FRIENDS OF CLAINES CHuRCH

Congratulations to George Paterson aged 11, who has been installed as the 42nd Junior Bishop of Claines.

George  is a regular of the Claines “Pub Club” Senior Sunday School and worships regularly at Claines with his family. George is a pupil at Blessed Edward College at Worcester and previously attended Claines C of E School.

George was interviewed for his post and declared “I want to show how cool it is to be a Christian”.

George was recently confirmed by the Bishop of Worcester, Bishop John at Worcester Cathedral.

George was  installed as Junior Bishop on Sunday 9th December, by Reverend Nick Kaleniuk and will undertake a wide range of duties until  28th December. Amongst these will be regular readings, parish visits, sick communions in the parish and preaching on Christmas Day! (Read George’s Christmas Day Sermon here) or watch it and listen here!

George will be assisted by Imogen Gunter who will be serving as his Chaplain.

Well done George! See more photographs of the installation below.

See more details on the history and tradition of  Claines Junior Bishops

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George Paterson, 42nd Junior Bishop of Claines, Imogen Gunter, Bishop’s Chaplain

Revd Nick Kaleniuk

 Claines Junior Bishop 2012

BISHOP GEORGE PATERSON’S CHRISTMAS DAY SERMON

AT ST JOHN BAPTIST CHURCH, CLAINES, WORCESTER

It is great to be on holiday at this time of year........ Christmas!! It is a time when I can forget about school!   No more French, Literacy, Science and even Algebra!!

But then again as I thought about this, I don’t think it is a good thing to get out of practice so…… I thought it would be good to spend a little time this morning talking about “Algebra!!!”

Now don’t be put off by that idea… let’s try and find out something else first.

Think of the word “CHRISTMAS.” What does the “mas” in Christmas mean? Probably the nearest we can get is “feast” or “festival.” So Christmas ought to mean “The Festival of Christ.”

There are many times in the life of Jesus when we couldn’t have a party, for instance Good Friday. But, at Christmas we have the best reason for being happy in celebrating the Birth of Jesus.

Now…. This is where the Algebra comes in.

There was once a school teacher teaching his class Algebra for the first time. He could never understand why children found this difficult. He would walk up and down the classroom and look for the boy or girl who had misery written on their face and shout:

“Come out here to the blackboard! What’s the matter? There’s nothing difficult about it! All you have to do is find the answer and you know what that is. Put it down!!”

When the boy looked more upset than ever, the teacher banged the blackboard!!

“Write it down! That’s the answer!! X. Don’t you know what X means?

The unknown quantity. X is the unknown quantity. Now go back and work it out!!”

So the terrified child went back to his desk!

It isn’t as easy as that of course, even if it sounds easy. BUT, remember what the teacher said… “X is the unknown.”

Now, let’s get back to Christmas. Just look in the shop windows at all the Christmas cards and advertisements. What do they say? “Merry Christmas!” well not always, they sometimes say something else…… XMAS! Now, what did the teacher say X meant???

Today, to many people, the Festival of Christmas is the “Festival of the unknown!!” how many people will remember that it is a feast of joy for Jesus’ birth? Some, but not all!

Being Junior Bishop for the last few weeks has helped me to understand more about the importance of Jesus’ birth at Christmas and has helped me to reflect on my own thoughts about the true meaning of Christmas.

In the beginning I was very nervous as I didn’t know what to expect, I was in ‘unknown’ territory. But, with the love and support of the church (Especially Nick, Geoff and my chaplain Imogen), my family and my friends I have grown more confident every day.

Over the last few weeks I have witnessed how hard Nick and his team work to reach out to the people in our Parish at Christmas. They bring love and care and the important message of Christmas in so many different ways.

I have been on many home visits with Nick, to old people in the Parish, talking to them, reading the Christmas Story and giving communion. A visit from a little Bishop meant so much to them as they are unable to get to Church for the Christmas services.

I have been to Morton House Care Home where a short Carol Service meant so much to the old people. When we sang ‘Away in a Manger,” an old lady cried and said to me that it was beautiful.

Many people took my hand after the service and said “Thank you for coming Young Man!” It made me realise how I had touched their hearts and brought the Christmas story through worship into their lives for just a few moments. I was very proud.

After receiving beautiful cards from the Sunday School last week, I realise what an important role the Junior Bishop has in reaching out to all the young people in our Church too!!

Being Junior Bishop has been a tiring but worthwhile and amazing experience. I feel that I have grown in Faith and it is something I will never forget. My friends and family think it has been ‘cool’ knowing ‘Bishop George’ and I have loved sharing this spiritual journey with them all.

I have felt proud to serve my Church through the Christmas celebrations and make this a wonderful last Christmas for Nick. Please can I thank Nick and Geoff for giving me this opportunity. They have been great fun to work with and have always encouraged me to do well in my readings and prayers. For the past few weeks they have helped me get dressed before the services and lay out the Junior Bishop robes on the table. This confused me slightly and I don’t think I will ever get the hang of laying the robes out by myself!!

As a final thought to you all I say invite Jesus into your hearts and homes this Christmas time and remember amongst all the food and presents that it is not the ‘Festival of the unknown,’ to us as Christians, it is a festival for the joy of Jesus’ birth.

Jesus…… Emmanuel……… God with us

May I wish you all a very blest, peaceful and happy Christmas.

AMEN