S T A M F O R D U N I T E D R E F O R M E D C H U R C H S T A R L A N E, P E 9 1 P H J U N ENobody can miss the fact that we start June by celebrating the Queen’s 70th Platinum Jubilee. A few of us will mark the start of the month in other ways but the pageantry and royalist fervour will be at its zenith, with special events planned to celebrate Elizabeth II’s long, dedicated, and loyal service to the country and commonwealth beyond. Other events will pale into the background except for those fully invested in their own celebrations. I wanted to concentrate this article on the place of ‘jubilee’. The word jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yobel, which means ‘ram’s horn trumpet’. If you’ve ever celebrated the Jewish New Year, it’s possible you’ve heard a ram’s horn trumpet played to mark the jubilee. Perhaps the modern equivalent in many cultures is the hooting of a car horn or letting off fireworks. Noise and movement herald the importance of an event and many dates now come with a jubilee tag. The biblical understanding of jubilee found in Leviticus speaks of a time when everything reverts to the original owners, all debts are cancelled, and slaves are set free. The principle was in line with The Creator’s timetable, six days of work and a day of rest; the field would be worked in three periods of two years each in order to rotate the crops grown, but on the seventh year the field would be left fallow to enable it to recover from its hard work. It followed therefore that in the end of the seventh cycle, something extra needed to happen. The fiftieth year was called the Jubilee Year and it prevented permanent owner of the land and the people. The full text is contained in Leviticus 25:8-55. Essentially it is a reminder that only The Creator owns the land and our stewardship is always on a temporary basis. Similarly nobody can own another as each person is God’s child. Now whether the Hebrews ever enacted Jubilee is a matter of debate and some believe that it was an ideal that was formulated when God’s people were held in exile much later and a writing back into scripture what should have happened in order to avoid the defeat the nation suffered when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and the tribes of Judea and Benjamin. The romantic and socialist in me wishes that we might benefit from a factory reset and an opportunity for lands and people to be restored to their former positions.
Enjoy the summer, Peter
June Services
If anyone feels able to help with after service coffee on a Sunday can they please contact Sue Samuels on 07428 820671. There are plenty of dates to fill. Thank you.
Message from Peter Some of you have, in the past, enjoyed the Thursday Teatime events that were planned and prepared for the fellowship and friends. The format was a speaker/entertainer followed by a shared tea that participants prepared for themselves. I thought it would be good to have a limited three month revival of the programme and have suggested the following:
16th June Shared with Evergreen and entertained by a ukulele group Church Hall at 2-4pm 21st July Garden Party Anne Thompson’s Home at 2-4pm 18th August A talk on my trip to Jerusalem, followed by tea Depending on availability of the church hall
At this stage, I would like to know who will be coming along. The first event on 16th June will go ahead regardless (as the ukulele group are booked and agreement with Evergreen has been made). Our folk will be supplying the hospitality on the same basis as used to happen. Please let me know as soon as possible. Many thanks, Peter
Notice from the Editor Please note that the next newsletter will be a double edition to cover July and August. Therefore, if you have any information/notices for either month, please could you let me know by Tuesday 28th June. Thank you, Scott
Thanks go to Anne Thompson for the front cover design.
WE HOPE EVERYONE IS STAYING SAFE AND WELL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||