I’m at the stage in family life when I think of my calendar as running from September to August. Not from January to December like the years do! Nor from December to November like the church does!My life is still very much shaped by school and college terms. Clare has just finished college. And our children are in education, so gearing up for September always feels like gearing up to a new start! And in the life of our churches we have some really exciting new things starting!On Wednesdays from the 11th September we have Chatty Church starting at the Reading Room in Betley. 3:00-4:15pm. Chatty Church is a friendly and accessible way to explore faith while eating cake and drinking tea! It’s a term-time Fresh Expression of Church and you’d be most welcome to come along.In Madeley we are beginning a Parenting For Faith course which is a once a month course seeking to enable parents to flourish as they raise children of faith. It’s at All Saints’ in Madeley and the launch date is the 11th of September. 8:00-9:30pm. Also with refreshments. Please contact my colleague Ruth to find out more!And then on Saturday the 18th of September the Help For Heroes choir will be performing at All Saints’ at 7:30pm. Last year’s concert was FANTASTIC and this year’s will be brilliant too! Do come along and bring a donation if you can!I hope the new academic year begins well for you!BlessingsTim
Recently it was time for one of my least favourite things - an eye test. Well, actually, to be accurate I quite like the eye test bit, the bit I like less is all the stuff that follows. Choosing frames, and tints, and anti-reflective lens, and obviously - the bill.But the main bit I dislike is the first few weeks when I’m wearing my new glasses and anxiously wondering…Did they get the prescription correct? Why do my eyes feel like this after wearing my new glasses for a while? Is this normal? Why do my eye muscles feel strained? Are they making me feel tired? Do they look okay!?!It probably takes me a month until I settle into my new glasses and feel totally happy with them.This time around both my distance and reading prescription changed and so the difference between my distance glasses and reading glasses is so much more pronounced! #thankyouaging When I tried on my new reading glasses for the first time I was sat in the opticians, I looked up and around and suddenly everything around me was very blurry, I felt dizzy and discombobulated! Then I looked at the sheet of text before me and oh what a miracle, the words were crisp and clear! I tried on my new distance glasses, amazing, I could see new words where previously there had only been smudges!Sometimes we need new lens to build a sense of meaning, to make sense of the world, to really see things how they really are. Our lives are full of choices as to how we view the world. Glass half full, glass half empty, etc. As people of faith, we’re challenged to see the world and our neighbours as God sees them and to respond lovingly. I wonder what difference would it make to our lives and how we experience the world if we put on our ‘God’s-eye-view’ lens and tried to see people and the world as God sees them? Perhaps it might bring some clarity. Amen.BlessingsTim
All Saints’ is looking to employ a new Secretary – (6 hrs/wk) working in the Vestry and from home to facilitate the smooth working of our church.
List of Advent & Christmas Events & Services from All Saints' - all in church unless stated, and most with a Live Stream on Facebook - no account required to access these.We look forward to you joining us this Christmas.
