St Mary Redcliffe A Year at Redcliffe Magazine 2022
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Letter from Aggy<br />
This year we have moved from total<br />
lockdown to partial lockdown and now<br />
we are not even expected to wear masks<br />
anymore... wh<strong>at</strong> an extraordinary time<br />
through which we have lived! Our church<br />
community has navig<strong>at</strong>ed and found safe<br />
ways to worship, particip<strong>at</strong>e in outreach<br />
and have time for fellowship together. I<br />
think we have managed extremely well and<br />
have continued to do our part in sharing the<br />
love of God in our community, in the wider<br />
community and the planet.<br />
During this time, we’ve worked alongside<br />
the John Ray initi<strong>at</strong>ive, this year’s Lent<br />
Appeal, which connects us with the<br />
environment, science and Christianity. We<br />
have organized a welcome party for the<br />
newly arrived Afghan families, welcoming<br />
over forty children and twenty adults. And<br />
most recently, we hosted a community fun<br />
day with the help of the ‘Noise’, joining in<br />
with over 700 Christians across Bristol to<br />
share God’s love with others. Around 150<br />
local people came to join us for fun activities<br />
and the PCSO came by to say “hi” as well.<br />
We had so many wonderful convers<strong>at</strong>ions,<br />
and it has helped us to be more visible<br />
within our community, sharing the love<br />
of Christ with our neighbours in practical<br />
ways. We have also partnered with Bristol<br />
Churches Winter Night Shelter, where<br />
members of our congreg<strong>at</strong>ion cooked and<br />
cared for those in need of a home in some<br />
of the coldest days of winter.<br />
working together to bring the best out of our<br />
community. Our <strong>Redcliffe</strong> Lunch club is<br />
due to restart soon, it used to be ran mainly<br />
by church members, but this time round,<br />
it will be managed solely by local residents<br />
with some input from the church. This fits<br />
in with the ABCD (Asset Based Community<br />
Development) model th<strong>at</strong> the Outreach<br />
team aspires to: To nurture, equip and<br />
empower the people in our community, and<br />
to be there for them to connect and develop<br />
the strengths and assets th<strong>at</strong> are already in<br />
place. I believe we are seeing some of the<br />
fruits from the seeds th<strong>at</strong> were sown in<br />
years past. The fruits being the impact th<strong>at</strong><br />
we can see in our community and the fruits<br />
in discipleship and the growth in spiritual<br />
m<strong>at</strong>urity in our church congreg<strong>at</strong>ion, in you<br />
and in me.<br />
So, a big thank you to the SMR congreg<strong>at</strong>ion,<br />
the Outreach Team and the SMR staff<br />
members who had been instrumental to the<br />
success of the mission of this church.<br />
Rev Aggy Palairet<br />
Cur<strong>at</strong>e<br />
Leadership<br />
Someone said to me the other day th<strong>at</strong> she<br />
felt there is a buzz in our church, there is<br />
just a sense th<strong>at</strong> things are happening, and<br />
th<strong>at</strong> God is <strong>at</strong> work. And I agree with her<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement, as I have seen the members of this<br />
congreg<strong>at</strong>ion and people of this community<br />
9
Change language