June 2018 Saint Faith’s News
It’s hard to decide what the highlight of the past month has been.
Was it the fun we had, the welcome we offered and the money we raised at the May Fayre, as part of the wider parish?
Or was it the fun we had, and the money and awareness we raised as part of the parish contribution to Christian Aid week?
Perhaps it was the fun we had, and the reflection we shared on the past year’s…um…fun…at our DCC AGM, which we then carried on in the fun we had at the Parish AGM the next day?
Whichever way you slice it, Saint Faith’s is bubbling with faith and fun. Our idea of fun sometimes includes a fair amount of rolling up our sleeves. It involves taking very seriously the problems of people whose lives have been affected by natural disaster. It certainly involves working closely with our friends from Saint Mary’s and Saint Wilf’s so that the whole parish can thrive and serve the broader community.
Recently, I had the fun of visiting Arundel Court Primary Academy to answer questions about my faith from Year 5 children. A child asked “How many people do you help in a day?” That was probably the hardest question to answer. I realised that God just doesn’t do maths like we do. We still do need to wonder if we are helping as many people as we can, and think about how we can help more. We still do need to wonder if we have enough money to do all that is in our hearts to do, safely and well. But we also need to allow God’s Maths to work. So the welcome of one Kurdish woman to a place where she can make friends, where her children can play, where she can take steps into a new life in a new community – that may be just one person, but it is all in the service of the One to whom we offer all that we are.
A person connected with Saint Faith’s recently described the first time she came to a Sunday service.
“Someone said, ‘Come in! You’re very welcome!’ And when I explained I wasn’t ready to sit with everyone else, they said, ‘Where would you like to sit? I’ll get you a chair.’ I like it that they just accept you as you are.”
As we look forward to welcoming baby Clementine to the Christian family, we hope that she, and everyone we meet, will always feel that our parish is a place where welcome, fun and service go hand in hand, where 1+1 = Love.
Rev. Barbara