This month I returned to Reading! I was re-united with the wonderful Haley family (welcomed with bunting hung across the drive no less!!), Theo my thermos flask and most of my clothes (I spent Jan and Feb borrowing my Dad's fleeces from the downstairs cupboard).
I have come back to Reading because we have changed our Sunday service approach. We are once again live streaming from the building rather then pre-recording from individual homes. I have led another service, this time with John (our curate and my really fabulous line-manager). As ever, when I'm not co-leading the service I am doing the tech at the back of the building.
You can watch the service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUNVupBKa2k
P.s for those wondering, no I have not miraculously grown, I was standing on a stool and I didn't topple off!
Some of the ministries I serve in are also changing. Here's what's new:
Youth ministry: At the end of March I approached Dan, our youth pastor, and asked if I could gain some youth work experience. He kindly said, YES! This month I have been gathering (online) with youth on a Monday (female cell group) and Thursday (Big Youth Evenings).
Lent course: The student small group I co-lead with Jacob has joined with the wider congregation for the Greyfriars/New Hope Lent course. It runs every Tuesday in March and the content is based on John Mark Comer's book, 'The ruthless elimination of hurry'.
One Family magazine articles: I wrote two articles for this month's 'One Family', the Greyfriars and New Hope magazine. One was about my internship and the other about my Short term Mission trip to Bangladesh in 2017. You can read them on page 36 and 33 here: https://greyfriars.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Greyfriars-OneFamily-Issue07-v3.pdf
Admin: Mid-march we launched a plea to the congregation to 'give time' and serve (in preparation for launching in person services from the 18th April). In other words, I've got some more administrative tasks (woopidoo). All the completed forms arrive in my inbox and through the use of gorgeous spreadsheets I will be allocating willing members of the congregation to roles suited to their skill set. (The other church admin I do continues: ChurchSuite rotas, plans, agendas, etc etc).
Re-opening church: For the previous few weeks the staff team have been praying and seeking God's wisdom to guide us as a church into the next season. We all prayerfully considered what the church's priorities should be and wrote individual lists of top 7 priorities. I actually got to use my degree! I offered to run a thematic analysis (a process of identifying themes within qualitative data) on the responses.
Salt and Light: I have continued to serve in the Salt and Light teach team. This month the guest speaker was Sarah Jones, (a previous Greyfriars curate who is also my mentor this year - I meet with her roughly every six weeks. She is very patient and listens to me waffle on for an hour before praying with me. I am extremely thankful!)
Prayer and thanksgiving
Please pray for:
Patience and perseverance in the process of applying to jobs/seeking opportunities. That I would know clearly where God is calling me onto next.
The final edits on the Global Mission mission partner brochure. Please pray for wisdom as I handle sensitive information and safeguard individuals.
Thanksgiving for:
The absolutely fabulous Haley family and the love they show me every single day!
The beautiful countryside I have found recently; strolls over Bugs Bottom, cycles to Lower Shiplake, walks around the local golf course (on public footpaths of course!). What joy can be found in creation!
Partnering
Thank you so much for partnering with me on this journey, reading my blog, praying for me and the ministries I serve in or financially giving. I am so thankful for the generosity of your time in prayer, interest in my latest news and any financial support.
I have a Stewardship account* should you feel led to give: www.give.net/20343664
*Stewardship Info: I am a registered recipient with Stewardship, who have set up a support fund for my ministry. You can support me by making gifts to Stewardship for my fund. Where applicable, the value of your gifts may be increased by use of Gift Aid (worth 25% if you are a UK taxpayer).
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