Hennie's blog for April 2012

Dear All,

As I sit down and write this month's thoughts and reflections, I can't believe that I have been at St. Mark's for one year and one day - and it is no April fool - a day too late for that! Though it is a wet grey day following our few days of summer last week, and I have a very downcast Chanty who was told today she had to wear her 'lampshade' for another two days, following her operation last Thursday. She has few words to say to me at present, and is upstairs in a grump!

Last month we celebrated the baptism of 6 young people, and this month we celebrated the confirmation of 9 young people and one adult on Sunday 11th March with Bishop Peter confirming, preaching and presiding. It was a wonderful morning as we witnessed this act of public confession of faith, and the Holy Spirit was powerfully amongst us - praise God!

We have also celebrated Mothering Sunday last month, and yesterday had another wonderful time of worship in the morning as three babies, and one young child were baptised - the church was overflowing.

A number of us have attended the Lent course on prayer, meeting every Wednesday with the Catholic and Methodist church at St. Mark's. It has been a blessed time together stepping out of the busyness of our lives to listen to God, and be refreshed, renewed and challenged, as we have
looked at different ways of praying, and hearing from God. We then finished appropriately last night, with a Churches Together Palm Sunday service at Saltney Methodist church. It was a very moving and powerful time of reflection on the Passion as we heard the scriptures read, sang hymns, and contemplated symbols depicting the Passsion. Personally it has helped me to prepare to walk with our Lord during this Holy week.

Last Monday we had our Annual Parochial Church Meeting where we not only elected new Church Wardens, Deputy Church Wardens, Sidespeople and PCC members, but it was also an opportunity for me, as your new vicar, to look back over the year, and to look forward to where God may be calling us in the coming years. The Archdeacon of Chester said to us at the Parish Weekend Away 'not to over estmate what we can do in a year, but not to under estimate what we can do in five years'. He made us think, 'where might God be calling St. Mark's to be in 5 years time', and there were a lot of encouraging dreams and visions shared amongst us. Following on from the weekend, and after some months of discernment, we feel God has called us 'to be a church called to be God's people, to worship, serve, and grow, and to see lives of all ages continually transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit - 'Loving God and making His love known'. I said at the APCM that if we are to move from the vision on paper to the vision in action, then it is going to have to be owned by every area of ministry in and outside the church, and the work of that ministry must be implementing the vision of the church: is it deepening our relationship with God, is it growing our relationship with one another, and is it developing our relationship with the local community and wider world'?

I am very encouraged by all the reports of the different areas of ministry going on at St. Mark's as laid out in the 2011 Annual Report, but there might also be other areas of ministry that God is asking us to prioritise in this coming year, if we are to embrace the vision, especially in the area of developing our evangelism, mission and service.

I leave you with the scripture which I preached from at the Parish Weekend Away from Isaiah, and which I believe is a Word for us from God. 'Enlarge the site/place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities'. (Ch. 54 v. 2-3) Can I ask you all to pray over the coming months asking God to show us where, as a church, we are to enlarge our site and stretch out; lengthening our cords and strengthening our stakes? And also as individuals what might He be asking of us as His disciples? Could it be that He wants us to enlarge the size of our hearts to embrace the lost; or could He be asking us to step up, and out, to serve Him in an area we haven't had the courage to do so before; or to exercise our spiritual gifts as an offering to God, and in the building up of the church?

Let us this Holy Week have the courage to walk with Jesus to Calvary, and so be able to celebrate in His Resurrection on Easter Day. And so as Easter people hear God's call on our lives afresh, to come, to go, and to tell, 'for you will spread out to the right and to the left, and you will possess the nations, and resettle people in the desolate cities'. There is desolation on our doorsteps - are we ready to go?

Happy Easter

Hennie