Dear brothers and sisters,

I would like to begin my letter by offering my heartfelt thanks to all for any help you have given over the past few months. Whether praying in your homes, offering financial support, or giving up your time to volunteer for us, your help has been invaluable seeing us through a busy period. I am always immensely impressed with the willingness to serve and by all the hard work that so many put into our parish. It is, as such, only right that I should start my letter by thanking you all, as we once more look back over the past few weeks and celebrate what has worked well, even as we look forward to the challenges ahead.

The past few weeks have been a busy time for All Saints’ Church yet there is one thing in particular that I would like to mention to you in this letter. A few weeks ago we saw our parish youth group lead one of the services in our church for the first time. Many of these young people have only started coming to church through our youth group and have started to become actively involved in the life of our church. They led the service in worship, prayer, and even gave a short talk based on the bible passage.

As I have since pondered this service I have been reminded that God grows his church in whatever way he deems right. When we take part in mission we do so by recognising that God’s plan is different from our plans. It is, after all, God’s mission we take part in. This minded me that we should have hope, that we should be encouraged that although we may worry about various matters in our church nationally - declining numbers, finances, etc - it is ultimately God’s church, God’s mission and plan, so we should not be afraid. Seeing those young people be brave and lead reminded me that God will work with whatever he has to grow his church.

As we see the youth group step in to taking part in God’s mission, we should open our arms and embrace the way that God seems to be moving in our parish, supporting it in whatever way we can. I know from my own experience that this is certainly something that many of you have been excellent at, and have felt the support of the whole parish as we continue to try to engage all people, young and old. So my message to you is both one of thanks and also a reminder of the hope that it is God’s mission, and he never fails; a simple message yet one which we must regularly be reminded of.

Thus, as we turn our eyes to the weeks and months ahead, there are many exciting things approaching us. At All Saints’ we have mass baptisms planned and, at St George’s, many exciting events related to the bi-centennial. There is much to hope in the months ahead and much to be grateful for too. So keep on spreading the gospel in hope and faith, wherever you are, pray for God’s mission in this parish and know that he is at work here.

Amen. (from Fr Jordan)