Good evening all,

Goodness me this week is flying by! For lots of lovely reasons it has been a very full few days. From Home Communions, community meetings, governor duties, time in school, conversations about grants, and it’s not finished yet! Tomorrow I will be sitting on an interview panel elsewhere in the diocese, and on Saturday we have our pilgrimage morning. I do hope you can come (Llanover church hall, 10am-12.30pm). I’ve still got a sermon to write and an all age worship to plan. Yikes! 

I’m not sure I have much to tell you about this week, so let me share a short reflection with you – 

We are told

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

Thank you for doing this so well. Whether it is coffee mornings, open churches, toddler groups, going into schools, cleaning our churches, visiting people, checking on people who haven’t been seen for a while, picking up the phone, texting, supporting other charities, standing up for injustice, praying, and a million other acts of kindness and generosity that happen very single day, in each of those acts you are sharing the love of God with people who may or may not be aware. How wonderful is that? How wonderful that you do that. Thank you. 

And if you are quietly saying “I’m not sure I do very much of that”, stop! We all do as much as we can, and we are more than the sum of our parts, because when people see us loving well, they know that it comes from our faith, and that is the very best we can do. So thank you!

If you would like to reply to this, please do. Otherwise, I hope I will see you soon, and you know where I am. Let me pray for you, of course.

I have a Royal British Legion meeting this evening, and then I will put my feet up and enjoy a glass of wine or a mug of hot chocolate. At the moment I am undecided!

With my love,

Sally xxxx

Good evening lovely people,

A day early this week because tomorrow is the first of a two-day rest period, as I think I told you about before – it’s a once a month thing that clergy should take two days off consecutively, once a month. That said, I will actually have to work tomorrow because we are interviewing for a new deputy head at Usk CinW school. These things aren’t always in our control. I won’t be doing any other church work tomorrow though,so I can concentrate on the task in hand and then finish for the day as soon as a decision has been made. Please will you hold that process in your prayers, for tomorrow please.

What else do I have to tell you about? Well, this Sunday begins the beginning of Prisons Week and you can find out what it is all about here – https://www.prisonsweek.org/ With two prisons in our Ministry Area, the work of our prisons, and our care and concern for those who live and work in them, is probably quite high in our thoughts. This Sunday the Anglican chaplain from Usk prison will be preaching at the 9.30am Morning Prayer service. Rev’d Elizabeth Gregory is making a tangible difference to the men in the prison, with the evidence clear for us to see, by the frequent entries in our baptism and confirmation registers. If you are not already committed to a service elsewhere, you might like to hear her preach this Sunday?

Also this weekend, on Saturday 10th October, Usk Church is hosting an Eco fair. Come along and see what a difference small and large changes can make to our stewardship of God’s planet. This event starts at 10am. 

Saturday is a busy day, as we will also be holding the second public consultation on the future of Glascoed Church. This also starts at 10am in St. Michael’s Church. If you are interested to know more, then come along. Everyone is welcome, to understand and comment on the options being considered for this church. 

Two more dates for your diary and then I’ll leave you alone! Saturday 17^th October, AD Ian will be sharing his experience of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and I will be exploring a more inward pilgrimage of my own. The morning is in the church hall in Llanover and begins at 10am. It’s free and you are all very welcome to come along. 

Final date – as the evenings draw in, we would like to invite you to a special service of Compline that will be happening in the churchyard in Usk, on Sunday 18^th October at 7pm. Wrap up warm and let’s breathe in the night air together, as we prepare to rest in God for the night. It promises to be different, and I hope it will be atmospheric and spiritually nourishing. Someone once described Compline to me as a “warm hug from God”. I rather like that!

Last but not least, I’m aware that everything I’ve mentioned is happening at weekends. Did you know we have three midweek services? 

Tuesdays 12.30pm Goytre

Wednesday 10am Raglan

Thursdays 11am Usk

Why not give them a try?

And that is enough – plenty of information, perhaps too much 🙂

You know where I am if you need anything. And please be assured of my prayers for you.

With love,

Sally xxxxx

Good evening everyone,

Well! Another hugely busy week with all sorts of different things going on – no one could describe ministry as without dimension or diversity! And there’s still Saturday and Sunday which are jam-packed with really important and lovely things. I do hope I will see you at the Confirmation Service in Llanhennock Church at 4pm, on Sunday.

My week has consisted of

• Trust walks through a field of eggs, blindfolded (school assembly)
• Governor meeting as we prepare to recruit a new deputy headteacher in Usk
• Conversations with someone about a new and unusual project (if it develops into something you will be the first to know)
• A webinar about new antiterrorism laws
• A day in Cardiff learning about Welsh Government communication and how the church fits into that bigger picture (I took the train – it was lovely)
• A meeting with all the church treasurers
• My ministry development review with the archdeacon
• A variety of other meetings
• Several pastoral conversations
• So many emails and phone calls I lost count (sorry if you are waiting for a reply)
• Paperwork and service preparation (of course)

Tomorrow I plan to have coffee with a friend and then I suspect I’ll have to do some cleaning and catch up with my parents. Perhaps I will also suggest to Will that we go somewhere for a nice meal. 

As ever, I would love to hear from you if you have any prayer needs, or think I can help in any way.

Please can I also ask you to pray? I would appreciate it if you could include in your own prayers, some for all those people working so hard but often unseen in our churches. The team effort, seen and unseen, that ensures our churches are welcoming, safe, and open for visitors and worship, is phenomenal, and I am in awe of your energy, your willingness and your commitment. I pray for you every day and this week please know that you are in the prayers of everyone who has read this email. 

With my love,

Sally xxx

Good evening all, 

I trust you are well? 

It is turning out to be a wildly busy week – meetings, people, report writing, and planning Christmas! I know! We haven’t even finished the harvest season yet hahaha! In fact, the other day I even saw something that might be good for us to consider during Lent. That was a little bit too far forward, even for me!

A couple of things to share with you this week – 

We are having a one off service of Compline on 18^th October at 7pm in Usk. It is Compline with a slight twist – the autumn evenings are beautiful and the air has a special quality, so we will be holding the service in the churchyard. Please come dressed for the weather. We will have seating, and if the rain is tipping down then we may have to rethink, but the plan is to be outside, as we say the final office of the day, before the “greater silence”. If you’ve never been part of a Compline service then please do come along and give it a try. I know those who are familiar with the service will have it in their calendars without a doubt. It promises to be atmospheric and peace inducing. 

Second, I wanted to share with you some good news about the Mothers’ Union locally. I’ve attached a photo of our very own Rev’d Canon Dr Stephen James being enrolled as a member in our local Bettws Newydd branch, as his wife Sue is welcomed in from another branch. The Mothers’ Union does a huge amount of good work, locally and abroad, as well as providing fellowship and friendship for its members. It is a powerhouse of prayer and welcomes all people as members, you don’t need to be a woman or a mother. Please let me know if you are interested in finding out more.

Finally, can I offer you my usual reminder – can I pray for you? Is there anything you would like me to pray about, and is there anything I can help with?

Thank you to all those who are working hard alongside myself and the rest of the team. Some of you really do go above and beyond, and I wouldn’t choose to be part of this anywhere else.

With my love and prayers,

Sally xxx

—

Please note that emails are not monitored after 6pm and Friday is usually my rest day.

Thank you for your understanding.

Good evening all,

I trust all is well with you? And I hope your week is progressing as you hope?

What news do I have? Well, I would like to remind you that 11th-17th October is Prison’s Week. With two prisons in our Ministry Area, it would be lovely if we could remember to pray for those who live and work in our prisons and those prisons further afield. The work of the Mothers’ Union and the Salvation Army are critical to the wellbeing of all those in our prisons, working with staff and  people who are detained, and the ministry they exercise is one of unconditional love and consistent presence. Many of the prisoners in our locality will be released at some point and will aim to lead useful and law-abiding lives, so please do hold them in your prayers. If you are interested to know more, Rev’d Elizabeth Gregory, one of the chaplains at Usk Prison and Prescoed Prison, will be preaching at Morning Prayer in Usk on 11^th October. I know she would be very pleased to see you there.

My second thing to share is a note of thanks to all those who were part of our tent and the welcoming presence we offered at The Usk Show. It really is an enormous achievement to host such a space at such an enormous local gathering, So thankyou to Jan Harding-Smith and her team. You are all awesome.

Finally , you may have noticed our new monthly events sheet that we are beginning to share with churches across the Ministry Area. We are hoping that this will slowly evolve into a really useful document, sharing the lives of all our churches with each other, in an effort to support each other and to enable us to share the good news across the whole MA. Please let Dee Seabourne, or Rev’d Hannah know if you have an event you would like to share with others. Any publicity is a great encouragement to those who are working hard.

As we enter this season of Harvest thanksgiving, please can I thank you for all your efforts to ensure that the kingdom of God is alive and hopeful across our Ministry Area. If you think there is anything I can do to help please do let me know.

With love from Sally xxxx

—

Please note that emails are not monitored after 6pm and Friday is usually my rest day.

Thank you for your understanding.

Good evening all,

How are things? It’s been another good week so far, and I don’t know about you but I’m very much looking forward to The Usk Show on Saturday. Our Ministry Area will be hosting the chaplaincy tent again, with good coffee, tea, and cake, all free. We offer a quieter place to sit and refresh, alone or with friends. We are situated right by the main arena, so pop in if you are at the show.

I have a couple of things to share with you this week. 

First can I invite you to click this link – https://www.offline.wales/zines-exhibitions-and-news/?ref=newsletter

It will take you to a newsletter, the first article of which is of great interest to us all. It features Mark Saunders, who is probably known to some of you, as he worships across several of our churches. He has published a book featuring the porches of all the churches in our MA, and this link includes a wonderful 20 minute interview about the project and the thinking behind it. It’s rather special and Mark has captured something very beautiful about our churches and the spiritual importance of our buildings and their entrances. 

Mark’s book is for sale, and I encourage you to listen to the interview. I’ve found it uplifting and a joyful pause in my day.

My other bit of news is to alert you to a half day we have on Saturday 17^th October. We are delighted to invite you to a half day to reflect on the concept of pilgrimage. We will do this with Archdeacon Ian who will share with us his pilgrimage experience when he went to The Holy Land, and I will also be speaking about my pilgrimage “within” – how I came to faith. I’ve attached a poster that can be displayed in church and that gives you place and time information.

And now, it is time to shut down the computer and unwind ready for my rest day tomorrow.

Please be assured of my prayers and let me know if there is anything I can pray for.

With love,

Sally xxx

Good evening friends,

I hope your week is unfolding well and you are getting the balance right between work and leisure?

I’ve tried very hard this week to not let my desk and administrative load get in the way of the stuff that is more traditionally thought of as ministry. Now there are of course administrative tasks that fall into ministry – service preparation, correspondence to do with pastoral work and churches. But it’s not those parts I’m thinking of – what I’ve been doing is thinking to myself “how does this benefit God’s purpose for us” or “how does this draw us all closer into God’s loving embrace”, and if I can’t really see the answer, then I’ve been doing the task, but I haven’t given it more time than the minimum. If the answer is that the thing in my diary clearly is working for God’s kingdom then I’ve gone for it with all my energy and hope! Sometimes we need to remember what church and being people of faith is all about, don’t we?

There isn’t too much to share with you this week in terms of activities or events, but please do find attached a poster with all the Harvest services on it. You are of course encouraged to advertise your own services in a bespoke poster for just that occasion. In order to not overcrowd my poster it is literally just the services.

It would be great if you could advertise locally, letting people know that you are collecting donations, and telling them what the cause is (foodbank, pantry, cash for a charity etc.) Also let them know of any meal that you might be organising (if indeed you are). Harvest is one of the bigger festivals in our year and it would be good to see us do it well across all our churches.

If you would like help with harvest posters, please just let me know, giving me the details you would like to publicise, and I’ll get something back to you within a couple of days.

Do you know? I think I’m going to leave it there for this week. However, you know where I am if you need anything and please be assured of my prayers. If I can pray for something specific please don’t hesitate to ask.

With my love,

Sally xxx

Good evening friends,

We have been back a full week and my goodness it has been a full week! Lots of good things and lots of lovely people, all slightly overshadowed by some impressive jellyfish stings I sustained in the Atlantic ocean (Will has some too). Don’t ask to see them, it’ll put you off your dinner! A good dose of antibiotics and various other medications are calming them all down. Thank goodness! 

Now then. What have I missed? 🙂

I have three reminders for you this week and some news. 

Reminders – 

Don’t forget the Usk Show this year, Saturday 12^th Sept. – as in previous years we have a marquee and space near the main ring, offering free tea, coffee, and cake throughout the day, in a calm and comfortable setting. There will be bunting to make, as well as children’s activities and baby changing. Clergy and others will be available for conversations of all sorts, and we would be very glad to see you. If you think you could make cupcakes for the day, we would be very pleased for them. Please let me know so we can arrange collection.

Second “don’t forget” – this Sunday is a fifth Sunday in the month so there is just one service in the MA. It is in Raglan at 11am. The theme is Back to School Sunday but this could also apply to you, as we return to our routines and regular activities. We have talks, music, and activities related to this and invite you to bring something that is significant in your daily life so that we can bless it as we go into this next season. I hope to see you there.

Third reminder – we have a confirmation service on Sunday 4^th October in Llanhennock Church. Everyone is welcome to this service with Archbishop Cherry. If you would like to join our sessions of preparation, either to see if confirmation is right for you, or to remind yourself of the promises you made at your own confirmation, then you are very welcome to join us in the meeting room in Usk Church on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. Come along, the more the merrier.

And now for the news – first I would like to congratulate Lesley Evans who is the organist in Monkswood Church and one of our Ministry Area Council trustees. She has been awarded an Archbishop’s award for services to church music. This is very well deserved and I will let you know shortly what arrangements are being made for us to celebrate with Lesley. In the meantime, thank you Lesley for everything you contribute to our church life, and thank you to all our musicians who make such a difference to our worship.

Finally, we have been asked for a while now, to create a regular leaflet that contains the dates and times of upcoming church events across the Ministry Area. Thanks to Dee Seabourne and Rev’d Hannah we are now ready to launch this. The September one will be available in churches from this weekend.

This notice sheet will be as successful as you make it. With a monthly publication, it will be great if you can let Dee know in plenty of time, if there is something special happening in your church, and we can then make sure we share it with all our friends across the MA. The sheet will be distributed as a hard copy so you can take it home and pin it somewhere, and we would be glad of any feedback, kindly offered, as we get this new communication established. This comes on the back of changing the way we organise the pew sheets, which Roger Moss has led, supported by Rev’d Stephen. Thank you to Dee, Roger and everyone who ensures our comms are improving. Let me know if you don’t have contact detials for Dee or have any questions.

And that is, perhaps that?!

Time for my next dose of antibiotics, and some cheering Dairy Milk (other chocolate brands are available).

Thank you all of you for being so fantastic at all that you do. We have much to be thankful for.

With my love and prayers,

Sally xxx

—

Please note that emails are not monitored after 6pm and Friday is usually my rest day.

Thank you for your understanding.

Good evening all,

It’s a late one tonight, and I have a question for you – 

Have you been confirmed? No? Then read on! Confirmation – it’s an opportunity to for us to reaffirm our baptism/christening promises for ourselves, amongst our friends and families. It’s a very special service and definitely worth considering! We have archbishop Cherry coming on 4^th October to confirm anyone who would like to receive this sacrament. Please contact Hannah to find out more.

In other news I had a very interesting conversation with a group of people this week, drilling down into what clergy do, and how difficult it is to quantify and explain. It led onto a reflection upon how interesting or not it might be for you to have a glimpse at my diary. So here goes! My diary this week plus a little bit about what also happened but was squeezed into the gaps and how long it took 🙂

Six church services

Four sermons prepared (averaging 2-3 hours each)

Seven meetings

Two wedding rehearsals

One funeral visit

Fifteen hours of service preparation (not sermons)

36 phone calls 

80+ emails sent

100+ emails received

2.5 hours training

Dozens of incidental but really important conversations, many pastoral in nature and a wonderful balance for the emails 🙂

Half a day with our children

A hair cut

And how many things did I make progress on, in terms of vision and planning for a vibrant and thriving future? Maybe two! 

And with that, I think it’s time to stop.

My holiday begins late on Sunday afternoon, but I will look forward to coming back and picking up the reins again – there is nowhere else I would rather be.

Please pray for Will and me, and we will certainly be praying for you.

Love Sally xxx