Dear Friends,
It has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote to you all and so much has happened in that time! We had a wonderful service of Morning Prayer, led by Frank Tucker, a service which is unusual for us on a Sunday morning but I know it was greatly appreciated. One of the things people often say is that the 8:30 service is a precious moment for peace, stillness and is a key part of many people’s weeks. Equally, our vibrant 10:30 services continue to keep us on our toes with many young people and children involved, as well as a steady trickle of new faces who are returning to church for the first me in years or are just beginning to explore faith for one reason or another. As we each journey along the path of faith and spirituality, we can find that we need pointers on the way. One excellent opportunity for this coming up would be to join our very own Simon Taylor for the School of Prayer that the diocese are running. These experiential sessions will provide a safe space to try praying with others whilst hearing from people who have been praying for many years. There are always opportunities like this and I would be happy to chat with anyone who wanted to know more about how to deepen their understanding of the Chris an faith or experience more of what it means to follow Jesus.
Harvest has been a focus of mine for the last week as I went into Knowle Park school to take their Harvest Celebrations. I was so encouraged to see so many familiar faces in the audiences, both school children and their grown-ups. Hopefully my homemade Masterchef hat, red apron and priests stole (church scarf) wasn’t too cringe! The point I was trying to illustrate, through thinking about where our food comes from, was that ordinary everyday things like food and drink are not beneath God. We worship a God who is kind enough to meet us in our ordinary lives and connect with us through things that matter to us like eating. As I shared with the Sunshine Preschool when they came to visit this week, we make hundreds of cups of tea and coffee each week, regularly serve lots of meals and always feel like it is a central part of our spirituality and worship in church. If only we had a dishwasher! Speaking of food – we had what I think was the best Café Reconnect last week with around 30 people plus volunteers enjoying bacon sandwiches, homemade soup, cheese toasties and of course plenty of cake. There was such a wonderful buzz in the church and we are grateful for all the donations that make this “pay-as-you-can” café accessible to all. If you are interested in joining our team of volunteers or would like to make a specific contribution such as a cake or a financial donation, please speak to me and I can help coordinate the best way to do this.
As it continues to get colder and wetter, let’s keep trying to support one another and particularly looking out for those in our community who might need a little extra help at this point. Do get in touch if you feel you need support and one of our pastoral care team can see how we can help. Don’t be alone, there’s always someone else wishing they weren’t!
I pray that our beautiful church community would continue to thrive, that we would be a place where all, younger and older, experienced in faith or new to it, could come together and discover the light and love of God in our lives. I hope that we can find ways to support one another, keep the good work of the church alive and make some new friends along the way. Please do join me in praying for St Mar n’s, our parish and all who live and work here. I wonder how we might feel stirred to respond to God as we pray…
This week we will gather at 8:30 for Holy Communion and 10:30 for our special harvest café church celebration. Please bring a donation for the food bank if you can. Grace & Peace,
Rev’d Phil