Christ Church Moreton Hall

You will see from our poster for our all age act of worship for June that we are focusing on the fact that God values everyone. You may think no one loves you but God does and in fact our low opinion of ourselves often hides from us the fact that many around us think more of us that we ever realise. When people find that out and get their live together they then go on to be much more content people and start doing good things for other

One example is all the people who turned up in the wet to do our Christian Aid fun run. It was a great success despite the weather. Many thanks to our Mayor Patsy Warby and her consort Frank for being with us for this event. We promise to make it a bigger and more challenging event next year.

Thank you to all who help with and gave to Christian Aid week this year. Money is still coming in as I write, but we are well on our way to topping £3,000 from both events...

The General Election is over and we now know who won and who didn't. Congratulations to the winners and commiserations with the losers. Well done all of you, it is good that people want to take part in public life in such a way. It is easy to moan and complain, it is much harder to try to find solutions.

However, the thing that dominated the election campaign for me was the volcano, although Steve Davis winning matches at The Crucible was wonderful. The volcano reminded me of a number of things. First, that despite the economic superiority of Britain and Europe over most of the world, forces outside our control can bring us to a standstill. Perhaps this is a lesson for our new political leaders.

The second thing that struck me was how wedded we are to cheap flights. The horrendous stories of returning from the continent, which a number of my friends came back to tell me about, show that any idea that we are going to give up large scale public use of jet aircraft in the future is completely unlikely. The sheer cost in time and money of the alternatives means that jet travel as we know it is with us for the rest of my lifetime and probably my children's as well.

For those of you who read my article on a regular basis, I hope you have recovered from the huge gaffe that appeared in last month's issue. Yes, Mothering Sunday was on 14th March, not 21st. Sorry about that. I hope not too many people were put off and, of course, if provided some of you men with a golden excuse for forgetting the 14th.

Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar and this year, like many years before, somewhere between two to three billion people, that is to say one third of the world's total population of six billion, will be celebrating this day.

In addition to that, Easter is an important time for other faith groups as well. Not because they disagree with it or are offended by it, but in many ways they are linked to it. Islam for example, acknowledges Jesus Christ as a prophet and that he lived. Many people in Islam do put their faith in Christ every year. Judaism acknowledges that Jesus existed and lived when the gospels said He did. He is also referenced in Hinduism and many of the other faiths.

The correct name for Mothers Day in the UK is Mothering Sunday.
Mothering Sunday is always the fourth Sunday of Lent however as the dates vary as to when Easter and Lent fall the actual Sunday chosen to celebrate it may vary.
History/Origin of Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday History in UK is centuries old. It goes back to the time of early Christians in England who celebrated a Mothers festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honour of Virgin Mary. Some believe that the ceremonies in honour of Roman mother goddess, Cybele were adopted by the early church to worship Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ. Others say the Mother Church was substituted for Mother Goddess and according to a custom laid a person visit the church of his/her baptism (Mother Church) on this day.

The origin of Mothering Sunday can also be traced to the fact that in early time’s people in England as a tradition visited their nearest parish called, "Daughter Church" on every Sunday.

Also in those times, in the 1600s, children after the age of ten left their homes for jobs as apprentice or domestic servants. It was considered important by the people that these children be allowed to visit their home and mother church once a year. Accordingly, once in a year, in the middle of the Lent the children were given a leave by their employers to visit their "Mother Church" or Cathedral of their hometown. These children on their visit to their homes brought along gifts, flowers and special cakes for their mothers. These visits thus became a time for family reunions and over a period time, this holiday meant for the return to Mother Church was stretched to include all mothers and was named as Mothering Sunday.

In March we think of many things but I suppose most of us will be aware that as the chocolate eggs are now in the shops, Easter is not far away. As part of the preparation for Easter this year all the churches have come together to put on a special event called Passion for Life. You will see from the posters across the town that there is not one event but a whole series staged in different churches, covering different topics and activities. Jesus said: “I have come that you might have life and life in all its fullness”. So to celebrate the life that Jesus has come to give us, the churches have taken this opportunity to put on a series of interesting meetings to explain what they mean and how this bigger, better, new life can be accessed by us all. Please try to find time to attend and, if you live on the Moreton Hall estate, perhaps you might like to come to the special Wine and Wisdom evening we are holding on Friday 19th March at 7:30PM.

March is also the time we set time aside to say a special thank you to our mothers. Motherhood has become a deeply complex and demanding issue these days, so it is good to say thank you for all those women who give up so much of their lives to be good mothers. We also remember those who would have liked to have children but could not. They need our love and support too. So why not join us on the March 21st in the morning when we give a gift of posies to all those who have given so much to us