I have just received this very helpful update on the situation ‘on the ground’ in Cockermouth. Please read and pray. If you would like to send money, see my previous blog for suggestions on how to do it.

We are now a week away from the moment when a great surge of water raced down Cockermouth Main Street – completely destroying every shop in its path and damaging over 850 properties in the surrounding area.

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions –adrenalin kicking in and enabling us to make a rapid response to the devastation wrought on people’s lives over that first 24 hours – despair at what we were seeing and then tears as we cried with many people for whom the trauma was just too much to bear.

Many of you will have no doubt seen on TV the work of the two reception centres based at Cockermouth School and a local hotel which were staffed by volunteers from across the town and involved many of the Emergency Relief Groups. Most people are now in temporary accommodation with family, friends or in local hotels and guest houses. Some have also been offered homes by people who own holiday cottages in the area although all of this is only temporary as for most people they will not be able to live in their homes for at least 9 – 12 months or more.

Many are not insured or under insured because of living in a known flood area and this brings with it its own problems as people try to work out how they are going to pay for the refurbishment of their property.

The community spirit is tremendous and we have seen people helping one another to clear out their homes and shops and there is a real determination to see Cockermouth rise up and become once again the special place it was before the flood.

The few shops and premises that have not been damaged by the floods have opened their doors to those that have – and are sharing their premises – we now have a mini-market working from the local Auctioneers with a chemist, a newsagent, an insurance company and a toy shop.

One lady has produced a cloth badge with the words ‘Cockermouth – the town with bounce-back ability’ and this is now in popular demand so we are making some laminated card badges so that everyone can wear them and show how strong the community spirit is here.

Christ Church has been turned into a Drop In Centre where people can come for help and advice from a variety of organisations such as Job Centre Plus, the Law Society, The Flood Forum, the local housing associations, business advice, Age Concern, etc. The Red Cross are servicing a ‘triage’ centre and welcome.

The Roman Catholic Church and the United Reformed Church were both flooded and the Roman Catholics are now using Christ Church and the United Reformed have joined with the Methodist Church.

The Churches Together have been tremendous in the hard work they are doing both in Christ Church Rooms and in the streets around the flooded area.

We are currently making about a thousand sandwiches a day!! Along with lots of soup and baked potatoes and bacon butties. Teams are taking out supermarket trolleys full of hot drinks, soup and baked potatoes etc. These are being given to the people in the shops and homes as they begin the awful job of clearing out all their possessions which have been damaged by the floods. It really is a desperate situation for many people. We have had a tremendous response in terms of volunteers – over 200 on the list and they are working extremely hard.

The two offices in Christ Church rooms are now a fully operational flood relief communication centre and BT put us an extra telephone line in to cope with the huge amount of phone calls we are receiving both from people offering help and people who need help.

We also have teams of people going out to help with the clearing out of the houses – many of the homes are occupied by older folk who are finding it difficult to do this work.

We have a Foodbank which we recently set up and although their property was flooded this has now been set up in the local Methodist Church and bags of food are being distributed around the area.

We have been overwhelmed by the many offers of help – both practical and financial and this in itself is proving to be a challenge to manage and respond to.

We have received a lot of help from the Carlisle Group who worked on the floods there 5 years ago and this has proved invaluable.

We have also been very much aware of the struggles in the nearby villages of Lorton and Loweswater – the towns of Keswick, Workington, Kendal area and Ulverston. The farming community too have been badly affected with great swathes of their land devastated by the flood water which has left behind a huge amount of rubbish and gravel and in some cases the whole of the top soil in a field has been washed away.

In Cockermouth the Main Street is now full of skips and vans and moving equipment as the contractors move in to begin the work of stripping out the rooms damaged in the flood. You see the same in every area affected by the floods – wherever you go there are skips full of people’s possessions and it’s quite heart breaking to see people carrying out these things and loading them into the skips – often with tears as they let go of treasured possessions.

We are switching on what Christmas Lights have not been destroyed in Market Street on Saturday and it is hoped that on Christmas Eve the Christmas Tree on Main Street – which withstood the flood – will be lit and the town brass band will lead us in Carol Singing.

Please continue to pray for all the volunteers that we will be able to have the energy and the commitment to stick with this for the long haul – once the immediate crisis is over then our work will truly begin as reality sets in and people begin to realise just what they’ve lost and how long it will take to rebuild their homes and lives.

Wendy Sanders – November 30^th 2009

Rev Wendy Sanders
Team Rector of the Cockermouth Area Team
Parish Office, Christ Church Rooms
South Street, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 9DU
Tel: 01900 829926
email:wendy@cateam.org.uk

Orwell Group: Arrington St Nicholas

Rector: Neil Brice

ALMs: Hilda Tattersall; Mary Stapleton; Wayne Talbot

To give thanks for the support of the village and friends in a successful year of events, and to pray for the faithful few who keep the profile of St Nicholas high.

Charles Eugène de Foucauld was born in Strasbourg in 1858. A first career as a reportedly dissolute cavalry officer led surprisingly to a second as a Trappist monk. Even that proved too tame and he ended up (after acting as a servant to the Poor Clares in Nazareth) living a solitary life in Algeria at Tamanrasset.

He lived close to the Tuareg people, learning their language and writing a grammar and dictionary of it. He also composed a Rule for brothers and sisters, though none joined him. He was assassinated on this day in 1916, a victim of local religious wars. The Little Sisters of the Sacred Heart were founded in 1933, inspired by his rule, and eighteen other communties have followed.

Andrew,a Galilean fisherman, features in all four gospels as one of the Apostles. His alacrity in recognising Jesus and and introducing him to his more famous brother, Simon Peter, has made him an early missionary hero.

About the middle of the tenth century, according to legend Andrew’s relics were brought to what is now St Andrew’s, and he became Scotland’s patron saint. His favours are, however, spread widely, as Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Greece, Amalfi, Luqa in Malta,  Esgueira in Portugal and Prussia also claim his protection.

Collect

Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
   and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy Word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
   and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Orwell Group: Arrington St Nicholas, Barrington All Saints, Croydon with Clopton All Saints, Orwell St Andrew and Wimpole St Andrew

Rector: Neil Brice

ALMs: Hilda Tattersall; Mary Stapleton; Wayne Talbot

The benefice give thanks for the increasing sense of support and fellowship in the benefice and the willingness to share so many things together.

St Andrew

West Virginia (USA) – The Rt Revd Willam Mitchie Klusmeyer

The churches in Cockermouth are doing great work in the flood relief – just as they did in Carlisle four years ago. I’m told hivis jackets with ‘chaplain’ on are everywhere, so that won’t just be the clergy then. Good! Would you consider making a donation to help? You’ll find details of two ways to do it in the letter below from Wendy Sanders, who followed me as Team Rector. One is via the local church, the other via the general Cumbria Flood Relief Fund. Although it’s been very dry round here recently, Fen people know what it’s like to face the floods.

Dear David

Thanks for your prayers – we certainly need them! The Churches are doing a tremendous job – we go out with Sainsbury trolleys taking hot drinks and food to those who are clearing out their houses and businesses and we are taking a van full of bag of food for the people who live in Derwent Mills and the new homes in Derwentside as they are completely cut off from the town except for a long drive round the A66. We are feeding people breakfast, lunch and and evening meal plus lots of tea and coffee and cakes etc. The local supermarkets have been very generous and people have been calling in leaving donations towards our expenses.

Christ Church is now the Drop in Centre for all the major players in the recovery programme and it is amazing to see it being used in this way. Archbishop John came to see us yesterday and he was thrilled with what we’ve done and was really excited about the transformation of the church. [Note: amazingly, Christ Church has just been re-ordered replacing its pews with flexible space – just when needed.]

If you want to send any donations there are two options. 1) Send cheques payable to Christ Church DCC at The Parish Office Christ Church Rooms South Street, Cockermouth CA13 9NF. This money is being kept in a fund which will help towards the overall costs of the running of the current project and any monies left over will then be placed in the Churches Together in Cockermouth account to be given out to those in need as and when we become aware of them. 2) Give to the Cumbria Community Foundation Flood Recovery Fund via www.cumbriafoundation.org.

We realise that many of the needs will not appear until a few months down the line when people know exactly what they have lost and what the insurance companies are prepared to pay for. Also there are the immediate needs of people who are living in the upstairs of their homes as they don’t want to leave them empty.

Do continue to pray for us – for those moments when we get tired and tempers run short, for energy and strength and protection from infection, and for a real sense of God’s peace and presence amongst us as we seek to serve him in this way.

Love

Wendy

The Parish Office Christ Church Rooms South Street, Cockermouth CA13 9NF

Ely Social Responsibility Forum have  organised an exhibition in Ely Cathedral which is running from 28th November to 10th December 2009.

The objective of the exhibition is to increase public awareness of environmental threats to the planet and the practical issue which this raises. The aim is not just to provide information about the causes and dimensions of the risk but to answer the practical question, “What can I do?”

At the opening I highlighted three things we could Learn:

• Less is more. We’ve lived through a time when it’s been to good to try and ‘have it all’ and we are suffering from a serious bout of consumption. We need to try living more simply so that others can simply live.
• Local action can make a global difference. It’s always worth every one of us doing what we can do.
• Lightening up matters too: these are serious matters, but our faith gives us hope that a good kingdom can and will come for the earth.

November 29 – December 5 Deanery of

Shingay

Rural Dean: Canon Shamus Williams Advent 1

Lay Chairman: Mr Geoffrey Wells Porvoo, Church of Finland

29 As we give thanks for 900 years of Diocesan life so we pray for our Bishops Anthony (who will soon be retiring) and David facing fresh responsibilities in the coming Interregnum together with the Senior Staff praying and planning for the years ahead. Meeting this week of Council for Mission and Ministry

Confirmation, Wisbech Lynn Marshland Deanery – Wisbech St Peter and St Paul

West Texas (USA) – The Rt Revd Gary Lillibridge: Suffragan Bishop – The Rt Revd David Mitchell Reed

Paul Maddens (Martin Freeman) is a failed actor turned primary school teacher. Every year his school puts on a nativity play that is surpassed in every way by the one that Paul’s old rival, Gordon Shakespeare (Jason Watkins), puts on at the local independent school. This Christmas Paul is keen to avoid the embarrassment altogether, but finds himself enlisted as director. The next time Paul meets Gordon, he boasts that their old friend, Jenny (Ashley Jensen), is flying in from Hollywood to make his production into a book and film. This ridiculous lie gathers pace in the hands of Paul’s naive classroom assistant, Mr. Poppy (Marc Wootton). Soon everyone believes that Hollywood is coming to Coventry.

As Gordon and Paul vie for the best-reviewed Christmas production, their true colours are revealed. Gordon’s early introduction as a man who ‘only truly loved himself’ is exemplified again and again. He disciplines and motivates his class, but only in the pursuit of his aspirations. Paul’s frustrated ambition is just as destructive as Gordon’s. He labels his class, ‘literally useless’, creates a lie to save face in front of Gordon and repeatedly blames Mr. Poppy for his failures. It is clear that both nativities revolve around the teachers directing them.

Eventually Paul learns something from Mr. Poppy, a childlike messianic figure who puts the children before himself. It is Mr. Poppy who inspires Paul to bring the nativity play to life.  [more...]

Holly Price

Read the article and discussion guide on the CultureWatch website

Congratulations to Charlotte Bain, Jessica Bartlett, Jennifer Clark, Jonathan East, Martha Eddy, Alex Garner, Alexandra Hill, Charlie Kenzie, Rowan McConkey, Jonathan Moore, Oliver Moses, Rebecca Phillips, Bruno Russell and Rosie White who were admitted as King’s and Queen’s Scholars at King’s School Ely yesterday, on the basis of their outstanding GCSE results. As Scholars they join the Cathedral Foundation, and it was my privilege to muse aloud with the school and its guests as to what sort of foundation we are building our own lives on.

Photo credit: King’s School website

Matthew 7:24-27 The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

What was that Bible reading all about? The one about the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built his house on the sand, that we heard earlier? Well, I don’t know if you’ve been to the Holy Land, but if you do, take the time to get off the beaten track and visit one of the desert wadis. They are the dry sandy riverbeds that criss cross the parched landscape. Plenty of level, empty building ground in those riverbeds. Far easier to use than the rocky highlands around them. But then, unpredictably, without warning, the rains pour down, and everything in them is washed away, full stop. So … what sort of ground are you building on?

Jesus of course is not talking about actual bricks-and-mortar buildings, but about building ourselves as persons. He reminds us that we found our lives, our actions and our opinions on all sorts of foundations. Some of them are distinctly dodgy, about as secure as a sandbank. The latest story about Jesus visiting Glastonbury probably comes into that category; I see that its proponent lectures at the College of Psychic Studies. In fact we all accumulate a sandbank of superstitions, myths and habits that seriously need some structural engineering. And so most people do also give their lives some serious thought – gathering wisdom from all sorts of sources – philosophy, literature, religion, cultural traditions, friends, and even teachers too. That then leaves us with the question, which of these speak with the voice of authority; which do we trust? And Jesus boldly says, trust my words, trust me.

I suspect you can see where this is leading. Your aims, says your school website, are lofty. But on what sort of foundations, what sort of ground, are they built? And where do the words and person of Jesus Christ fit in to that? I can’t and mustn’t make that choice for you – but it is arguably the job of a Bishop to suggest first that foundations matter, second that Christ is a very credible foundation to build your life on; and third that it is a good idea for each of us to actually do something about it.

That’s all rather dry, so let me be anecdotal for a bit about how foundations matter – and get back to floods. In the 1990’s I was Rector of the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth. You’ll have seen pictures of it on the news over recent weeks. It’s devastating. They’re only just getting over another indundation that happened four years’ ago; and memories are still keen of another bad one before that. The oldest buildings, the castle and the parish church, are – significantly – on higher ground; but over the years as the town’s market and population grew, more space was needed, and the risky banks of the Derwent and Cocker were colonised. It matters where you build.

I saw the same in Carlisle in 2005. By then I was living there as Archdeacon and Canon of the Cathedral. Again, the historic centre survived unscathed – but as an island; and not only a whole sector of the city’s housing found itself flooded, but also most of the emergency services and civic amenities, built on the conveniently flat and empty flood-plain.

Look up at the amazing structure of this Cathedral. It’s all right. It’s only an optical illusion if you think it’s falling in on you. Thank goodness its builders put in some foundations … But you’ll remember perhaps the story of William Walker, the deep-sea diver, who in 1906 to 11, literally dived into the groundwater under the vastness of Winchester Cathedral, to a depth of six metres, and shored it up, using more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks, and 900,000 bricks. It’s builders had given it foundations, but not ones deep enough to cope with long-term effects of new developments and climate change, and it really might have fallen down. Foundations matter, good ones, for the long run.

So what sort should we put in? And where does Christ come into that?

Here at King’s School you do not share in an institution that has been founded on some fleeting Glastonbury-like fancy, or even a plausible but untested philosophy or educational ideology of the moment. Dig down here and you find a deep substructure, strata upon strata of prayerful commitment and personal sacrifice, going right down to the start Etheldreda made in 673, and drawing on perhaps the greatest basis for good living that the world has ever known, and the one indeed that more people follow on this planet than any other. The founders and re-founders of the school will surely have been strongly motivated by the thought that their work would carry on providing a sound basis for human growing and living far beyond their own time.

Whenever I come into this cathedral church I, for one, sense something of the depth and solidity of those foundations, feel that here is something bigger than me, a sign and a presence of a reality beyond my own very limited perspective. I see the behaviour of our many visitors change as they move deeper into the building and encounter it. And I suspect that you may have felt this too. This will be a place you want to come back to.

So don’t underplay the value and seriousness of the foundations that are being given you just by being here. After all, using the word in a different sense, those of you who are and are being admitted as King’s and Queen’s Scholars are actually part of the Foundation yourselves! Looking carefully at the architecture and its history will not go amiss, but I have in mind of course more the living stones and living faith past and present that has made this place what it is. There is much to inform, much to inspire. Who are those people in the windows, on the memorials that catch our attention when the preacher loses it? Every one of them has a story to tell. What is the wisdom that is locked up in those old books and acted out in the services? Why has the Bible been the basis of more good lives than any other book ever.

Now we live in a world where many faiths and cultures vie for attention, and you yourselves come from a fairly wide variety of them. So although it is my job to commend Christ to you, it is yours to make up your own mind. And that of course is exactly how Christ would have it be. But what if you do indeed come to consider yourself in some sense a Christian, a follower of Christ?

The third of my themes then comes into play: what are you, what am I, going to do about it? How is your own personal identity and life going to be built into them? Joined up and joined in? We don’t usually bother much about this aspect of buildings; by and large the weight of the structure creates enough force to make it secure. That’s not always true, though. Examine the construction of the great cable-hung suspension bridges, and you see the cables continuing down into massive chambers, where they are held tight by equally massive bolts. And, to go back to those Cumbrian floods, we have seen to our cost how the apparently solid stone construction is actually highly vulnerable when exposed to pressure. What is holding you firm, keeping you you, writing you in to the great story of our faith in a way that no one can write out? Sometimes stories about wearing faith symbols get into the press – but faith is about far more than what we wear; it is about who we are.

You could see this as something rather private: our inner moral sense, our prayerfulness, our study of the scriptures; but in fact is also something rather public: how we relate to others and build community, how we express our faith and values together; what we teach and what we learn. And so it makes a difference, to us and to society at large, when we are prepared to go public, have the courage of our convictions, and stand up and stand out for what we believe in.

We have a ceremony, another sort of joining the Foundation, at which we give people the opportunity to do this. We call it Confirmation, and it means just that: going firm and being made firm in our faith. It can seem a rather minority interest, even a bit embarassing. But you are an international enough group to know that that is a very insular view. Across Europe and certainly across the world young people regularly give quality time to sorting out their personal faith and – for many – getting confirmed. Adults too are increasingly deciding it’s time they joined in. And I would like to suggest that we over here are the poorer for having lost it, and that led by you we can recover that loss.

“King’s,” says your website again, “is a robust school.” So here’s a robust challenge. Lead the way. Dig deeper. Get your foundations sorted out. And if you find that those foundations are, for you, the ones of the Christian faith, have the courage of your convictions, get confirmed, and say so.