Welcome to The Weobley & Staunton Benefice

The writer of Ecclesiastes notes that ‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.’ As the time has come for Penny and I to depart the benefice, so I am reflecting on how time is a teacher. The variety of seasons in our lives can teach us to seek God’s presence in the ups and down, joys and sorrows, arrivals and departures.

I leave knowing that I’ve not been able to achieve all of the goals I set for myself at the outset of my incumbency (let alone the aspirations within the parish profile), but also with the knowledge that mission action plans can never be fully realised. As we age, we discover both our limitations and the liberating awareness that God is at work in all kinds of surprising ways, often behind the scenes, thus challenging our plans and extending our vision. One of my favourite quotes about human designs is from the Danish inventor and poet Piet Hein:

Our choicest plans

have fallen through,

our airiest castles

tumbled over,

because of lines

we neatly drew

and later neatly

stumbled over.

Another piece of learning for me in my time here, has been that people - while they can at times be demanding, frustrating, weird or obstinate - can also be endearing, helpful, good-hearted and essential in terms of getting things done in the church and community. I am deeply grateful for the support provided so constantly by our team of PTO clergy, by the many lay volunteers within our parishes and by Sam Phillips, our Benefice Administrator. Without this level of support, I would not have been able to effectively lead or minister to seven churches. The body of Christ has many parts; all different and all vital to the proper functioning of the whole.

Finally, old Father Time teaches us that there is more to time than just it’s passing. While I have been busy in my role as priest, with each hour often crammed with ‘things that must be done’, I have also taken time to observe the beauty of the passing seasons in the surrounding fields and forests and hills of Herefordshire. The apparently endless rhythm of yearly cycles which sustains creation, and the way in which human beings are born and flourish and eventually wither and die - all of this invites us to consider that earthly time and space are set within a much larger and more mysterious frame. The writer of Ecclesiastes notes that “God has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” We sense something of this in our concepts of eternity or infinity, but our little minds must pedal like crazy to imagine what this looks like.

The singer Bruce Cockburn in his song ‘Mighty Trucks of Midnight’ captures concisely for me what it means for us to accept the limits of earth-bound time and learn the art of letting go:

I believe it's a sin to try and make things last forever

Everything that exists in time runs out of time some day

Got to let go of the things that keep you tethered

Take your place with grace and then be on your way.

Thank you for your support and care over the past five years. May God’s abundant love and grace continue to sustain you and the churches of the Weobley and Staunton Benefice.

Rev’d Philip

Matthew’s gospel records a singular moment in the life of Matthew the tax collector.  The moment is captured quite simply:

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9).

It’s worth considering this situation more deeply. Matthew was reviled by the Jewish community. In collecting taxes for the Roman government, he was openly collaborating with the enemy. Every day he would have faced hostility from his own people: sneering, curses, threats and perhaps even the odd beating. But collecting taxes was also lucrative, and he was able to set aside a good portion of the taxes for his own upkeep. The tax collector’s booth was housed in a busy public area and visible to the Roman authorities. It was therefore simultaneously both a safe space and a despised space for Matthew.

When Jesus enters the town, he calls Matthew to follow him and leave the booth. Matthew is called out of the situation in which he finds himself trapped; out of the prison of his choices and his addiction to the increase of wealth. In accepting the invitation to follow Jesus, Matthew is embracing the possibility of a new identity and a new life ahead. Matthew’s decision to follow Jesus is incredibly risky, but it’s ultimately liberating.

It’s like this with us also. While we may not be social outcasts or earn our living from dubious means like Matthew, we are always being called by Jesus to follow him and thus open ourselves to change. Jesus’ love for us is not passive or maudlin. It is always challenging us, encouraging us, testing us and calling us forward out of the self-defined cages in which we so often operate.  To follow Jesus means to consciously make the choice of entering the risky and unknown territory of putting faith into action. It is the road less travelled but taking it can make all the difference.

Rev’d Philip