Dear friendsIt's not often we could say that church is the "coolest" place to be (!) but I think it's fair to say with the extreme heat of recent days and weeks this is literally true.Thankfully God doesn't require us to be 'cool' in the contemporary sense - thank goodness, I'm sure the children at Knowle Park wouldn't describe the dance moves I shared in assembly this week as cool!I remember vividly an episode of "Rev", the BBC drama a few years ago, which was always a bit too realistic to be comfortable. In this episode, Rev, the vicar of a small but faithful church community, was asked by a more contemporary church if they could use his church for a short while, allowing renovations to their own building to take place. With this new church community came leather sofas, smoothie machines, and funky light systems which crashed into this traditional church building like a bull in a china shop! It wasn't really a helpful message, as it put different church traditions at polar opposites, and of course the reality is much more nuanced.There is a need to "bring the Gospel message afresh to this generation", and the messages in our Gospels over recent weeks have reinforced what happens when God's people become fixed on traditions or behaviours in their worship, without noticing the new thing that God is doing. As a PCC over the coming weeks and months we want to discern a clearer vision on who we are being called to be as a church in this time and place, for this generation. We're going to begin our preparation for this, for all of us, with a sermon series later in the Summer that takes us to some of the foundation stones of faith, and what it is to be church. This will hopefully also include some mid week opportunities to gather, in fellowship, prayer, bible study and conversation. I don't anticipate a smoothie machine, leather sofa or funky lights will feature, however I do hope you'll feel called to join in.We also want to grow our Pastoral Care team over the coming months, and we'll be running some training sessions for this in September. If this is something you feel called to be part of, why not have an informal conversation in the first instance either with me, or Becky Wearne, who co-ordinates the Pastoral Care team.In the meantime, we look forward to gathering together this Sunday to worship at 8.30am for our traditional Holy Communion service, and at 10.30am for our Sung Eucharist with Sunday Spirit for young people. You're invited, it would be great to see you.With every blessingBecky
Hello St Martin’s!I am thrilled to finally be able to introduce myself to you all, and I look forward to getting to know each of you over the next few years as we spend time worshiping and praying together. I am delighted to be coming to Knowle for my curacy and I am excited to discover what life and ministry look like in this new place. A little about me…I have lived in south Bristol, with my wife Abbey for nearly ten years, where we have worked with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and then in various pubs and restaurants before I began training for ordination at Trinity College. We love Bristol with all its music, art and festivals and we are glad we landed south of the river. I enjoy cycling and watching football, although being from Southampton I now face the dilemma of my local team playing my home team since they have joined City in the championship. I also love cooking, gardening and growing vegetables – our last church was even based around a community garden where we worshiped God through growing and caring for local green spaces.My spiritual journey has been full of adventure but also all the usual ups and downs of life. I have spent time in various communities and church styles including Bristol Cathedral and St Francis, Ashton Gate where I came to love liturgical services. I believe there is such richness in the Anglican spiritual tradition and I look forward to seeing how we can worship together in new ways that are infused with this richness.I really hope that as we get to know one another we can walk together on this winding path of faith and life, sharing our doubts and our assurances alike.See you all after my ordination in July!Phil Manning
Dear friendsWhat a glorious week of weather - quite extraordinary to have a sunny bank holiday, and then for half term to be dry and warm.We are still in the season that is "out of the ordinary" in this space between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. This is the time of year when vergers around the country are swapping colours of altar cloths like crazy, reflecting each of the seasons and festivals!There is a richness to our liturgy in these weeks, additional phrases in the Eucharistic prayer, collects that connect the life of the church with the life of the world, hymns and worship songs that only really come out in this short window of time, frills on the servers white robes ... so much that speaks of something extraordinary. The stories we hear each week are old, familiar, well known - those last days of Jesus human life, and the last visions of his resurrected body, the gift of the Holy Spirit being given to the whole people of God - even in the familiarity we are hearing extra-ordinary stories. And this week, the simple yet complicated notion that God is both one and three, as Father Son and Holy Spirit. It's a rite of passage to preach on the Trinity, and Chris is going to do that for us this week!I wonder how we will retain the idea of an extra-ordinary life such as we are called to live? The call to live differently, to act differently, because we follow an extra-ordinary man as seen in the life of Jesus? We can't do this alone - being grounded in our faith in God, recipients of his love, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and built and up encouraged by being members of a set apart body, that is the Church, that is the body of Christ.So my invitation for this week is to embrace the extra-ordinary invitation as we go about our ordinary and everyday lives. What difference does it make to the way you live your life, that you are Christian? How are you aware that you live differently, act differently, speak differently because of the extra-ordinary man you follow?Let's explore this together as this beautiful body of Christ that is every member of St Martin's church, whichever community you worship amongst, whichever congregation you regularly attend.This weekend, we gather at 8.30am for our traditional Holy Communion service, then at 10.30am for our High Eucharist with Sunday Spirit for the younger members of the family.You are invited, it would be lovely to see you, and we miss you when you're not there.With every blessingBecky
Dear friendsThis weekend we celebrate Pentecost, which is considered informally as the Church's birthday. This is the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, enabling them to spread the good news of Jesus beyond the Jewish people, out into the world. This is the day God fulfilled the promise to send a helper, an advocate, to enable Jesus' followers to continue the ministry he began during his time on earth.Our younger members of the church family have been celebrating this in their separate groups: Messy Church, Bears and Prayers and Sunday Spirit have all done exciting, colourful, lively activities over the last 2 weeks to learn more about this really important festival in the life of the church.I wonder how you feel about your own birthday? When we're young it's really exciting, with the promise of a party and cake. As we get older we may dread the next birthday coming along, with it's reminder of older age, or we may even forget how old we are, and a birthday just feels like another day.Birthdays, whatever age we are, are a cause to celebrate the life of an individual. Pentecost, for me, is a cause to celebrate the life of the church, the beginning of the church as we know it, a body of people gathering to worship, pray, and grow in our understanding of who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. It is also a cause to be open again to the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God that completed who he was for us, equipping and enabling us in our lives, ensuring we are never alone, even if there are times that we feel it.Our readings this week invite us even more into the story of our faith, and our gatherings this week, at 8.30 for a traditional Eucharist, and 10.30 for our more informal All Together Communion, invite us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit again. I'm aware that it is a beautiful bank holiday weekend however, and many of you will be taking the opportunity to get away!It would be lovely to see you, equally I pray you will feel the presence of God in the work of the Holy Spirit, wherever you are.God blessBecky
