Dear friends,

What a week we have had so far! Our Remembrance Sunday service was a moving, and inspiring time. Thank you to all who contributed to the display at the front, the music and of course, to our wonderful children who took part in the service. The theme of conflict, how we engage well with conflict in order to bring about peace and healthy relationships, has stayed with me into this week and I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you fancy a chat.

We also celebrated St Martin’s day which was a great success. The lantern making and storytelling were an inspired addition to our evening, thank you to Laura for making that happen! As the children paraded around the church with their lanterns we sang about being lights in our community and you will be able to look at what they wrote and drew about that on our wall of light at the back of church on Sunday. The whole evening really felt like family time with so many people joining in with preparing and serving food and cleaning up after, just like a family get-together at home. Special thanks to Joan Bailey for making delicious lasagna for us to share.

Following this season of remembrance we look towards advent which is fast approaching. Do look out for Christmas dates and some special services during advent including three new events and gatherings. Throughout advent we will be journeying around the church to visit stations of the crib – just like stations of the cross but for Christmas. I will lead our usual reflections at each station and there will be opportunity for quiet reflection or group discussion as you prefer.

Also new for this year is Sing-along-carols, a relaxed event with a Christmas quiz and BYO drinks. It will be a perfect event to invite your friends to who don’t usually come to church, to have a laugh and enjoy the festive season. For anyone not in the mood for that type of Christmas for whatever reason we are also introducing a Blue Christmas service, an opportunity to mark Christmas without the tinsel. We know that people don’t always feel full of joy and excitement at this time of year so this will be a quieter, more reflective space to acknowledge the difficulties this year can bring for so many of us as we miss loved ones, struggle with difficult family dynamics or whatever else might make it hard for us this year.

As well as these new events we will have all the usual favourites including our

Christmas Bazaar, traditional Nine lessons and Carols and Christmas eve services – the Crib and midnight service as usual.

Do think about what you might like to come to and who you might like to invite!

Grace & peace,

Phil