Dear Friends,
I wonder how brave you are at taking on new challenges? I’m not so good at stepping out of my comfort zone and I notice as I get older it becomes more difficult. The pandemic perhaps heightened those feelings of anxiety when we had to navigate life in all sorts of new ways. For some that meant working from home for the first time, for others it meant trying to home school our children. Even the church found itself having to close its doors and try to minister and reach out in a whole variety of new ways using technology and encouraging people to care for and support one another practically and pastorally.

The positive side of that is that people learned new skills and became more flexible in how they did things. We learned that the ways in which we were doing things for many years weren’t the only ways and when we needed to innovate and change, it was possible.

My wife has an interest in architecture and property programmes and recently we recorded a series called build your own home on RTE, the Irish television network. The show features an Australian builder called Harrison Gardner empowering or mentoring people to build their own homes. They have maybe purchased a plot of land or a derelict property that needs to be demolished and rebuilt and so he walks them through this overwhelming process. It’s certainly an adventure and a journey as you see them learning to operate machinery and equipment. They learn all sorts of skills like block laying and plastering. They find themselves unable to afford the costs of getting in professional builders and so taking on the mantle themselves under the guidance of this remarkable man. He operates a non-profit social enterprise called Common Knowledge focussed on sharing skills for a sustainable life. He teaches courses on building, making furniture, mending clothes and fabric, working with lime and concrete casting. He teaches bricklaying and welding, organic growing at home and composting. Many of these skills are acquired as people take on the challenge of building their own home from scratch and the results are most impressive. It’s not all plain sailing and it is truly a life-changing adventure as people enter the process.

We’re about to enter the season of Advent, a season of waiting and preparation as we look forward to welcoming the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ on December 25th. If you are a Christian or you have been involved in church life over many years, you will be familiar with this season. It’s a season in which the Bible readings explore themes like waiting and judgement and anticipating the day when Jesus will return to the earth. The church is always conscious that there are lots of distractions at this time of year and things that compete for our attention. There are lots of parties and celebrations, there are gifts that people look for to celebrate the special people in their lives. There is also at this time a very challenging cost of living crisis as a result of war in Ukraine and various issues impacting our economy. Energy costs in particular for oil and gas have risen astronomically and it’s hard for so many people to afford the cost of heating their homes as well as the rising costs of groceries which have risen sharply in recent years. The church has tried to respond by partnering with agencies both locally and internationally to support families in need through links with Christians Against Poverty and The Larder food bank and agencies like Fields of Life and CMS overseas. These are important things to do if we are in a position to do so and each year in November the Select Vestry seeks to allocate funds from church funds to support this important work.

I like to think of the season of Advent as an adventure with God. It’s a time when we reflect on what it looks like or means to place Him at the centre of our lives. We look at the birth of Jesus and the significance it makes to know him personally. There will be liturgical opportunities to think about these things in church services over the month of December. There will be practical opportunities too. Can you spare some time to pray for those who are finding this season difficult? There are many families within our church family who have experienced the pain of bereavement over this past year and so the season of Christmas is one that is poignantly tinged with memories of other times when people were all able to be together.

There will be people who need practical assistance to get shopping, prescriptions or messages. There will be many you know who would welcome a phone call, a card or an invitation to come out for a cup of tea. The opportunity to share our struggles with someone who will listen and care and pray is something that can be of great significance. Many of us will always remember the time someone came alongside us at a difficult moment and did something kind or helpful and their presence with us made all the difference in getting through that time.

Throughout the first 3 Thursdays in December we are delighted to be reflecting on generosity in our midweek Advent services on Thursday nights at 7.30pm. We are thinking about God’s generosity to us, generosity in terms of our time and talents and generosity in terms of our resources.

Those who are interested in the work of the Bishops’ Appeal in the developing world will have the opportunity if they are in a position to do so, to take away envelopes over the season of Advent to support that work financially. Many will not be in a position to do that and could
maybe pray for that work in the developing world using some of the prayer resources on bishopsappeal.ireland.anglican.org

If there are any reading the magazine who would like to receive Holy Communion in their homes before Christmas as getting out to church is a struggle, please contact either the Curate or myself and we would be glad to come.

In the coming weeks each household in the parish should receive a card outlining details of services and events over the next month.

One other practical session that may be of help is an evening about handling stress from a personal and pastoral perspective presented by Dr. Stephen Rodgers a Pastor and GP with a real heart to support the struggle many of us experience with our mental health. It will be in the Huston Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday 6th December.

Andy joins me in wishing you and yours a very happy and blessed Advent and Christmas.

With very best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Pierce (Rector)

Telephone 02890 793822