Skip to main content

State of play in Aghavea

It's been a strange year so far!  We'd only just gotten back into our lovely refurbished church building and then along comes a pandemic!  Just as we had thought that church life had been about to return to the old normality, the world decided to do something completely different!

We have discovered that "church" doesn't have to depend on where we meet, or even "if" we meet up on a Sunday - we can always find a different way to encourage and worship together.  I'm delighted that so many have been following our daily and weekly services streaming on Facebook - and if you don't have a Facebook account, no problems at all, just follow the links to the services from our own webpage here!

I would like to thank everyone who have been working so hard behind the scenes to keep our church running so smoothly.  I would like to thank Albert and Frances for their dedication and skills in producing the Annual Church Reports.  Normally, they would have been delivered by parishioners and neighbours around the time of the Annual Easter Vestry - but this year the Coronavirus pandemic got in the way.  I would like to thank the volunteers who delivered the reports around the parish - Frances, Blayney, David, Norman, Wayne and Hazel.  All the preparation was completed under the new "social distancing" regulations!  Another wonderful team effort from the folks in Aghavea!

I have been thoroughly impressed by the dedication and effort that everyone has put in to keeping themselves and their neighbours safe during this strange time, and have been humbled before God to see the love that has been genuinely shown in our communities.  If this isn't the perfect image of what God intended Church to look like, then I'm in the wrong game!  Much as I have been calling about, it's always wonderful when the folks tell me about having spoken to other parishioners and neighbours, and how they've been coping with this unusual life we've become so accustomed to.

Finally, I'd like to finish with a brief thought from this evening's New Testament lesson.  Romans 13: 10 states "Love does no wrong to a neighbour.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law".  By showing love to one another, and by keeping each other in our thoughts and prayers, we are fulfilling all that Jesus had intended for us to accomplish as his believers.  By showing love to one another, we are truly being Christian!  I hope that we can safely negotiate the rest of the period of isolation, and get back to church soon - but in the meantime, we are already "being Church" by caring and loving each other.

May God keep you safe, and always bless you all.

Johnny
Rector


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AccessNI Check process

 Hi folks Please see the following pages for the process of getting our AccessNI accreditation for our Sunday School and GFS leaders and helpers. You will need to print out the pages and keep a special note of the long number provided to you by email and let me know as soon as possible. We require an Enhanced check for everyone - and use the PIN number 918066 as detailed on the first page. The second page details the forms of identification you will need to provide - one from the first group, and two from the second group. The quicker we can all get the checks completed, the sooner we can get everything back to normal and put this whole process behind us for another three years! If you can photograph yourself (by smartphone or tablet) and email (revdjohnny@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (07488371680) them to me, that'd be great. I will also be available at the Parish Hall on Monday evening from 7pm to 8pm to help you with anything you would like assistance with! If you need any help at all
Post a Comment
Read more

Pray for Peace

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9   The Holy Land, the place sanctified by the presence of prophets, poets, and priests, crying out for justice, urging on towards hope, and seeking after peace, has been, and continues to be a place sacred to millions of people around the world. We have watched with horror the appalling violence that has been unleashed over the last few days around this sacred place. We have seen families devastated, communities shattered, and countless lives lost.   We, as followers of Jesus are called in this time to pray.    Pray for the end of hostilities, pray for the protection of the most vulnerable on both sides in Israel and Gaza, and pray for a recommitment to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We also pray that God might grant comfort to the afflicted, healing to the broken, strength to the weak, and courage to those in authority to lay down the instruments of violence and destruction and stud
Post a Comment
Read more

Where is forgiveness?

Hi folks I was thinking about the passages for next Sunday, and it brought me to considering the current press coverage regarding the This Morning presenters.  This might be a little controversial - but please, hear me out.  I have no great opinion on what's happening in the media regarding the "This Morning" saga. It seems mistakes have been made, and certainly people misled - but the frenzy and hounding of Phillip Schofield is both unnecessary and unwarranted. I'm very uncomfortable that some members the press and celebrities have made it their lives mission to destroy everything  Mr Schofield has ever done!  It cannot be easy to listen and read so much vitriol being used against him! There's certainly no Christian love being shown to him on the media these days. I remember the words of Jesus when he told us to love one another, and that whoever has not sinned should cast the first stone. I'm certainly not perfect in any way, and don't believe that anyon
Post a Comment
Read more