St John the Evangelist

The Vicar Writes

June 2008

Dear People of St John’s

First, I wish to thank members of the Parish for their understanding and messages of sympathy when I had to leave at short notice to be with my family in New Zealand last month for the funeral of my brother-in-law.  As I told the members of the congregation on the first Sunday after my return, it makes a great difference to the experience of mourning, when we can participate in a funeral service that has in it all the elements of our Christian faith:  thanksgiving, faith and hope, as well as the sadness that such occasions naturally contain. 
       My brother-in-law had had a long and fruitful life – as a husband and father, priest and soldier – and his funeral enabled us to recall and thank God for all those facets of his life.  It was obviously important for me to be there to support my sister, and I am grateful to all those who kept things ticking over in the Parish during my two weeks away.
      I am also grateful to our two Churchwardens for managing the Annual Parish Meeting, and especially Roger Gardner for chairing it with his usual good humour and efficiency.  I am particularly gratified by the way the people of St John’s have responded so positively, and with what I now recognize as characteristic goodwill, to the financial challenge which faced us when I arrived here in 2005.  The Annual Report for 2007 which was received at the Annual Meeting makes very encouraging reading, and I am greatly heartened to see the enthusiasm and energy with which so many of you are engaging in the life of the Parish. 
       It is also good to see many new faces in the congregation week by week.  In recent months we have had a considerable number of families and individuals who are finding a spiritual home at St John’s, not only increasing our numbers, but also adding to the rich diversity of our worshipping community.  
       Having commented recently that our spread of nationalities ran from Australia through the alphabet as far as the United Kingdom and the United States, someone leaving church that morning told me very proudly that she and her family came from Zambia!  It looks as though our annual International Lunch in October will continue to extend even further the range of food from the nationalities among us.  Thanks be to God for these signs of growth and new life!

     Now that a new Parochial Church Council (PCC) has been elected, I hope we can set about working on our Parish Mission Action Plan.  This document sets out the plans we have for all the different areas of parish life.  It’s all very well having a document which sets out these plans, but what we now need to do is to bring these plans to fruition.  We made a start on this in 2006, and there has already been some progress.  Let’s hope we can move further ahead in 2008 – and incorporate the new members of our parish family who will bring fresh ideas and energy to our life and work together.
     Elsewhere in this month’s Magazine, you will see information about our Parish Summer Fête on 5 July.  This is a great opportunity to get to know one another by working towards a common cause – for the good of our Parish and the charities we continue to support by our efforts.  This year, 25% of all our fundraising ventures, including the Fête, will be given away – adding to the other contributions we make as a Parish, and as individuals to worthy causes throughout the year.  The remainder of our fundraising will contribute to day-to-day work of the Parish.  Please pray for your new PCC as we seek to set out our priorities for what we believe God is asking us to do – here in Palmers Green and beyond, remembering the words of St Theresa of Avila:

            “Christ has no body now on earth but ours,
 no hands but ours, no feet but ours;
 ours are the eyes with which he
      looks with compassion on the world…”
      
It really is over to us, to ensure that God’s work continues to be done in the world.  So it is to God we are accountable for all we do in his name.   May we be faithful to the trust he places in our hands.

                                 May God bless and keep us all

                                                                         Fr John

 

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