Dear Friends,
In between the rain I’ve been spending time in the manse garden. Tiny shoots that were barely visible a few weeks ago are now three tall elegant stems that are about to burst into flower. Elsewhere, I’m only just planting vegetables for late summer crops and in other places I’m looking at plants that are at the end of their lives and others that are in desperate need of pruning. Gardening is often like this: the need to be able to look ahead and see a need at the same time as enjoying the present and recognising when things need to change.
Circuit life is also like that.
In some of our churches projects and activities that were tentative experiments a year or so ago are now blossoming and overflowing with life. Those of us involved with them now need to begin reflecting on what’s going well, what could be improved and what new life could grow from them.
In other places our life and activities need pruning or rethinking to allow new life to be discovered. Some areas of our circuit life may be coming to an end, or we may have lost sight of the reasons and vision behind it.
Like gardening, in circuit and church life we need to look around us and notice what is happening, what it feels like, to wonder about what could be and what God is calling us to be and do. As we do this we need to remember that we do it not for ourselves but for God and for those in the communities around us. All of this works better if we don’t stay isolated in our own churches but talk and work together to support each other as a circuit.
So what do you notice? What do you wonder about? How could we be different? What are the resources and gifts you notice in your church and the circuit and what are the needs of our churches and the communities and world around us? Where is God calling us to act, speak or be silent?
On 7th June at 8.00pm at Ealing Green there will be a Circuit Meeting where we’ll be thinking about the future. It would be great to see as many people from the circuit there as possible so why not come along and join the conversation (whether you’re a circuit meeting representative or not we’d love to see you!)
Important note:
If you are coming to the Circuit Meeting at Ealing Green on 7th June and arrive before 8.00pm please access the building via the side entrance. There will be no access via the front doors before 8.00pm.