Rutton is away on holiday for a few days but left a note for the Parishes until he sees us all at Hascombe on the 19th September.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Pew News once again
Quite a lot had happened since I started covering Dunsfold and Hascombe parishes, way back in June. This may be a good time to look back and reflect briefly on the journey, and indeed look ahead also.
When I was asked by Roy to cover both parishes, it was Sunday services and home visits he had in mind, plus the additional – what the Church of England calls ‘occasional’ services: baptisms, blessings, and weddings.
There certainly have been some highs:
Managing to get a fairly full set of occasional services in, without a funeral, is not too bad. No one died! So that’s great. I might have lulled a few to sleep here and there, but no one actually expired. Instead, we had a baptisms, LOTS of weddings (I only did one – but it was exciting!), and a blessing.
I love meeting people at home on home visits and have made many new friends. That continues – and it is a wonderful privilege. A great perk of the job! The courage, kindness, and good-natured conversation of people who are clearly in pain or difficulty never ceases to be a huge inspiration to me. Thank you all.
Would you like a home visit, or communion at home? Don’t be shy – just let me know! Or speak to your pastoral team – they are amazing.
Messy church and meeting the Evergreens (complete with helicopter tour) were also part of the good times.
Someone said to me today ‘I expect it’s been wonderful experience’. It certainly has that! I don’t mind admitting that I come from many different church styles, traditions, and experiences – so I am always happy to learn new things. You never quite arrive in this job. I love to keep experimenting, and seeing what works for you, and I hope for me also.
Getting zoom working in both churches was also a high – albeit with a lot of help – and lots of boxes and wires – and a good few near misses! Still work to be done there – but SO rewarding if folks can watch from afar.
It would be fair to say there have been one or two lows. We had every expectation that Ian would return in September, and that my time would be over. As we know, that has not happened, and there is no timescale available concerning that. So weekly, we pray for Ian and Susi, and hope and trust in God for better things.
Please do also pray for the wardens, and for all who lead, minister, serve and pastor. This has been a demanding time, and that continues. We pray for them.
Looking ahead, I hope to be with you for one more Sunday in September, and then, for at least three in October.
The other huge low has been the world news, not least from Afghanistan. However distressing the news, we can do three things: we can pray for them, we can give to them in any way we can, and we can keep reading, listening, and having a compassionate opinion ready for whenever it’s needed.
We don’t know what the Autumn holds, or where the virus will take us next. But we pray, we help each other, and we trust in a God who saves.
God bless us all. Amen.