I hope you and all your family are well.

Thank you all very much for your very positive feedback after last week’s Sunday Morning Service. You all commented upon how much better the sound was, as well as the quality of the picture. You also appreciated the camera work. Let me thank once again Mark Longstaff and Phil Geddes for all the time they put in to make it work so well not just for the present, but also for the future. By improving our existing infrastructure, which needed doing in any event, we now have the tools to set us up well into the future.

We held our first wedding this week, not just the first since lockdown but also the first since July of last year. It was a great pleasure and privilege to do. The number of weddings we do each year has dropped considerably. This is a pattern which is repeated in churches across the country. We have one more booked for later in the year and already a number for next year.

Wedding venues have created a whole new industry, so much so that the personal touch gets lost. At Daresbury long may we continue to put the two people getting married in the presence of their family and friends at the centre of the celebrations and not look upon it as a fund-raising exercise. The basic cost of a wedding in church is £550.

In recent years the Church of England has worked really hard at promoting church weddings as a way of breaking down many of the myths surrounding Church life and what it means to be a Christian. Why not have a look for yourself and go to https://www.yourchurchwedding.org/. If you want any more information do not hesitate to contact myself or Gill.

We also had the funeral and burial in the Churchyard of Graham Johnson, who lived in Moore all his life. There is something very natural about having the whole service in the Churchyard. The peace and quiet there reminds us of the rhythms of life; the completion of a circle. May Graham, and all those from our community and your family who have recently died, rest in peace and rise in glory.

This week’s service is being led by Gavin. You’ll find it attached. Don’t forget you can watch it either live, or at any time later, on the web at the Church’s Facebook site or through the Facebook App. It is also available from 2.00pm on Sunday afternoons through our dedicated telephone number 01925 568220 as well as on our Daresbury Church YouTube channel.

With God’s blessing,

David