Working Those Kneelers...

It’s been amusing to witness some of the baffled responses to the invitation to grab a kneeler from the church and take it home…‘Does Jon want us to bring them back next week?’…‘Is this his way of getting rid of the kneelers on the sly?’… ‘will the pews for the log burning stove be next?’

It really is as simple as encouraging you to press into prayer this advent.

It’s surprising how a physical, visual prompt can be more helpful than we might imagine. Some people have said they put it in their bedroom and it’s caused them to kickstart the day in prayer.

Fix it to your wall, put it in your fridge, use it as your bed pillow – however it will best serve as a disruption to your everyday. The power is not in the kneeler, but in engagement with the One who longs to break into our every waking moment. Happy praying.

Follow Up ...

TEAMS

We hope that you’ve had some space to pray and reflect on the things that were raised at our time in the Assembly Rooms last week. Take the opportunity in the coming weeks to open conversations with our new Team Leaders as to what possible involvement in a Team might look like.

 If you were unable to make it last week, then head to the website for the Team Profiles (which includes contact details for the leaders). They will give you a good start, but nothing quite replaces a face to face chat to get a feel for what we are trying to achieve.

 CHURCHSUITE

Last Sunday, we also launched ChurchSuite, our new church communication tool. Please remember to create a login password if you received an email invitation so to do. If you didn’t receive an invitation, please check your junk or spam folders in case it is there. Otherwise please contact Margaret in the Parish Office (parishadmin@stjohnsww.com) for a GDPR form or download one from our website under ‘About/ Forms’. There is an information sheet on the parish website under ‘Blog’ which gives more information.

Advent Approaches

I’m sure none of you need any reminding that Christmas looms on the horizon!

 You might require more of a nudge to register that the season of advent begins next Sunday. And I wonder what message you would expect to hear from ‘your vicar’ about advent and what it represents? I equally wonder, if you’re really honest, how impervious to that message you might be, and why?

 I’m not going to give you any leads as to what engagement with advent might offer – but I encourage you to reflect on those questions, and see if God might be calling you to approach the run to Christmas differently this year.

 Next Sunday, we’ll start an advent series called ‘Christmas Playlist’, looking at some of the most popular songs of Christmas – ‘Last Christmas’, ‘All I want for Christmas’, etc – to see what nostalgia and desires they tap into, and compare that with what the nature of God’s promises to us.