Dear Friends,

Ascension Thursday falls on 14th May this year and we hope to share a celebration of Holy Communion together at 7.30 pm using music from the Taizé community in France.

Ascension is a major festival in the Christian calendar but it never seems to capture the imagination of the public in the way that festivals like Christmas or Easter do. Maybe there are not that many commercial opportunities around it? People don’t usually get time off work or buy gifts or chocolate around this festival!

It’s not always easy to make sense of from the perspective of outsiders looking in. Does it make sense that this person Jesus Christ, who is so central to Christian belief, should ascend or return to God in heaven after his resurrection? What does that look like in our understanding? Is there a point or a purpose in it all?

Sometimes I find it hard to understand and explain things, so when it comes to Ascension my thought is a simple one. It brings to my mind the idea of lifting up. Jesus is lifted up to His Heavenly Father’s throne having initially been raised from the dead after His crucifixion.

In order to make my own response to this, my question to myself is, how can I raise Him up or glorify Him in my daily life? Are there practices I can adopt to make much of Him? Could I listen to a hymn or worship song and think of all He has done for me? Could I return to Bible reading daily if that’s a habit that has slipped in my life? Are there points in my day when I can stop for a few seconds and say thank you Lord for your presence with me, thank you for helping me with that conversation or email or something I found quite challenging to deal with? Could I see God’s hand behind some of the beauty I observe in creation, from the views I get from my window, to the flowers and trees I see in people’s gardens or in the parks near by my location?

So often I get distracted or busy and unable to see these simple things even though they are before me all the time. Ascension invites me to look upwards again and seek to live a God glorifying, God honouring life. That has to be a good thing.

The month of May often signals two things to me. On the first Sunday in May it’s the Belfast Marathon. The route tends to affect some of the roads leading to our church so do please allow a little extra time to get here on 3rd May.

In the Connect Service that Sunday we look forward to welcoming Andrew and Joanne Quill who are our link mission partners with CMS Ireland and they are on home leave from their ministry in Ibba Diocese in South Sudan. They work in the area of healing from trauma following the devastating civil war, so we look forward to hearing about all they are doing and to have some helpful pointers to pray effectively for them.

As someone who has trundled around a marathon route on a couple of occasions, I always think of those doing the race and all the preparations they have made and all the charities they will be benefitting from this experience.

May is also a month I associate with exams. Quite often the weather improves and it makes it that little bit more challenging to plug into the books and revision, so do please remember students in secondary school and university doing important exams in the coming weeks. It’s a stressful time and it can feel as if a great deal hinges on the outcome.

You will also find some details of the Cregagh Crafters’ coffee morning and craft sale in June in aid of the Fields of Life Lenten Appeal through our Diocese. This promises to be a very special morning and so please do put the date in your diary for next month.

With very best wishes,

Jonathan Pierce (Rector)

Telephone 02890 793822