Church Alive in ’25

I hope that by now all of you who are on the Electoral Roll or within the Worshipping Community will have received my letter (entitled “Church Alive in ’25!”) and will be finding some time to pray through some of the idea and suggestions within it, such that you can fill in the Response Form to the Parish Office by Monday 13 January.

However, at our Sunday services on both January 5^th and 12^th, there will be a moment when we can dedicate the New Year to the Lord’s service; so it would be lovely if many are able to hand in their completed Response Forms in the offertory plate at that time.

I do hope you will find this a helpful process and that we will thus be able, as a Church family, to go into the New Year with a strong sense of confidence and hope. As we do this (as mentioned last week), I find this picture of our Advent wreath an encouraging symbol for our Itchen Valley parish:

for the four candles can represent the Christian witness of our four churches. Yet I note that they are all gathered around the central light of Christ himself. So may this be true for each of our churches and for each of us as individuals as well: may we shine brightly for Him—by keeping close to Him—throughout 2025!

With love and prayers

Revd Peter