Dear Friends,
I had a lovely message with a photo from a friend of mine on Facebook recently. She had a lovely panoramic view of the fields around her house and the sky was darkening although there was sufficient light to take in the view. The photo was taken at 5.30pm and she simply said in her message, “Isn’t it great to see the welcome stretch in the evenings?”
The arrival of spring, the emergence of flowers from the ground, the stretch in the evenings are all important signs at this time of year. They remind us of better days ahead, they point to hope and beauty and colour and we welcome these things after another very challenging year in the grip of the pandemic.
Alongside those visible signs of spring coming, there are hidden things too. Farming friends tell me of their preparation for the lambing season. Gardeners are sowing bulbs that will hopefully yield an array of colour as the year progresses. People are cautiously making plans for holidays either at home or further afield.
We have learned in recent years that nothing is guaranteed. Restrictions and regulations can change or be introduced in a very short space of time. All the events we have planned may have to be postponed or held in different ways.
This does not take away however from the plans we have been making to reopen more of our groups and organisations to meet in person. Our chief focus in doing this is to enable people to meet safely and rekindle that sense of community that we have all missed through our limited contact with each other over the past 2 years.
As this magazine goes to print, the Men’s Society and Mothers’ Union are planning on a couple of gatherings in the coming months. The Ladies Open Door Friendship Group is meeting for the first time this week and the St. Finnian’s Toddlers reopened yesterday after the Christmas break. The Boys’ Brigade, Pilates class and Sunday School have reopened and another Alpha course and the weekly prayer meeting have resumed online.
Plans are afoot for the next Messy Church in March and discussions are ongoing with the Bowling Club. Covid has revisited the Rectory this week reminding me that as we cautiously reopen we must never lose sight of those basic things we are all continually encouraged to do – wash our hands, wear our masks and keep our distance.
The changing regulations mean that while one member of our household has to isolate, the rest of the household can go about their business so long as they do daily lateral flow tests that return negative results. As with the previous visit from COVID-19 during half-term week, I feel very grateful for the professionals working in the Public Health Agency who telephoned when we recorded our positive lateral flow test. They wanted to check in to see if we, as a family, were doing ok, that the person who tested positive was not experiencing too much distress and to guide us about what to do and when the infected person could return to their daily activities. They could not have been more helpful or caring and sometimes we are inclined to take such people for granted. Our children’s schools have likewise been very helpful in keeping us right in terms of the correct procedures and protocols. We are very blessed in this country to have such an infrastructure and we ought not to take it for granted. It would be good to pray regularly for those whose job it is to offer this advice to people, that they would be clear and well informed and help people through what can be a stressful and uncertain time.
One of the other little signs of hope and encouragement recently was the addition of a new member of our Sunday School teaching team. Through the pandemic we have tried to offer Sunday School through a rota of teachers and it is always helpful to have more people on that rota. Our new Sunday School teacher attended Sunday School herself as a child and teenager and is willing to get involved and put something back in, which is always encouraging to see. Sometimes people have that desire to put something back in.
All sorts of gifts and skills are needed. For those who are of a practical nature, our Glebewardens are looking to introduce a monthly work party on Saturday mornings to keep our grounds tidy and tackle some of those jobs that arise around the church grounds. That’s a great way to get together socially in a safe way in the open air and enjoy creation and show our love for the church so if you can help in that way please come along on the last Saturday of the month. We are always interested in those who can sometimes help with giving a lift to people who may need it for appointments or any other reason so that’s a great thing to get involved in too if you can help in that way. In last month’s magazine we mentioned our hope to recommence our Wednesday morning Holy Communion service with prayers for the sick so we can offer that opportunity to gather to worship and pray in person. We hoped to start after the Clergy Conference which incidentally has had to be postponed because of the rising infection rate at present. We are trying to respond wisely and thoughtfully and will be looking at how things are mid-February so please do keep an eye on the Website and Facebook page.
The Annual Register of Vestry Persons is now open. If you have never registered and are not registered as a member in any other church and contribute to church funds and would like to register here, please let the Churchwardens know if you would like a form. This enables you to vote at the Annual Business Meeting of the church at the Easter Vestry which is normally held in the month of March or April.
We look forward, as Spring comes, to the dawn of these signs of hope.
With very best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Pierce (Rector)
Telephone 028 90793822