Rector's View - June 2010

Dear friends,

What would make the Church more relevant and attractive?

Apologies to everyone who has had difficulty in accessing the survey. You can now click on a link from the home page of the Benefice website: http://www.bansfieldbenefice.org.uk/ which will take you straight to the survey. Do please try again; your views are important to us.

You can now read the latest news around the Benefice and in the wider Church on the Benefice blogspot. Please go to the following: http://bansfieldbenefice.blogspot.com/ Again, this can also be accessed from the Website home page.

We have a very special event in the life of the Benefice coming up on Sunday 13th June. Philip Draycott will be celebrating forty years to the day since he was first licensed as a Reader. We will be celebrating with him with a service for the whole Benefice at All Saints', Wickhambrook at 10.00am on that day. Archdeacon David has kindly agreed to come along to lead the service and Philip will preach. Please do come along, if you are able to. Philip has been a very faithful servant of our local churches and communities for very many years and we want to say a big thank you to him.

As you will have read last month, two other faithful servants of the church stood down last month - John Dennis, after over forty years service as a Churchwarden at Stansfield and Sarah Douglas-Pennant after nearly twenty years as church Secretary. We owe them both a huge debt of gratitude for all that they have done for Stansfield church for such a long time. Thank you both, so much. I am delighted to say that John is to continue with his ministry as a Lay Elder. They are both very difficult to replace, in more ways than one. Not only are they very hard acts to follow, but no one has come forward to replace them. What is even more worrying is that we will need a new Treasurer from January and another new Churchwarden from next March, when Chris Trewhella steps down from both posts. The sad fact is that, however much we love the church building and however much we spend on its upkeep, we will not be able to continue as a parish church unless people come forward to fill these key posts. Please think and pray about whether you, or someone you know, are able to help. Please talk to me, Chris or John if you would like to know more about what is involved.

Also later this month I, together with the other clergy of the Diocese, will be meeting with our bishops from 22nd to 24th June for the Diocesan Clergy conference. The theme of the conference is "Speaking of God today". Amidst all the noise of our civilisation, hearing the voice of God and the deepest cries of the world is not easy. But it is crucial - God doesn't change, but our understanding of Him, and the ways in which we can bring His love to a world in need, does. We will gather together to listen to some eminent speakers, in order that we might be able to speak more effectively and responsibly of God today. Please remember the conference participants in your prayers.

Stephen

Revd Stephen Abbott

News Letter Archive.