Church letter

January 2023

Click for the Minister's letter from September 2022

A warm welcome to the New Year

I trust that you had a good Christmas, despite the very cold weather, the many strikes and the economic situation that we as a country and individually find ourselves in. Amongst all this uncertainty, one thing is constant: God is still God and we were still able to gather to give thanks over Christmas for the birth of Jesus. The tradition of doing this at St George’s Church has not changed for centuries and it will continue, I know, for years to come. One lovely thing that did change, though, was that for the first time since December 2019, we were able to hold all our services in church, rather than having to cancel them or hold some of them outside.

Now, as we begin this new year, we look forward with hope as the days lengthen and, at some point, it starts to get warmer. Until that happens, though, I am acutely aware of the economic problems for many people and the continual worry of paying for heating or buying food for warm meals. If you are worried about being at home without the heating on, come and join us at the Memorial Hall at our ‘Warm Welcome Space’, which we are starting in January.

Initially this will be for a couple of hours, twice a week, but we will respond to the need if it becomes apparent that more is needed. Details of when the Warm Welcome Space is happening is on page 9 and is being publicised via various village websites, the church Facebook page, and village noticeboards. (Or you can email or ring me: details opposite.) This is simply a space where anyone can come along rather than being alone or getting cold at home. And it is free. If you can help run this, or could donate to the running costs (electricity, hot drinks), then please get in touch. Together we can all help one another in this wonderful community.

And speaking of community things: a reminder that on 22 January there is an open meeting at 11.30am (after the morning services) in St George’s Church for everyone to share their thoughts, concerns, wishes for our church building and the facilities we have going forward in the 21st century and into the 22nd century (page 17). Come along and be a part of moving St George’s Church on, in a sustainable manner, so that future generations can continue to worship here, and future generations can continue to use this community space - as previous generations have done for centuries.

The constant in all of this is that worship and prayer and community gatherings have happened in our beautiful church. How people have worshipped, and the how the community has used the building, has always been changing down through the centuries. Please come along and share your thoughts, concerns and wishes.

Revd David Commander, Rector