December 2015
N E E D TO K N OW
I S T O R I E S I A R E A U P D AT E S I E V E N T S N E A R Y O U
Bishop’s Christmas Message
christmasstarts.com
By Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford LAST year I wrote a little book called Walking Backwards to Christmas. I had needed some persuasion to write the book. After all, isn’t this the one bible story that everyone knows? What else is there to say about it? But when I came upon the idea of telling the story backwards, not only did this provide a new angle, I also discovered that it gave the story a new ending. A story usually ends with the consequences of people’s decisions and actions. The backwards Christmas story made the ending the decision itself and the motivation behind it. It was about why people did the things they did, and not just what happened afterwards. This, for me at any rate, shed light on all sorts of interesting bits of the Christmas story and put them centre stage: Joseph’s incredible decision to stick with Mary even though he only had the evidence of a dream that what she was saying was CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Knock knock! Who's there?
Find out why the bishops opened the door by turning to Page 5
Diocesan appeal to assist Syrian refugees settle in the UK passes £81,000 mark Page 2 --
www.chelmsford.anglican.org
Helen breaks new ground as the diocese's pioneering interim minister Pages 6-7
■ Wishing all our readers and advertisers a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year