Monthly Letter

Monthly letter

I must apologise that this ‘Monthly Letter’ seems to have become a little less frequent. As many of you may well be aware, since I started my ministry in The Whittlewood Benefice, with its five parishes and Silverstone Circuit to which I offer a chaplaincy service; I have also taken on the support and directing of a curate as well as become Rural Dean of the Towcester Deanery. I love my work and am thoroughly enjoying my life in South Northamptonshire having moved from the North East of England, lovely Newcastle upon Tyne .

It is good for me, having loved my life in Newcastle and the parish of Newbiggin Hall to know that, from October, they will have a new incumbent. The Rev’d Sarah Miller is moving to take on the care of these lovely people whom I left to become your Rector, please pray for Sarah and the people of Newbiggin Hall as they move on in their lives of faithfulness.

Of course, with my life very much now here in The Whittlewood Benefice I am happy to think that I have been amongst you for over ten months, that first year is nearly up. I have been thinking about the forthcoming Harvest Services, then All Souls, Remembrance and of course Advent and then Christmas.

When I describe these forthcoming festivals, observances and times of the Churches Year so quickly, we can think they are just something to get through, but that is to miss the point. Each one is an important event in its own right. We need to take time to prepare and to come to with a good heart and a degree of understanding. If we do this then we shall be able to celebrate and/or commemorate more fully and we in our turn will get all the more out of each event.

This is why I am going to try, although things must always be open for discussion, try to ensure that we observe fully the season of Advent and hold off as much as possible the celebration of Christmas until we actually get to Christmas. I am hoping to be able to hold most Carol Services on Christmas Eve, or at the earliest, the Sunday before Christmas. There is argument, put eloquently by those in this Benefice, that Carol Services should actually not happen until after Christmas Day, and although I hear and am not against the idea, I think that may be a little too much just now for most people.

Another area of ministry I am happy to think about just now is that of Youth Ministry and Children’s Ministry. We had a discussion in July and decided that we would move towards a couple of goals.

To hold some form of holiday club in the October holiday which we need to start preparing for now.
To hold regular informal Youth/Family services on a Thursday evening, possibly making use of the Silverstone Church Rooms
Again, with the Silverstone Church Rooms, to have an evening per week of drop-in/coffee evenings for young people, a safe space for the young people around the area to come, be warm and dry for a time, to be able to chat, mingle and move on, but provided by the Church and working within a Christian Ethos.

There were many other ideas, but we also thought it would be good to begin by engaging with the young people in our area, to discover what they want to do, hope to have from the church and then to plan around these hopes from young people rather than imposing from those of us who left our youthful age behind.

Clearly there is work in progress. There will be more initiatives to come; we will always need people with energy and skill. Also, we need to continue in our support of those who already engage in some magnificent work now: Tiny Tots, WWFF, Family Service etc.

If you have an idea of where our ministry should be going, and perhaps see a way of making this idea come to be, then do speak with me or with Graham our curate or indeed the Readers and Churchwardens. We are called by God to work together for His Kingdom and to encourage, support and challenge one another in this Ministry.

God our Father, you sent your Son to us: grant that filled with your Spirit we may be renewed in faith, and inspired in hope and love, to spread the gospel of your kingdom to all humankind; through Christ our Lord.
(From the Anglican Province of Central Africa .)

Rev Paul M^cLeod

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