This month we are taking part in a national church initiative which is aimed at encouraging people to visit and try their local church. It is called B2CS (Back to Church Sunday). It is about building a stronger sense of community and throwing the doors of the church open to enable as many as would like to come to give the church a try. It is also the church’s way of trying to play an even more positive part to local community life than it already does.

This is not about trying to drum up new recruits, but it is about building friendship, care and support in the community, and as such I think it is an important occasion. The way this works is that a general invitation goes out to the community through means such as this article, or personal invites issued by folk who come to church to join us for our service at 10am on Sunday 26th September. If you are not particularly used to what goes on in church, or even not at all familiar with it, it won’t matter because the service will be clear, and the hymns well known ones. It is also our opportunity to hear from you what you think, and how you think we can work together to promote our sense of family and community here in Rowledge, Holt Pound, Bucks Horn Oak and Boundstone. With the ever faster pace of modern life, and with the pace of change, we all have to work a little harder to maintain our sense of community these days. We all cherish it here in the parish, but unless we are willing to do our bit, it will be diminished. Of course, one notable feature of our parish is the way that so many people do contribute in different ways by supporting the many local institutions, clubs and groups and that is a great thing. The church has been from the start, and is still, at the heart of our community, and owes its continuing place to the quality of the support it receives from us all.

I hope as many as possible will want to take part in this and we will ensure a warm and friendly welcome and provide some great fresh coffee is after the service. One thing people often say after visiting one of our services is that they are pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is and by the number of people they know. So please do come and join us, and accept this as my personal invitation to you, to come along and join us on 26th.

Your friend and Vicar,
Clive Richardson