At the end of
January we had the pleasure of a visit here to Codsall of the Bishop of
Lichfield as part of a visit to the Penkridge area.He led us in one of our regular services held
at 3.30 pm at St Nicholas First School.It was a wonderful occasion for all of us, particularly
the many young
people present.
Bishops used to be very remote
figures that dressed in strange garb and lived in palaces.However, the Church of
England has changed dramatically
over the last forty years and so has the role and style of our Bishops.Each year we
have a new year message from
the Bishop and this year he has asked us to consider our work with
young
people, an area of work that we in Codsall can I believe look on with
some
pride (though I know we should avoid that sin, it’s nice
occasionally to think
you might be getting something right).He quoted those words of Jesus, printed at the top of this
article, as
part of his call to all the 600 churches of his Diocese, and they are
words
that we must take seriously.
‘Let the children come to
me.’ Our
work with children, young people and families is vital to us as a
church; our
employment of Graham Rutter as our full time youth and
children’s worker shows
that commitment.We
have our ever
growing 11.15 service for all ages, Moms and toddlers on a Monday,
regular
visits to the school for assemblies and their visits to us, after
school clubs,
and our Friday night groups for young people, Sparks and Stars.All that work
show that we have heeded the
Bishop’s call and in some areas almost anticipated it.If you
can’t make a Sunday for a service -
as many can’t with the pressure of life these days - why not
join us at one of
our regular services at the school?We
gather at 3.30 and the service starts as 3.45, and lasts about three
quarters
of an hour, it’s a marvellous experience and you would be
very welcome, look
out for details in future parish magazines.
‘Let the children come to
me.’ Our
work with children, young people and families is vital to us as a
church; our
employment of Graham Rutter as our full time youth and
children’s worker shows
that commitment.We
have our ever
growing 11.15 service for all ages, Moms and toddlers on a Monday,
regular
visits to the school for assemblies and their visits to us, after
school clubs,
and our Friday night groups for young people, Sparks and Stars.All that work
show that we have heeded the
Bishop’s call and in some areas almost anticipated it.If you
can’t make a Sunday for a service -
as many can’t with the pressure of life these days - why not
join us at one of
our regular services at the school?We
gather at 3.30 and the service starts as 3.45, and lasts about three
quarters
of an hour, it’s a marvellous experience and you would be
very welcome, look
out for details in future parish magazines.
There’s something equally important
that you can do, and that is to pray. To
help focus our prayer on this important part of God’s work,
Bishop Jonathan is
calling upon every church to put aside Wednesday March 1st Ash
Wednesday as a special day of prayer, and that is what we are doing.
The church will be open from 9 o’clock that
morning. We’ll start with a short
Morning Prayer service and then people are free to come and go as they
wish
during the day, as we keep a vigil of prayer, culminating in our Ash
Wednesday
service at 7.30 that evening. I hope you
can help us.
