Dearest friends,
When I arrived, just about 18 months ago, I wanted to take time to get to know people, get to know the parishes, and start to understand what the Holy Spirit was calling us to over the coming years.
I wanted to spend time listening to the Holy Spirit and feeling my way forward as slowly as I could. I think we’ve now reached a time where we can start to plan out the next 10 years together.
There are lots of names for this; Mission Action Planning, SWOT analysis, Project & Mission Plotting… they’re all pinched from the business world (not always a good thing!) but very simply they offer us a set of tools that allow us to talk and plan.
On the evening of the 19th October I would very much like for us to all meet at Wickham Hall at 4pm where we will pray together and then start to map out where we would like to be in 10 years.
This is for both of the parishes, and whilst I appreciate that it will involve travel for the St. Luke’s parish, Wickham Hall is best placed to host us. It is warm, easy to set up, and will have by then a big screen and other resources that will allow us to talk and plan.
Both parishes will have an opportunity to meet on their own and talk through their own plans and ideas – and we’ll also come together to see what we could share.
Everything is open for discussion and deliberation, including service times, types of services, new services, how we conduct weddings, funerals, and baptisms… everything. It’s important that this doesn’t just become a place to come and complain about what we don’t like, but a place to come and talk about what we would like to see.
+Paul will be joining us for part of the meeting and will lead us in Evening Prayer in St. John’s before giving us a strong word of encouragement before he leaves. He’ll also be with us at St. Luke’s for the morning mass where we’ll be celebrating our patronal.
I look forward to the next few decades together.
Fr. Matthew
Notices
Autumn / Christmas Meeting
On the 25th September at 7pm in Wickham Hall we’ll hold our termly planning meeting for the Autumn Term and for Christmas services. If you would like to see something happen over the Autumn or have ideas of what kind of services you’d like over Christmas, this is a must attend meeting.
Explorers
Thank you to everyone who has come forward to help with Explorers. We have a solid core team who will help put up tables, arrange the craft, help teach and lead, and talk to the parents and families who come in. We now have a group of five people who have agreed to pray for the church each month via a WhatsApp Group. If you’d like to join that prayer group please do let me know.
Sunday 14th September
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 🔴
9am – Sung Parish Mass [SJ]
11:15am – Sung Parish Mass [SL]
Divine Office Psalter Week 4, C(I), Trinity 13, Proper 19
Upcoming Dates
September
25th – Autumn / Christmas Planning Meeting, 7pm, [WH]
October
1st – SL Ladies Group, 2pm
SL PCC, 7pm
5th – 1st Explorers, 3pm, St. Catherine’s School, Heathfield
10th – Bingo [SL], 7pm
19th – St. Luke’s Patronal Feast
Mission Planning with +Paul, 4pm, Wickham Hall
St. Luke’s Men’s Group meets every Friday for mass at 10am anddiscussion afterwards. [SL]