Recently, I heard someone talking ever so enthusiastically about the new garden pond he had made and that it was now teeming with life, full of newts and insects and plant life. He was delighted with the results.
As we look towards summer (whether it’s astronomical summertime which begins on 21st June or meteorological summer which begins on 1st June, or any other definition of summer), we can see nature teeming with life, as plants and trees all about us bloom into life.
Church is also teeming with life too this June.
We’re very much looking forward to the ordinations of Angie Foster and Jan Bennett as they begin a new phase of their ministry, as ordained deacons (and I’m sure they will be relieved to have the academic work behind them now!). Then there’s the Festival of Flowers at St Peter’s to celebrate the 175th anniversary, the summer concerts (including one at Christ Church with Ilona’s string quartet), and the garden parties, just to mention a few things. And on the 15th June we celebrate Trinity Sunday, and on 26th and 29th June it’s the patronal festivals of St Maxentius, and St Peter. And before all these, there’s Pentecost (or Whit) on the 8th which serves as a kind of final hurrah to the fifty days of Easter and looks back at a turning point in the life of the church. A new phase had begun, and the church was now empowered, inspired and equipped by the Spirit.
In our joy, however, we must not overlook the difficulties experienced by many at this time. And so, the Church of England Collect (prayer) for the first Sunday of June seems a fitting prayerful response…
‘Send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us’
It reflects the ancient prayer, ‘Maranatha’ come Holy Spirit, which the Early Church prayed for the strength to meet the challenges ahead of them – a theme we see written through the bible readings of this month.
Dear Friends,