Blog

‘Share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.’ (Hebrews 13:16)

As we look around at the beautiful colours of autumn, it’s hard to believe that another year is nearly over.  As churchwarden, I’ve been amazed by what a busy church we are. Life at St Saviour’s is never boring! Of course, none of this could happen without everyone working together. Could I thank you for everything that you do – the small acts of kindness to others are just as important as the larger tasks. We have so many within our church family who work so hard and faithfully behind the scene,s as well as those who are in the limelight. As the body of Christ, we rely fully on each other.

As we approach the time of Advent and Christmas, there is still a lot to do, so let me encourage you to continue in your life of discipleship, both in your financial giving as well as your life of service. We are ordinary people, but we have an extraordinary God who can use us in a multitude of ordinary ways to achieve extraordinary things.

I was listening to the radio this morning and ‘The Lord of the Dance’ was played. It was a timely reminder about who we are doing all this for. Jesus will lead us all wherever we may be – “I’ll lead you all in the dance” said He.

Please come and chat to me or one of the leadership team if we can help you in developing your dance steps!

Christine Moyes

After much fundraising, we were pleased to announce last year that the positions of our youth and children’s ministers were safe for another year, but that we had a shortfall of about £5,000.

Well, that shortfall in the main still exists in as much as what comes in monthly doesn’t cover the expenses that go out – partly because fuel costs are up and so is our Parish Share (by 10%) – that’s the money we pay to the Diocese to pay for our clergy, as well as Diocesan work both locally and nationally.

We do have some savings, thanks to a few generous legacies, but as a church we are hoping to spend them on something more meaningful, tangible and long term, like the new kitchen, upgrading our sound system and gift to our mission initiatives – rather than regular running costs. As we all know, once you start spending your savings you very soon run out of resources! It is not good financial sense to spend savings on day-to-day expenses.

So, as a church we need to look, and then look again at ways of supporting our church – with our time (things we can help with – there are lots of activities and clubs which need your help), with our talents (things we can do – prayers, making tea, cutting out, knitting), with our finances (monies we can give – Parish Giving Scheme, standing orders and one-off gifts).

Do you ever shop online? Ever use Amazon, Ebay, Tesco, etc? Then see the Easyfundraising website for how easy it is to raise funds when you are next online.

If you want to start or maybe increase your giving in any way, come and have a word with me, Pat Smart  (Treasurer) or Chris Thorpe (Assistant Treasurer) or Christine Moyes (Churchwarden). We are here to help you to help us make the church wheels run smoothly.

God Bless you in your giving.

Pat Smart

‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!’ (2 Corinthians 5 verse 17)

This week our new website went live! A new creation! The old has gone, the new is here! Obviously this verse from Corinthians is about so much more, but read on – perhaps there’s a connection …

The creation of this new website has been a long process – a prayerful process of listening and surrendering to God; a creative process of coming up with ideas, decision-making, designing, choosing, writing, taking pictures, building, and tweaking, and …

… And now, here it is! It’s arrived, and so we can get to know it, explore it, and use it. Our hope from the beginning has always been that the website will serve God’s purposes, point toward Him and His great love, and bless both individuals and our wider community. And if that is to be so, the creative work certainly doesn’t stop here.

Our creativity stems from His creativity, and needs to be alive and active. The website may have started with the creative germ of an idea, but now that we have a new website, we need to consider how we can best use it to express our faith, to build relationships, and to communicate God’s great love for everyone.

Of course, the important thing will not be the website (though we are thankful for it), but rather keeping close to the source of all creativity, the Creator, the uncreated One, and in doing so, creating new opportunities and encounters with Him, that others may know for themselves the deep truth and experience of being a new creation in Christ.

See for yourselves, and get creative!