From the Vicarage

As November ends and December begins, I wonder how you are feeling? As days become shorter, darker and colder, how does this seasonal shift affect you? For some of us, this time of year can feel stressful and difficult. Since the start of November, the shops have been full of Christmas decorations with many people already obsessed with the annual buying of Christmas gifts. The shiny tinsel and sparkly lights can start to lose their attraction by the time we come close to the celebration of Christmas.

Yet, the church’s year invites us to inhabit the Season of Advent before we indulge ourselves in the joy and excitement of Christmas. Just as Lent prepares us for the miracle of Easter, so Advent helps to prepare us for the wonder of Christmas. Advent invites us to watch and wait in the darkness for the coming light of Christ. A light that speaks of the Christ-child, but also speaks of the return of Jesus in glory. As the second verse of that glorious Advent hymn ‘Come, Thou Long expected Jesus’ says,

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a king, Born to reign in us for ever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring:

The season of Advent invites us to slow down and prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. This is in stark contrast to the busyness we often experience in December as people rush to buy presents and organise their Christmas meals. Advent invites us to swim against the tide of this frenetic energy and, instead, to watch, wait, remember and hope.

A few years ago, a Christian website offered a set of tiny Advent poems as a way of pondering this often overlooked season in the church’s year. The poems sought to capture the flavour of this season, the watching, waiting, remembering and hoping. Here is one of the poems, “Advent is the hush in the theatre between the house lights going down and the curtain going up.”. (Amy Scott Robinson)

This image of the theatre suggests Advent is a precious moment of expectation that allows the fullness of joy and excitement to build and be appreciated. It is like wating in a queue to go on a rollercoaster or to hear your favourite band. In this sense of waiting, there is an excitement for all that is ahead, for all that is to come. By watching, waiting and remembering we can truly be a people who can hold the light of hope in the midst of darkness. For we proclaim that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to dwell amongst us. God has loved us before our birth, and we are precious in God’s sight.

The sermons during Advent will seek to help us reflect upon the People of God who watched, the Prophets who waited, John the Baptist who remembered and the Blessed Virgin Mary who hoped. We will hear how we can follow their example for this Advent and beyond. Following on from the Sunday sermon, there will be a handout of bible verses on the weekly theme to ponder and pray with at home. The handout will be available in church on Advent Sunday (27th November).

Let us enter Advent in expectation and hope as the lights down and the curtain prepares to go up!

Helping the vulnerable in South Shields

You’ll no doubt have seen the donations of food items in our churches which we regularly deliver to the two food banks, Hospitality & Hope and Key to Life. These two organisations play a vital part in the delivery of crisis relief and long-term support to individuals and families in our community. Our donations are important throughout the year but, perhaps even more so with the recent increases in the cost of living. More and more families are experiencing poverty and are having to turn to food banks for help.

Some of you may not have heard of these two organisations so, as Christmas is a time of giving, we thought it would be a good opportunity to apprise people of their work.

https://www.hospitalityandhope.org.uk/donate-items

The Vision at Hospitality & Hope is: 'The community of South Tyneside will be able to live without the stigma of disadvantage and inequality, with an increased sense of hope for a positive and self reliant future.’ https://keycommunity.org.uk/donate

Through access to their services, they look to respond to the crisis that each person is facing in a practical way, through their mission to deliver crisis relief and long-term support to individuals and families in our community. Through their foodbank, wellbeing programmes and supported housing, they offer practical help to people affected with food poverty related issues such as debt, benefits, addiction,homelessness, employability and mental health.

You can support Hospitality & Hope via the 'Spareable' Foodbank app simply download the app onto your mobile or tablet, place an order from our shopping list and select South Tyneside Foodbank as the destination.

You can also drop off at their Operations Centre at Hampden Street (open Monday to Friday 9am - 3pm) or you can also donate some of your grocery shop to their Food Bank at Farmfoods Ltd, 248 Sunderland Road, South Shields and Wilko, 15 Market Place, South Shields.

Key founded and leads the partnership that delivers Key to Life, the longest running foodbank in South Tyneside, which plays a crucial role in supporting some of the most vulnerable within our community, one of the most deprived areas of the country.

Key was the first charity in South Tyneside to run a foodbank, when people from local churches began making food bags for young people in 1992. They now work in partnership with South Tyneside Churches Together to provide emergency food and support to anyone in the borough experiencing hardship.

For over 30 years, Key has provided a range of housing advice, support and accommodation services to young people at risk of homelessness, and their families, and helped local people experiencing hardship.

Key to Life is open 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday, and is based at Boldon Lane Library with drop-off points around South Shields.

Supporting your Parish Church

The season of Christmas reminds us of God’s generosity and so invites us to be generous in caring for one another.

In 2022, we have walked with 60 families through the loss of a loved one, nurtured over 100 children in our toddler groups and welcomed older folk and the lonely to weekly groups with refreshments and entertainment. As parish churches we receive no central funding for these ministries.

If you would like to make a gift to support the coming year’s mission and ministry, we would be very grateful.

Donations can be made into our bank accounts:

• Harton St Peters Sort code: 20-80-47 Account no: 10814725

• St Mark & St Cuthbert Sort code: 30-00-79 Account no: 96234512

• via the QR codes below and on the back page, stpetersharton.org.uk thechurchonthepark.org.uk

• or by cheque with the details on the ‘Give’ pages of our websites.

Thank you for your generosity.

Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight through all the earth; heralds of creation's story now proclaim Messiah's birth!

Appeared a shining throng

Of angels praising God, who thus Addressed their joyful song, "All glory be to God on high And on the earth be peace Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men Begin and never cease.”

Joyful all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem.”

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wondering love.