Listen now

Our bumper edition, July and August 2021 magazine, is available in both our churches and by following this link:

There’s news and updates, prayers and reflections. There is also an article on the Manchester Diocese 10-year vision and this letter from our Vicar, Dave Thompson…

Holiness and Hope

Dear Friends – The coronavirus pandemic has affected all aspects of life over the past 18 months since those early days of March 2020 when lockdown in its various forms first became an issue for the world.

As we tentatively move towards the lifting of restrictions – and who knows the extent of such de-regulation? – we are entering what has been described as the post-Covid world. Issues that will need to be addressed include: 

• What will be the impact on social distancing? 
• Will we still need to wear masks in some public places? 
• Will working from home continue?

How to adapt

The worldwide church is one of the many organisations that has to decide how to adapt to this changing situation. For example, the question of whether we should have kept our church buildings open during the first lockdown was a dilemma this time last year. 

Hopefully during the course of the next two months we will be able to sing in church; enjoy some social occasions; share the peace in a physical sense and use a common cup to take wine as part of the Communion service. 

One of the most significant impacts of the pandemic on church life has been the way in which online activity has become part of our culture.  Zoom meetings and online worship were not on our agenda at the beginning of this decade. What is the future for these? 

For over 2,000 years the Christian Church has been challenged to pass on the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. During that time, the Church has had to adapt to a variety of different situations. 

Evolving and responding

The message of salvation through the risen Son of God, Jesus Christ has not changed throughout that time.  But the way we communicate that message has to keep evolving and responding to a changing world.

I keep on the wall in my office some words of the Archbishop of Canterbury from earlier this year. In an interview he stated: 

“The mission of the church is the same in every culture and country: to demonstrate, through its actions and words, that God’s offer of unconditional love to every human being through Jesus Christ calls us to holiness and hope.”

That call to holiness and hope exists in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Plague, pandemic or peace. Jesus Christ – who is the same yesterday, today and forever – should be our light as we seek to take His message to all those who live, work or worship in our benefice – and beyond.

With every blessing, Dave

With thanks to Barbara Taylor and Sian Gasson for the cover photos on our July and August 2021 magazine. Our June edition is available by following this link.