THOUGHT - From Vicar Geoff

Christmas is anything but new … or is it?

Over the past year we have focussed on the Word for the Year for the ABC Churches - New. It came with Isaiah 43:19:

“19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Over the course of the year we have been looking at what new things God has been doing amongst us. At the beginning of the year we had hoped that we would see progress on the formation of our new ABC Ministry Unit, incorporating ABC & AAA pluralities. While I have begun to minister across all the churches and we have formed the Churches Leadership Team (CLT) made up of myself, our Licenced Lay Ministers (LLMs), those in training to be LLMs and Church Wardens, our own progress seems to have outpaced that of the Church of England, who are overseeing the legalities. News is that we as churches have made progress and we are seeing new things sprout up. We have this year appointed Amy Batchelor to a new role as our Children, Youth and Families Worker and we are looking forward to her joining the team in January. With support and encouragement we have grown a team to run Messy Church, our most well attended gathering, which happens each month. We have also grown a team to run Little Fish (the parent and toddler group that meets each Tuesday at St Giles Copmanthorpe) and are looking at how we can grow the team that runs Little Apples (which meets in Bolton Percy each Wednesday). All of these ‘new’ developments have come about as a result of much prayer and listening to God two aspects of our corporate life together which will be the bedrock of our mission and ministry going forwards. I sense a real excitement bubbling away across our villages and I am eagerly waiting to see what God does next.

A prayer I have been increasingly praying each day is that God would give me God conversations each day. And he has! Culminating in one incredible conversation after a wedding this past weekend. Whenever I have remembered to pray that prayer, I have had an amazing encounter. When I have forgotten, because I have been too busy or too lax, I haven’t. It reminds me that we need to be intentional with our daily activity for God. I have just been so encouraged since I started praying that prayer each day and those ‘God’ encounters tend to happen in the most unusual places and when they do, we need to make time for them. As we go through our Christmas festivities look out for those moments and take time to nurture the conversations that begin. You never know what God is up to.

So, as this is the final newsletter of 2025 (can you believe it?) let’s be intentional about our following of Jesus and our prayers, so that we begin to regularly see God on the move. For me 2025 has definitely been a year of ‘new’ things. I hope your year has been too and that as we go into 2026, we will embrace all that God has in store for us as individual disciples, but also in our church communities and as a Mission and Ministry Unit, working together to build His Kingdom.

Have a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!