Church Blog

From the Churchwardens There are few greetings which with just three words express such hope and cheer, and at the beginning of this new year we especially feel the need for such joy and hope! Last year challenged us in varied ways, but like other extreme situations many of us were encouraged to find new ways of doing so much that had become routine. This community has found and continues to explore refreshingly different approaches to supporting and caring for each other. So thank you to you all for everything that you have done to keep our community safe and to keep its spirit intact in what was a most trying year. Because we have all played, and continue to play, our part by following [...]

FROM THE CHURCH WARDENS As I write, we are all getting used to another period of lockdown and the limitations this has on our lives. Having only recently, it seems, been able to have services back in the church, we are feeling this tightening of restrictions as strongly as many others. Our church building is nearly 1000 years old and has been through many changes, including pandemics and wars, supporting the people of this village through joys and sadness that life brings. It started as a Saxon building, the remains of which can still be seen, and are a tantalizing glimpse back to the past. The ‘graffiti’, which, if you know where to look, has marked our church from its earliest points is another tangible [...]

FROM THE AREA DEAN Leaves on the trees are turning colour, evenings are colder and supermarkets already have mince pies on their shelves. 170 days ago when we entered serious lockdown, Spring was in full swing and in a noise-free, pollution-less world it was possible to hear birdsong. Then came lockdown let-out, summer heat, stay- or go-vacations, travel corridors and a return to school. Which of us, in our wildest imaginings, would have predicted such a year. So many lives totally changed, so much future uncertainty for many, so complex the future scenarios ahead of us. There is an enormous amount on which to reflect, many lessons to be learnt, many good changes to take into the future. One of the changes this month is [...]

FROM THE VICAR I am very glad that when I wrote my first of these columns a year ago, our esteemed editor did not ask me to predict what would happen in my first year as Vicar of Soberton, Newtown and Hambledon – because never, not even in my most bizarre dreams, could I have predicted the past five months! No Vicar should ever want to cancel all church services, or close the church buildings entirely. I did not want to do it, and certainly I did not enjoy doing it. But I do believe that it was the right thing to do, and not just because the church authorities and then the government told us that we had to. The greatest commandments, said Jesus, [...]

FROM THE VICAR Thank you These are perhaps the strangest times that any of us have ever known. Throughout these last few weeks I have been extremely moved by the huge collective effort in which every single one of us has shared in our own way. That might have involved working in a vital role, being furloughed, or doing work or school at home. For all of us, it has involved the sacrifices of not being able to do things and go to places which we normally would – and perhaps most painfully, not being able to be with family and friends as we normally would. But we are rising to the challenges. So many of you are finding ways to support those within our [...]

FROM THE VICAR When I wrote the first draft of this column back at the beginning of March, I used it to reflect on the nature of uncertainty, how we couldn’t be sure what the future might hold. Naturally, I mentioned Covid-19 Coronavirus. I’ve been through several versions of the column since then, as the situation has changed. (Thank you to the editor, who has been very patient and kind in allowing me to re-write this long after the official copy deadline had passed.) It has become clear that Coronavirus is going to have a significant effect on all of our lives, even if we somehow avoid becoming unwell ourselves. Already, plans are having to be altered, and things are beginning to be postponed or [...]