Dear friends,

The year has gone off with a flying start for our churches. The already popular after school club and preparations in full swing for the revival of ‘Open the Book’, the Lent course and the Quiet Day. Read more in the notes attached.
Lent lunches will be back this year following the success from last year. More information will follow soon. The dates are already in our website calendar together with all the latest information for all the PCC activities: www.capelandockleychurch.org.uk/events-calendar/

The pictures today are from two different walks, both quite nearby: Leith Hill and Beare Green to Anstiebury Farm. We are so lucky to live in this beautiful part of the world.

God Bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Well I hope this letter finds you well?! January was a really nasty winter month for those pesky winter germs, coughs, and all sorts, as well as the cold weather. As we come into February I am sure we will be encouraged by the growth of the early flowering spring bulbs and blossoms. February for us at church looks to be quite a busy month. The season of Lent is early this year beginning with Ash Wednesday on the 14th of this month and of course it is also Valentine’s Day! This year we are invited for a special service of Holy Communion with what is called the Imposition of Ashes (you get a lovely black mark on your forehead!) at St Peter’s Church Newdigate. Then we will be running a Lent Course this year called ‘Be Still’. The course is about prayer and explains how we don’t necessarily have to be physically still in order for our hearts to be still and how even in the midst of a full, busy life, we can all spend quiet time with God. I am really looking forward to doing this course! Each of the five sessions takes about an hour and includes a video session with teaching, some group discussion, plenty of tea and cake of course, and lots of take away resources. We are planning to run the course on Monday evenings and Tuesday afternoons. As I write the venue is not decided, as if possible it would be good to meet in a warm space!! Please do join us. There is a sign up sheet inside church.

We are concentrating quite a lot on prayer and how to pray at the moment. We are offering a Parish Quiet Day on prayer and if you would like more information on that please pop into church and see the leaflet or contact me. All are welcome! As well as plenty of spiritual food on offer this month in your parish churches, there will also be soup, bread and cheese to warm you up on these cold February days. These are always popular and will take place in Capel Church. The heating will be on and any donations for the lunches will be given to support the Bishop of Guildford’s Lent Appeal this year. So we begin the month with our annual Christingle service in aid of the Children’s Society which we always hold on the Sunday nearest to what is called Candlemas in the Church Calendar. It is also called the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, when Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the temple at Jerusalem. There he is revealed as the light of the people of Israel. Hence it is good fun to make our Christingles and light them to once again remind ourselves that Jesus is the light of the world. Did you know that snowdrops are known as Candlemas Bells because they often bloom early in the year?!
With my love and prayers as ever

Liz

Dear friends,

That was a short sharp spell of winter weather! The pictures this week were taken on a walk in Warnham Nature reserve. What a privilege to have that little gem on our doorstep: a wildlife oasis hemmed in between Horsham town and two busy roads.

The attached notes give details of several Lent initiatives so please read. Next week we will also be starting the campaign for the Lent lunches. These proved very successful last year and we hope to attract even more people this time around. We look forward to a time of looking inward and go out into the community.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

What turbulent weather we have had!
The picture attached is of the river Mole at Flanchford bridge. I took it on the day I collected Dik from East Surrey Hospital, which was just hours before the bridge was flooded. It’s good to see how well a flood plain works and why we shouldn’t be greedy and use the land for other purposes than summer grazing. It’s also a reminder to look after our rivers: make sure they don’t get polluted and in turn contaminate the land and our food chain.

I hope you all enjoy the calm, crisp winter weather that we are now having.
God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

The first image of the year is of new shoots of unforced rhubarb in our garden. What a wonderful early sign of spring. The old leaves have not yet entirely died down and are still feeding the root system that will be producing many young shoots to come. I feel there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Happy new year and God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Happy new year to all our readers!  A packed issue to see in the New Year with the regular items and some interesting articles and puzzles to while away the cold, dark January days!

A New Year’s Resolution

To begin with oneself, but not to end with oneself;
To start from oneself, but not to aim at oneself;
To comprehend oneself, but not to be preoccupied with oneself.

By Martin Buber (Austrian born Jewish philosopher)

Dear friends,

The last day of the year is upon us and even if we don’t make new year’s resolutions, we probably think a bit about new projects or things we plan to do differently. For me, I will take Rev Liz’s Christmas sermon to heart and be creative: imagine what the future could be like and change my ways to make it happen.
Let us remember but not dwell on the past and move forward into the future we imagine, guided by the Light of the world.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

In our churches as the year drew to an end and we begin the new year there have been some small booklets published by the Church of England called ‘Follow the Star – Join the Song – 12 Days of Reflections for Christmas and the New Year. The booklet invites you to hear and respond to the angels’ invitation to gather in the presence of the newborn Jesus. Well as you read this you may well be thinking about or have already put away the Christmas decs for another year but of course the Christmas story goes on leading us through Jesus’ childhood with the story of Simeon and Anna – people who recognised him in the Jerusalem Temple when he was brought by his parents to be presented to God as was the Jewish custom. The Christmas child grew up and began his ministry at the age of thirty. A ministry that lasted only three years before the authorities found a way to silence him or so they thought! Our church year soon turns from Jesus’ birth to adulthood and his experience in the wilderness, led by God’s Holy Spirit. Lent begins in earnest as we follow Jesus to the cross and the horror of Good Friday is transformed into the glory and joy of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Day!

As we begin this new year perhaps with many good intentions which are not always easy to keep we also hope for a brighter future for not only our own loved ones but for our world. It is easy in this rather difficult month of January to feel that all these hopes are somewhat in vain. Sometimes we just have to keep on putting one foot after another, keep on turning up, keep on trusting and keep on hoping. Musician and writer Nick Cave is quoted as saying “Hope is optimism with a broken heart.” Or we could say in other words, hope is believing in God’s promises even in the midst of the world’s pain. But yet, each day there are glimpses of what is in churchy terminology – salvation. God was born to us which we celebrate afresh each Christmas and now its up to us to put his love into action. We have had a chance to dwell in Christ’s presence during the twelve days of Christmas. In him we have seen salvation. Let us dwell on what we might have glimpsed of love, kindness and the goodness of most humankind through this Christmas season and build on this as we begin the new year.

Please know that your parish church is here to help and encourage you and pray for you as well as help you celebrate the joys you may know of which I hope you will experience many.

With my love and prayers and Happy New Year!

Revd Liz