Jenny’s letter 8th December
Dear Friends,
The Christmas Tree festival ended yesterday, though the planned ‘take down’ of trees could not happen as expected on Saturday. My personal and our collective thanks must go first and foremost to Natalie Friel who as ‘Event Manager’ started working on the festival in August. I would also like to name Frank Galluzzo, Neil, Lindsay and Nick Mitchellson and Anna Gillies beside other members of Natalie’s family and friends. They may not be in church every week but they worked for hours in church and before, supporting Nat either practically or administratively alongside other work.
There are many church family members who also gave up lots of time and I am grateful to you. I am reluctant to name people as that’s when you begin to leave people out. Some are part of our church, others are part of our community but I noticed your name or your time or your support. I am aware that some of you may say as Rita Whatling said to me, not long before she died, “I wish there was more I could do now.”
Some of you, for a variety of reasons, could not respond in terms of time but did support us by keeping the café running or sitting in the warm and praying. I want to say a special thank you to those who prayed. We had over 3,400 visitors and I know already that we have raised a substantial amount of money. More than that, we have given the village the chance to be community together.
Time does not stop moving forward. We move on to our next enormous project which is the support of 120+ families living within our parish or connected through school. We will be distributing close to £30,000 worth of food and gifts, much of it grant funded. Our prayers in this project are especially for Helene, Trev and Lin Longshaw Parr who carry the leadership of this. Thanks to Neil Mitchellson for securing around £500 – £1000 worth of additional gifts from a partner organisation that we will be able to distribute through our project.
It would be tempting put one’s feet up after all that but then the focus moves to our Christmas acts of worship. We have an opportunity to share with our community the good news of Jesus Christ. I think we get scared of doing this. We are afraid of the knock back that might come when our invitation is rejected. But what about praying about who to ask, asking, and if they say ‘No’ praying again.
I can promise you that the Carol Service on Sunday 22nd December will be relaxed and offer lots of chances for people to sing their favourite carols. No choir this year, but may be a video about Christmas to watch? It is aimed at those who don’t want anything too formal and all in the light of trees and candles.
Our Nativity Service on Christmas Eve at 4.00pm is when you invite anyone, of any age, to take part in or watch our amazing from scratch Nativity Play. Everyone will tell you it is not to be missed. There are moments of pure comedy with a serious message too and a special visitor dressed in a red and white suit after. If Santa can fit us in there is a small gift for every child who is able to attend.
I hope that at some point during the festivities I will see all of you who regularly read this newsletter. I share with some of you the pain that can also go alongside the joy of Christmas. As I come again to the manger to behold the Infant King I am reminded that he was born to die. These contrasting emotions of joy and sorrow, happy and sad are a normal part of people’s lived experience. As we prepare for the coming of Jesus we are reminded that he is Emmanuel – God with us. In the darkest moments of our life he offers us hope.
With love in Christ,
