Reepham Life

This time last year we were at the start of “Lockdown 2” – it lasted for the whole of November and the hope was that by shutting most things down then, December – and Christmas – might be saved.

We all know what happened: the Tier system was introduced, Norfolk was placed in Tier 4 and we effectively went back into lockdown straight after Boxing Day, which meant that for many of us Christmas was, if not “cancelled”, certainly curtailed.

Now in 2021 we were, as early as August, being warned that due to HGV driver shortages and delays in ports at China, Christmas was once again under threat, as well as the ongoing threat of Covid-19 rearing its head once again this winter.

Of course, many of us roll our eyes at the media and/or politicians when they dramatically pronounce that Christmas is under threat.

In truth, Christmas as a Christian festival, a season of celebration of God, in the person of Jesus, coming to Earth to live a human mortal life, has been under sustained threat for decades.

We all see every year the ever-increasing incursion of the commercial world into this Christian festival.

To an extent, we embrace and enjoy it. I love a Father Christmas/snow scene/robin, etc., as much as the next person.

All of those things are pretty and have a commercial value that never seems to come anywhere close to being exhausted.

It is all of these commercial trappings that have clung so limpet-like to Christmas that are vulnerable to supply-chain issues.

The 12-day festival of Christmas cannot be cancelled because the calendar and time cannot be stopped or cancelled.

25 December to 5 January is coming and Christians will celebrate/remember this great festival of Christmas, even if there are no single-use plastic toys imported en masse from Asia, if there are no snow scenes, no cards, no turkeys, no decorations/crackers/whatever.

For Christians, God in the person of Jesus came and lived and died and rose again because he loved us and still does – whatever might or might not get cancelled this year.

This great and beautiful festival is drowning in the commercial trappings and expectations that can never be fulfilled.

I would never want to see a completely commercial-free Christmas; I enjoy it too much.

But we do not seem to know when to stop with the preparations/celebrations, which means we often miss those in our communities for whom this season is a difficult and painful time.

We don’t want their pain to encroach on our festivities. We want a happy ending as portrayed in every Christmas movie and their pain rudely interrupts this.

We forget that the real Christmas story involves a hostile dictatorship/occupation, a puppet king who embarks upon a massacre of children. It is about a homeless family (Jesus’) with no welfare state.

Please, then, do enjoy a happy Christmas and do celebrate, but also remember those less fortunate who cannot celebrate for so many reasons.

Click HERE for a listing of Christmas and other church services in December.

Revd. Keith Rengert, Team Vicar, Reepham and Wensum Valley Team Churches

WOW stands for Wonder on Wednesdays.

It’s a chance to pause midweek to look at our “wow” moments and to think of others across the world who need our care and attention in times that have made us stop and gaze thoughtfully.

Have you ever wondered about prayer and what it is? Why is it in our instinct? What ways do we or can we prayer? Does God care when we prayer? Does God really listen?

Do situations really change when we pray? What happens when our prayers are not answered in the way we hoped? (Yes, that happens too.)

Join us if you like to ask questions every Wednesday via Zoom, 7–8 pm. For joining information, telephone 01603 871263 or email

We had a great WOW social in September, sharing food, chatter and a few wow moments, such as seeing Jupiter, winning crazy golf, getting a hole in one, watching the sunrise and sunset.

These are held on the second Thursday of each month from 7–8.30 pm in St Michael's Reepham. The next is on 14 October.

Revd Helen Rengert
Team Rector, Reepham and Wensum Valley Team Churches
www.reepham-and-wensum-valley-team-churches.org.uk

Holiday season is approaching; there are lots of reasons why this is all the more necessary.

Many of our hard-working National Health Service staff will be having annual leave at last.

After 73 years since the founding of the NHS, the country’s largest employer by far, Her Majesty The Queen has awarded all staff past and present with the George Cross.

My mum texted and asked if we get this? I said in kind only.

Can you imagine the number of Crosses that would need to be made for all staff past and present because that would include both myself and her and so many others?

I told my mum that we could add it after our names (though I’m not sure if that’s allowed).

To be honoured is so important; it boosts morale, and we all need that as well as a holiday.

This year most of us will not be jetting off and that will be great for the environment.

We have decided to not fly as much as possible, but to go by train or bus or even our old (but new to us) motorhome.

Having a holiday is vital for us to recover, rest and refresh all that we need to do – and this year more so.

We don’t know what winter will bring so we must be as rested as possible, and God bless our NHS staff and all the key workers who have worked tirelessly for us.

I pray for their holidays and time out. We honour you.

Happy holidays.

Revd Helen Rengert
Team Rector, Reepham and Wensum Valley Team Churches

Many people have remarked that the prolonged lockdown is damaging to people’s mental health.

It is good sometimes to ask questions of ourselves: Do I feel lonely? Does life seem to have no purpose? Do I feel excluded from the happy bustle that most people seem to enjoy?

People with all kinds of mental illness or anguish are usually advised to seek a counsellor.

The natural world and gardening are now seen as good medicines for mind as well as body, but it is seldom realised that the church, too, has much to offer in this field.

The church can provide the friendship and relationship for which so many seek, not only within the fellowship of the local church, but in the friendship that Christ himself offers us. He is the unseen presence and constant pillar of support for all his followers whom he calls his friends.

The church teaches us that our purpose is to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Here we have a never-ending reason not only to live, but to live life to the full.

For the many people who suffer handicaps or disadvantages in life, the church at her best offers support, comfort and encouragement – the spiritual blessings that we all need.

The church is there for all, including those who suffer abuse, whether physical, mental or spiritual, or who regard themselves as failures or misfits in our over-competitive society.

Such victims may experience a welcome, understanding and support from the church, which can be a rock for the oppressed and marginalised in our society. This also goes for the many who experience breakdown in their relationships.

We are all broken to a lesser or greater degree, and so need the invaluable ongoing support that Christ offers in and through his church, which can be a second family: “Come unto me, all ye who are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.”

What about depression? Surely our church with her gospel of joy and risen life is the perfect antidote to all such destructive feelings.

Part of this is the realisation that Jesus himself suffered depression even on the cross itself: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

Bereavement is another cause of mental distress, when we suffer the death of a close relative or friend.

The death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus led to the shortest sentence in the New Testament: “Jesus wept.”

What better support could we be given than faith in Jesus, who wept for his friend and suffered an agonising death, but through his victory overcame death and opened the kingdom of God to all.

Christians have so much in their first-aid kit including prayer; God himself is the best listening ear.

Also in the church’s kit are the sacraments, which provide strength, comfort and reassurance. The need of mental health is a God-given opportunity for the church to offer what so many now seek.

Of course, there are many obstacles, including a general distrust of all things “religious” and sinful failures in ministry, so widely reported.

But it may well be that one of the best provisions for mental illness is to come to church, or in times of lockdown to join in church life via telephone, email and zoom.

The Rt Rev Tony Foottit, retired Bishop of Lynn