Love God, Serve People, Make Disciples
The April newsletter is now available as a pdf file to download. I'm afraid there are no services or events to list in the newsletter, but we are adding more online resources to the website by the day. There will be no printed copies of the newsletter this month, however I have used the usual A4 format so the pdf file can be printed at home if required.
This is also available to download and includes:
Dear friends,
How very different life seems now than it did less than two weeks ago. It would hardly be surprising in that context if you weren’t reeling with the shock of it all. And shock is the right word. Of course there’s shock - and worse - for those personally touched by the Covid-19 virus. But there’s shock too for us all. How strange it seems to see the natural world burst into life before our very eyes, while we struggle with the reality of death amongst us!
I want to say a huge thank you to the way you have responded to the challenges this crisis has posed for us, and for the way you have faced them with resilience, creativity, faith, hope and good humour. That speaks volumes about you all. I’m very proud to be your bishop! This is our chance to show that church is so much more than a building – and more even than worship on Sundays: and that’s exactly what I see so many of you doing.
What does the future hold? We just don’t know. I suspect that the society and the church that emerges from all this will be different: but not necessarily worse. I hope we will all be enabled as a result to live more lightly and lovingly on this earth; being more relational, faithful and hopeful and embracing a lifestyle that is truly sustainable.
The world may have changed; the world may yet change – but our God has not. He is faithful and he is good. Let’s trust him all the more here in the present that we may truly be his body in this hurting world, and work together for the in-breaking of his Kingdom that is to come.
With my love and thanks to you all
+Philip
