Dear friendsIt's good to be back!I returned this week from my Extended Ministerial Development Leave, and I can't believe that it has been 3 months. Of course living so close to the church I have been aware of comings and go-ings, to an extent. I've heard the occasional organ practice, and hymn singing, when I've been in the garden, but in many ways I've been observing - not just the church, but life generally.As well as some amazing experiences, which I'll be happy to bore you all with over the coming days and weeks (!), I've done a lot of study and reflection. I've prayed, sung, painted, written, done some "life laundry", read countless novels and watched lots of films. The latter was mostly during the bout of COVID I had in February - when I was also grateful for the supply of jigsaw puzzles from Janice in our congregation!We also experienced sadness in losing our beloved dog Phoebe during this time - many of you are animal lovers so will know the pain of this.There will be so much to catch up on, and I'm looking forward to hearing all of the news in time. I'm so thankful for the whole St Martin's team - what a blessing to be this expression of the body of Christ. I'm also so thankful for the visiting priests who have shared worship with you.And now we look ahead - to the Coronation of King Charles, and there are prayers included in this week's offering which you may like to pray at home. To gathering together on Sunday morning at 8.30am and 10.30am - and I've really enjoyed preparing this week's Going Deeper which includes a summary of each Bible passage, and questions you might like to ponder. I'll be offering thoughts on what it is to live the life you've been given.We also look ahead to all that is planned for this month, saying "goodbye and good luck" to our friend Susanna as she moves home ready to be ordained; for the APCM on 21 May at 11.30 where we have the opportunity to gather as a church to celebrate all that happened in 2022, and to commit the year ahead, and the church officers, to God. We will have opportunities to be part of the church leadership and governance. Why not pray about whether this is something you would like to be part of?With every blessing, as everBecky