01 Aug Trustworthy God in a Summer of uncertainty – August 2016

Posted at 15:20h in Vicars' Blog by

Trustworthy God in a Summer of uncertainty

 

This Summer has seen the Referendum on Europe and we are all waiting to see what the implications of an exit will be.  We are praying for our country at this time of uncertainty.  One thing is certain: God still cares for each one of us in our daily lives and he will never let us down.  Somehow I don’t think he is surprised by what the Archbishop of Canterbury called “the vagaries of history”.  He is the same God yesterday, today and for ever and he is totally trustworthy and faithful, even when it seems everything in our world is changing.  We were privileged to be present when Archbishop Justin made this comment at Canterbury Cathedral for the consecration of our new Suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Dorking, Jo Bailey-Wells, who has been Archbishop’s Chaplain.  We look forward to her taking on her new role in Guildford Diocese in September.

Aug 2016

 

Summer is special!  With the warm weather the last couple of weeks – I think we can say Summer’s here!  Whether that means for us a change in routine, a chance to have some down time or catch up with family or friends, or just taking the opportunity of the longer evenings to sit in the garden, we hope you enjoy the Summer.  Looking Out and Welcoming In!  This is our current theme at St Mary’s and St John’s and we look forward to welcoming newcomers to our services over the Summer.

 

Please note that from 24th July there is no Sunday School and on 31st July and during August at St Mary’s there will be no 11am service, with the 9.15 am service combining “The Best of Both” types of worship from the reflective 9.15 service and the more lively 11am service.  Full details are in the centre pages.  We hope you can join us.

 

Looking forward to September, the children will be starting the service with the adults in church for ten minutes, so we can be the whole family of God together at both churches.

 

Service trial for St Mary’s.  Since we arrived, we have been looking at everything that goes on in the parish and assessing the services available for all groups of people and those who do not yet come to church.  We want everyone to come and meet with Jesus at St John’s and St Mary’s.  We really value both the excellent traditional worship and the more contemporary worship at St Mary’s and the importance of giving different people different ways to come to God.  When the St Mary’s 10am service split into two in 2014, the PCC’s intention was to have a trial for 6 months of the reflective service with traditional music at 9.15 and the lively service with contemporary music at 11am, then switch round to see which worked best.  Having taken advice from the PCC and leaders, we consider now is a good time to honour the PCC decision and try them the other way round for a trial period of four months.  Thus, there will be a Trial Service Switch at St Mary’s for a four month trial period from September to December 2016.  The full Sunday Service pattern is on the web site and below:

 

St Mary’s

8am – Said Holy Communion

9.15 am – Lively service with Contemporary worship; Holy Communion monthly; All Age monthly

11am – Reflective service with Traditional worship and weekly Holy Communion

6.30 pm – Informal “Spirit Level” monthly

 

St John’s

10.30 am – Morning Praise; Holy Communion monthly; All Age monthly

 

This is simply a switch of time for the current 9.15 am and 11am services.  No other changes to worship are involved.  All your comments will be invited in November when we will be holding a Consultation on the pattern of all Services at St John’s and St Mary’s.  We hope you will come and try all the services and prayerfully engage with us as we undergo this trial, as we seek to help every group of people to meet with Jesus through the services at St John’s and St Mary’s.  One thing is certain: God cares for each one of us in our daily lives and he will never let us down.

 

He is totally trustworthy and faithful when it seems everything in our world is changing.  He is the same God yesterday, today and for ever and he is worthy of all our praise.  We hope you have a very “Special Summer”!

 

Jonny and Cathy