From the Vicar - September 2022

Print

I hope you are well and have had an enjoyable summer.

We have endured some uncomfortably hot weather, but I hope that by the time you read this newsletter temperatures will have dropped to a more pleasant level, and we will have enjoyed some much-needed rain.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind you, though, that All Saints’ Church is open almost every day of the year, and you are very welcome to enjoy the cool interior and an opportunity to sit and rest, or reflect and pray, whenever church is open.

As I sit at my desk, thinking of the cooler interior of our beautiful old church, I recollect one of my favourite poems by R.S. Thomas, which I’d like to share with you now:

Kneeling

Moments of great calm,

Kneeling before an altar

Of wood in a stone church

In summer, waiting for the God

To speak; the air a staircase

For silence; the sun’s light

Ringing me, as though I acted

A great role. And the audiences

Still; all that close throng

Of spirits waiting, as I,

For the message.

Prompt me, God;

But not yet. When I speak,

Though it be you who speak

Through me, something is lost.

The meaning is in the waiting.

 

You are always most welcome to kneel, (or sit, or stand), in All Saints’ Church.  I hope that you will find the interior both calm, and comfortable.  And perhaps the God who often feels distant will draw close and speak to you, in the silence and stillness that often fills a building where people have prayed and worshipped for hundreds of years.

We will be holding a special morning of prayer in church on Saturday 27 August.  (I realise you will probably receive this newsletter after the prayer morning has taken place – but I hope that we will hold similar mornings several times a year).  I also have several resources available for anyone wishing to develop their prayer life and spirituality – do contact me if you would like to chat about prayer, or any other matters.

Could I also draw your attention to our Harvest Festival service, followed by refreshments, on Sunday 25th September at 9:30am?  All are welcome, as we give thanks to God for his goodness and generosity, and as we welcome new and returning ordinands and families to the village at the beginning of a new term.

Thanks and God bless

Revd Karen x