February is often wrapped in the language of love. Cards, chocolates, flowers and well-meaning slogans remind us that love is something to be celebrated—sometimes loudly, sometimes commercially. But the love we are called to as Christians is deeper, quieter, and far more demanding than sentiment alone. Since I arrived in the Benefice, we have spent time together looking honestly and prayerfully at who we are, and who we hope God is calling us to be. We have asked not just what our churches do, but how we are present—how we are with our communities in the everyday rhythms of life. Out of these conversations has come a new Benefice Mission Statement: “As a Benefice we are dedicated to ‘being with’ our communities to bring faith, hope and love, showing that God’s places belong to all.” Those words—being with—have mattered deeply to us. They remind us that mission is not something we deliver from a distance, but something we live out alongside our neighbours. Making the opportunity to collect money for our local Winter Night Shelter and The Children’s Society at our Christmas services and food for our Pop Up shop on a regular basis, and being able to support many local charities through the Scarecrow Festival are really important to us. It is about presence before programmes, relationship before results. We ask the question ‘who benefits’ because we are here? It is important to us as a church that we are meeting the needs of our communities, our community dog walks are a way of ‘being with’ those amongst us who like to walk (with or without a dog) and they will be restarting in March this year. We are always open to suggestions for initiatives that will benefit our community. This is why we now have our Jimmy’s Baby and Toddler Group and our monthly Wednesday Welcome. To help us live into this calling, we have reflected together on the values that might guide us. As mentioned before, four have emerged as especially important: Openness, Commitment, Kindness and Fun. These are not abstract ideals, but practical expressions of love, rooted firmly in Scripture—particularly in the words of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul’s famous passage is often read at weddings, but it was never meant to be confined to romantic love. It is a description of how Christian community is meant to look and feel. Without love, Paul says, even the most impressive faith is empty noise. With love, ordinary acts become holy. Openness calls us to connect with those we have not reached before. Love, Paul reminds us, “is not self-seeking.” It turns us outward. Openness asks us to notice who feels absent, unheard, or unsure whether they belong—and to take the risk of making space. This may mean rethinking familiar patterns, listening more carefully, and allowing ourselves to be changed by the people we meet. We are in the process of looking at all areas of inclusion:- disability; sexuality; mental health; poverty; gender; ethnicity; and this will continue over the next few years. This is one of the reasons we are pursuing creating step-free access for St James, to make it easier for people with wheelchairs, walkers and buggies to access our building, over 2026 we will be revisiting our sound system to make sure that is working well and will help people who are hard of hearing and we also now use a screen at St James to allow us to be more visually creative. These are a few of the things we are doing but we are also looking at both the churches in Eastwick (St Botolph’s) and Gilston (St Mary’s) to bring them more up-to-date with running water, toilets, sound systems and more community areas, getting them ready for the many ‘new people’ who will join our communities in the future as the new housing development begins to be built. Commitment reflects love that “always perseveres.” We are committed to nurturing people of all ages in diverse and appropriate ways, using imagination and courage. In a world that often moves on quickly, commitment says we will stay. In all our communities the church has been ‘open’ and available to everyone for hundreds of years. We will invest time, prayer and energy, trusting that God works patiently, even when growth is slow or unseen. We are investing time in our children to help them to grow well through Messy Church and our Family services, to consider others and learn about Jesus and how Jesus can shape all our lives for the benefit of our communities and ourselves. Kindness sits at the very heart of Paul’s words: “Love is patient, love is kind.” Kindness is not weakness; it is a powerful witness in a fractured world. It means embracing everyone on their journey of life and faith, no matter where they are. No preconditions. No hidden tests. Just the steady assurance that God’s love meets us exactly as we are, and invites us to walk forward together. And then there is Fun—a value that may surprise some, but one we have come to treasure. Joy is not an optional extra in the life of faith. Creating opportunities for people to come together, connect and enjoy themselves reflects a generous God who delights in community, the Bible is full of stories of celebrations. Laughter, shared meals, creativity and celebration can open doors that sermons alone sometimes cannot. Paul ends his great chapter with words we may know well: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Faith sustains us. Hope lifts our eyes beyond the present moment. But love is what the world encounters first when we truly live the Gospel. As we move forward together as a Benefice, our prayer this February is simple but profound: that we may be known not primarily for our buildings, our traditions, or even our activities, but for our love. A love that is open, committed, kind and joyful. A love that reflects Christ. A love that shows, in quiet and faithful ways, that God’s places truly belong to all. Your Priest, Alison
Dear FriendsWelcome to January 2026. As we begin this year we may be full of joy or maybe we are challenged by our personal circumstances of family, health or wellbeing.The scripture reading I have chosen for this year may help you and encourage you. It is:- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)You will find this at the back of either St James or St Mary’s from this Sunday onwards as a fridge magnet to help you remember it. It is easy to learn and may help you as you go about your day.There is lots to look forward to this year, please see the Welcome sheet for more information about the Alpha Course, the Life by the Spirit course, the party at the Rectory and the Quiz Night at Gilston and Eastwick village Hall. These are all opportunities to grow our faith and grow our community, having fun together. I hope they are of interest to you.Our services this week are both communion services:-9.30 am St James, High Wych11.15 am St Mary’s, GilstonI hope to see you at one of these.For your information I will be away after the services on Sunday and back at work on Thursday 15th January. Please leave a message, or send an e-mail if you need to talk to me and I will get back to you once I return to work.Every blessingAlison
Dear Friends Happy New Year – as we journey through 2026 together, I pray that we will see lots of opportunities to be together, having fun together and acknowledging the joy in our lives. May we support each other through the trials that will come our way too. The Bible verse for this year is:- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – Philippians 4:13. This verse will be available as a fridge magnet again from next Sunday 11th January 2026 at the back of church to collect. This Sunday is Epiphany Sunday and as before I give you the Epiphany blessing, using chalk (at the back of St James) to mark the lintel of your front door as follows:- 20 + C + M + B + 26 The Magi, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar (C M B) Followed the star of God’s Son who became human two thousand (20) And twenty-six (26) years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the New Year. Amen Visit, O Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may show your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen. Every blessing for 2026. Alison
Happy New Year my friends Over Advent (Dec 1st to 24th Dec) we did an Advent Study Course called ‘Joy to the World’. We looked at the many things that bring us JOY during the approach to Christmas. We also acknowledged that for many, Christmas can be difficult for so many different reasons. As Christians, we are called to have faith, hope, love with joy as we move through our time in this world. Faith in the story of Christmas and also, as promised, faith in all the promises that God has made to us through the Bible and through the life and death of Jesus Christ. We are called to believe that Jesus died for us so that our sins will be forgiven and we will have eternal life, a life after this life that we see, where we will be with God and will be his people. We are called to Hope that the promises of Jesus are true and that God’s plan includes us all. We are to understand that each day can be filled with Hope as each day is a new day and a gift from God. We are called to love each other and all those that Jesus loves, which is everyone we meet, and also all those that we care for. Love does not necessarily mean romantic love, but the love that cares for all, as our hearts grow bigger we find that we have a place for all those we are called to serve and be with and also all those in need across the world, who are our brothers and sisters – even if we have never met them. And JOY – well, I think we have to make a conscious effort to find JOY in our every day. Maybe as we move through this New Year of 2026 that is our question we will need to keep asking ourselves. What brings me Joy? Is it in the simple things of life, maybe that walk?, a particular person?, eating boiled eggs? A sunset? A sunrise? The different seasons we experience? Etc. I have made a New Year’s promise to myself that I will search out and see the Joy in every day and I will not let someone else, or a difficult situation steal my Joy. Now I know that I cannot do this on my own. Life will throw me difficult things as it will you, but I am hoping to hold on to this Year’s promise….. To see Joy in my every day And the way I can do this? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 With the help of God. This is going to be our Benefice Bible verse for this year – you will find it on magnets again at the back of church that you can put onto your fridge and learn it, hold onto it and call God into all those difficult situations you will face and hold on to this simple sentence to give you strength. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 This January we will be running the Alpha Course again, which is an opportunity for people to come together, over an initial period of 6 weeks, to learn more about, ’Who Jesus is’ and to be able to ask all those niggling questions about faith and God they would like to. It is a chance to make new friends, to journey with people who have similar questions to yourself, and we always try to have fun together along the way. Dates for your diary:- 21st Jan, 28th Jan, 4th Feb, 18th Feb, 25th Feb, 4th March They all take place in our house, The Rectory, 1 Dovedale, High Wych, CM21 0DT. Just drop me an e-mail: revajacksonhwge@outlook.com or ring me on:0783 366 7707 if you would like to come. If you do you will bring me great JOY as we explore the Story of God and the story of Us together. As you read this I wish you a Merry Christmas and a JOY filled New Year. May God be with you in that whisper in your ear, may he bless you and protect you and may you always find those moments of JOY in your every day. Your Priest Alison
