September letter from the Vicarage It seems to me that we are trained by our time in school and our children’s (or grandchildren’s) time there, to regard the first week of September as a new start – almost a new year but without the parties and the televised celebrations. In our church we continue with “ordinary” time for several more weeks yet but we do restart our Children Led Services as soon as they are back in school so our first one is Sunday 8th September at 9.30am in St Leonard’s Church, Burton Leonard. The excitement of the Great Bishop Monkton Potato Challenge weigh in is behind us now and the routine of Coffee and Cake at St John’s Church on the first Friday of the month continues on Friday 6th September and our new season of Church Fund raising activities begins with a concert “A Harmony of Harps” on Sunday 15th September and 2.30pm in St John’s Church. The tickets are £8 and this includes tea and a cream scone. They are available from Sue Short on 01765 677496. As usual, Lindy and I have come on holiday to Denmark and while here I was asked if I had met the local Lutheran Priest at the church and that made me remember, not too kindly about the welcome I had received when I attended a Sunday service there 4 years ago. While I had been greeted at the door and given a service book I had been totally ignored by the priest after the service. It could have been that he was dealing with an urgent pastoral problem but in spite of waiting around for a while he ignored me and this memory brought to mind how easily people can be offended when they are not given the attention they want when they come to our churches. It is my hope and prayer that I have ever treated ant visitor to my churches the way I was treated but I can’t be sure I haven’t offended anyone. The only thing I can offer if I have, is an apology and a promise that it was neither intentional or personal. How we as church goers interact with those who come to join us tells them much about how we practically follow the teachings of Jesus – it shows them much more than how we talk about him. One of the most important ways we, as Christians, can share our faith is in our actions in everyday life and in how we deal with other people and the interactions we have with them. Jesus tells us that we must love our neighbour as ourselves and the parable of the good Samaritan tells us that everyone is our neighbour. By showing the Christian love towards our neighbours that God shows to us, we are living a life that honours God and Jesus’ teachings . At the beginning of this new academic year let us all commit ourselves to sharing God’s love with everyone. Blessing Robb
Bishop Monkton: St John the Baptist
