From the Vicar

TIME TO LEARN

The recent millennium celebrations enabled us to reflect on the past, and to look forward to new opportunities in the future. While a lot of time and energy went into marking the 'Millennium Moment', many of us nurse the thought that the need is for a longer term process of growth and renewal.

Education Sunday falls this year on 20th February. on that day we are reminded of the call to recognise that the time to learn is now. This relates not only to formal schooling and college life, but also to adult life.

In the, Church, we try to provide that sense of nurture in an ongoing teaching ministry, both from the pulpit and in our work with young people, not least via our Church Schools. Lent Groups are an additional, annual way of commitment to such a process for adults; next month's 'Crier' will carry the details. It seems though, that this millennial year, should have a particular focus on Christian education, to provide an opportunity for everyone to find a way into what Church is all about. How is this going-to be done?

After Easter, the hope is that the Lent Groups will have provided a spring-board f or Emmaus, The Way of Faith This is a course designed-to nurture new Christians, which also allows existing church folk to deepen their level of faith and discipleship. Please give some serious thought to this, now is the time to learn. One of the besetting problems of the Church is that its own members have become less articulate in an information age, every member ministry demands that we should know more about what we believe than what we learnt in Sunday School or at granny's knee.

In this way, people might re-find their confidence in church, understand better the shape and meaning of the words and forms (e.g. 'What is the significance of the Easter Eve Ceremonies"), and carry out that confidence in the Gospel back into their daily lives, in a form of personal renewal.

What of the young? Confirmation Classes begin on Sunday 6th February @ 4.30 pm at The Vicarage. These are fortnightly, last 70 minutes and lead to being presented to the Bishop for confirmation on Saturday 13th May @ 5.30 pm, probably in St Mary's Swaffham Bulbeck. if your, youngsters aged 11 or over, baptised or not might be interested, please telephone me now.

A leaflet is available in each church on the subject of The Admission of Baptised Children, aged 7 and over, lo Holy Communion before Confirmation. I have written on this here before, now it is a real possibility. Please be in touch if your children would like to explore this, so that you can more easily worship as a family around the Holy Table.

Finally, an educational trip! A 'benefice bus' has been booked to take 50 of us to have a unique chance to look round Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's London residence, on Saturday 6th May We will leave here around 10. 15 am, returning late afternoon, the hours, tour begins at 1.15 pm. Please let me have your name now if you would like to go.

Yours sincerely, Mark