Family Events and Celebrations
It is a privilege for the church community to host people when they come to celebrate and commemorate the important events of family and community life.
Whether you are wishing to celebrate the gift of new life through Baptism, or your marriage, to commend a loved one at the end of their life, or to commemorate or celebrate any event or achievement, you are most welcome to contact us about it.
Wherever you are on Life’s pilgrimage, we can assure you of our prayers.
Initially, please contact the Parish Priest.
Priest's Monthly Letter April 2025
From the Parish Priest
Dear Friends,
I have mentioned on more than one occasion the statues of the 20th-century Christian Martyrs on the West Front of Westminster Abbey. They are a collection of faithful and brave Christians from across denominational divides, who lost their lives because of their commitment to Christ and his teachings.
One of them is, of course, an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who lived through and campaigned against the appalling injustice of a racially segregated society in the USA during the fifties and sixties. His community, and his family, lived through very dark days indeed.
He is quoted as saying, “Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” This is something I am reminded of when I am out and about after dark in this beautiful part of God’s Kingdom.
Sadly, the past few weeks have ushered in at least the potential for very dark days, and I have had a number of conversations with people who are concerned and frightened regarding the changes there have been in the world order in recent times.
Dr. King is right, though. Sometimes the glory of what is good can only be recognized when compared with the contrast of what is wanting. As Christians, we are not only looking up at the brightness of the stars, but also at the brightness of the resurrection of Jesus. We can be too easily tempted to see the resurrection life as something that only happens on the other side of death, rather than something we are called to live here and now.
Sometimes, as Dr. King and other Martyrs have demonstrated, proclaiming the resurrection life can be a dangerous thing to do. But we follow a Savior who put himself at risk for others.
As we work towards the annual commemoration of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, let us hear Christ’s call to proclaim the good news of his love, peace, justice, kindness, and compassion—and loudly and joyfully proclaim it.
With love and prayers,
Philip