ST ANDREW'S CHURCH
EASTERN GREEN
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ST ANDREW'S CHURCH
EASTERN GREEN
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Dear
Parishioners, The
Smith family moved into St Andrew’s Vicarage in September 2004, having moved from Binley,
where I served as Curate at St Bartholomew’s Church for five years.
We left behind many friends (although one or two have already managed to
track us down) but are looking forward to making many new ones.
I brought with me my wife Fran who works in education and three teenage
boys: Peter, Daniel and Jacob. Peter
is at university , while the other two remain at school.
I have four grown up step-children and even two grandchildren (you will
be astonished at how young I look in spite of all this!). My
passions include running, drama and sport. When
I’m out running, I’m easy to spot: tall, dark, bearded man looking like he
is about to collapse. I always wave back at anyone who waves at me, even if I
have not the least idea who they are! My
enthusiasm for drama has led to the production of three successful pantomimes in
Binley, the last involving a cast of over forty, with almost as many working
behind the scenes. There is almost nothing better designed to get people of all
ages and all talents (and none) working together and having a great time.
To my way of thinking, this is a pretty good picture of what the church
should be like. My fondness for
sport is now generally indulged from the comfort of an armchair.
If you receive an unexpectedly brusque response when you telephone, check
the Radio Times, sports pages. My
greatest passion, however, is for as many people as possible to discover the
power and significance of the love of God as shown by the example of Jesus’
life and death. Even those who
wouldn’t dream of running for a bus or standing on stage and cannot see the
point of sporting competition, can share in this. I
look forward to meeting you soon. Greg Smith Vicar e-mail -gregsmith@standrews-eg.org.uk
March 2008 Dear Friends Easter is upon
us before some of us have managed to get the Christmas decorations back into the
loft. It is the central celebration
of the Christian church, which is why we need the six weeks of Lent to prepare
for it. However, Easter does not
appear to hold the same place of affection in the hearts of the nation as
Christmas. Perhaps it’s to do with
the children. The fact that most of
them would prefer a Nintendo Wii (my spellchecker recognises the word
‘Nintendo’, which ought to tell you something about the age in which we
live) to a mountain of chocolate is part of the problem.
However, the fact that the Christmas story is more palatable to children
also must make some difference. Christmas is a
story in which there is a baby, cuddly animals (does anyone remember the lobster
that appears in ‘Love Actually’?), angels singing and above all wise men
bringing gifts. All this is
supplemented by a man in a red suit and a beard who knows whether you’ve been
good or not and rewards you ever more generously if you have.
Compared to all this, the Easter bunny has little going for it.
More than that, at the heart of the Easter story is a man dying an
excruciating (literally) death. Hardly
something most parents feel comfortable sharing with their children. All this is a
shame. After all, the cross is the inevitable outcome of God coming to earth and
making himself vulnerable to the terrors and trials of our world.
There is nothing more vulnerable than a tiny baby; nothing except perhaps
a broken man nailed to a beam of wood feeling the life drain out of him.
It is an even greater shame however, because this is neither the end nor
the point of the story. This is a
story about life not death. The
cross (which so many Christians wear including me) is a symbol of life,
reminding us that he died so that we don’t have to.
Our liturgy talks about Jesus “bursting forth” from the tomb and some
churches celebrate the resurrection with a firework display.
This is the real explosion of energy (a big bang if you will) that
explains the universe. Death could
not hold him, nor need it hold us. All this and much more will be
celebrated this Easter at St Andrew’s. We
will have a Palm Sunday reading of the whole story; a Family Service on Good
Friday morning; and Easter Sunday morning services at St Andrew’s and Every blessing
for a happy and holy Easter, Greg Smith
Marc Catley.......has now joined St Andrew's as Curate for 3 years ... here's an introduction from Marc.... “I
was in a band called “The Flaming Methodists”; I was interviewed on Radio 2;
I am the proud owner of a certificate that reads “Marc Catley, Grade 6
Classical Guitar, presented for examination by I
was born in Coleshill and grew up in I
supplemented my income by tutoring in schools such as the local Grammar. I made
the most of a visit by an examiner for the Associated Board, never imagining how
embarrassing the resultant certificate would be. Once I had become too old and too stupid to be a musician any more, I needed a new career, and the Church of England came to mind. Or perhaps it was part of a natural progression, to spend even more time teaching others about Jesus… Marc
Catley St Andrew's is the Anglican parish church of Eastern Green, Coventry. The church was built in the reign of Queen Victoria 131 years ago to serve 40 farming families. Today the profile of the parish is vastly different. The population of the parish is now 8,250 people but our mission continues to be "To make Christ known through word and action and to help people develop a mature Christian faith." As you scroll through this information we hope you will gain an insight into our ministry and mission. The church, which has a membership of 100, hopes that you may be enabled, at some time, to join us in our beautiful church building for worship. We invite you to read more about church life and participate in our Christian fellowship and education programme
See Services page for details.
May Christ's Peace be with you - wherever you are.
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