Vicars Cross United Reformed Church

BRINGING IN THE NEW

Before Christmas the warning notices were there. From 11^th January until 23^rd March Tesco Superstore on Frodsham Street, Chester would be closed for refurbishment.

In the week before closure the process had begun. Large areas of shelves were empty; some fridges were shuttered. Then on the final day the store suddenly felt much bigger, you could see the space available for change and improvement. The decision had been made, this site had a value and a purpose, there was inspiration to develop it further. However, there is a problem for the future of this store – a habit broken is difficult to re-establish. Will customers return or will they have found other places to provide what they need?  Change brings risk.

As we start a new year, our church family has been a positive presence in our community for the last 60 years. But what about the future? The habit of church attendance has been eroded, we live in a more secular society, so how do we encourage people’s curiosity about what we believe?

It seems like an impossible task, but the groundwork has been laid in all the contact we have with people. Our families and friends, neighbours, friends we meet in the gym, in the pub and at clubs, people who rent the church hall for various activities and their participants.

 Commanded by Jesus the early disciples went out and spread the Gospel message. They asked for guidance, courage and inspiration from God. Let us do the same. Pray to God, ask for confidence and insight into how to share our faith with others. Let’s bounce ideas around about over coffee after church. It may result in a few differences in opinion on how to move forward. The familiar is comfortable; change brings risk, as God knows when he said to the prophet Isaiah ‘For I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says ‘Do not fear, I will help you ‘(Isaiah 41 v13). God also told the prophet ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!’ (Isaiah 43v18-19). Can we see it and share it too?

Elizabeth Bentley

Confession time!
 
I dislike the darkness of winter, so frequently used to ‘forget’ to take the Christmas decorations down at the start of Epiphany - 6th of January. Why? Because I loved the tree and other lights, and all the glittery and shiny things that reflected the lights.
Then, a few years ago, I discovered a legitimate reason for keeping the decorations up until the 2nd February when daylight hours have lengthened quite a bit.
 
The reason? Candlemas. ☺☺
 
Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd, is a Christian feast day marking the end of the Christmas season, commemorating the purification of Mary, and the presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth, fulfilling Jewish law.
 
It's a "festival of lights" (hence the name "candle mass") where churches bless candles for the year, symbolising Jesus as the "Light of the World," and traditions include lighting candles, eating special foods like pancakes, and sometimes keeping Christmas decorations up until this day. 
 
Now Vicars Cross URC does not celebrate this particular feast day, but as you can now see, I have my perfect excuse to keep the decorations up till then. And yes, it does say you can ‘sometimes’ keep the decorations up, so I am only too happy to be the person who allows the commentators to say ‘sometimes’. (You can probably also see my huge grin!!!)
 
How wonderful that I wanted to know the meaning of Candlemas, as I have just discovered that you can celebrate by eating pancakes! Now I love, love, love, pancakes, so now I have a perfect excuse to have pancakes on the second of February, as well as on Pancake Tuesday, aka Shrove Tuesday (18th February), the first day of Lent. So, pancakes twice in February, the 2nd and 18th – with sugar and lemon juice of course. The only way to eat them.
Epiphany
 
I’m full of big words in this article, so I’d better explain Epiphany. Epiphany is the time when we celebrate the joy of knowing that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, and Son of God and Saviour of the world. Epiphany starts on the 6th January  - Twelfth Night – when we welcome the visit of The Wise Men, (the Magi) from the East. It is also when we remember the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.
 
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ll remember all this, but I will remember that I have two – not one – good excuses to eat pancakes twice in February. Yummy!
 
Marje
^{Some interesting Sayings}
 
"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."
- John Steinbeck
 
Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius."
- Pietro Aretino
 
"One kind word can warm three winter months."
^{- A Japanese Proverb}
 
"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."
- Anton Chekhov
 
"Spring, summer, and autumn fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition."
- Mignon McLaughlin
 
"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."
- Edith Sitwell
 
"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn."
- Hal Borland
 
"If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

God’s Garden

Here, in full is God’s Garden

The Lord God planted a garden

In the first white days of the world,

And He set there an angel warden

In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,

That the hawk might nest with the wren,

For there in the cool of the even

God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes

With their shade and their sun-flecked sod

And their lilies and bowers of roses,

Were laid by the hand of God.

 All in the month of February

It was:

300 years ago, on 20^th Feb 1726 that William Prescott, an American colonel in American Revolutionary War was born. Famous for giving the order: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”

200 years ago, on 4^th Feb 1826 that James Fenimore Cooper’s historical romance novel The Last of the Mohicans was published.

175 years ago, on 1^st Feb 1851 that novelist Mary Shelley died, aged 53. Best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. 

125 years ago, on 2^nd Feb 1901 that the funeral of Queen Victoria took place.

80 years ago, on 11^th Feb 1946, that the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament was published. It was the first major English-language update of the Bible since the King James version was published in 1611.

Also 80 years ago, on 14^th Feb 1946 that the Bank of England was nationalised.

Also 80 years ago, on 19^th Feb 1946 that mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing presented a detailed paper for the national Physical Laboratory that gave the first reasonably complete design of a stored-programme computer. 

70 years ago, on 11^th Feb 1956 that two members of the Cambridge spy ring, British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, announced that they had defected to the Soviet Union. They had both vanished in mysterious circumstances in 1951.

65 years ago, on 9^th Feb 1961 that the Beatles played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time. 

50 years ago, on 11^th Feb 1976 that John Curry won Britain’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in figure skating. 

Also 50 years ago, on 23^rd Feb 1976 that artist the L S Lowry died. Known for his bleak industrial landscapes of north-west England, populated with matchstick men.

40 years ago, on 12^th Feb 1986 that the Treaty of Canterbury was signed by Britain and France. It was the agreement to construct the Channel Tunnel linking the two countries.  The tunnel opened in 1994.

30 years ago, on 1^st Feb 1996 that US President Bill Clinton met Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams at the White House, to discuss the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

Also 30 years ago, on 15^th Feb 1996 that the oil tanker Sea Empress ran aground near Milford Haven in Wales, causing a major oil spill along the coastlines of Wales and Ireland.

25 years ago, on 12^th Feb 2001 that the Human Genome Project announced the publication of the first complete working draft of the human genome. 

Also 25 years ago, on 19^th Feb 2001 that the first case of foot-and-mouth disease in the 2001 UK outbreak was detected at an abattoir in Essex.

20 years ago, on 18^th Feb 2006 that the Rolling Stones played the world’s largest free rock concert on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro.  An estimated 2 million people attended.

4^th anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war

As 24^th February approaches, the statistics are grim for the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Massive displacement: 6.9 million refugees have fled Ukraine, with a further 3.7 million internally displaced.

Significant casualties: Russia has hit one million casualties in all, including 250,000 soldiers killed. Ukraine has had about 53,000 casualties, including about 15,000 deaths. 

Immense destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure, medical facilities and educational facilities.

Impact: Russia now occupies about 20% of Ukraine, including Crimea. Worldwide, a weakened global economy, threatened food security, and documented war crimes, including chemical weapons used by Russia. 

Expense: Billions of dollars have been given in aid to Ukraine. (About $175bn from the US, and $197bn from EU since 2022.)

The future is unclear, but here are some memorable quotes of two leading Ukrainians:

At the start of the war, when offered evacuation from Kyiv by the U.S. government, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy famously stated, "I need ammunition, not a ride".

The following day, on 25^th February he emphasised Ukraine's determination, stating: "We will be defending our country, because our weapon is truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this".

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk focuses on themes of resilience, freedom, and hope. "Ukraine is wounded, but it is not defeated! Ukraine is exhausted, but it is standing and will remain standing! Believe me, no one thinks of giving up."

A recurring theme in Zelenskyy’s speeches is that "Life will win over death, and the light will win over darkness".

Mary Shelley and Frankenstein

It was 175 years ago, on 1^st February 1851, that the novelist Mary Shelley died. She is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. 

Her parents were the influential philosophers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, a strong advocate of women’s rights who died 11 days after Mary’s birth from complications. The future Mary Shelley was herself fascinated by books and philosophy but spent two long, enjoyable spells “for her health” with the Baxters, a dissenting family who lived near Dundee.

She started on the novel Frankenstein – not the name of the eight-foot, lovelorn ‘Christian’ monster but of the scientist who created him – at the age of 18 after a conversation about ghosts with her husband, the atheist Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and others. After her book was published anonymously, many suspected that her husband and written it or was co-author, but this was not the case: he may have done some light editing.

Mary, a baptised Anglican who came to despair and doubt, wrote several other books, but her life was tragic on many levels. Her husband had affairs, and they mixed in circles where that was encouraged. A four-year period in Italy with Byron and others, initially welcomed by Mary, became especially hard for her to endure. According to him, she had described Naples as “a paradise inhabited by devils”.

Three of her four children died at a very young age; only the fourth, Percy Florence, reached adulthood. And her husband died, aged only 29, in a mysterious sailing accident in 1822 in The Gulf of Spezia near Genoa.

Her last book, however, was a travel narrative about rambles in Germany and Italy which she had undertaken with her son Percy in the early 1840s. She died aged 53, perhaps of a brain tumour or a stroke. She was buried at St Peter’s Church in Bournemouth.

The funeral of Queen Victoria

Exactly 125 years ago, on 2^nd February 1901, the funeral of Queen Victoria took place.

She had died at the age of 81 on 22 January, having ruled for nearly 64 years, and her death took her family, courtiers and subjects by surprise in difficult times. The Boer war was still in progress, and the previous year the Prince of Wales had been shot at in Belgium, by a boy who was protesting against the war.

Her third adult child – Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh – had just died, another was near death, and she herself had been confined to a wheelchair, almost blind and often confused. She died at the remote Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, and when it happened there was no-one alive who could remember how to bury a monarch.

Victoria had asked for a full military state funeral, and there were secret instructions concerning mementoes of her personal servant, John Brown. The official service in St George’s Chapel was chaotic because of timing errors, but it was followed by an emotional ceremony for the family on 4^th February, in the mausoleum the queen had built for her husband at Frogmore, adjoining Windsor Castle, where the Queen was laid to rest beside her much-loved Prince Albert. 

The total cost was £35,500 (£4.5 million). Victoria had outlived all the members of her Privy Council alive in 1837; all the members who had sat in the House of Commons at that time; and all nine of her bridesmaids.

What has been described as the godly domesticity of the Victorian era appealed to a mainly Protestant public, centring more on morals than on radical evangelicalism and effective prayer. One historian noted the transformation in the general British attitude from “aggressive, brutal, rowdy, outspoken, riotous, cruel and bloodthirsty” to “inhibited, polite, orderly, tender-minded, prudish and hypocritical”.

Remembering the work of L S Lowry

Fifty years ago, on 23^rd February 1976, the artist L S Lowry died of pneumonia. He was known primarily for his bleak industrial landscapes of north-west England, populated with matchstick men, but he also painted original and striking seascapes and impressive portraits.

Laurence Stephen Lowry was born on 1^st November 1887 in Stretford. His father worked for an estate agent and his mother was an organist, playing at the local church. Laurence went to Sunday school, but as life later turned difficult, his faith became shadowy. After leaving school he became a rent collector for the Pall Mall Property Company and stayed there until his retirement in 1952. This led to some dismissing him as a ‘Sunday painter’.

Lowry’s life was restricted by his family debts and his mother, for whom he took responsibility after his father died. He tried hard to please her, but she showed no appreciation for the quality of his art, looking instead for a middle-class respectable life. He became a solitary figure and never married.

Lowry remains popular as an artist, with many imitators, but he never formally taught or gathered a group of followers around him. He holds the record for rejecting British honours—five, including a knighthood (1968). A collection of his work is on display in The Lowry, an impressive purpose-built art gallery on Salford Quays.

During his life he made about 1,000 paintings and over 8,000 drawings. His works often sell for millions of pounds. Buried in Manchester next to his parents, he left an estate valued at £298,459, plus artwork, to Carol Ann Lowry (no relation), whose family he befriended when she was 13, after she asked for help with her own development as an artist.

The Winter Olympics returns to Europe

If you like snow-sports, you are in for a great month. From 6^th to 22^nd February, Italy will be hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, officially known as Milano Cortina 2026. The opening ceremony is at football’s famous San Siro stadium. The Paralympic Winter Games follows, from 6^th to 15^th March.

For the first time the Winter Games will have two host cities, Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with events spread across 15 venues in northern Italy, using existing infrastructure to reduce costs. (Thus, Milan will host indoor events like hockey and figure skating, while Cortina hosts alpine skiing and snowboarding.)

Around 3,500 athletes from more than 90 countries are expected to compete for 195 medals across 16 Olympic disciplines. New this year is ski-mountaineering.

Snow gets an occasional mention in the Bible. Job tells how God “Says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’ … He stops all people from their labour. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. At His direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever He commands them.” 

Let’s hope that the snow does a good deep swirl around Italy this month.

Three in four car thefts unsolved

Keep a close eye on your car this year, because sadly, no one else seems to be able to do so. Recent figures have revealed that more than 121,000 car theft offences were not solved in 2024-25. 

The British Transport Police, South Yorkshire, City of London, Sussex and Warwickshire police forces reported that more than 80 per cent of car thefts were unsolved. 35 of the 44 police forces in England and Wales had a total rate of 60 per cent of all cases going unsolved. Some critics even say that the dismal figures shows that car theft has been decriminalised in the UK.

Of course, theft has been around for a long time. For this very reason, Jesus warned us not to over-value the things that we own. He said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where … thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19). 

Sadly, no data exists from the 1^st century, to tell us how many stolen camels and donkeys were ever recovered.