Category: Covid19

New Year Pastoral Update

7/1/2021

Dear Friends
This comes with greetings in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord who came to be with us here on earth - may your new year be blessed with the assurance of his presence, peace and joy as together we put our hope in him for the year ahead ..…”So we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

There is nothing quite like the start of a new year to re-focus our thinking, and a further national lockdown serves us well in this regard; our own personal plans are again needing to be reviewed and adapted, along with those of our local community and national leaders. As the worshipping people of God at All Saints Highertown, we are not exempt from this. So along with blessings, with this letter comes a question – how are you and what are you hoping for this year?

Being unable to meet as a whole church community means these natural conversations over coffee are not possible, but they are necessary none the less and your perspective on what is helpful during these challenging times is important. Therefore, as we again seek to be flexible and respond to these new circumstances and this new strain of virus, you are invited to share your own thoughts on what is/would be helpful as we seek to be faithful disciples of Christ serving each other and our neighbour. So that your position can be considered as we navigate the next few months and beyond, you are invited to email our Lay Minister, Debbie Mitchell, who has kindly agreed to coordinate the responses (debbie@asht.org.uk) or you can write to Jeremy at the vicarage address attached, it would be heartening to hear from you.

Joff, our Social Justice Missioner has also produced for your use a summary, attached, of winter support available during this difficult time. As the information is changing continually, if there is a specific need that you are aware of within our community please do not hesitate to ring him (mobile: 07772836646).

I’d also like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the spiritual resources in place that you may find helpful. This week we return to our pattern of online midweek prayer meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday (via Zoom), and daily morning prayer will be available through our phone line service (01872 306996), details of these can be found on the newsletter and website.

During this period of lockdown we will only be meeting for worship online until we are clearer on how virulent this new strain of the virus is, and how we can ensure the safety of all those visiting the church. During January and February our Sunday service will be online only, starting at 2pm via our website, youtube and facebook channels. This service will be followed by a time to share a coffee and a chat using Zoom online.

Again, please let me re-iterate how important it is that we continue to have conversations together so I really do hope to hear from you, whether on matters you consider small or significant.

To close, in God may you find “the grace and growth you need for fruit and fullness, and the love that will last you through the long haul of a ‘lived-for-others life’. May peace be yours.” (Extract from The Blessing – G.Kelly)

Yours in Jesus
Jeremy, Debbie, Janette and Patrick.

Link to Winter Support

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The Acorn

26/3/2020

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The following article was written for the Threemilestone Contact Magazine.

One thing is for sure we won’t soon forget these last few weeks, and we won’t soon forget the next few weeks. Schools and colleges have closed and moved to online classes, the country faces the economic pressure of everyone having to stay at home, entire nations are entering into quarantine, the NHS is under severe and life threatening pressure, and the care sector is seriously struggling. Tragically, people are dying. We haven’t faced such a crisis since the second world war.

I find myself wondering “What next?”

One possible answer to this question would be to follow the trajectory of shock and sorrow to its appropriate conclusion, in other words to expect the worst and to prepare ourselves for the worst. And some might say this is a fitting response, since it will lead to acts of self-preservation and the protection of what we care for most and who we love most dearly. Obedience to the government guidance on staying at home, self-isolating and social distancing are expressions of this, and are absolutely the right course of action.

Another possible answer is to imagine an alternative trajectory that is not shaped by shock and sorrow, but by compassion and grace. This kind of answer takes seriously how the current experience shapes culture, community, and individual character. It looks for ways to flip the horror of a given situation into an opportunity to build something new. I’m talking here about growth, potential and progress. Consider the acorn for instance. The acorn is potentially an oak tree. It yearns to become what it is not yet but ought to be. We are no different. Out of the Winter comes the Spring. What will the Spring look like for Threemilestone when all this is over?

Both answers are correct. But for me the overriding narrative in Threemilestone and the surrounding area is one shaped by grace, compassion and good will. It is a narrative that imagines what we might become when we all get through this. It is a narrative that tells the story of a community that cares for the whole, lives for the whole and defends the whole. Just take a look at what is being achieved through the local volunteer initiatives coordinated by Russell Keeble at Threemilestone Methodist Church and Cllr Tudor. And take a look at the small acts of kindness being offered between neighbours. It is evident that social distancing was never going to mean social indifference, and self-isolation was never going to mean self-interest. These kind of things are proof that good work for the sake of the whole does far more than it initially intends – picking up a prescription for someone when you do your essential trip to the supermarket helps one person, but it also shapes the whole community. It gives more water to the acorn!

Further down the road in Highertown, Malabar and Penn an Dre things are the same. Malabar Residence Association are coordinating volunteers with a system to stay in touch with the most vulnerable, and here at All Saints Highertown we’re running a Community Comforter scheme to do the same. More water for the acorn!

I call to mind the words of St Paul who reminded the early persecuted church that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He says, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If St Paul were writing today, he may well have even included Covid19 in his list. The point is this, the reality of our situation is horrendous and understandably frightening for many. But my prayer, my faith, my hope is that the narrative of love and compassion will suppress the fear we all feel, and comfort the mourning to such an extent that we see the oak fully grown, and our community life profoundly changed for the better.

The work of the Church is more important than ever, to be Christ to others, to heal the sick, mend the shattered, befriend the lonely, lift up the poor, and liberate the captive. God’s love for us draws us into participating in that divine work with our own hands and feet. God’s love for us—and our love for God—expresses itself in love of neighbour. May we all give ourselves to this service.

Yours in Jesus
Revd Jeremy Putnam
Priest in Charge at All Saints Highertown

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New Year Pastoral Update

The Acorn

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