A personal reflection on what I now see to have been a God led spiritual journey as we have restored the Montacute clock.
It was in October 2023 at the Rural Parishes Forum that Bishop Michael urged us to “try something different”. He said the old models which had succeeded through our youth and our middle age (most of the rural audience is 60+) had failed and it was now time to try something new. He urged us to look again at the great call (Matthew Ch 28) to “go and make disciples”, to make ourselves relevant.
In February 2024 Bishop John Lomas (Bishop of Brecon and Swansea in the church in Wales and who lives in Montacute) led the Benefice on a Growth Saturday. It was on that very day that the first indication of the historic importance the cultural significance and of the spiritual potential of the clock became apparent to me when I received a phone call from Dr Jonathan Foyle (then Diocesan Buildings Advisor) indicating his belief in the antiquity of our clock.
So this is a journey now of the past, the present and the future. In the past the Montacute clock, as we all know, just told the time, first to the monks and villagers of Montacute and then also to the many visitors who come here. That relevance is now perhaps in the past as everyone of us has an electronic device, or several, which we carry with us and which tell us to the nanosecond what time it is.
So in the present our clock has become a symbol, a symbol of time moving, of time being constant but also a symbol of God's presence in our parish, showing to our people and to our visitors a symbol of God's love and His ever present watching over us.
Now the clock has been restored we look to the future. The lovely time capsule now hiding behind the face will tell a future generation what we were like, what we dreamed about in putting our clock back in a state where it could continue its journey over 650 years and into the future, testifying to the unfolding the Jesus story, a tool for witnessing to his people, trying to bring God's love to other people.
It is a prompt to future generations. But it is also something else. It is a symbol of resurrection, something that was broken is now magnificent in its witness. One resident told me last week it is a “sapphire” on the church wall. Wow, what a symbol of God's presence here amongst us.
So what is its job now? It is to draw people into our church, known for its peaceful, spiritual atmosphere and to bring them into contact with the living God as they listen to His story told through the clock. We hope they will feel something of God’s love and majesty and will be willing also to continue to support the work of His church here.
This is an exciting step in our journey and one which we must grasp with both hands as an opportunity for mission. Our traditional ways are not God's ways. He moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.
Thank you, Lord God for showing us how to try something different!
Nic Laycock
Church warden at St Catherine’s Church, Montacute