Greetings
We are settling into a hot summer and are excited about the developing life of the parish. The summer fetes at Freshford and Hinton Charterhouse were joyous occassions.
I am coming to the end of my first year as Rector. As a Christian community, we have been inspired by Acts 2: 42-47. This describes how the fellowship of new believers lived together, devoting themselves to teaching, worship, prayer and the breaking of bread. They enjoyed the favour of people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. We believe that a joyous and united community is ‘infectious’ in it’s welcome. We are also biblically inclusive.
We are launching a five year plan this autumn. Entitled 2026 – 2031 5-Year-Vision- ” From maintenance to mission”, we aim to be:
- a growing Christian community
- financially sustainable
- who’s mission is based on seeking unity, practising compassion and modelling prayer
- becoming more united across the A36.
We are seeking to recognise the gifting we have and which can be offered. This can range from welcoming, reading, making coffee, shifting chairs to IT live-streaming and AV tech. Growth will be through the Holy Spirit. We are reminded of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6 that says:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Revd Nigel Rawlinson – Rector
