Monthly Mailing - August 2024

Dear sisters and brothers
 
The tragedy of the events in Southport have no doubt affected us all.  Our thoughts and our prayers go out especially to the families involved as well as the wider community, although it is difficult to truly comprehend what has happened or to know what to pray.  We do have a message of comfort and peace, but there are times when silence is the best response.  Certainly when faced with someone in real grief or pain, our well intentioned words are not always what is needed.
 
What is worse, of course, is when someone tries to take advantage of another’s tragedy for their own ends. It seems that there were those who tried to do that in Southport in the days following the dreadful events.  The contrast between the quiet vigil held by a community in shock and the rioting of others could not have been more stark.  Misinformation, mistrust and fear fuelled hatred and violence.
 
The Church does have a message of hope, comfort and peace, but someone once told me that we need to earn the right to speak before we do.  Part of the way we can earn that right is by being peacemakers within our community.  That is why I’ve always felt that as a parish church we should try to be at the heart of our neighbourhood –building good relationships and trying to make ours the best place to live in that we can.  When people feel listened to and relationships are good, there is less likelihood of division and the spreading of lies, and more opportunity for the good news of Jesus Christ to be heard.   That is true in our own lives as well.  “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with all people” wrote the apostle Paul (Romans 12:18).  When we seek to build good relationships, try to be a blessing, and are willing to sit with people in their pain and grief, then we will earn the trust to speak words of comfort and peace, and ultimately to share the hope of the gospel of Christ.
 
Some of the ways that we are trying to be salt and light in our community are in the attached "Church Update".  Our summer holiday lunch clubs have been a great success so far, Helen Dray is developing her work amongst older people in our parish, and Sharron’s work in Cairncry Community Centre will be continuing for some time to come.
 
On Sunday 25th August Donna Douglas will be baptised at the service in Cairncry Centre.  Donna has been coming to the church for a few months and feels ready to commit herself fully to Christ and his people.  Baptism services are a time for real celebration – for Donna and for all of us as a church.  They are a time when we remember our own baptism: the grace of God given freely to us in Christ and our response in faith.  As Donna joins the church we remember too the promises we made to join regularly in worship, to be committed to our own spiritual growth, to give of our time, talents and money for the church’s work in the world, and to proclaim our faith in Christ.  May we keep these promises to God and to each other and may we so live together as a church that we are peacemakers in a world where tragedy so often strikes.

With love from Sarah and myself,

Bless you

 

Ian