Thursday 7th January 2010

We are surrounded by sparkling snow and bright blue skies.  It looks wonderful and our boys have loved the extra time off school.  However, to a society dependent on cars and lorries the snow is bringing disruption and worry. All of a sudden we don’t feel quite in control.  So already we’ve cancelled quite a few of our plans at South Street: The BB Officers’ Meeting, Thursday Communion and the Book Discussion Group – and who knows if we’ll get through the weekend schedule!  I suppose we should always view our plans as provisional anyway – entering them in the diary in pencil rather than pen!

It seems a long time ago but I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who helped out with our Christmas services and celebrations.  In many ways we do the same things every year, yet it always feels new, depending on who joins us and probably our own mood and mindset.  It was good to see so many in church on Christmas Day, especially folk who had brought family and friends.

2010 will inevitably bring joys and challenges to us at South Street.  We are already looking forward to Rachel’s baptism and it’s good to hear that a number of young people are expressing an interest in attending Firm Foundations in the spring.  However, we also have the challenge of ‘balancing our books’ financially.  Last year we didn’t quite make the projected offering target of £933 a week – we were about £25 a week short so there will probably a deficit on the year that will come out of reserves.  Our Treasurer’s great aim is that general expenditure at church comes out of general giving.  This year’s target per week is £1017 – so can I please ask you to review your giving and do what you can to help us meet this target for 2010.

Since Christmas a number from our congregation have been admitted to hospital and our love and thoughts go out to them and their carers back home.

On Sunday I used that well know poem, often adopted by preachers at the turn of the year, and a couple of you have asked for the words – well here they are:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown'. And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.  That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.

Minnie Louise Haskins of Bristol:

With best wishes,

Ian