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Bill’s Letter for September 2016
One of the great gifts and challenges we face in life is the ability to make choices. Free will seems at the same time to be a wonderful gift and an opportunity for disaster. The choices we make define our character and shape our future. We have big choices about career, relationships where we live. But…
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Bill’s Letter for June 2016
I have been fascinated to hear about different traditions that families used to keep around Whitsuntide. For many it meant a new set of clothes; an outfit that became the ‘Sunday Best’ for the rest of the year. Some were given a pen while for others a pair of white socks were always given. In…
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Bill’s Letter for May 2016
It is hard to believe that we are into May, when we recently suffered from heavy frosts and snow showers. It feels rather strange after such a mild winter. It is not only the weather that seems in chaos in the world around us. There are atrocities in Syria and ones not so well publicised…
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Bill’s Letter for April 2016
Easter is always a special time for the followers of Christ. We have walked with Jesus through the ups and downs of his last week on earth: the excitement of the crowds welcoming Him into Jerusalem; His weeping at seeing what would happen to that city; His anger at the profiteering in the temple; then…
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Bill’s Letter for March 2016
This year, from Lent through to the end of the summer term, we are looking at how as a church we might live with the priorities that Jesus taught. In Lent we are looking at the story of John the Baptist, and after Easter looking at how we might become ‘Jesus shaped people’. There is…
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Bill’s Letter for February 2016
This is the first magazine of 2016, so I would like to begin by wishing you a Happy New Year. This is the season of Epiphany when we think again about Christmas, but through the eyes of the ‘Magi’, mysterious visitors from the East. Epiphany can mean “revealing of Christ to the nations”, and these…
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Bill’s Letter for December 2015/January 2016
Christmas starts with Christ I find this slogan or challenge really helpful at this time of year. It was used last year and has been appropriately resurrected. With all the rush and bustle of Christmas, it is sometimes hard to keep the focus on Jesus. The commercial pressure seems to get stronger every year. So…
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Bill’s Letter for October 2015
This is the time of year when we think about harvest; the good gifts that come from the earth and our gratitude to God and those who work the land to provide for us. Honouring God’s creation means honouring those who look after it. It’s very easy to go to the shops and buy what…
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Bill’s Letter for September 2015
For many people September is a time of change and new beginnings. It certainly is for families with children; each one starting a new class, school or college. It can be difficult for our children who leave a familiar environment and move into the unknown. What will the new teacher be like? Will I make any…
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Bill’s Letter for Summer 2015
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our Summer Gala such a success, and thank you to all who came to support us. It was great to have such good weather. People have been asking me about what is happening on the old church site. We have been waiting for the ground…