Posted 6/14/2018 3:46:37 PM
Spring finally arrived and with a bang! Baking hot sunshine and then dramatic thunder storms. The storms unfortunately resulted in the tragic death of an elderly driver on the Lichfield Road who was caught in a flash flood under the bridge.
Elsewhere the rains brought welcome relief to parched gardens. The weather continues to be muggy and grey with further thunderstorms forecast. Luckily neither of our church buildings has been affected by the bad weather.
I’m hoping that church life will be far less stormy but just as sunny this month. We have our away day in Shenstone on June 9th. In it we shall be planning for the next 2-5 years; reviewing what we already do and looking at what we can do better or what else needs to be done by us to make our church relevant to the people of Rushall. One of the areas we shall be looking at is our provision for children and young families – especially after the success of God Parents’ Sunday.
There is already a lot going on. We have various small groups that have started up from the strollers round the arboretum, curry nights, trips to the cinema (this last week going to see “Edie”) and a book reading club (this month reading “A man called Ove”).
We also have our larger social events with a concert at Christ the King on Saturday 23rd June (Bel Canto and the Folkies – bringing a choral repertoire and sing along pieces – donations to Cancer Research UK) and the annual 200 club strawberry tea on Sunday July 1st to look forward to.
We have, of course, our regular worship with daily morning and evening prayer, our two midweek Eucharists and our regular Sunday services.
Soon we shall be starting a new Pilgrim Course, six weeks of learning based on the Lord’s Prayer.
With all of this and the Thursday drop in, bell ringers and choir practices there is a lot happening in the life of our church and all sorts of people meeting and enjoying each other’s company in all sorts of ways.
The danger, as ever, is that we end up doing too much or that it becomes just the same few people doing everything. However, with so many small groups that doesn’t seem to be a problem at the moment and it is wonderful to see so many of our various congregations’ members meeting up in small groups, getting to know each other better and having a great time too.
There are so many things happening that hopefully there is something for everyone – but if you have suggestions please let us know – or even better come along to the away day and share your thoughts with us.
Our church already is alive with daily services, events and gatherings of all sorts. Although some of these take work behind the scenes (and a big thank you to all those who do so much to ensure that the life of our church continues) hopefully we can all find an occasion to relax in each other’s company and enjoy ourselves.
Check out the facebook page and church website to keep updated as to what’s going on.
As with our gardens the church takes work to make it everything we want it to be but it is also there to be enjoyed and to help us find rest in God’s love and grace.
Colin