Dear Friends

 

A VERY SPECIAL WEEK

 

COMMUNITY SONGS OF PRAISE

There was a great sense of celebration at the Community Songs of Praise with the Bishop of Chelmsford, on February 11th.  It was good to see a full church, and to enjoy the splendid music provided by our organist and choir, LYNX and SL Club Juniors.  It was also very moving to hear the reasons behind the choice of hymns that were included in the service.  There was a very happy gathering in the hall afterwards.  I felt that the Church Building Appeal was well and truly launched!

 

THE DAY OF PRAYER

The Thursday following, St Leonard’s was open for 12 hours for a continuous cycle of prayer.  It was pleasing to see the steady stream of people coming to church to pray throughout the day.  And I know there were many more people praying in their homes.  We have always tried to undergird the building project with prayer from its conception.  This is one reason that I am convinced that it is right for us to be spending all this money in extending our church.  For form the beginning we have sincerely tried, as a church, to open ourselves to the will of God in this; and to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  It has been remarkable, how much fo the money we need has been provided. But also, how the many obstacles to the project have been overcome.

 

THE GIFT DAY

On Saturday February 17th I sat in church from 9.00am-5.00pm. Members of the P.C.C. kindly kept me company; and I was kept supplied with coffee and cakes by kind people!  I was overwhelmed at the number of people who called in during the day.  It was good to see so many members of the congregation.  But I was very touched to see so many people who do not worship at St Leonard’s supporting the appeal.  This included some who have had funerals or weddings at St Leonard’s; and also a few members of other local churches who wanted to be associated with the appeal.  At the time of writing, including Gift Aid to be reclaimed, and pledges, the building appeal has raised £110,000.  This is a truly remarkable result.  The words of the hymn “Great is thy faithfulness” have been in my mind over the past weeks.  We have still got a way to go to reach our target; and we need to continue with our giving and fundraising over the year.  But we can now see that our target is achievable.  If you have not yet contributed, please consider prayerfully if you should.

 

A GREAT TRUST

There is no doubt that with the legacies and gifts we have received we are, as a parish, greatly blessed in material things.  As we are reminded in the parable of the Unfaithful Steward, “To whom much is given, much will be expected.” (Luke 12: 48)  A great trust has been placed on us to use our new building well.  I am very conscious that our new facilities must be used to further our mission, and also in the service of our local community.  And we must continue working and praying to be an outward looking church.

 

LOOKING OUTWARDS

With this in mind, I would draw your attention to two special services that are taking place in St Leonard’s on May 6th.  Our Family Worship at 9.45am will be a preparation for Christian Aid Week.  Christian Aid helps the poorest people in the world to help themselves.  And the service will be helping us to remember the needs of the poor and hungry.  One of the marks of mission we have been considering in Lent is to “Respond to human need by loving service.”  At 6.30pm on that day we are hosting a special service to remember Asylum Seekers.  this is being led by the Reverend Robert Wiggs, the Bishop of Chelmsford’s advisor on asylum.  I realise that asylum is a hot political issue.  There are major concerns abut the level of migration into Britain.  And the popular stereotype of asylum seekers is that they are scroungers and economic migrants.  The experience of local churches who are working with asylum seekers, is that many have fled torture and the murder of relatives at home.  Many have faced terrible dangers traveling to countries of safety, where a welcome is rarely assured.  The Government is in an impossible position, squeezed between popular prejudice against asylum seekers, and a human need of very great proportions.  There are thousands of homeless asylum seekers on the streets of London alone.  They are afraid to return to such countries as Zimbabwe and Iran; and many are living in our towns and cities, without shelter, benefits or medical care.

 

THE SERVICE TO REMEMBER ASYLUM SEEKERS

This service is an opportunity, not only to pray for asylum seekers, but also to be informed about the issues. Then, whatever our views, we may be able to make an informed contribution to the debate.  It is important for us, as Christians, to speak prophetically to our society about the issues that concern people.  But there is no virtue in ignorance.  We are hoping that some asylum seekers will share their experiences with us in the service.  The service will be a simple and inclusive Eucharist.  The Reverend Chris Beales will also be taking part in the service.  Chris is the son of the late Doreen Poole, and was brought up in this parish.  Chris now runs the charity ‘Afghan Action’, which provides work for refugees in this country, and also runs a carpet factory in Kabul.  There will be a display of beautiful Afghan carpets for sale, in the hall, after the service.  Also taking part in the service will be Enoch Kunarajah, a Colchester resident who came here from Sri Lanka.  He will talk of his work for “Enabling Christians Serving Refugees”; and will share his knowledge of churches which work with refugees throughout the country.  I commend this special service to you.  It gives an opportunity to be concerned and informed about an important issue in our society.  There is a lot in the Scriptures abut God’s call to us to remember the stranger within our gates.  This service is one way we can do that; and keeps us focused on the world around us.

 

Stephen Carter