Dear Friends,This Sunday we focus on what it means that we worship a Trinitarian God. Undoubtedly God is a mystery which we experience more fully than we can understand, but I am keen to encourage us all to get past any sense that the Trinity is a complicated puzzle. At its simplest, I think our belief that God is Trinity is about recognising that the Godhead is revealed as "relationship". When we think about our own lives we begin to realise that, made in the image of God, this is true of us too. Our fundamental relationship is with God who holds us in being, and from there our identity is shaped by the ways we relate with others. The revelation of the God that Jesus shows us is that love is the nature of the relationship of the Godhead, and we are called, as those made in the image of God, to make love the nature of our relationships too.This coming week there is an opportunity to meet with our brothers and sisters from the churches across our Deanery: Thursday 16th June, 7pm at Bratton Fleming Church, Deanery Synod. The speaker is the Venerable Verena Breed, Archdeacon of Barnstaple. She has a real love of the distinctive ministry we are all called to in a rural environment, and began her own ministry as the sole priest in a group of parishes right on the edge of Chester Diocese in the Peak National Park - so she knows our kind of life at first hand. There are very few Deanery Representatives in our Mission Community but this meeting is open to any one who is interested to come - so if you are able to participate it is a really good way to get a sense of what is happening beyond our own parish boundaries.Extending even further: diocesesan efforts continue to work with organisations finding homes for Ukranian refugees. Updates on this - including a link to donate to a fund helping refugees with the cost of travel can be found here: https://exeter.anglican.org/pray-for-ukraine/God blessSamantha
Dear Friends, I hope you are having a good long bank holiday - whether that is good meaning a good rest, a meeting with family and friends, or for many around here, a calm but busy time serving those who are on holiday! There is something very resonant about the pictures of the crowds in London from across the world gathering to celebrate the Jubilee as we also mark the great feast of Pentecost. Themes of unity and renewal were talked of after the wonderful service of thanksgiving at St Pauls on Friday - and of course unity and renewal are the great Pentecost themes too. Let's pray that the Queen's example of faith, hope and love may inspire us all, as we still live through challenging times, to take joy in the lives we share, look out for those who suffer, and contribute all that we can to making the world a kinder place. Thank you to all across our Mission Community who have embraced the Jubilee with enthusiasm: for flags flown and bells rung, for music played and flowers arranged, for welcoming and pudding production! God bless Samantha
The June edition of the newsletter is now available in the <a href="https://media.acny.uk/media/news/notice_sheet/2022/06/Newsletter_June_2022.pdf">Notice sheets menu</a>.
Dear Friends,I have moved the celebration of Ascension from Thursday to Sunday to give this feast its full significance. Forty days after Easter Jesus blesses his disciples, commissions them to take his love to the ends of the earth, and carries our humanity into the immedieate life of the Godhead. The disciples response is joy and worship as they await the gift of the Spirit he promises. In recent years, we have been encouraged to renew our response to this feast with what is now a worldwide wave of prayer inspired by Jesus' prayer: "Thy kingdom come" https://www.thykingdomcome.global/https://exeter.anglican.org/christian-faith/thy-kingdom-come-2022/https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/thy-kingdom-comeThis year I have not organised anything formal for our keeping of this time - but I encourage you to take some time to reflecton how you might give some time to praying for the triumph of God's love in our world, and in the lives those you know. This is now an annual event and it woudl be great to have a small group of people from across he Mission Community who might be willing to co-ordinate our response nest year - do let me know if this is something you'd be interested in.Thank you to all who joined in and helped organise the Rogation Day walk last week - we were blessed by beautiful weather as in turn we prayed for blessing on our land, our farming community, and all who live or visit our parishes.This weekend Parracombe are holding a festival of flowers - if you have a chance, do pop in to see the decorated church and the examples of local craft. Next weekend Platinum Jubilee celebrations there include a Sunday "Royal Bells and Platinum Puddings, and at Martinhoe there will also be a flower festival over the weekend.We are also entering the season of weddings - please pray for all who are preparing to be married this summer. This weekend we also welcome a family for the baptism of their child - we give thanks for the newest member of the church in our midst on Sunday!God blessSamantha
