Tapton Church Blog

For the second year running we held an service to mark the beginning of Lent, complete with Ashing! Unlike other churches we don’t have palm crosses to burn,  instead we (after a few moments silent prayer and reflection) wrote something that we want to change over the course of Lent on to post it note, or other small scrap of paper. We then gathered in the porch and burned our private notes in a clay pot. Later in the service we used the ash from these for the ceremony in which I made a cross on the forehead of each person and pronounced the words from Genesis ‘Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return’. These are severe words indeed.

The intention is that in focusing on our mortality we will seize something of the value of life and it will help us to make positive changes. I mentioned how Buddhists sometimes keep flowers in a vase without any water to remind them that everything in this world (including ourselves) is impermanent. At first this seems quite depressing, but actually it can release a great serenity and joy to to be always mindful that we are not indestructible, and that we will all die one day.  Hospices are often very happy places where people realize the value of life in each second of each day.

If our faith stops at Good Friday, with the death of the earthly Jesus then there are still possibilities for joy. How much more joyful then should we be with our hope and belief in Easter Sunday. It is on this day that the Bios, the natural life which is destroyed on Good Friday, is overtaken by the Zoe the divine life that is the resurrection. Bios and Zoe are different Greek words for life which the New Testament uses when talking about Jesus. Undoubtedly the earthly Jesus possessed Bios, but when John’s gospel says ‘In him was life…’ it is describing Zoe, the divine life that we all hope and pray will become a reality in us.

It is through the divine life working in and upon us that we stand a chance of being changed in a wonderful way during Lent. We cannot do anything on our own, but if we accept and invite a divine force to act in and upon us we can have a portion of the resurrection life now, in anticipation of the full Zoe to come in the resurrection, in the Kingdom of God.

Much fun was had at today’s Soup & Roll, with a growing number of men joining.  After having our soup, rolls, biscuits and cheese, we were treated to a double bill of entertainment.  Barry brought in a DVD of ‘The Way We Were’, which made fascinating watching and prompted a lot of memories from childhood. Before that I announced to everyone present that our resident poet would be giving a reading of a new poem of hers – little did I realise that the poem was all about me!

Tonight we prayed for the families of Dorothy Hinchliffe and Eileen Hawksworth, two much loved church members who recently died. We prayed too for our church, reflecting how hard it hits a small church like ours to have two funerals within a  couple of weeks of each other.

We read the parable of the Sower, and talked and what ‘sowing the seed’ means to us. We hope that among all the hundreds of new people being brought into contact with the church lately, through two funerals and a baptism, we may have sown seeds that will bear fruit either in this church or in any other church.  A lifetime of faith and dedication to the church is sometimes traced back to one particular moment when, often in contact with other Christians, something tiny and indescribable happens to us that leads, either gradually or suddenly, to a living faith. We prayed that this might happen in and around our

I also asked the question, what is the seed in the life of our church? Lets imagine our church is like a mustard tree. There are so many different parts of the life of the church: social events, raising money for good causes, bible study, worship, private prayer and so on…but which one of these is the seed from which everything else grows?

The church was jam packed for the baptism of Lewis and Katelyn Beckton, two beautiful twins.  It was originally intended for before Christmas but the extreme weather put paid to that, especially as Lynn’s parents were travelling from Northern Ireland  and Andy’s came from Skegness for the special day.

Andy was himself baptised at Tapton all those years ago, and its through our connection with his mother that they approached the church. It was a fantastic day, and we were all invited to the reception at the Shiny Sheff afterwards. A really great day.

Today’s service was led jointly by myself and Foday Kamara, who treated us to a fresh and powerful message. Foday is from Sierra Leone but now lives in Manchester with his wife Linda and their two children (who joined us for worship). He is a member of Lees Street Congregational Church in Manchester and is training at Luther King House as well as attending training sessions at the Congregational Federation’s headquarters.

His theme today for the children was the call of God and the excuses we make to avoid doing what God is asking us to do. He gave lots of good examples (including Jeremiah) and had some fun with the children in church who competed to see who could come up with the best excuse for getting out of something they don’t like doing.

His main message was about language and diversity. He gave us a fresh reading of the Tower of Babel, with the idea that the ‘confusion’ of languages is a gift from God that we should embrace. He talked most eloquently about his experience as an African in Britain, about different attitudes towards time, freedom of expression, and the difference between the individualism of the West and the group solidarity of Africa. It was a fascinating talk, with a challenge there for us to look more deeply at the gifts that different cultures have to offer each other.

The only sad note of the day was that at the beginning of the service it was announced that Eileen, a much loved member of the church, had passed away in hospital the previous night. Her funeral will be here at the church on Friday 11th February. This is a sad loss for us all, and it comes the day after Dorothy Hinchliffe’s funeral. Foday offered us his sympathy and prayers and assured us that our fellowship will be held in the prayers of his church in the weeks ahead.

Today we held a funeral service for Mrs Dorothy Hinchliffe who passed away recently after a short illness. Dorothy has been an important part of the church ever since she moved to Crosspool in 1988 and she and her daughter Linda started attending regularly. In the past few years she was unable to attend, but kept a close interest in the church’s affairs.

The church was packed with family and friends and there was a special atmosphere throughout the service. After the service Dorothy was buried at Fulwood Church, alongside her husband, Frank who died in 1995. Dorothy and Frank were married at Fulwood Church in 1947, and she regularly attended Fulwood Church before moving to Crosspool.

There was a well attended reception at the Masonic Hall on Shore Lane afterwards, where family and friends swapped warm memories and remembered Dorothy fondly.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all of Dorothy’s family, particularly her children Linda and Roger.

The family were very impressed with the nursing care given to Dorothy in her last few days by the palliative care team at the Northern General Hospital, and have asked for donations in lieu of flowers to be sent to them. Cheques can be made payable to S.H.C.T John Fairest Funeral Home, 10-56 Penistone Road North, Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield S6 1LQ.