The best of the old and the best of the new!

 

Hello everyone,

This month has been a busy one so far. 

 

In our Sunday services we have introduced a projector screen, and returned to taking communion at the rail. I'm sure this will feel like a big change, and there will be some teething issues no doubt, but it fits with our aim of wanting St James to be the best of the old and the best of the new, especially as we think about how we can draw new people into the church family.

 

We're also celebrating new life in the church. It's amazing to have another baby we can welcome into our church family. 

But at the same time I know many church members are facing difficult situations, in all sorts of different ways. Please know that I am available and more than willing to chat. 

St James has also had the honour of hosting the funeral service of a wonderful member of the community who had a huge impact on the lives of so many in Gatley. It's a reminder of what we are here for. We aren't just any old church, we are the parish church, here for the people of Gatley, available to the community, seeking to hold out Jesus' compassionate love in good times and bad.

In all of this I am reminded of the medieval proverb attributed to the Benedictine monk Notker I of Saint Gall (d. 912) that made it's way into the Book of Common Prayer - 'Media vita in morte sumus' - 'in the midst of life we are in death'. That's a depressing thought for the secular world, and not something most people like to dwell on unless and until it's thrust upon them. 

But for the Christian that thought need not hold paralysing fear. In Jesus we have the freedom both to celebrate in life and to hope in death.

 

Our faith in him allows us to hold both of these realities together, because he is "the resurrection and the life". 

We are currently looking at what outreach options we can offer come September. This is a big challenge, but so important as we seek to be the church for the parish, loving, serving, and pointing people to Jesus in good times and bad.

 

Jack Marsh
Vicar