This week our family has been isolating due to testing positive to COVID-19. While that isolation period would end for most of us in time to return to church services this Sunday, some parishioners are concerned about having such recent COVID cases in church. We therefore are not at church this Sunday. We hope that you will welcome the Dunbar family the more, when the vicar is not there to welcome them to the Church.
However, that does not mean that in future people should stay away from church for longer than required by government rules. On the other hand, if people feel unwell for longer, it is entirely appropriate not to come to church for a Sunday, even if we are rostered on for a particular duty.
As we saw in our own little family this week, diseases may affect us all quite differently. In our case it meant that the younger the person the quicker it was over. In the last week we had very energetic recovered children sharing a house with some exhausted, still partially sick parents. It certainly did not make for rest and relaxation. The only book I was able to get into a bit was about steam locomotives on the West Coast, not anything more significant.
AGM and tennis court land
At the AGM there will only be a basic presentation about the proposed options for the sale and development of the tennis court and vicarage land. A revised proposal by the developer has been delayed, because Church Property Trustees (CPT) asked for a valuation to be updated. Hopefully that should enable us to make a good decision, but it means that we cannot provide you sufficient information before the AGM. We will need at least two more parish meetings before a contract is signed, which will also require approval and action by CPT and Diocesan office holders.
Eastertide and Revelation
We are in Year C of the Lectionary. In Year C between Easter and Pentecost readings from the Book of Revelation are listed in the Lectionary. I thought that I would take this opportunity to preach about that book and in particular its relationship with the prophetic books of the Old Testament from the 2nd Sunday of Easter until the Sunday before Ascension Day. While some people avoid that book of the Bible, it has a lot to say about our life with God and the role of the church in the world. In particular, there is the constant chorus of praise and worship throughout the book, which can inspire us to join in the choir of witnesses throughout time and age. Some may even be surprised to hear quite a bit of our regular liturgy in these pages of the Bible.
Blessings, Tim