Dear Friends,

Blustery wet and chilly weather abounds as I write this …and not just outside… but also on our political landscape. Muck flinging, finger wagging and harsh rhetoric seems to abound as pressure rises and factions vie for advantage and power.

It feels chaotic, overwhelming and to my mind, not behaviour becoming of well educated, well-heeled leaders & those we look up to in positions of trust and authority.

Then I read our gospel reading and the contrast was huge. I was left musing on what a different kind of leader Jesus was, is. I felt my spirit shift and rise.

Jesus’ behaviour when under pressure, really under pressure…like just before he is about to die, is praying this final prayer. Glorifying and submitting to God the father and praying for protection and unity for the disciples as they went out into the world.

So dear reader, my takeaway was to be reminded that we belong to him. He will not abandon us. Hold fast and keep praying. His ways are our ways. We won’t always get it right, but we keep trying with humility and grace the best we can. Unity is strength. Change for the better is born from this. It starts local, it starts small. Look at how small a group Jesus started with and where we are now.
Today I got a haircut. My hairdresser knows I’m a Christian and out of the blue she asked me about faith, Church, attitudes to inclusion, what Jesus’ take would be on the aforementioned and the days political theatre.
She told me that she started praying this week and that she had noticed something inside her had changed. She wasn’t sure what, but she felt better, less stressed…peaceful? We talked and talked, held moments of silence and gave space to wondering.

Building community and unity, cultivating peace and togetherness it seems, can start anywhere at any time. Initially today’s encounter made me feel a bit vulnerable, exposed so to speak, but I left with a profound sense of peace and hope. Jesus’ prayer resonating with me for real.
Now that’s real power and authority. That’s the impact of a real leader.

Love Julia

Julia Jones

Dear Friends,

As the great naturalist David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday this week, home groups are continuing with our Carbon Literacy Course, seeking to preserve the creation Attenborough has done so much to draw to our attention.

Our opening sessions are focusing on participants calculating their personal carbon footprint. If you’ve never done this for yourself, try here: https://carbon-calculator.climatehero.org/ (it will also give you tips about how to reduce your footprint).

This week our group explore a little about how our attitude to the environment is influenced by our beliefs. Dave Bookless, co-founder of the Christian charity A Rocha International, created an illuminating diagram of three approaches to the environment ‘Ego’, ‘Eco’ and ‘Theo’.

Obviously, Ego places humans at the ‘top’ as consumers for whom nature exists as servant. The earth is simply there to sustain us. Such a worldview promises doom for the earth’s resources are not inexhaustible.

‘Eco’ represents an advance and it is one which is associated with a humanist vision of the planet: we humans are part of a system; we are dependent upon it; but we are no different from the nature. Clearly, if we lived on this basis, it would be an advance on ‘ego’. But somehow it underplays the uniqueness of humans.

Bookless’s final image, ‘Theo’, represents what he suggests is a Christian ideal. It proposed we see humans as part of a system in which we have a responsibility as stewards to uphold the integrity of nature, and to give it a direction towards love. In this sense, humans are called to responsible co-creation with God in shaping the world for the best.
Much of David Attenborough’s work has been towards stirring up in his viewers a loving attitude towards nature. Let’s join in.

Rev Dr Mark Laynesmith

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1)

I have enjoyed sitting in the garden today, listening to the birds, enjoying the bright red roses, writing some poetry and actively avoiding the news. I know the importance of being aware of what’s going on and staying up to date with issues I can pray about; but recently I’ve found my anxiety rising. So, for today at least, I’m taking a news break and praying these simple words:

God you know what every situation and person in the world needs. I pray for you to enter every place of pain and bring your blessing and peace.
Amen

If it was good enough for the disciples to follow Jesus’ command “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.” then I’m sure that’s more than good enough for me.

If you’re struggling to find the right words for your prayers, then feel free to pray these words as well. I hope they bless you in

In the APCM booklet Daphne wrote about the importance of prayer and listed all the ways we offer prayer at St Nicolas including in our intercessions at Wednesday and Sunday services, with the prayer team after the Sunday service, online on Sunday evenings via zoom, and through the prayer chain. If you would like have any situation prayed for then please fill in a prayer request card in the prayer space in church, or contact Jenny Bryce via the office office@stnicolas.org.uk and the prayer chain will add you to their prayers.

If you feel called to pray more, perhaps by joining the prayer team or the prayer chain, then please do get in touch with the office, Rev Mark, Daphne or myself for a chat.

With prayers
Emma

Emma Major, Licensed Lay Minister (LLM)

Dear Friends,

Happy Easter! It’s still Eastertide, and as I was on the beautiful Isle of Wight as usual for Easter, I’m sure I can still legitimately say that. I do still have some white chocolate Malteser Easter Bunnies left (but not many).

Actually, I was recently forwarded an email which said “Easter is not a single morning miracle”. Absolutely. The Resurrection is a new beginning of love and hope, for us to take forward into the year. “Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green”*.

As we are now living in a period of global instability, how can we take love and hope forward? Well, we do all have the power. Today, 22 April, is Earth Day, an annual global event to highlight the importance of protecting the environment. This year’s theme is “Our Power, Our Planet”, celebrating the daily actions we can all take towards environmental progress. We all have the power to create change and recommit ourselves being the good stewards that God calls us to be. You can find out more about Earth Day and suggestions for actions we can take here: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-tips/

At St Nicolas, there is an opportunity to join the carbon literacy course taking place in Home Groups and also on Thursday evenings. We are also starting our Net Zero Project with a meeting on Thursday 30 April at 2pm in the St Nicolas Centre, Conference Room. Our Justice, Peace and Environment Group (JPEG) are starting the process of reviewing our Eco Church status with a goal of getting, eventually, to apply for a Gold award. We are committing ourselves to creating change to project God’s beautiful creation.

Let us thank God, with a prayer from the Anglican Church of Australia:

Holy God, earth and air and water are your creation, and every living thing belongs to you:
have mercy on us as climate change confronts us.
Give us the will and the courage to simplify the way we live,
to reduce the energy we use, to share the resources you provide, and to bear the cost of change.
Forgive our past mistakes and send us your Spirit, with wisdom in present controversies and vision for the future to which you call us.
In Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Yours, in love and hope,
Wendy

* From “Now the green blade riseth” by John Macleod Campbell Crum.

Dear friends,

The refrain from the Canticle, ‘A Song of the New Creation” spoke to me this morning. It is, ‘I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert’. With the Alleluia’s ringing of Easter, as a family we encountered a wilderness with John, my husband, falling and needing a hip replacement. Through the days following we soon discovered the rivers of care, love and joy surrounding us all in our desert.

As I read and reflected on the story of our Gospel reading this weekend, I was in no doubt that the experience of those walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus was also a wilderness. They had experienced the crucifixion and were walking despondently home. Then a stranger joins them and asks questions and shares with them which eases their journey. They are then prompted to invite their new friend to stay with them.

As their new friend broke bread and offered it to them, they discovered the river in their desert, recognising him as their Lord whom they had witnessed crucified.

Many of us experience times of great wilderness, but as we gather each week to worship and break bread we are given the love, care and joy we need to live life in all its fullness. Everyone is invited to that experience. Come and join us.

In Christ,
Daphne

Daphne Cook, Licensed Lay Minister (LLM)

Dear friends,

I have been pondering what to write today. We have had a Meditative and beautiful Holy Week and a joyful Easter celebration. I wonder what resonated with you this year and how it blessed you.
I was struck, and am hugely thankful, for the many hands that helped make it all happen.
As with any big event which has so many moving parts, it can feel exhausting for those carrying most of the work and responsibility. Having a few days to rest and let it all soak in is welcome and important I think.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition this week is called Bright Week. I love that. A week celebrating and leaning into resurrection joy.
I for one have spent most of it pottering at home and in the garden. In a literal sense, what a ‘bright’ week it has been! Consecutive days of sunshine and warmth. A chance to fling the windows open, dry laundry on the line (nothing like the fresh smell it gives in my opinion) spending time with family and tending to the garden.

So dear reader, I am grateful for the luxury of being able to slow down for a few days. I find that it enables me to be fully present in the moment and for me this brings joy and a great sense of peace.
It’s an opportunity to reflect on what is truly important and to cherish it.
Cherish is one of my favourite words actually and like joy, it’s an active pursuit and one that helps to nurture and create balance, resilience and hope. We and the world need more of this I think.
I wonder who and what you are cherishing this bright week?

Love
Julia

Julia Jones, Churchwarden

Dear Friends,

Lent’s reflections on sin and brokenness will soon give way to Easter’s season of hope and new life. In keeping with that, after Easter, our home groups (plus an extra open group on Thursday evenings) will be running a 5-week Carbon Literacy Course for Congregations.

Supported by the Diocese the course aims to empower Christians to understand and take action around climate change, recognising the consequences of our actions and directing us towards hope.

Over the weeks we’ll be exploring what carbon literacy means; we’ll measure our own personal carbon footprints and explore what we can do to reduce them. The course will begin with several screenings of a film by David Attenborough in the week commencing 13th April within the Home Groups. I’ll be running an additional screening within the church on Thursday 16th at 7pm. Please do join in!

If you’d like to know more about the course see here: https://carbonliteracy.com/faith/

Language around ‘Net Zero’ threatens to become a political football. In hosting the course, however, we will be seeking to take responsibility for our actions and to rediscover empowering hope. Aren’t those the two themes of Lent and Easter?

Revd Dr Mark Laynesmith
Vicar of St Nicolas, Earley
…

Dear Friends,

I don’t know about you but it feels as if Winter has finally lifted it’s grip and Spring has arrived in all it’s glory. Suddenly the blossoms are blooming, the butterflies and bees are pollinating and the warmth is inviting us to celebrate. Often this transition into spring happens much earlier in Lent, but this year I have been struck by how closely the church season is mirroring the natural world in its celebration of new life and hope.

This week, on Palm Sunday, we will be celebrating the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I thought you might like to read this poem about Palm Sunday, which some of you might be familiar with. “Palm Sunday” by Malcolm Guite

Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,
The seething holy city of my heart,
The saviour comes. But will I welcome him?
Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,
And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find
The challenge, the reversal he is bringing
Changes their tune. I know what lies behind
The surface flourish that so quickly fades;
Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,
The hardness of the heart, its barricades,
And at the core, the dreadful emptiness
Of a perverted temple. Jesus come
Break my resistance and make me your home.

This Sunday we will jubilantly sing Hosanna as the crowds did all those years ago. We will be full of the hope of God alive in the world as a “humble king” coming on a donkey to “bring peace and humility”.
And we will know that to be true.
And we will pray that to be true today, in our world.

Then, as we hear The Passion narrative and move into Holy Week, with Jesus in his obedience to the cross and his glorious resurrection, we continue to pray for peace to come on Earth. And so I invite you to pray this prayer which I have prayed at home every day for many years. It is part of my Following Jesus exhibition which will be hung in the art space on Monday until the end of April. I hope it blesses you.

God of light
Be with us in the dark times
When we struggle to see the way
Help us to feel your comfort ever with us
To know our worth in the world
To hear your voice leading us each day
To praise you as we emerge hopefully into safety
Remind us to celebrate your love that knows no end
And to transform that celebration into action for those less blessed than ourselves
Blessed is Jesus who comes in the name of the Lord
Amen

Emma Major, LLM

Dear Friends,

This Sunday we will be sharing a Lent Lunch of soup and bread. I’ve “volunteered” my husband – he does a good lentil and tomato. I’m looking forward to spending time with our St Nicolas family over lunch.

It is estimated that humans first started cooking around 1.8 million years ago. From the start, it was a social enterprise, with people sharing the tasks of hunting, gathering and preparing food, keeping the fire going and so on. There was then time for bonding around the campfire as the food is shared. Studies show that eating together increases our levels of endorphins, our natural feel-good hormones. The World Happiness Report 2025 suggests that sharing a meal is one of the best things we can do for our wellbeing.

Every week, of course, we do share a meal together during Communion. I find it something that is good for my wellbeing. I’ve been following the Church of England’s “Draw Near” Lent resources on the Everyday Faith app. Last week, Jessica Martin, Dean of Chelmsford, talked about Communion. She said, and I paraphrase, in sharing communion we, collectively, become the body of Christ. We are part of a very special family. We are here to share God’s love, with each other and with the community.

So, maybe we’ll share lunch together on Sunday. Or maybe you have other plans. Or maybe it’s really not your thing. And that’s OK. In the words of Sister Sledge, “We Are Family”. And we share the most important meal together.

Yours, giving love in family dose*
Wendy
* “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge, written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.

Dear Friends,

Throughout this past week we have experienced days of sunshine when we have been aware of the gifts of God in and through his creation. Our gardens have exploded with colour and we have responded with wonder and joy.

This Sunday we are invited to respond in wonder and joy to the gifts we receive through our relationships and in particular our relationships within families and the role of mothering. We are invited to thank God for our earthly opportunities for mothering and being mothered and also remember the mothering parenthood of God.

We have examples of different mothering through stories in the scriptures. There is Moses whose mother saves his life by placing him in a reed basket in the river and is discovered by and then mothered by the wife of Pharaoh. There is Samuel conceived after much longing and prayer and then dedicated to God and left at the temple at an early age. There is Mary, mother of Jesus who cares for her child having been told that in his life a sword would pierce her heart.

In all these stories there is no attempt to sentimentalise what mothering involves; the pain and the aching, the bewildered confusion and times of misunderstanding and grief, as well as the joy and affection, shared laughter and the delight in watching a human being develop and mature.

When on the cross Jesus commits his grieving mother into the care of his disciple John, we are seeing a wonderful example of the way we are all given to one another to care for and look after. May we recognise that caring may well involve both times of great joy and deep sorrow as we increasingly bear one another’s burdens and suffering.

Throughout our lifetime many of us who have mothered are then in receipt of mothering, not least through the hard work and dedicated care of those who visit homes as daily ‘Carers’ or those who work in ‘Care’ homes.

So let us all respond with wonder and joy to the gifts we receive in and through our relationships, remembering that all stems from the mothering love of God who is the giver of life.

With love, In Christ

Daphne