Nov 25 Monthly Message

Dear Church Family,

 

Apologies for the delay in getting this to you. Ideally I would be writing for the first Sunday of the month. Half Term Holidays got in the way of the prep time needed.

 

I know from conversations with some of you that the push on finances over the last month has not been met with universal acclaim. I hope however that you’ll agree that as the leader of the church I would be failing in my leadership responsibility if I didn’t inform you of the current financial situation the church finds itself in.  

 

I also want to say that our individual financial giving is a key indicator to the depth of our discipleship. Yes, we need to increase the financial income of the church, but my key desire is for each of us to grow in our discipleship, because that is what Jesus calls us to do – to make disciples. And joyful sacrificial giving to God is a key aspect of our discipleship – we are being obedient to God’s call to his people and we are trusting God with our finances – that he will give us what we need as we give to him. A couple of weeks ago I handed out a list of biblical references about finances, giving and God’s provision which you can get here.

 

Recognising that we’ve been talking about the finances a lot over the last month, we will stop focussing on this for now. Thankyou to everyone who responded by filling out the response form, and committing to increasing their financial giving. If you haven’t done so there is still opportunity to do so – we will keep the online form live until the end of the year, and there are still paper copies at the back of the church. Whilst we have made some headway into the financial shortfall, we haven’t closed the gap, so please can I ask all of us who consider ourselves to be members of BFPC to keep praying for God’s provision for our finances. I am still holding out for a miracle in this area!

 

If you’ve been in church over the last few weeks, you will be aware that I’ve spoken on the topics of scripture and prayer, which I regard as foundational to discipleship. If we’re not praying or reading our bibles then we won’t grow in our faith and become mature disciples. I recommended what I believe are helpful structures for reading the bible and for praying. Please do pick up these resources and use them. I think they’re really helpful for all of us to grow in these areas and the structures can be used by those who are new to faith and if we’ve been disciples for years. They can both be found at the links embedded above.

 

The month of November is upon us now, and this weekend coming is Remembrance Sunday and we’ll have a short Act of Remembrance at each of our morning services. We’ll be starting our 11am Service at 10.50am in order to conduct the Act of Remembrance as the clock chimes 11. On top of this, please do come along to the Civic Act of Remembrance at 2.45pm in the Market Square.

 

At the end of this month, on Sunday 30th Nov – BFPC are acting as host to the United Service – where all the churches across Blandford come together to worship. Give that this particular date is the first Sunday of Advent we’re going to do something different from normal. The service will be at 4pm in the afternoon and will be a contemporary Darkness to Light Service – modelled on those held at Salisbury Cathedral and Wimborne Minster. This provides an opportunity for us to invite our friends, neighbours, colleagues and relatives to come and experience church. We are purposefully shaping it to be accessible for those who don’t normally come along to church. Do be thinking about who you might invite to come along.

 

If you’ve joined the church community in the last few month (since June) then we’d love to invite you along to a Newcomers Tea on Sunday 16th Nov at 3pm in the Parish Centre. This is a chance for you to meet some of the key leaders in the life of the church, others who are new to church and to hear in more detail about the vision and priorities of BFPC. If you intend to come please email Tina in the Parish Office (tina@bfpc.org.uk) to let her know you’ll be attending so we can ensure we have catered adequately.

 

That same Sunday we’ll be launching our Christmas Programme of Services with the opportunity to pick up some publicity flyers. We’re going to give everyone a bundle of ten for distribution to family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. With each of us taking ten and passing them out I hope we will manage to get a good spread of guests across the various services. Please do be thinking about who you might want to give a flyer to, and as always the best outcomes are as a result of personal invitation to a specific event. Have a go and see what the outcome is – you may be pleasantly surprised!

 

Some encouraging news (I hope?) is that we are making progress on my appointment as Rector and I believe all the necessary legal requirements have been fulfilled and so all that is now required is to finalise a date for my collation as Rector of Blandford Forum. When we have confirmed the details I will communicate with you all, and I hope we’ll be able to make it a celebration as I regard this is a landmark for the church, as well as for me. It is testament to our collective hard work and buy-in to tackling the challenges of growth over the last few years. 

 

Lastly, in the next few weeks Tina, Rodney and others will be seeking assistance with all the various services over the Christmas Season. Please can I encourage all of us to play a part in making Christmas happen, and ensuring that we offer a good welcome to all our guests? I think it is such a good testimony of the difference Jesus makes to have as many people involved as possible.

 

Many Thanks

 

Chris