Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
“Make the very most of your time on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence, because the days are filled with evil. (Eph 5:16 Amplified bible)
Let us remain committed to our life in Christ, as a community, as we build each other up and equip ourselves for acts of righteousness.
The good news is that we are going to be having physical gathering services again, for those who can’t join on Zoom or WHATSAPP.
This Sunday (7th) we will celebrate Education Sunday at St Mary’s but from the 14th we will open both Churches for an 09h00 Eucharist, throughout Lent.
Ash Wednesday Services (17th February) will be at 09h00 at St Mary’s and 17h30 at the Good Shepherd (Both will be on Zoom and WhatsApp).
Regular 09h00 Wednesday Services will be held throughout Lent (Physical gathering at Good Shepherd and on Zoom/WhatsApp).
We still encourage people as much as possible to use the Digital Platform, and Physical gatherings will adhere to strict COVID 19 protocols.
We will not hold a Vestry this year and Parish Leadership will be co-opted and we are holding discussions with a number of people to serve and the new council will function with immediate effect, I hope to announce this by the 14th February.
The Parish Financial Statements have been submitted to the Diocese and are available on request from the Church Office. You are welcome to submit queries or comment.
We have distributed a document on Vaccinations and our official policy is that we support Vaccination.
As we develop a new lifestyle of interaction, I pray that we will find ways to support and encourage one another and overcome our fear without becoming complacent or indifferent. The way that we live in the world has changed but we need to adapt and deepen our spirituality and strengthen our community.
With Lent approaching we are looking for innovative ways of deepening our relationship with God and with each other.
Volunteers are needed to assist with the logistics on Sunday mornings, please contact me should you be willing to help.
Be assured of my prayers and together we can respond to God’s call to be a light to the world in these dark times, to be a faithful worshipping community of forgiven sinners, free to serve God each in our own unique way and as part of His body.
I am still encouraging you to submit testimonies of your experiences during the last year which can be shared to encourage others. I would also appreciate questions to facilitate dialogue around issues that you are concerned about, there is so much information about things going on in the world and in the church that one can easily get confused.
I would like to start a blog in response to Questions about things that are concerning you.
Please use every opportunity to pray. We post the daily readings and prayer focus and provide the Daily Offices that you can follow, or you can join us at 08h00 and 17h30 on ZOOM. We encourage everyone to pause at 12h00 daily to pray.
We who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread (Christ is the head and we are the body). Let us devote ourselves to serving God and doing what is required of us.
Be assured of my love and prayers.
Fr Andrew.
