Wednesday 27 September 2023

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful sunny weather! For those of you away on Autumn holidays in these coming weeks, I hope you have a restful and refreshing time.

If you are around do come and join us for worship on Sunday and for some of the events and activities listed below.

Lectio Divina
A group of us meet every Thursday morning, 10:30-11:15am, via Zoom, to meditate on a short Bible passage and share our reflections. Ask me for the Zoom link.

TearFund Quiz
Don't forget to get your tickets for the Quiz on Saturday 7th October to raise money for TearFund, a Christian aid agency working to support those in most need across the world.
In fact we hope to run the quiz twice:
> 15:00 with afternoon tea;
> 19:30 with Turkish food and drinks.
Do come along and bring your friends!
NB If more tickets aren't sold by next Tuesday then we will need to cancel the event.

Harvest Festival and Auction, 8th October
This will be an All Age Eucharist with the children involved in the service in different ways. It would be great if you could bring fruit, vegetables and other goodies to decorate the church.
After the service, there will be an Auction in the Church Hall when we sell off the harvest produce to raise money for TearFund.

Pastoral Care
If you or a family member or friend are ill or in need and you would like us to pray and support you please do let me know. I want to be able to pray for, speak on the phone, and/or visit people who are ill or in hospital but sometimes I don't hear about the situation until afterwards.
(NB Please always ask the person's permission before getting in touch with me about someone else.)
We also have a Pastoral Care Team who pray, send cards, and offer practical help where appropriate. If you would like your name (or the name of a loved one, with their permission) passed on to the Pastoral Care Team, please let me know.

Abundant Grace
Last Sunday's readings were about the abundant generosity of God, reminding us that his grace is free and we don't earn it. We celebrate this every Sunday as we worship together and come to receive the bread and wine at the Eucharist. Malcolm's poem below captures this beautifully.

The Church's Banquet

Not some strict modicum, exact allowance,
Precise prescription, rigid regimen,
But beauty and gratuitous abundance,
Capacious grace, beyond comparison.
Not something hasty, always snatched alone;
Junkets of junk food, fuelling our dis-ease,
Not little snacklets eaten on the run,
But peace and plenty, taken at our ease.
Not to be worked for, not another task,
But love that's lavished on us, full and free,
Course after course of hospitality,
And rich wine flowing from an unstopped flask.
He paid the price before we reached the inn,
And all he asks of us is to begin.
(Malcolm Guite)

With love in Christ,
Helen