It is now only a month until Confirmation Sunday, when on Sunday 17th November at 10am we will welcome Bishop Mary to St Mary’s Church, Nolton. I cannot wait to see you all there as together we celebrate and support our MA Candidates taking their next step of faith. I am told that our last joint service was the best attended Ministry Area Service so far – and I am excited for the Bishop to see that we are growing as a community. 

Growth will involve more people. More people returning to church after an absence, more people coming to church for the first time. Growth will also involve more invitations given, more events to invite people to, and more (and more meaningful) engagement with our communities.

Generosity has been our focus over the last few months as we have begun to respond to the financial situation that has arisen over the last few years; but going forward along with prayer, our focus will also be on evangelism and hospitality. To put it in one way; we will be inviting people to know Jesus, and we will be inviting people to share the lives we live in Jesus.

In November and December, we will have lots of people sat in our pews who have either not been to church for ages, or who have never come before; and outside of the church we will find countless people just waiting to be invited in. It might not be right, in the first instance, to invite people to a Sunday service. Instead, perhaps you have a neighbour who might be interested in the football team, or an aunt who would benefit from one of our craft events. It might be that you have a friend who is interested in trying Alpha, but who needs the assurance that you’ll be there with them.

Finally, our new Ministry Area website is now live! On it you will find a page for each of our churches, some of our community groups (more to come!), a diary of events, and a full list of Sunday services. Websites are living documents, and so we will be constantly updating it. Please let us know if you have ideas for things to include.