I have spent today visiting four churches that are currently linked in a pastorate. There are struggles and joys. There are opportunities and disappointments. That was so in each place. Three of the churches are very small by any standard. The other is larger but not large. It was a busy day talking to four sets of elders, but I have come home with a real sense of hope and realisation that things are happening on the ground wherever God's people are seeking to shine as the light.
One church is a venue for all sorts of community activities. If you want a children's party, that is somewhere you can go. Another attracts people from the community to a weekly coffee morning and, once a month, offers worship at the end of the morning - and it is not just church people who stay. A third were party to a community survey as to what is needed locally and responded to the desire for a local cafe. For the moment the community are proving slow to respond to the provision, but it is early days. The fourth runs Holiday Clubs for children, Holiday at Home for older people, a quarterly Messy Church, a Rambling Club etc.
There are so many ways in which we can be the Body of Christ to those whom we encounter. Let's get on with it!
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