Advent Sunday in the parish and I thought I was overdue to share something longer than a tweet. And so some thoughts and thankfulness after a busy Lord’s Day. And maybe the first of a few, if I can remember how to write more than 280 characters again.
Many church friends are talking about how things have changed After Covid. Here in our parish we have lost some people, gained others, but more than that we have restarted things super slowly, getting everything in place including properly recruited leaders and training. That means we are still not running as many activities as we did prior to 2020, but those that are running are different, and – I think – better. Even Sunday mornings have a changed feel – a slightly later start time, a new format for Sunday activities for children and youth, and far more people involved. And it feels far more like a party – there is joy about being together that we didn’t have as regularly in the weary days before (and during) the pandemic.
Before Covid we had a sporadic Sunday school and only a couple of regular kids in the right age range. Now we are running groups for both primary and secondary aged children. And we have a full team recruited to help and lead. I’ve moved to teaching the older ones and this morning we were looking at the small (ha!) topics of ‘What is a Christian?’ and ‘What is Church?’. So lovely to hear how my fellow leader in the session came to faith after looking at the claims of Christ, having known nothing of the gospel until she was in her mid 20s – she grew up in a country where nobody is taught about Christianity. We also talked about how some of the most important ways we can contribute to church life are by praying, by singing up and by turning up.
Before Covid we held monthly Bring and Share lunches, and we had restarted those, but since October half term we have been sharing lunch after church every week, hoping to grow our fellowship and help people who are struggling with heating or other costs. We’ve managed this by church funding simple lunches that are made by one or two people.
This week we had the great pleasure of two teenagers (the Engineer and his friend Aloud) and our young churchwarden cooking for us. Aloud is a great cook and she masterminded a spiced roasted carrot soup and (my favourite) a chicken broth with matzo balls – alas I forgot to take photos. Our church treasurer provided a rice pudding and then I stumped up some bread pudding and a chocolate cake to ensure that dessert was well and truly covered. Each week 20-30 people sit down to eat and chat together and play noisy games afterwards. That’s about half of our usual congregation – and I’d say that about 3/4 of the church family have been to at least one lunch.
So this Advent we are seeing the light and warmth of the church in action in our meetings and meals together. We pray that more of the light of Christ will be seen in us and through us this Advent and on through 2023.
Although we usually hold an annual service for people to remember those they’ve lost, this year we’re going to hold it on All Soul’s day itself. This is because local people have taken to lighting candles on top of the rather delapidated grave stones in our church yard. Although the effect is rather less glittering than that in the Polish graveyard shown in the photo.
My head is still spinning a bit after this weekend. On Friday an old pal from our Cambridge church turned up on our doorstep wanting a bed for a few nights – he’s on a walking tour of the country. My parents also came to stay and Rocky’s fiancee stopped over Saturday and Sunday nights. So we’ve had a houseful.
The Vicar's Wife 