Letter from the Vicarage
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St Jospeh’s Day, 19th March. St Albans
Dear Friends and Neighbours,
Philippa and I have spent the week before Passion Sunday on retreat in St Albans, somewhere I had never before visited. It has been enormously refreshing staying in the old part of the city just a few minutes walk from the cathedral, or abbey as the locals call it. It is thought
that a Benedictine monastery may have been founded here as early as 793CE by King Offa of Mercia and rebuilt by the Normans in 1077 using Roman bricks scavenged from the ancient city of Verulamium, which are still visible today in the tower. Although the abbey fell under the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 it continued as a church and in 1877 became a cathedral.
The cathedral precincts and its gardens have been an oasis of peace and tranquility for me as I have spent time reflecting and meditating about St John’s and what the future may hold for us. There is a tangible sense of antiquity here and of deep Christian faith and witness in this place which has really helped me focus spiritually. Each evening we have attended choral evensong and today we spent some time at the restored shrines of Saints Alban and Amphibalus, with pilgrims who came to visit and pray at them.
St. Alban is celebrated as the first British saint. Early in the 4th century Alban saved a Christian priest, Amphibalus, from Roman persecution probably under emperor Diocletian. Alban gave Amphibalus hospitality in his home and had been so moved by the priest’s faith that he had converted to the new religion of Christianity. When Roman soldiers came to arrest Amphibalus, Alban exchanged clothes with him, allowing him to escape. The Roman governor was infuriated by this and when he demanded that Alban renounce his faith on pain of death, Alban is said to have replied “My name is Alban, and I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things . . . Know that I am a Christian and bound by the laws of Christ.” For his refusal to renounce his faith Alban was immediately beheaded on a hill outside Verulamium, becoming the first Christian martyr in Britain. Amphibalus is thought to have been martyred a few days later and so they are remembered together.
Easter brings us hope, but with that hope comes a challenge to help spread the Good News about Jesus. Our faith is not something passive, we can only grow spiritually by actively engaging with our faith and wrestling with those aspects we find difficult. So, I invite you to make every effort to attend at least one of our Holy Week services. They are opportunities to step out of the rhythms and busyness of daily life, to slow down, and to reflect on our faith with our Archdeacon, the Venerable Dr Geoff Dumbreck, who will preach at Compline on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week.
We at St John’s have so much to be thankful for and to celebrate this Easter. The recent sale of Meadvale Hall has enabled us to pay off our mortgage on the Church Centre, releasing funds to contribute our fair share to Parish Pledge at long last. After many years of receiving financial support from other parishes, we are now much closer to being able to pay our own way. Our diocese has recognised this and decided not to proceed with the proposal to form a joint benefice of St John’s Redhill with Christ The King, Salfords. This is truly something to celebrate and give thanks for this Easter and to recognise that years of hard work, financial support and prayer by so many people have indeed been blessed. We are a flourishing church, and we can flourish even more, sharing the Good News with others through our children’s and young people’s work, our pastoral work, our music, our worship and our community engagement. Let us do that together with open hearts and willing hands.
May our Lent preparations lead us to know with Alban that we worship the true and living God, and may we proclaim that Christ is Risen with resounding Alleluias on Easter morning!
With every blessing,
John
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