Light of the World

Our morning services have finished their time in the book of Acts and are now exploring Philippians. Morning services run from 10:30am until 12 noon although note that we will be joining Christians from across the city in Broad Street on the morning of 23 June for the Love Oxford event.

In the evenings (6:30pm) our series on the arts runs until mid-July, although we enjoyed an Iona service last night and look forward to Taize meditations next Sunday evening. Wulf Forrester-Barker has put his slides and notes from his talk on “Faith in Painting” online and the remaining themes of the series are photography (23 June), contemporary music (30 June), poetry (7 July) and film (14 July).

In the morning services (10:30am) we will be taking a look at various points in the The Acts of the Apostles. Some have subtitled this book The Acts of the Holy Spirit and, starting with Revd Jonathan Brant looking at “Guidance by the Spirit”, we will be exploring how God’s Spirit moves and works in our world.

The evening service theme (6:30pm) is Faith in the Arts. Running through the whole term, we will be exploring how faith is expressed through a range of creative arts, drawing on some of the experienced artists in the congregation. This Sunday, Clint McVea will be looking at “Faith in Sketches”. Clint rarely preaches with finding a short dramatic skit to press the message home and this evening will give him an opportunity to explain the use of drama further.

Maundy Thursday (28 March)

8pm service of Holy Communion with foot-washing (“Signs of Love: The Towel”)

Good Friday (29 March)

10am United Service with Churches Together in East Oxford at Cowley Road Methodist Church (“Reflections at the Cross”)

10:30am Walk of Witness with Churches Together in East Oxford, from Cowley Road Methodist Church to SS Mary and John Church (“Stations of the Cross”)

12 noon – 3pm Meditation service — if you can’t stay for the whole time, you are welcome to (quietly) drift in or out (“Seven Last Words from the Cross”)

Easter Day (31 March)

10:30am Family Holy Communion (“The Resurrection of Jesus”)

6:30pm Easter Praise (“A Northumbrian Easter”)

All services are at the main church building on Marston Road (see Finding Us) except where noted. Don’t forget that Easter Day also sees the clock going forward one hour from GMT to BST!

We have been mentioning this at church for a few weeks now and the response box is looking satisfyingly full. However, if you have been away for a little while but want to be involved in the Annual Parochial Meeting at the end of April, you need to have your form in by Sunday 7 April. The easiest way is to come to a service and look for the forms and reply box by the pillar next to the coffee hatch. However, if you (or someone you know) is unable to do that, for example because of being overseas at present or too unwell to attend regularly, do contact the parish office (parish.office@stclements.org.uk) for advice.

St Clement’s Angels

Equipped with rubbish sacks, fluorescent jackets and litter grabbers provided by organisers, the intrepid team above helped make the areas around Morrell Avenue, Marston Road and St Clement’s a little bit cleaner and tidier for the benefit of everyone who lives and works in the area or passes through.

If you have fallen a long way off course (or have not even started yet!), then this weekend might be a good opportunity to catch up. Matthew’s telling of the story is one of the longer books in the New Testament but, at only about 30 pages in most editions, would barely count as a chapter in many novels. There is much value in chewing over a passage and meditating on it but it can also be good to take in a larger chunk in one sitting so you are not impossibly far behind.

Moving on over the next few weeks we have new teaching series starting for both the Sunday morning (10:30am) and evening (6:30pm) slots. In the mornings, we will be looking at God’s challenge to our world (17 Feb: Pressure in the Desert; 24 Feb: Prophecy in the City; 3 Mar: Parable in the Country) and God’s love for our world (17 Mar: Signs of Love – The Oil; 24 Mar: Signs of Love – The Branch), as well as a Mothering Sunday service on 10 March entitled “A Mother’s Faith”. In the evenings we have Taize services on 17 February and 17 March, along with a series asking “what can the monastery say to modernity?” (24 Feb: More Money or Enough?; 3 Mar: More Sex or Respect?; 10 Mar: More Power or Teamwork?).

As we come up to Holy Week, the evening service on 24 March will provide readings and prayers to feed reflections. There will be special services on Maundy Thursday at 8pm and Good Friday from noon – 3pm, rounding off the Signs of Love series with “The Towel” and “The Cross”. Then, finally, we reach the celebration of Easter, with the theme of God’s power shown in the resurrection of Jesus for the morning service and, for the evening, a Northumbrian service inspired by the Iona community.

A one year reading plan is available online as a PDF file. Print outs are available at the church or you can grab a copy to use electronically or print yourself. So far we are only up to part way through the Sermon on the Mount (at the end of Matthew 5) so, if you haven’t started yet, you don’t have too far to catch up!