Summer Fayre, Year Six Event, baby Alfie

Roll up, roll up for the great parish summer fayre in SE23.

Old-fashioned fun, throw a sponge at the vicar in the stocks, buy some jam, win a bottle in the tombola, jump on the bouncy castle...

It's a great laugh and also it's vital funds to keep our church alive. Please join us.

The Big Year Six Event. Just got bigger.

This two day event is when children in Year Six (that's the last year of primary school if you aren't familiar with modern school lingo) come from different skills to learn completely new things (like circus skills above) and simulate in a tiny way, what will happen to them when they join a new school next year.

(going to a new place, meeting new people, doing new things...

They also have a chance to share their hopes and fears in a special workshop.

This year, we're doing two events in a row! Four schools on Monday and Tuesday and four more schools on Wednesday and Thursday.

Three hundred children in all.

Fabulous.

And this Sunday, we've Alfie's baptism in the afternoon. He's a lovely baby, but he's not going to sleep early enough right now, his parents told me. His routine got upset by a holiday and now he's enjoying the long summer evenings while he should really be asleep. The joys of parenting...

Father Robert

You are welcome, wherever you come from

This is a photo from our welcome event.

Can you spot the connection here? Ugo, Blessing, George and Eto are all from West Africa. (Nigeria and Ghana).

It's funny, but I doubt they would have appeared in a "welcome event" photo ten years ago: there's been such a massive immigration from West Africa just recently that I think we're only just picking up on it. George and Eto recently got confirmed through our church.

But then, they weren't the only ones there: about seventy people came to the welcome event, including the hosts. Below you can Bud at the front, who's been part of the congregation for 40 years.

I think you can also see Luke and Iwan on the for left, probably chatting about football.

It was a great event - we were lucky with the weather - and we had lots of lovely conversations with people we don't always get a chance to chat with.

Fabulous to see everyone.

We also had some input about what we should do as a church from people: the most popular particular activity was a coach trip to the seaside. Now, to be honest, we haven't got one planned right now, but we'll have that in mind for the future. Look out Broadstairs!

Anyway, that was last week, looking forward, we have not one but two baptisms this Sunday: James at 10am, and Crystal at 2pm.

As for me, actually, I won't be there as I'm representing the church at the 60th annivesary of the rebuilding of their church by our friends at the Bonhoeffer church, the church where Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself was a pastor in the 1930s.

If you want to know about him, find out more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

It's astonishing to think that one of older members of our congregation, Marion, can remember as a child that grown-ups were talking approvingly of this young pastor back when he was actually here.

Bonhoeffer's tale feels like history, but it's not long ago. His courage feels superhuman, yet he also trod these same streets.

It'll be a privilege to be there.

Father Robert

Welcome, this Saturday, 2.30pm

It's not always easy to join a church. What does it mean anyway? When are you part of it? In some places, they have membership lists, and we do too, I guess, in as much as we have an "electoral roll". That's the people who regularly worship with us, sign a form, and therefore have the right to elect our PCC (Parochial Church Council) members. For the record, we currently have 199 people on this.

But I kind of like the idea that things are more porous. People can come in, gradually, as they like to: or they can just test the water and move away again, maybe not to come back for a few years.
Or they can just paddle in the shallow end for quite a while before they want to start swimming in the deep end.
What we do want to do as a church is to welcome people at the level they wish to commit to. That could mean taking a step of faith such as getting confirmed; it could mean joining the week afternoon Bible study group; it could mean joining the flower arranging rota. Any of these things.
And to welcome people, you need to have a bit of time to say hello. Now we love chatting after the service on a Sunday morning, but that's not always enough. So this year, we're holding a proper event of welcome on a Saturday afternoon. This Saturday (13th June) from 2.30pm till 4.30pm.
We'll have activities for children, like a ball pool and a bouncy castle, and we'll have activities for adults, such as thinking about the kinds of things you think we as a church should be getting involved with.
And you can even have tea with the vicar!
It'll be a more leisurely way of exploring what it is to be at church.
If you've ever wanted even just to dip your toe in to the water, or if you're ready to dive right in, do come along, this coming Saturday, at 2.30pm. It'll be lovely to see you.
Father Robert