Weekly Update – 26th January
My first newsletter of the year. 2025 – the 50th Anniversary of the current church being built. There are many things planned for this year of celebration.
We currently have the Festival of Starlight, with many stars, wonderfully decorated by people from church, our local schools and local community groups, hanging from wires at the back of church. More are being added each day, so please pop into church regularly to look at them. They will be there until the end of February.
It is marvellous that so many people have contributed to the Festival and have made the space at the back of church quite special. The hope is that people will feel encouraged to continue to visit the church and contribute to activities throughout the year.
In the Parish Profile we have said “Our church is not only a wonderful place of worship but also a gift that we can share with the community.” We are blessed with not just the church building but also two halls that are used by a variety of groups in Allington. The church and the halls are a place where people can come together for fellowship, a shared interest or a common purpose.
On the St Nicholas Church website homepage, we say: “The Church of which we are members is not defined by the walls of a building but by the Body of Christ of which we are members. We continue to support our community and continue to pray, to love, to care for the vulnerable.”
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, (chapter 12 verse 12) he tells us that we are in One Body with Christ and many commentaries on this passage make the point that being in One Body with Christ means that we equally have a role in contributing to the outcome that Jesus came to deliver and passed on that mission to his disciples and all that have faith in Him. To share the message of God’s love and grace to all people.
Being in One Body with Christ we all have different skills and we each contribute through our skills to the work required. We are part of a team, and each person has a role to play, using their creative gifts and talents to help usher in the Kingdom of God in a fresh way. This year is an opportunity to extend a welcome to people to share in this purpose.
A bit of forward notice of our Lent Course, which focusses on prayer. An opportunity to come together, reflect, discuss and share our experiences of prayer. The Lent Course will be held at 7.30pm on Mondays at Church: 10th March, 17th March, 24th March, 7th March and 14th March (there will be no session on 31st March). There will be a list at the back of church for those who want to join the Lent Course to sign up, so we can arrange for sufficient course booklets to be produced.
Heavenly Father,
keep us faithful in prayer.
Help us to learn how to still our hearts
and quieten our minds so that
we can hear what you have to say to us.
Amen.
Nigel
Churchwarden