... about two miles out of the centre of Bradford (England), travelling north-west,
on the roundabout junction of Harrogate Road (A658) and Pullan Avenue (A6176)
The service followed directly on from the traditional service of Holy Communion which took place at 9.30am. During the traditional service the Rev'd Marise Hargreaves (Curate) preached on the ministry of John the Baptist, who was always honest and straightforward and never wore a "mask" - what you see is what you get. Do we try to wear "masks" in front of God and in the ways we treat each other? She illustrated her sermon ...
Here are a couple of photographs of members of the earlier congregation sharing the Peace together during that service ...
The traditional service was attended by about 55 people. Most of them stayed for the Nativity Service, and they were joined by a good number of other people so that the church building was fairly full from 10.30am...
Rejoice, the Lord is king!
During this hymn the flags were presented by Brownies and Scouts
Our service followed Christian Aid's Christmas focus on the Dalits of India - the "untouchables" who fall below the caste system and so face discrimination and injustice, even though it is now 50 years since the Indian government passed laws to abolish untouchability. We often find it hard to relate the story of Jesus, 2000 years ago, to conditions in our modern world.
Jesus was also born in poverty. He was laid in a manger instead of in the inn. His parents were too poor to provide the sacrifice required in the Old Testament laws, so they instead took the poor-people's option when he was brought to the temple at Jerusalem.
The dalits can see that Jesus' birth and life shows God's concern for those at the very bottom of society.
To set the scene of the dalits, we heard a brief description of the castes of India:
from the top of society to the bottom (left to right on the photograph) ...
- the Brahmins (priests) - the mouth of the world soul (purusha),
- the Rajanya or Kshatriya (rulers) - the arms,
- the Vaishya (land-owners, merchants and bankers) - the thighs, and
- the Shudras (workers, artisans and serfs) - the feet.
- The Dalits (untouchables) are no part of the world soul, so are beneath the low.
(The last person in the photo is the narrator introducing the others.)
Mary lived in Nazareth, and was engaged to be married to Joseph. God sent an angel
to Mary to tell her some good news:
Greetings! The Lord is with you.
Oh dear. What have I done now?
Don't be afraid. God is pleased with you. You are going
to have a baby, and you must call him Jesus. He will be great, and will be God's son.
He will be king, and his kingdom will never end.
How can this be? I have no husband.
God's Holy Spirit will come to you.
So the baby will be God's son.
I am the Lord's servant. May it be as you have said.
So Mary praised God in a song.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord...
In those days the Roman Emperor ordered a count of all the people who lived in his empire. Every man had to go back to the town where his family came from, so Joseph went to Bethlehem, because he came from King David's family. Joseph took Mary with him.
While they were there the time came for her baby to be born. There was no room for them in the inn, so when the baby was born Mary wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a manger.
Near Bethlehem there were some shepherds, keeping watch over the sheep.
An angel of the Lord appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone around, and they were
terrified.
Don't be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the
people. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour is born. He is Christ the Lord. This is how you
will know him: he is wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly there were lots of angels all praising God.
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
When the angels left, the shepherds talked about it.
Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing
which the Lord has told us about.
Yes, let's!
So the hurried off, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby in the manger. When they had
seen it, they told lots of other people about what they saw, and everyone who heard was amazed.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night...
Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord God in the temple.
In the temple there was an old man called Simeon. God had told Simeon he would not die
until he had seen the Christ. He took Jesus in his arms.
Lord God, my eyes have seen your salvation,
your light for the world, your glory for your people.
Then Simeon gave the baby back to his parents, and blessed them.
To help us realize the hope which Jesus brings to those who are oppressed in our day, we heard the story of Thangamani:
Thangamani from Tamil Nadu is one of nearly 250 million Dalits in India today. Her husband Chinnakannu was responsible for keeping land records for the local village administrative officer.
When a landlord asked him to transfer the title for the common land worked by the Dalits of the village to his name, Chinnakannu said "no". Illegal land transfers such as this are one of the many ways in which upper caste landowners attempt to increase their land holdings. The law states that, after 50 years, ownership of common land passes to the children of the Dalits who tend it. Thangamani and her husband Chinnakannu have been in a longstanding land dispute with the landlord since then.
Thangamani is able to support her family thanks to an initiative by Christian Aid's partner, Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA). ASA is working to educate, organise and mobilise rural workers, most of whom are Dalits. In Thangamani's village they have helped set up a women's association, and Thangamani is the leader. This has enabled the women to set up their own rural bank, so that they are not trapped in debt to commercial moneylenders.
"The women's association has given me the confidence and strength to keep fighting for our rights" says Thangamani.
Christian Aid's Christmas Appeal is focussing on ASA's work with Dalit communities. With our help they hope one day the Dalits will no longer be outcasts at Christmas.
Our prayers were led for us by four members of the scout group, and by two other members of our Sunday Club.
Come and join the celebration...
Many thanks to the cast
In a short talk, John Hartley (the vicar) spoke about the life story of Rabindranath Maharaj, formerly a Brahmin in India. In his book "Death of a Guru", he tells of the reasons he came to believe and trust in Jesus Christ, and some of the ways in which he sees that faith in Christ is so much more worthwhile than the life he used to know within the caste system.
After the service the congregation enjoyed coffee and biscuits together in the "narthex" (the glassed-in room at the back of the building underneath the gallery). By the time the vicar got around to taking these two photographs most of the folks had left, so here are two shots of the enthusiasts still chatting and hanging around ...
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This web page was last updated on 18th December 2001.