Over the last week or two it feels like we’re leaving summer behind and tip-toeing into Autumn. The summer break is ending and it’s the beginning of a new term for many. We have two grandchildren who have started in reception and we’ve watched one launch in confidently and the other much more cautiously. It’s a new beginning for the children and their parents.September always brings change and is marked by beginnings and endings.Sometimes, the change is predictable and needs careful planning such as buying a school uniform, getting a new timetable, starting a new training course. At other times, the change is unexpected and even unwelcome. The recent sad news of the accident where Steve and Kathy Burch tragically lost their lives has cut across everyone’s hopes and plans for this term. We remember their children and wider family as they grieve and try to come to terms with this unexpected and terrible event. For many of us here in the Minster churches who knew them, there’s a lingering sadness that we can’t shake off quickly or easily.At this time of year, we are reminded that ‘letting go’ is part of life. The trees all around us have been in leaf and then blossom, bursting with life and colour. But as Autumn draws in, the leaves fall and die and are drenched by nature’s tears. The trees look lifeless and bare and stand silently. Yet we know that, in time, warmer days return and the trees will burst back into life with fresh vigour. It’s a bright picture of hope that death gives way to life and there’s unseen growth in the waiting time.The author of the book of Lamentations wrote these words in a time of desolation and sadness:-Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. Lam 3:21-22 You and I can know and experience this love in the midst of life’s beginnings and endings. The love and faithfulness of God is the constant in the midst of change and God our Heavenly Father will never let us go. In Him we have hope! In one of my favourite hymns, also written at a time of great sadness, George Mattheson penned the words you see here. In his sadness, he felt held and carried by the “love that wilt not let me go”. Focus on this love in the weeks ahead. Listen to this song again. Remember you are deeply loved and tell those around you that they are loved too. ♥ ♥ ♥ With every blessing as the seasons change… SteveO Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be.
Dear FriendsAs we approach midsummer in the glorious month of June , we delight in the fulness of God’s creation: birds singing , bees buzzing and flowers displaying a multitude of colors, and as followers of Jesus we move into a new season of the Church’s year . On a sunny afternoon last month we sat in the garden and listened to the bells of St Nicholas ringing for the Feast of Ascension and ten days later we celebrated Pentecost praying that the Holy Spirit might be poured upon us as it had been upon the disciples so that we might be renewed and refreshed in our own lives and in the lives of our churches .The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the presence of God in each one of us, enabling us to discover more and more about our faith, guiding us through our lives, coming alongside us when we need comfort and strength and giving us confidence to share our faith with others. Someone once said “God’s love is a great ocean yet undiscovered by us, and the Holy Spirit is the navigator of our ship leading us to further and further discoveries.The presence of the Holy Spirit in our churches brings new experiences of worship and a growing love for each other. Time and time again throughout Christian history we read accounts of renewal and revival and we continue to hear such stories coming from the worldwide church today .Some years ago, Lizzie went to Malawi, the poorest country in Africa, visiting the various projects which supplied Fairtrade products. One Sunday morning she asked if she could go to church and was taken to a tin- roofed church, crammed with two hundred Christian men, women and children all praising God together. She said she’d never seen a service like it for its worship was vibrant and exciting and powerful and when the service was over every one of those two hundred people came up and shook hands with her!As we look forward to Julie’s Ordination to the Priesthood, the Confirmation Service, the continuation of the exciting Alpha Courses and the flourishing Life Groups – signs indeed that the Holy Spirit is at work amongst us - let us pray that this new season of Pentecost will continue to bring about a new experience of the power and presence of Jesus in the lives of each of one of us and in all the churches of the Minster.Enjoy the month of June! With Christian greetings Revd. Julian
Dear FriendsAs we approach midsummer in the glorious month of June , we delight in the fulness of God’s creation: birds singing , bees buzzing and flowers displaying a multitude of colors, and as followers of Jesus we move into a new season of the Church’s year . On a sunny afternoon last month we sat in the garden and listened to the bells of St Nicholas ringing for the Feast of Ascension and ten days later we celebrated Pentecost praying that the Holy Spirit might be poured upon us as it had been upon the disciples so that we might be renewed and refreshed in our own lives and in the lives of our churches .The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the presence of God in each one of us, enabling us to discover more and more about our faith, guiding us through our lives, coming alongside us when we need comfort and strength and giving us confidence to share our faith with others. Someone once said “God’s love is a great ocean yet undiscovered by us, and the Holy Spirit is the navigator of our ship leading us to further and further discoveries.The presence of the Holy Spirit in our churches brings new experiences of worship and a growing love for each other. Time and time again throughout Christian history we read accounts of renewal and revival and we continue to hear such stories coming from the worldwide church today .Some years ago, Lizzie went to Malawi, the poorest country in Africa, visiting the various projects which supplied Fairtrade products. One Sunday morning she asked if she could go to church and was taken to a tin- roofed church, crammed with two hundred Christian men, women and children all praising God together. She said she’d never seen a service like it for its worship was vibrant and exciting and powerful and when the service was over every one of those two hundred people came up and shook hands with her!As we look forward to Julie’s Ordination to the Priesthood, the Confirmation Service, the continuation of the exciting Alpha Courses and the flourishing Life Groups – signs indeed that the Holy Spirit is at work amongst us - let us pray that this new season of Pentecost will continue to bring about a new experience of the power and presence of Jesus in the lives of each of one of us and in all the churches of the Minster.Enjoy the month of June! With Christian greetings Revd. Julian
Gift Day at St Nicholas – 23/26 JuneYou may be aware that we have a double problem of a failing organ – our beautiful Nicholson pipe organ that is over 150 years old, - and a sound system that is also failing. Worship in our churches is a key aspect of our gathering and in order to facilitate it we would like to upgrade our system. At this time, we are not in the position to restore the Nicholson (which is currently estimated to cost around £100,000) and it would take five years to do, so in the shorter term we would like to install a digital organ to supplement the pipe organ and to provide for our choral worship. Alongside this, we would like to upgrade the sound system to allow for clarity in our spoken word and to increase our capacity for worship led from a range of instruments.To this end we will be holding a gift day on Sunday 23rd June and Wednesday 26th June to raise the funds we require to enable this to happen.Together we journey beyond Pentecost where we are reminded of the generosity of God who gives his Holy Spirit to us, so that we can be his hands and voices, proclaiming his goodness in this world.I ask you to pray that God will guide you as you consider your response to this request. Special envelopes will be available in church for you to place your donation. On Sunday 23rd and Wednesday 26th there will the opportunity to bring your gift as part of our worship.I continue to hold you in my prayersRev Katie Cross
