Thursday, October 27, 2016

Rev Paul (Vicar of Hoylake): Thoughts for October 2016



Sometimes sermons go right over our heads or just don't seem relevant - so we switch off and just hope no one asks us what we thought. Just recently, I was listening to the preacher at the licensing of readers at Chester Cathedral and was more than impressed by some of the things he said. Although he was speaking about reader ministry, what he said could be applied equally to all of us.

The preacher spoke of ministry being worked out on the interface between church and community. It set me thinking again about our perception of what church growth is all about. We constantly worry when numbers are low at our services and when so much effort is being put in by our faithful band of workers.
 
Perhaps we are looking at it the wrong way. It seems to me that in the last few years, with the support of our church’s Parochial Church Council, we have begun many initiatives. These take place in our church school of Holy Trinity, in the community and that are designed for the benefit of the community - such as our soup and sandwich lunch for local care home residents and our ‘bacon butty’ mornings which both attract non-church going locals.

There are many opportunities for sharing the Gospel and truly living out the faith of Jesus Christ. 

Let us be encouraged by the words from Galatians 6:9: ‘And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.’ What we need is patience and letting things happen in God’s time. However, that doesn't mean that we can sit back and leave it all to Him - our job is to join in with God. Together with patience, I would like to add persistence - and by that I mean never forgetting the work we do as disciples of Christ.

Those of us who work outside the Church, need to be able to come back to our Father’s house: To be resourced by God’s word, prayer and encouragement. I am reminded of the words from the book of Hebrews 10:24-25: ‘Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near’.

For those who perhaps are not physically able to do some of the things in our church family that they once did, there is still much to do, both in fervent prayer and encouragement - especially in noticing when people are missing from church and keeping in touch with them.

I suppose that what I am saying is that when we go out and work at the interface of church and community it's hard going - we really need the church faithful both to pray for us and to support each other in sustaining participation in the worshiping life of our church.

It’s amazing what can be achieved by just a phone call saying “We missed you today” or by dropping a note to keep in touch. It's a huge responsibility that we share as we build up the body of Christ - we must never forget our partnership in the Gospel: We are all in this together.

Over the last few years, it has been a privilege to work with you and see our fellowship increase in so many ways. We have had fun together and we have lived through some sad times. We have developed our welcome and our worship - bringing a more modern feel. It has also been a real blessing to see the development of a new ministry team in Jill, Ruth, Nigel and Peter - each bringing very distinct and unique gifts. We look forward to all that God has in store for us.

Your friend Rev Paul

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