Greetings!

It is both a joy and a relief to hear that things are on track for a reopening of society after 22nd October. Such great news, after a long and challenging period of lockdown that brought such change to our lives.

With this reopening, is an opportunity for us as a community of faith, to reflect on our parish life and consider how we might re-engage and re-energise our Parish, after being apart for so long. We are now able to come back as a full praying community. Alleluia! The question now, perhaps, is how do we re-convene to further deepen our faith, come together to praise our God, and reach out to our neighbours in need? This could be viewed as a time of “re-set”.

But in a new way. One simple way to start, might be to meet up and reconnect with the parish ministry group with which you are part. “Check-in” and see how is everyone doing? Or maybe there are parish ministry groups with which you might like to become involved (if so reach out!).

Greeting each other in the church and saying “hello” is a charitable act of kindness. So is a smile. This “re-set” may help us as a parish community to reflect on how we are now, post Covid. Are there things we could do differently? We could reflect and discuss the outputs from the Diocesan “Task Force” Building Hope, due shortly and learn (from 3000 submissions), what has been, and is, on people’s minds and how we feel. We can think about the new Diocesan Synod due to be launched at the Pro-Cathedral on 17th October (a time of prayer for church renewal).

This time of joyful welcome and reconnecting of us all in our parish life can also support us in our prayer and discernment process in forming (in due course) our new Pastoral Parish Council (2022 – 2025).

For now, this is a time of invitation and re-opening. Emerging. Why not reach out with your views to the Parish office. Put faith into action! Let us listen and rejoice! Let us praise our God! May God bless our endeavours in our parish life; may God keep us close to Him. And may we reach out to our neighbour and those most in need of a kindness, our love and support.

The Parish Executive Team