together. And since the recent review of our partnership, to which many ICN readers contributed, we are trying to be more strategic in our planning. At a reception for people from local ecumenical partnerships after the service, Rev. David Tatem, the URC Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, emphasised the importance of learning from the experience of such local partnerships. He also said the two Churches will do further work on issues which still divide them, and learn from agreements already made between Anglicans and Reformed Churches in other parts of Europe. On the website I operate for Churches Together North Thames - www.ctnt.org.uk - you can see more and follow links to read news from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website, hear his sermon, and look at the full report on Healing the Past, Building the Future. Bernie FROM THE CHURCHES’ REGISTERS Baptism at St Giles’ Wedding at St Giles’ Cremations at Breakspear Crematorium
ST GILES’ CHURCH STREET PRAYER LIST Each Sunday at St Giles’ Church we pray for all the people who live or work in a particular road in the Parish. During March we will pray for the following roads: Mar 4th Farm Close If you live in one of these roads why not join us at our 8am or 9.45am services? You will be most welcome.
ICKENHAM COTTAGES VACANCY Currently there is a first floor bed/sitting room apartment vacant in Charlotte Gell’s Ickenham Cottages (sometimes known as the Almshouses). The charitable trust criteria for potential residents are:
For further information please contact Brenda Baxter, Secretary to the Trustees on 01895 636803. DONATIONS This month, receipt is acknowledged, with grateful thanks, for donations from: The Mothers’ Union; Sally Pierce of Farnham Common Copy for the April issue of ICN should be with the team by 12 noon on 13th March.
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By the time you receive your copy of ICN we will already have had the first week of Lent and there will be just another five weeks until Easter. Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance, a season for reflection and taking stock. It originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful re-dedicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. 
Fifteen people from our two Ickenham Churches attended a historic service at Westminster Abbey on 7th February. The service marked a significant step forward in the development of a closer working relationship nationally between the Church of England and the United Reformed Church.