JULY LETTER FROM FATHER MARCUS

My Dear Friends,

Over the weekend of 24^th and 25^th July we will be celebrating our Patronal Festival. The events will include our Summer Fayre on the Saturday, with the brilliant mixture of food, stalls and live music, and then on the Sunday morning we will have our worship outside. A great public witness and proclamation of our love of God.

I would like to suggest two things, the first invitational; the second incarnational!

The first: We know this is going to be a good event. We will put a great deal of time and energy into this and will make sure the whole Festival is worth coming to. It is definitely one of those occasions where it is easy to invite our friends along, so they get a taste of what life at our church is like. We know we can do this well, and it is through events like this that we begin to build new relationships and people who meet us realise that, although we go to church, we are normal lovely human beings who enjoy the truly good things of life. It is a great opportunity and we can encourage one another in our outreach endeavours.

The second: Incarnational. If we are thinking or expecting people to come to us, it is also right that we should feel comfortable to go to them. If the church is to reflect the love of God, it must do that, not only in its worship, but also in its service. It is our privilege and joy to be part of, and engage fully with the wonderful things that happen in our beautiful town. As I go about this place, I constantly bump into church people who are putting their faith into practice. They are reading with children at the school, or helping with the various youth clubs or Mothers and Others. They are looking after and visiting the poorly, they are helping out in charity shops, getting involved in community events like MADHURST, they are volunteering at the ruins, driving the community bus, helping out at the Grange..... the list could go on.

This is important. That we realise we are living out our faith both inside and outside the church. This is a beautiful witness. Of course people do not need to be church goers to volunteer or help out, but the more we explore our local society, the more we realise how much we as a faith community actually offer. It is when we understand this that we can feel even more secure, when we ask people to Come and See.

In addition to this is the sense that the Patronal Festival is more than an excuse for a party, more than just a great date in the calendar, but an inspiring, uplifting, challenging and thought provoking opportunity to look deeply at who we are, what we believe, what we do and why we do it. I am looking forward to meeting new friends already.

I am writing this a few days before our Gift Day, but in faith and anticipation I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us.

Bless you all

Father Marcus