Dear Friends,

By the time this letter reaches you, the Installation of the New Dean will have taken place in St Alban’s Abbey. You may be aware by your reading of the national newspapers that the appointment of the new Dean, Dr Jeffery John, has not been well received in some parts of the Church.

It seems to me that this is partly because the issue of Dr John’s homosexual orientation, not his lifestyle (he has made it quite clear that he lives a celibate life), has become mixed with events taking place in America where the appointment of a Bishop who lives openly with his homosexual partner has caused distress to Church members there and abroad. The two situations are not comparable.

I have spent some time pondering how I might try to make sense of the deep feelings of those who are delighted by Dr John’s appointment, and of those who are deeply grieved by it, in the space of this short pastoral letter. Also to respond to the concerns of those who fear that the Anglican Communion will be irreparably damaged over this issue. I have decided to quote a short passage from Bishop Christopher’s letter sent to clergy,

‘There are those who will welcome (t)his appointment very warmly – and I am among them; there will be others who will be perplexed, and yet others who will be highly critical. I would ask you, whichever category you find yourself to be in, (and there will be more categories than I have outlined) to simply pray: to pray for our Cathedral and Abbey Church, to pray for wisdom and to pray, above all for Jeffery. In the Church, whatever our beliefs may be, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. (Isn’t that what the Lord’s Prayer implies?) and we need to do all we can to ensure understanding between us and not to fall into the trap of stereotyping one another.

There will be much talk of biblical authority and teaching – and again, we shall need the grace and wisdom to distinguish between the inherent authority of scripture itself and the claims any of us may make that our own interpretation is the only one which has real authority. We have much to learn from one another – and that requires a quiet but perspicacious attention to the scriptures, to God and to one another.’

It is also important that we pray for the Bishop of Armagh and for the members of his commission, which has been appointed to try to find a way of holding the Anglican Communion together through these difficulties. If any of you is feeling deep concern or hurt, and would like to talk further, please contact me.

Yours in Christ

Jo Spray

The Dean and Chapter of St Alban’s Abbey – and its worshipping community

All who are hurt by developments in the Church

The Anglican Community world-wide.

What a wonderful day it was! By twelve o’clock there was a steady drizzle, the sky was overcast and more rain threatened – but people started to arrive. By twelve- thirty, the rain had miraculously stopped and the garden was looking quite full. By mid-afternoon it was clear that despite indifferent weather, the Village Party was a huge success. It was such fun to listen to the bands, to watch the children’s races, to try the sideshows – and the food! Mmm! The smell of the barbecue drifted across the grass and I promised myself strawberries and cream for pudding! There was also real afternoon tea, and ice- cream! Best of all was the atmosphere – it was FUN. There was time to meet new people and to chat to old friends, the setting was perfect and it felt like a real party.

I should like to thank the FAST committee and all their helpers for giving us a wonderful, memorable day. I should also like to thank all who came and made their efforts worthwhile – and all our generous sponsors. Together we have increased the roof repair fund by about £4,000 – it is an amazing total, thank you all.

Jo Spray

The next coffee morning will be at 10:15am on Saturday 10^th July at Lilac Cottage, High Street, by invitation of Joan Partridge. In addition to the usual raffle and bring-and-buy, there will be a small exhibition of Joan's paintings. Please do come - all are welcome.

Last month's coffee morning (or should we say garden party!) raised £345.60p towards church funds. It was a very enjoyable occasion in a lovely setting. A big thank you to Georgina Elliott for hosting the event and to everyone who helped with and supported it.

The Mothers' Union will be taking part in the International Wave of Prayer on Friday 9^th July at All Saints' Turvey from 2 until 2:30 pm.

Jackie's garden Party will be held on Friday 30^th July at Hollow Bank, 9 Cleat Hill. Further information from Betty Hewett (( 881738) or Sheila Hope (( 881303).

When you buy Fair Trade goods you are not donating money to a ‘charity’ that sends aid to the poor, you are supporting a trading system that will guarantee them a fair deal.

When you buy Fair Trade goods you are paying a fair price for good quality produce and ensuring that the profits go to the farmers and the communities where the food is grown rather than into the pockets of ‘middlemen’ or the coffers of wealthy multinational companies.

Many churches sell fairly traded goods at stalls open after services or at church related events. However if you do all your shopping at a supermarket you can find products with the Fairtrade label there. Currently more than 130 products carry the FAIRTRADE mark so there is plenty of choice. For example you can buy fairly traded coffee, tea, dried fruit, chocolate, cocoa, juice, biscuits, sugar, honey, bananas and fresh and tinned pineapple. New Fairtrade goods are being introduced all the time, look out for the label!

Fairly traded goods are slightly more expensive than the equivalent unfairly traded brands but the difference in price is not usually very great. You do not get the very cheap economy brands in fairly traded goods but quality-wise they are good value for money. Most of us have a standard of living that is beyond anything a Third World farmer could dream of so surely we cannot begrudge spending a few extra pennies to ensure that the food we eat is not obtained by exploiting the poor.

Supermarket chains usually believe that their customers are only interested in bargains and want everything to be cheap, cheap, cheap. But if we make a point of buying fairly traded products the supermarkets will eventually get the message that their customers are prepared to pay a little bit extra for ethically traded goods. Similarly we need to remind our politicians that the Trade Justice issue is important. Alistair Burt, our MP, does take the issue seriously and wants a fairer deal for poor countries on international trade - it would be a good thing if his constituents encouraged him in this. So please buy fairly traded goods whenever possible!

Several of our Deanery Churches have made a commitment to support this movement. Our PCC has agreed to encourage Fair Trade. If we wish to be acknowledged as a "Fair Trade" Church we would need to make a firm commitment to use tea and coffee at main Church events, and promote their campaigns and products. I hope we can move towards this!

David Seaton

(PCC Hon. Secretary)