Summer's here!
Dear Friends,
At last summer is here and it looks like being a scorcher! By the time you receive this newsletter a number of church and community events will be well into the planning stage for this year which I’m sure will be successful. The reason I’m confident about this is the impression I have gained since my arrival last September by the sense of community spirit that exists especially in Felixstowe and its surrounding area. Having read about some wonderful memories recorded in a booklet produced for the Millennium in conjunction with local organisations I noted comments such as “I’ve always lived in the Felixstowe area and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else” and “people are so kind and friendly here.” This warmth Elizabeth and I have come to feel and know for ourselves over the past nine months as we’ve met and shared happy as well as sad occasions with many folk.
Of course that doesn’t mean we can be complacent, thinking that we live in a community where there is little or no need, where crime and violence, poverty and loneliness, hunger and hatred don’t exist. I spent some time recently with an elderly person who had been given a nasty fright by an intruder in her garden! There is much work to be done among people of all ages, work that requires co-operation between all strands of society as we seek through practical and spiritual means to express our community care. We recently celebrated a very important festival within the life of the Christian Church, the coming of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which reminded us of the transformation it brought to the community living in Jerusalem at that time. Especially how the spirit of that community took on a whole new meaning as they met together regularly for worship, to eat together, to talk over their cares and joys, to share their possessions with those in need and to pray with one another.
Although the Day of Pentecost can be considered as something of a whirlwind experience for the community of Jerusalem there is no doubt that during the following days, months and years it was through small but important acts of thoughtfulness and kindness that the message of community care was spread to their neighbours. Hopefully in this our own community we will see the fruits of this same spirit growing and ripening along with the summer fruits as we spend time enjoying and celebrating life together.
Let us as we feel the sun on our faces this summer, pray that we will also feel our hearts ‘strangely warmed’ (John Wesley’s words) by God’s Spirit and so grow in love and grace with one another.
May God bless you all richly
David