June News for the Clergy

20 Jul 2024 • From the Clergy

The theme set for this month’s magazine is “Peter or Petertide.”

I have always had something of a soft spot for Peter. Unlike some of the other saints, Peter is so reassuringly like me. At times hot headed and impetuous; opening his mouth before engaging his brain, he gets so many things wrong! And yet it is this fallible and changeable man that Jesus describes as the rock on which he will build his church. If Peter does nothing else for us, he surely proves that God has a sense of humour!

Again quite unusually, we know, or can surmise, a reasonable amount about Peter. We know, for example, that he was by trade a fisherman and that he had a brother named Andrew who was also one of Jesus’s disciples. We can assume that he was a married man as we’re told that Jesus healed his mother-in-law.

We know, too, that he was quick - sometimes too quick - to speak his mind!

So, we have his declaration of Christ as the Messiah (Matthew 16:16); his challenge for Christ to call him to walk on water (Matthew 14:27-29): his nonsensical offer to build booths for Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:4); and his reckless assurance that not even the threat of death would make him desert Jesus (Matthew 26:35).

After the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, Peter emerges as the leader of the disciples. It is Peter we find initiating the replacement of Judas with Matthias; Peter who boldly addresses the crowds gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost, and Peter who in the early chapters of the Book of Acts faces trials and tribulations with courage and fortitude, discovering new insights into the nature of God’s love and faithfully following where these took him. What a change in the man who three times denied even knowing Jesus!

At some point, the exact time is unknown, Peter travelled to Rome where, in around AD64, he was martyred in the Neronian persecution. Peter was crucified upside down, at his own request, as he said he was unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord.

The identification of Peter’s tomb, under the Church of St Peter’s in Rome, was affirmed by Pope Paul VI in 1968. St Peter’s Day is celebrated on June 29th, with the nearest Sunday, and the time around, then being known as ‘Petertide’.

This is a time close to the hearts of many clergy - my own included - as it is one of the two main traditional times for the ordination of new priests. (The other being Michaelmas, around 29th September).

This year our new curate, Gilly, will be ordained in Worcester Cathedral on June 30th. Within our Team there will only be one service on that day (at 9.00am in St John’s) to allow everybody who wishes to attend the service in the cathedral. I hope many of you will go to support Gilly and her family on this important and life-changing day for them all.

Remembering my own early days as a curate, Gilly is in for a time of great joy and excitement as she settles into her new role and way of life. There will be a great deal to learn and she will, almost certainly, often find herself way out of her comfort zone.

Again, remembering my own experience, she will be given understanding and tolerance when she makes mistakes, and plenty of loving support as she puts her capabilities to the test. If we all do this for Gilly, as you all did for me, we will be following the example of Jesus who, faced with the brash, impetuous Peter, saw through all his mistakes and foibles, recognised his potential and took the risk of building his church on this “rock.”