Dear Friends,

As Spring enters our consciousness with the brighter evenings and people descending on garden centres to get plants and seeds, are there lessons we can learn that would be of relevance to our church situation?

In recent months many are aware of the challenges we face in attracting new people, with a particular concern about the lack of younger people and young families. This is not a problem peculiar to our church but it’s one that is being felt across the denominations.

Sometimes we get inspired when people share their stories and experiences with us. One of the inspiring stories from the life of our Diocese over the past 10 years or so has been the investment in church plants in different parts of the Diocese. This has been built upon by the central church as it has invested resources in pioneer ministry. This is a movement which seeks to train people for a new type of ministry. Pioneers build community and connection and create new expressions of church which builds a bridge with those who have felt disconnected from traditional models and expressions of church. It’s hard work sowing those seeds and trying to establish those connections and yet it’s a work that is bearing fruit. People are still finding faith and hope in Jesus and it can bring transformation and new life in the community.

Church planters are sometimes placed in existing churches or sometimes they create a new expression of church in a local school or community centre and reach a whole section of the population that traditional churches don’t manage to connect with.

Over the season of Lent on Thursday evenings, I have invited 5 church planters to come and share the story of what they are doing in diverse and interesting projects across the Diocese. We will hear of some who are working in loyalist estates, with refugees and asylum seekers and with students and young professionals. It may generate some ideas for us about creative ways to reach out to our local community. It might not, but it will be really valuable to hear these stories and we hope people will come to hear them and join us in praying for that important work across the Diocese.

During Holy Week each evening we will have special services and we are inviting some voices of new incumbents which people may not have heard before to unpack the events of Holy Week.

On Monday evening we will hear from Revd Clare Kakuru, the Rector of Maghaberry. On Tuesday we hear from Revd Dr Claire Aylward, Priest-in -charge of Kilmore and Inch. On Wednesday we hear from the Revd Eben Grobbelaar, Priest-in-charge of Killyleagh.

On Thursday we will celebrate the Last Supper or Holy Communion and strip the altar in preparation for a day of prayer and reflection on Good Friday. At 12 noon we will have a special community outreach service with a drama group from the Methodist Church called Play it by Ear, followed by some light refreshments in the hall. In the evening we have the powerful service of Tenebrae and then joyful celebrations of Holy Communion on Easter Day.

These are the central events of our faith and we hope we will be drawn into their reality as we observe them together.

Many will be aware of the extensive damage caused by falling trees during Storm Eowyn. The Select Vestry have been taking advice from tree surgeons about removing the trees that have fallen and we may have to take down some other trees which are deemed to be in a diseased state or have the potential to fall on our church or hall and pose a risk to life or property. These are never easy decisions that are taken lightly but if things are pointed out to us, we have a duty of care to all who use our premises to make the church and its grounds as safe an environment as possible.

When it comes to people’s safety, we have to take the best advice available to us and follow the guidance of the central church in responding.

We are also conscious that this type of work will be expensive to carry out but we do not have a choice in this situation especially as we see the increasing frequency of serious weather events affecting the country.

We take the opportunity in this month’s magazine to wish one of our younger parishioners well as he has been selected to represent Ireland in ice hockey at a tournament in Canada. Congratulations to Elijah Saunders on being selected and we wish you well as you embark on this exciting journey. Hopefully the first of many representative appearances!

We would love you to be proactive in inviting friends and neighbours and members of the local community to our special services for Lent and Holy Week and our prayer is that many would have a special encounter with the Lord through these opportunities.

With very best wishes.

Jonathan Pierce (Rector)

Telephone 02890 793822