Page 2The RectorAssistant PriestChurchwardens:Edvin LoachChurchwardens:TedstoneDelamereChurchwardens:Upper SapeyChurchwardens:<strong>Whitbourne</strong>OrganistEditorialDistributionRevd. David HowellThe Rectory, <strong>Whitbourne</strong>WR6 5RP 01886 821285Revd. Doiran WilliamsHowberry, <strong>Whitbourne</strong>WR6 5RZ 01886 821189Mrs Sheila Gibbs01885 483491Mr Robert Darby01885 482284Mrs Kathleen Harris01885 483681Mr Albert Jones01886 853564Mr I Evans-FisherMrs C Evans-Fisher01886 853441Mr Richard Freeman01886 832039Mrs Sylvia Bland01886 853661Mrs Sheila Jones01885 488625<strong>Parish</strong> contactsSecretaryTreasurerElectoral RollOfficerCouncillorsDeanery SynodRepresentativesThe <strong>Parish</strong> Magazine<strong>of</strong> <strong>Greater</strong> <strong>Whitbourne</strong>Mrs Rachel Evans01886 821364rachel@bromyard.comMr Andrew Kneen01886 821707Andrewkneen@aol.comThe <strong>Parish</strong> MagazineParochial Church Council (PCC)Advertising(billing)Advertising(copy)Mr Stuart Beare01885 482570Mr Angus Stormonth-Darling01886 821918Mr John Bland01886 853661Mr John Allan01886 821450Mrs Yvonne Evans01886 821811Mr Chris Harris01885 483681Sir Nicholas Harington01886 821819Mrs Nancy North01886 853321Mr Jerry Cummins01886 821485Mrs Celia MacKenzie01885 483492Mr John AllanMrs Brenda AllanMrs Myrtle KneenMr Stuart BeareMr John Bland01886 853661jcbland@jcbland.f9.co.ukMr Francis Evans07850 718112francis@bromyard.comContributions, letters, drawings and digital photographs for the magazine are all very welcome.These may be left at Little Tedney, <strong>Whitbourne</strong> Village Shop or e-mailed to rachel@bromyard.com.Contributions should be accompanied by a name and full address. Anonymity will be consideredon request, but not provided automatically. Please note that the views expressed by contributorsto the <strong>Parish</strong> Magazine are their own and do not represent the position <strong>of</strong> the PCC or any otherbody. The last day for submissions is the 10th <strong>of</strong> the month.Advertisements are charged at £16 per full A4 page per month. Please see Page 18 for details.Please note that the advertising facility is intended for local service providers, retailers and clubs.Advertisements should comply with the ethos <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Parish</strong> Magazine.The <strong>Parish</strong> Magazine is available in Church at Edvin Loach, Tedstone Delamere, Upper Sapey and<strong>Whitbourne</strong>, also at <strong>Whitbourne</strong> Village Shop. The magazine is priced at 50p or £5.00 for an annualsubscription, collected at the beginning <strong>of</strong> the year. To subscribe, please call Mr Andrew Kneen.For local information and photographs plus the latest <strong>of</strong>fers from buy.at/<strong>Whitbourne</strong>, please visitwww.whitbourne.org.ukCover photograph <strong>of</strong> St Mary Edvin Loach courtesy <strong>of</strong> Mr Paul Lack
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Greater</strong> <strong>Whitbourne</strong> Page 3FromtheRectorThe Last Sunday before Lent tells the story <strong>of</strong>the transfiguration; it is one <strong>of</strong> my favoriteBible passages and good preparation for Lent.“His clothes became dazzling white … Then acloud overshadowed them, and from the cloudthere came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listento him!’”(Mark 9:3, 7)Anyone who uses an electric arc welder for buildingmetal structures knows that the white light itproduces is so bright that someone looking at it isin danger <strong>of</strong> damaging their eyes. So the personusing the welder has to wear a dark glass maskthrough which nothing can be seen until the weldingstarts.Mark has told us that the disciples at Jesus’ transfigurationsaw his clothes become dazzling white –though not perhaps quite as bright as the light <strong>of</strong>the welder. Nonetheless, a bit like the mask, acloud comes and shields him from sight so Peterand the others see him in his transfigured state nomore.So what is the significance <strong>of</strong> this brightness andthe cloud which covers it?The key lies in understanding the Old Testamentbackground to this story. In fact, Mark’s accountcreates a web <strong>of</strong> references which his first readers,steeped in Old Testament study, would havegrasped. Let us unpick some threads in the web.First, the disciples have already seen two famousfigures from the past, Moses and Elijah, with Jesus.Both these men had encounters with God at the top<strong>of</strong> Mount Sinai: Moses at the giving <strong>of</strong> the Law,Elijah after fleeing from King Ahab and QueenJezebel. This sets the scene for a new encounterwith God on the mountain <strong>of</strong> transfiguration.Second, we have seen how Jesus’ clothing “becamedazzling white”, and here too Mark is alluding tothe Old Testament, specifically Daniel’s vision inwhich the clothing <strong>of</strong> God’s own person isdescribed in equally dazzling terms (Daniel 7:9). Soit seems that while this encounter with God hassimilarities to the earlier ones <strong>of</strong> Moses and Elijah,it is also radically different, since Jesus is not somuch encountering God, as being himself revealedas God in his glory.At this point the cloud hides the glorified Jesusfrom sight. And once again we must think back,with Mark’s first readers, to earlier scriptural referencesto clouds, especially those from Exoduswhich speak <strong>of</strong> the cloud in the wilderness in whichthe glory <strong>of</strong> the Lord appeared. God’s glory wasseen by the people but only when masked in mysteryby the cloud. Indeed the fullness <strong>of</strong> God’sglory would have been too much for them to bear,too bright and, like light from the welder, it neededshielding. And so it is, Mark is telling us, atJesus’ transfiguration.Out <strong>of</strong> this cloud a voice which, given the background,can only be the voice <strong>of</strong> God, says, “This ismy Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” God the Fatheris affirming his love for the Son in words identicalto those used at Jesus’ baptism. But let’s focusmore on the command, “listen to him”, and noticewhat, according to Mark, Jesus says directly beforeand after this incident, to which we might indeedlisten.Before it, a passage <strong>of</strong> teaching starts with Jesusdeclaring, for the first time, “that the Son <strong>of</strong> Manmust undergo great suffering, and be rejected …and be killed…” Then, as Jesus and the disciplescome down the mountain after the transfiguration,he “ordered them to tell no one about what theyhad seen, until after the Son <strong>of</strong> Man had risen fromthe dead”. That is, <strong>of</strong> course, after his death.So to bring all this together: the dazzling whitenessspeaks <strong>of</strong> Jesus’ divine glory. The cloud speaks <strong>of</strong>the mystery <strong>of</strong> that glory. Mark’s handling <strong>of</strong> theFather’s words from the cloud, in relation to Jesus’words before and after the transfiguration, suggeststhat, for Jesus, glory will be mysteriousindeed. Far from the world’s ideas <strong>of</strong> glory, forJesus, glory will mean walking the path <strong>of</strong> sufferingand death, the way <strong>of</strong> the cross. Only that way willhis glorious saving work be accomplished.David HowellRectorThe <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Greater</strong> <strong>Whitbourne</strong>