The minister writes: (September 2020 newsletter)
Dear friends,
There’s something about this time of year that always feels hopeful. Perhaps it’s to do with childhood associations of the new school year and all the challenges and excitement it brought. Maybe it’s to do with the approach of autumn, that time of change and a ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’ Whatever it is, it is there: that sense of looking forward with hope to what will come.
Within our church we are looking forward, too. Not to a return to that which we took for granted five months ago but to a new normality and a return to worshipping in our building again. I deliberately don’t say ‘in our church’ because, of course, the church is not the building but its people and we have been worshipping throughout this time in various ways. For many that has been through the church’s YouTube channel and the weekly services our preachers and ministers have been bringing to us, for others it has been through the written word, or through DVD’s of those services, still others will have found spiritual succour through radio and TV. There have been some key people involved in enabling our Sandhurst & Yateley services to happen and my grateful thanks to them. You know who you are.
What we haven’t been able to do is to come as a gathered people for worship. Now we are preparing for that to happen, whilst being aware that not everyone will feel able to come back to church just yet and upholding them with our love and prayers. Our first opportunity to return will be on 13th September. There are guidelines published elsewhere in this newsletter about what to expect and you will understand that it won’t be quite like it was pre-Covid – at least not to begin with. However, it is a positive step forward and we give thanks to God for the dedicated efforts of our stewards and others who are making it possible.
Indeed, there is a lot to give thanks for! During the summer we have celebrated special wedding anniversaries and birthdays and there are more to come. We rejoice with you folks and give thanks to God for your years and for your love. We also thank God for his faithfulness throughout this challenging time. There have been losses and sadness and for some there has been a real struggle to cope with ill health or with the isolation and I know people have missed the companionship and fellowship of church and its associated activities. There will be opportunities to express some of those feelings in services during these next months. In particular there will be a memorial service later in the year when we can remember and give thanks for those we have loved who are no longer with us. More details about that in next month’s newsletter.
Nevertheless, God has been with us through it all, is with us now, and continues to lead us on. So, let us look to the future with hope, faith and a lightness in our hearts.
Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not,
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
With every blessing,
Sharon