Dear friends,
November is for me a month of memories – sparking childhood memories of bonfire night and going to the fair, and darker memories of the death of a high school friend. In Church it is also a time of remembering. On All Saints Day we bring to mind all those men and women through whom God’s love shone particularly brightly, who serve as an example and an encouragement for us. Then on All Souls Day, we remember with thanksgiving before God those known to us who brought us life in different ways. This year once more at St Mary’s we will combine the two festivals on the first Sunday of the month, including in each of our services a commemoration of those we have loved and lost. On Remembrance Sunday we will also explore the theme of memory, both corporate and individual, as we confront issues of war and peace, loss and self-giving, remembering and forgetting. We will again be joined at the main service by the Explorers from the Dunblane Scout Group who will take part in the Act of Remembrance which this year will be focussed on our War Memorial Window on the 70th anniversary of its installation.
The annual cycle of the Church year comes to an end with the Feast of Christ the King, when we celebrate the reign of Christ whilst remembering his concern for the weak and vulnerable. After the service, we will meet to look back at the year at our AGM and prepare for the year to come by putting together a new Vestry. (Please consider prayerfully who you might nominate to help take the church forward into 2020.) Then, on the last evening of November, before the annual cycle starts again with the first Sunday of Advent, we will celebrate together as a church family with a St Andrew’s night meal and entertainment in the hall. I hope it will be a time of making happy memories, enjoying each other’s company and having fun together.
In the meantime, please be assured of my prayers for all of you and for the life of St Mary’s.
God bless to you the time that is yours.
God bless to you the time that is now.
God bless to you the time that he has given.
God bless to you each day, each hour, each passing moment,
That you may pass it in his presence
And find him in it.
With love,
Nerys
