Letter to the Parish

Community Service

Last month we were all privileged to witness a piece of history for our country: on the ninth of September 2015, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became the longest serving monarch in British history. Whether you are a royalist or not, that is quite an amazing milestone for someone to reach; there are not many people who can say they've served in a role for 63 years. There was a prayer written within the Church of England to mark this occasion, for those of you who have not read or heard it, the words are as follows:

"Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ exchanged the glory of a heavenly throne for the form of a servant, we thank you that you have given Elizabeth our Queen a heart to serve her people, and have kept her devoted in this service beyond all who were before her: encourage us by her example to serve one another, and to seek the common good, until you call us all to reign with Christ in your eternal kingdom. Amen."

Two phrases in that prayer stood out for me: the first being, "a heart to serve", and the second, "encourage us to serve one another and to seek the common good". This coming month I reach the milestone of being licensed to this community for two years...rather dwarfed by the 63 years of the Queen.....but a minor, personal milestone none the less! The first phrase in that prayer is a timely reminder to me as a priest - that it is about having that heart (the inside, deep, natural conviction) to serve all people in the community; I pray that I may continue to be able to do just that. Even if you do not see me every day, know that everyone in the community - everyone who lives and works here - is in my prayers at Morning Prayer each day. The second phrase is something that I hope will speak to all of us: that we should all be encouraged to serve one another. Encouraged to help the neighbour next door, the friend in need, the person we know who is going through a tough time. And that we are also all encouraged to seek the common good; that we each do our bit to make this community a better for everyone, not just "what is best for me"! This is not about religion or faith or Church, but about common decent behaviour to our fellow human beings - towards everyone that we meet as we go about life in the village. Let's take a leaf out of the Queen's service book and learn to have a heart to serve; serving each other - those whom we love, those whom we like, and those we find it harder to like! Try it; not many of us will have to do it for 63 years and 7 months!

Revd. David Commander
Rector