A very warm welcome to all
Psalm 93: “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
Christ the King
Readings: Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1: 4b-8
Gospel: John 18: 33-37
In our Gospel today
In all four gospels the conversation between Jesus and Pilate begins with Pilate asking, “Are you the King of the Jews?”. In Matthew, Mark and Luke Jesus replies, “You have said so” and then falls completely silent.
Here in John’s gospel, Jesus’ initial reply isn’t so different. There then follows a conversation in which, although Pilate and Jesus are replying to each other, they are talking about completely different things. Pilate is talking about an explicitly earthly political question, but John’s gospel has Jesus answer on a completely other, theological and heavenly level.
This is a feature of conversations Jesus has with others in John’s gospel (Nicodemus ch 3; the Samaritan woman ch 4, etc.). In each case Jesus takes an everyday word or statement and uses it in a way that the other person doesn’t grasp but we readers of the whole gospel are invited to understand.
That Pilate misunderstands what Jesus means by ‘kingship’ invites us also to consider carefully whether we have properly understood what it means to talk of Christ the ‘king’.
What aspects of ‘kingship’ may or may not appropriately be said of Jesus, Christ the King? We rightly reject the projection of human patriarchal power and privilege onto our understanding of Jesus who turns all expectations of earthly power upside-down.
Christmas Selection Box Collection
Just to let everyone know that we’ll be collecting Christmas Selection Boxes again this year to donate to local charities. Thank you in advance for your donations!
Curry Night Friday 29th November
A note for your diary, we’ll be hosting a Curry Night on Friday 29th November at 7:30pm. Our last such event was a big success with delicious curries provided by congregation members of St Mary’s and friends. Look out for the sign-up sheet at the back of church to help us gauge numbers attending and how many curry providers we can expect! Suggested donation £15 per person and BYOB. Thank you!
Donmouth Beach Clean
Fancy some fresh air and some good exercise? If so, please think about joining the Donmouth Beach Clean on Sunday 8th December starting at 1pm. You’ll be rewarded for your efforts with festive snacks! Please speak to Julia House for more details.
Tin Christmas Tree
This year we are hoping to build a Tin Christmas Tree from donated tins of soup and other food stuffs. Our building efforts will go on throughout December (1st to 31st). Please note we’re looking for standard tins, like a Heinz tomato soup tin – not little ones or oddly shaped ones, for the integrity of construction! Please think about donating any form of tinned food and have fun building a Tin Christmas Tree. The tins will be distributed to local charities or foodbanks. Thank you in advance for your donations!
East Garden Project
More good news! During this week we had a visit from John Whittall of the Diocesan Buildings Committee. John was very impressed by our plans for the East End Garden and said that our Canon 35 application would progress smoothly and should be officially signed off in the near future. Please see our noticeboards for more details and copies of the plans at the back of church.
Christmas Magazine deadline
Please note the deadline for copy to our Christmas Magazine is Monday 16th December. Thank you!
Services and events commencing this Sunday and for the coming week
Sunday 24th November 8am Holy Communion (1970 Liturgy): Revd Canon Dr Jenny Holden
Sunday 24th November 10am Sung Eucharist (1982 Liturgy): Revd Kate Gibson
Wednesday 27th November 10am Holy Communion: Revd Roger Dyer
Thursday 28th November (Crypt) Thursday@7 (Bible, Prayer and Fellowship)
Friday 29th November No Compline: (Curry Night)
Sunday 1st December 8am Holy Communion (1970 Liturgy): Revd Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Sunday 1st December 10am Sung Eucharist (1982 Liturgy): Revd Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Next Sunday’s readings: Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13
Gospel: Luke 21: 25-36
“When did Jesus reveal Himself as king? In the event of the Cross!”
(Pope Francis)
For any pastoral matters please contact our Assistant Priest Revd Roger Dyer on 07719 458571 or revrogdyer@btinternet.com