Good evening all,

How are you? The brighter weather and longer daylight hours help with mood don’t you think?

What do I need to tell you this week? Kay, myself, and the diocesan office have been pulling together the advert ready to recruit the new team vicar who will live in Nantyderry. We are hoping to create something that is eye catching and a little more modern and attractive than the usual church adverts. It’s time we moved into the 21st century with such things! As well as being colourful and eye-catching in print, it will also have an informal, fly on the wall type video, to try to capture some of our energy, our joy, and our hope. We would be grateful for your prayers as this is finalised and then goes public – we need someone who is as dynamic and engaging as the other team members.

A couple of things that are in the pipeline for you to know about – 

We have received several requests to run a bible study and the team have chatted about the best way to do this – days, times, and venues are so difficult to get right for everyone. We’ve done some research and we are going to begin by running a Bible Society course called “The Bible Course” and you can find out more about it here – https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/explore-the-bible/the-bible-course

There is a new version about to be published, and that combined with other commitments, means we are going to wait until September to run this. I’m telling you now so you know we are planning, we are responding, and so that you can think about your own commitments in the autumn, should you want to make time for this. We anticipate running it online and in person (hybrid) and hope this won’t exclude people who don’t use the internet, as they have plenty of time to buddy up with someone and share a screen and a cuppa, doing the sessions together. We have secured some funding from the diocese to cover the costs. How does that sound?

The second thing to tell you is that we are going to run something specifically geared at young people who are interested in exploring questions around faith – a Youth Alpha course. This has had some success elsewhere and we already know of three young people who are keen. The eight sessions will run from the vicarage in Usk, and will involve pizza and doughnuts, as we discuss, debate, and challenge ourselves and the young people, about faith matters, and what it might mean to be Christian. The first session is on 7^th May at 4pm, and if you know anyone or are parents of young people aged between 11-16, who might be interested, please drop me a line. We will be using the new material which looks excellent!

Lots to take in there, and time for me to stop. Thank you for your prayers and support, please know that I continue to pray for you. Let me know if I can help in any way.

With love always,

Sally xxxx

Please note that Friday is usually my rest day. Emails received on Friday may not be responded to until after the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.