Vicar’s Pastoral Letter - August 2024

As I write this, the Olympic Games (and afterwards, the Paralympics) will start in Paris. For a change, we are in the same time zone, so no need to set any alarm clocks or stay up too late to watch the sprinting, cycling, swimming or whatever you like to watch and be part of. There will be much to watch and enjoy, even if you are not into sports - or very good at them. Seeing the athletes limbering up for the race of their life can be truly inspirational, even to the couch potato (or couch to 5K wannabe).

The abilities of the athletes, their dedication, and their perseverance is always something that I have greatly admired. In many Olympic sports, winning can often come down to one moment. It just takes a single misstep, a single fall, a single miscalculation of judgement and all can be lost. In the diving competition, one bad dive means everything. All that training for four years, all that anticipation, rests on a knife-edge. To give your life to a sport where the difference between success and failure is so slight must require huge amounts of endurance, strength and resilience, as well as an awful lot of mental fitness and an ability to stay focused. This is why I am in awe of all those competing at the Olympics and will be watching, when I can, from my sofa. While the winner of the gold gets all the glory, it is important to remember that the vast majority come away without a medal of any colour. But that does not mean they have lost at all. Getting to the Olympics itself is a huge achievement. When I'm watching the Olympics, I like to see the faces of those runners and sportsmen and women who finish towards the end of the race - quite often they come across the line with a smile on their face, knowing that they have done the best that they can and have competed in something really special.

From a church perspective, are we running a Marathon or a Sprint? Are we pole vaulting to oblivion or long jumping into quicksand? Is your Vicar more of a Decathlon person or a Synchronised Swimmer? What sport best describes your church at the moment? I think we are a great relay team. We are still in the race and, so far, we haven't dropped the baton. Maybe the national Church has lost its way around the Marathon course, or cross -country mountain biking, but despite how difficult the race is, our own churches are still in the race. I believe that, and I hope you do so, too. Sure, we could all do with more in the team, and perhaps we could do with pulling together more but we are getting good results:

Two weddings at Guarlford in the space of a month

Over a dozen baptisms this year alone, including one electing for an in-service baptism

A regular pattern of worship - mixing the traditional with the informal

A good team of lay ministers and some wise experienced retired clergy to support us

And the myriad of volunteers that help set up or close down our churches, make refreshments for fellowship, decorate the churches, ring our bells et etc

In mid-July, a gallant band of Powick parishioners took the Church to the Community Fete in Powick. In the rain, they engaged with people - young and old alike. This is the first time in a long time that we have done this - and it mustn't be the last. Our faith and our church need to be visible beacons in our villages, not a museum to the past that opens its doors every so and often. We are also engaging with the Heritage Open Days in September and marking Guarlford Church's 180 years with a number of open events for the village, Once the ramp has been done at Callow End, we will do similar there too. In the Book of Hebrews, it tells us to 'run with perseverance the race that is set before us'(Heb 12:1). As a group of churches, we sure do have our own trials and tribulations to go through in the race that has been set for us. We might not have received a Ministry Support Grant, our finances might be tight, but we have a heart for the communities we serve and I pray (confidently) that our communities will be there for us in our time of need. They reach out to us already for occasional offices (births/deaths and marriages) and through our schools' work, it is time for the community to be with the church as it runs the race of its life.

But is there anything else we can do other than to offer ourselves and our best? How can be spiritual and faithful athletes?

In the Bible, St. Paul often evokes the image of the athlete in his description of the spiritual life. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, he writes 'Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.' (1 Cor 9:25) For Paul, the training and dedication that athletes required to win their wreath (not a medal!) was what people needed in their spiritual lives - a desire to dedicate their time to God, to practicing their faith, and to trying to become better people every day.

Practice, they say, makes perfect; and in our spiritual lives we need to practice too, by praying, by talking with others, and by reading the Bible. That way, we too, will receive our own medals. Just as we can admire and be inspired by those who compete in the Olympics, we can be inspired by other Christians too, emulating those who have taught us and gone before us. Then, when our race comes to an end, we will be greeted by God and will receive our prize - a place in God's everlasting Kingdom.

Every blessing - Rev Gary