Dear all
When you read this our annual vicarage fete will have taken place and hopefully we will have raised lots of funds for our local schools. The day itself it rather like a whirlwind when everyone arrives to set up their stalls and attractions; our lovely visitors arrive, our children dance and entertain us, yummy refreshments are prepared and eaten and if the weather is good much ice cream will be sold! Three hours later and the garden is back to normal just like magic. It’s amazing! How does this happen so quickly and so effectively?
Its team work! It all begins with a wonderful team who start planning the fete earlier in the year so that on the day everything falls easily into place. Then there are teams who come the day before and set up all the gazebos etc. Then on the morning a team pick up all the tables and chairs they can lay their hands on and deliver them to the Vicarage. The same team gather them up at the end of the day and return them to hall and church!
Team work is so vital isn’t it and it struck me that our villages are full of such teams. Teams of people tirelessly committing themselves to the villages’ different groups and organisations, even venturing onto committees (!) in order that the rest of us can enjoy whatever it is that’s on offer. Next month our villages will enjoy their respective summer shows and involve even more teamwork than our Vicarage Fete which attracts thousands now to our village every year. It is incredible what you can achieve when several people work together in a common cause.
I am often asked how life is for me now that I am the vicar of two churches. My answer always is “never better” simply because both churches are supported by fantastic teams of people who look after the day to day running and planning of the churches’ lives. Church life is very rich and varied, both exhilarating and exhausting probably in equal measure. We are seeking to grow in number and in our faith, eager to share God’s love with all who are also seeking in their lives. Our ministry is growing; there are now a range of different services from Matins to Café Church with everything in between. Our music ranges from traditional organ to our in house band with the support of a dedicated choir and organists. Just last week, both churches held large funerals for much loved village residents within a couple of days of each other. Both churches were bedecked with flowers arranged and donated to help reflect the love and life of the deceased. None of this is possible without community and people working together. We have so much to be thankful for in our villages I am sure you will agree.
Recently we celebrated Trinity Sunday which is when we think about God as three persons. Confusing or what?! It is difficult to describe the divine mystery, but this early church doctrine was developed in order to explain how God was Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet still one God! Would it be heretical of me to say this is also team work?!
With my love and prayers as ever
Revd Liz