To you all
A Year in the Life… is a testimony to just how much is going on in St Mary’s. Thank you to all who are a part of that – to those who lead groups and have written reports and to those who play a part in what ever way.
There has been much that is good taking place in St Mary’s over the last year. Through Kairos there has been an opportunity for many of us to reflect on who God is, who we are, what is going on in the community and who and what he is calling us to be. We have made some plans as a church which have sprung out of this. This is exciting, but I am even more excited by the way people have responded to this vision and owned it for themselves. As I look back over the last year and see the Listening Course, the fresh enthusiasm for social events and the Drawing Sheet initiative before Christmas, as well as the growing number of people in the church meeting in small groups to study the Bible and pray together I see evidence of this ownership. As a result we see projects which are aiming to build up the church, to engage with the community and to better enable us to share the gospel.
Our official response to Kairos has several strands. One of the most significant has been our attempt to engage more fully with what is already going on in Petersfield. Our Lent Lunches this year have given us great insight into some of these things as we have heard from Petersfield Counselling Service, the Kings Arms and Butser Home Start about the work that they are doing. These groups are by no means alone in being Christian projects working with people in need in Petersfield, but they are excellent examples. The challenge to us now is to see how better we can support them. This is also true as we look at the work that the churches are doing with young people and we look to see how we can work together better – something that is already beginning to happen more and more.
These things have encouraged us to be more outward looking. I long for us to be a church which is not afraid to speak of our faith in Jesus and to feel equipped to do that. In the title of a recent influential report we need as a church to be becoming ‘Mission Shaped’. In the next few months we will be exploring this more as we begin a sermon series looking at the Characteristics of the Church in Acts, the Home Groups embark on a series on Evangelism and we begin a Lost for Words Course.
Another important area that Kairos has identified has been the area of communications. We will be looking at how we can better make sure that we all know what is going on and why and how we can properly thank those who contribute so much to the church. If you have any thoughts on this (or indeed on anything else) please do share your thoughts with me.
As we speak of thanks, this year’s Annual Meeting sees the retirement of two people from really key roles. Both Charlie Meader as Church Warden and Nigel Wells as Treasurer have served us faithfully for the last six years. These are key jobs and they have both served with great humility and hard work. I know that you will want to join me in thanking them for all that they have done. There are of course so many others who more than deserve our thanks – space does not allow me to name them and I would be sure to leave somebody out, but thank you to all who have been involved in the life of the church and community over the last year.
We continue to explore what it means to be a healing community. Over the last year we have seen how this is about so much more that just praying for people to get better. We have seen that in some hard ways, but also as God has challenged us to become a healing community – a community were relationships run deep and are genuine and founded in the cross. This is a process that God calls us to develop more and more and it is something that we all need to be a part of. This is a ministry that we share. I am privileged to be able to lead this church, and I am exceedingly grateful that I work with a group of people who encourage, challenge and recognise that this work is our work.
Thank you for all you have given to me over the last year. May God bless you richly.