‘After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself intended to go.’
Luke 10 v 1
Peace to each one of you.
I can hardly believe that another year has passed – flown by!
We have so much to thank God for. I have so much to thank God for.
The privilege of being here. The privilege of working with each one of you as we seek to be labourers in the Harvest together.
The privilege of working in partnership with God in all He is doing in our midst, as we give and receive hospitality from one another and seek to cure the sick who are here, the Kingdom of Heaven has indeed come near.
Partnership in Missional Church (PMC) is more and more becoming embedded in our DNA as church family.
We are continuing to Dwell in the Word at every opportunity and as we do so, are gradually experiencing greater riches from God’s Word, from sharing and listening to each other, our friends and also the less well known people in our midst.
We are being ‘surprised’ by what we hear and are hearing things that we had not previously listened to. God is challenging us out of our comfort zones to corporately look to Him, lean on Him and Him alone and to Trust Him above all else as He sends us to the towns and villages around us where He Himself intends to go.
We are the advance party and as such deeply trusted and honoured to be commissioned in this work by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Consequently we need to live lives that are worthy of that calling. Open and accountable to one another, vulnerable and trusting one another, all working to a common purpose to reflect the love of Jesus in and through our individual and corporate lives together.
Actually as the year has progressed I have been able to observe from ‘the balcony’ real growth. Growth in friendship,
growth in faith and prayer, growth in working together and it’s brilliant. Well done.
Well done each and every one of you – because you have all played a part in this and we can begin to see the body of Christ
working together, worshipping together, laughing and crying together.
Over this year we have lost some significant stalwarts of our congregations with Faith Butt moving to be near Rob, to help support him and his family. Faith has (as many of you will know) been instrumental in driving forward the parish to its current structure and helping resource it so well – that we find ourselves in the position that we are in today – well placed to go forward and face the challenges of being ‘church’ – followers of Jesus – in the 21st Century. Thank you Faith.
and
David Hamp after a relatively short illness with Mesothelioma. David served the parish as a Reader for 22 Years and we are greatly indebted to the way he worked across the whole parish, leading services and preaching faithfully.
We have also been greatly blessed by the commitment and hard work of all involved in PMC Steering and Listening Teams.
Susie Filkins Rachel Feilden
Chris Todd Peter Yarker
Barbara Day Peter Stratford
Andrew Morrison Ros Lockley
David Lockley John Kendall
Fergus Stewart Robin Campbell
Heidi Blanchett Sally Pickett
John Flindall
Then there are all the people who have been part of the interviews which have happened across the parish. A big thank you to them for their honest insights and reflections. The next really important event for us all to have in our diaries, is the Time Line Event on Sunday 26th May at 10.30am in St Philip and St James church Norton St Philip. There will be a united Holy Communion service and then the Time Line Event. This will look at the history of all the churches across the parish from their beginning to the present day. There will be an opportunity for everyone to record
- a day/event/person in the past of this church that you are proud of (red letter day)
- a day/event/person in the past of this church that you are not proud of (blue letter day)
- a day/event/person in the past or present of this church that gives you hope for our future as a church (green letter day) We are blessed as a parish to have you all Each and every one of you.What is our vision for the future.
- and I am blessed as an incumbent to have you all. Thank you for all you do.
- I just want to particularly thank the parish wardens, Chris, John, Geoff and Faith – your support over this past year has been invaluable. To Peter Simper keeping things moving forward at Hemington this is Peter’s 47th year of serving on the PCC!! (And we hope and pray that all continues to go smoothly for the vesting of Hemington to CCT to become a reality later this year.) To the Chapel wardens Muriel and Glenys, Sally, John Davidson, Bob Hill and Rachel Feilden. And all the teams of people who support them, welcoming, doing flowers, showing hospitality, cleaning, sacristan and special services. And to Ros for tirelessly working away in the office and Sue doing such amazing stuff as our Children and Families worker.
- Concluding with a Bring and Share Lunch – please make it a priority to come to this – your voice needs to be heard
- We will be continuing in PMC process – it is a three year process and we are only in year one.
- We will continue to seek to fill the House for Duty post here at Rode exploring recruiting a pioneer priest or even possibly a pioneer curate. (No stone will be left unturned)
- We will continue to develop our mixed economy of services across the parish – seeking to cater for the diverse spiritual needs of our rural communities, from the very youngest to the very oldest.
- We will continue to work in our schools and alongside our schools and children’s groups in church and out in the community. Building bridges and sowing seeds off the Gospel.So we set forth to be labourers in the harvest together. The destination is not yet clear but trusting in God’s graceful promises and rooted in His loving regard we go on our way. It will not be a straight path (like the picture) we will have to tack to catch the breath of God’s Holy Spirit and there will be obstacles and times when we feel becalmed. But working together as a team we will gradually go deeper into the purposes of God growing in our walk with Him, seeing Him changing us, the people around us and our circumstances as we go into the harvest. To God be the Glory!
Dates for the diary 26 May 10.30 United Holy Communion, St Philip and St James NSP – Time Line Event followed by Bring and Share Lunch 4 – 12 June Pentecost Experience in St Philip and St James church and Rode Chapel. For schools, passers by and breakfast church – all welcome 6 June Day of Prayer – 24/24 Christians together in Rode Chapel – Thy Kingdom Come 10 August D Day – Congregational Review of the Data 2 – 6pm with refreshments 27 – 29 Sept Sidholme – with guest speaker Canon Revd Andy Bowerman.
Caroline
Rector
