There has recently been some negative publicity about Herston following the proposals to merge St George’s School Langton with St Mark’s School. The proposals have been withdrawn, but the inaccurate descriptions of our community, as rather down-market, remain. We are a vibrant village with a popular pub, a great shop, a primary school declared “good” by OFSTED, a busy Village Hall and a wonderful local Church! We want to celebrate our local community, and, in doing so, we hope to challenge the negative comments.

There is a long history of God’s people working to promote their local community. The prophet Jeremiah wrote these words to the Jews who had been carried away to exile in Babylon:

“…. seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Wherever I have served, I have tried to build a stronger community, because Churches are good at community. The C of E Faith in the City Report (1986) called on Churches to be “Local, Outward-Looking and Participating”, and this, together with Jesus’ call to be “Salt and Light”, is our commission to get stuck in to promoting the life of our community.

At the moment we are taking baby steps with a new Herston Our Village Facebook page, (please check it out), and lots of conversations with various people about ways to celebrate our wonderful village. Watch this space!

Although St Mark’s Church primarily serves Herston, we try to be outward-looking. Our June Concert raised £500, split between St Mark’s Church and the ALLSORT’D Focus Centre Café Appeal. This £500 was promptly doubled by a very kind person. Any donations from our July Pimm’s and Hymns will be split between St Mark’s Church and the Christian Aid Venezuela Earthquake Appeal. We look forward to hearing about ways in which we can support our link Diocese in South Sudan – a troubled country with many needs.

August is traditionally a quiet month in the Church. At St Mark’s we take advantage of this and will have a later (11am) start to the service on 2nd August to allow a relaxed BBQ lunch afterwards. It’s always good to share a meal together. The Wednesday Prayer and Share will also change during August, and will go “on the road” with a series of Prayer Walks, with the aim of praying for every street in our village. Please see the St Mark’s Pewsheet or St Mark’s Facebook page for details of the route each week.

One of the highlights of our month at St Mark’s is the Celebration! Service with our Church Band and all-age choir. September’s Celebration! Service, on Sunday 27th. will also be a Pets’ Service. All pets are welcome, but I will probably delegate blessing any snakes to someone else (we all have our phobias)!

Have a blessed summer!

David Richards