Clergy Letter
CLERGY LETTER - MAY 2008
Dear all,
May (this year) begins with Ascension Day which for those of us in this parish is also our Patronal Festival. The Feast of the Ascension celebrates the day Jesus disappeared from the physical sight of the first disciples in order that He might be available to all people for all time and in all places. In His going He did not leave them ‘comfortless’ but came back to them as Holy Spirit and this Holy Spirit is available to us now. It is in the power of the Spirit that we pray to God through the great high priest Jesus Christ.
Patronal Festivals are very important because they are an opportunity to pause and reflect to give thanks and to celebrate God’s goodness to us – His provision for us in the mission we his people are about. There is much to celebrate here in Oxton and Noctorum and I want to use this letter to express the heartfelt sense of gratitude to all of the church family for just quite simply being you and being part of the team. I want to use this letter to state again the great fact that everyone that lives within the bounds of this parish is also part of the family so whether you come to church regularly or not St. Saviour’s is your family home. So many come to church – perhaps to give thanks for the birth of a child and to baptise and so make that child a member of the world wide Christian family – others come themselves to be baptised making their own leap of faith when they are able to make their own minds up. I am delighted that so many come here to be married – making their life long commitment to each other ‘in the presence of God’ and His people. Others from the parish family come at sad times in your lives – you may be asking for prayer for a loved one and you come along to one of our services – others among the parish family will come to a funeral or thanksgiving service when a loved one or a friend or a member of our community has died. This is all part of being the parish family. Being part of the parish family then means that we share in each others joys and sorrows – we share in the ordinary and in the everyday experiences of life.
So much more could be said but I want to put it quite simply – this is your parish church and along with our daughter church of St. Andrew’s is a sign in the community of the presence of the living God.
One final thought. The people of God – the church are not a building but a body – a living body – so a Patronal Festival celebrates that and gives thanks for all those who have been part of the parish family in years gone by as well as those of us who are part of it today.
Blessings in Christ
Ian