Dear Friends,

This week many young people and children will be finishing school for the summer. It has been such a disrupted time for children, parents and carers, and all involved in teaching and learning in schools. Let’s keep all our children, young people and school staff in our prayers through this week as the West Exmoor Federation finds creative ways to mark the end of primary school time for our year sixes. Parracombe and Lynton and Barbrook PCCs have made their traditional gift to the children of the “Book of Books” a contemporary telling of the stories of the Bible and we pray that they will enjoy reading them in days to come.

At the centre of school life here are the CARIS values: Curiousity, Achievement, Respect, Inspiration and Support – with their initial letters spelling out “caris” which means love. The values emerged from the school community reflecting on the parables and what qualities they inspire in our lives. Our Sunday readings hold us with parables at the moment, and you might like to give a thought for how each story shows some of the CARIS qualities. After fifteen hours of a Zoom conference this week which was trying discern future priorities for the Church of England, it was interesting to realise that the qualities our children are learning are essential for healthy relationships within our church life too.

Over the next week I will be trying to have conversations with all our Churchwardens about how we gently offer an opportunity, for those who feel comfortable, to return to a celebration of the Eucharist within the Mission Community. Across the diocese churches are being very cautious about this, so our progress is in line with the norm here (and actually in line with much that I heard about across the country).

Be assured, as ever, of my prayers for you all,

God bless,

Samantha