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Curate on the Hill - August 2022

Tuesday, 26 July 2022 11:34


Curate on the Hill August 2022


I hope you are enjoying the weather and the feeling of some sort of normal life following the challenges of the last few years. Summer tends to be a quieter time for the church with many people choosing to go away for holidays and few big church festivals. This is a time I use for reflection and planning the way forward. The image here I have been using to consider how we look at things. I love this image because it symbolises the wider church for me. The bible is open, but you cannot see much apart from a few words. When viewed with the sacrifice of Jesus you can see the love, symbolised by the heart shaped shadow. This sort of image helps me re-focus on the purpose of all Christians – to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.

During my time here in the benefice, I have come across a range of views on the church and the way the church is seen by those who are not regular attendees appears to be very different to that of the people who come to church. I think this comes down to the purpose of religion and church. Religion and church are the man-made structures that support people’s faith. The Anglican church have clearly set out the mission of the church which are:
  • To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
  • To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
  • To respond to human need by loving service
  • To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation
  • To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth
To add to this, some time ago the benefice has written the visions for the church here in this place. These are:
  • Spiritual Needs - We are meeting the spiritual needs, searching, journeying and questioning, of all in our communities; in open and non- judgmental ways.
  • Communicating Compassion - We can all communicate the compassion, loving kindness, straight-forwardness as shown by Jesus' radical inclusiveness, lived out in community, following His way.
  • Building Bridges-We are able to build bridges between how we are as individuals and as parts of different communities and how we can be, leading to what we find in the Gospels as the breaking in of the kingdom of God.
  • Big Issues - We will be looking out at the big issues facing our communities, our nation and the planet and working in partnership with all who seek to make a difference in ways that value all life, by being truly and fully human and breaking out of the confines of greed, self-interest and desire that bring division.
 
I would love to chat to anyone about these so feel free to stop me in the street, email me or give me a call.

Grace and Peace,

Rev’d Keir Dow
Keir.dow@kingscliffebenefice.uk
01780 753 283