We said goodbye (for a while anyway) to Bob and Ann Clucas at the Gathering Service held at Stockton Church today. Bob has been Associate Minister for the last 6 years in the Bridges Group, and Ann has also been involved in church life playing the organ and keyboard on many occassions. A healthy congregation packed into the pews as Bob gave his last paid sermon (his words) where he acknowdged the diversity of the churches in the Group and how we can accept our differences positively.

It was lovely to welcome St. Lawrence School to church for their end of term Christmas Carol Service.  Well done to the assembly team who planned and led it and the orchestra for their music.

The Bridges group of six churches are planning to make two new appointments after Bob Clucas steps down in December. As part of this process, church members have been asked to complete a survey on the eight qualities needed for churches to grow. Some of us had some reservations about the survey as it uses American vocabulary and does not really seem to relate well to small rural churches. However, some helpful information has come from the surveys that we hope will help the whole group plan for the future.

Autumn is on its way. There is a crispness about the early mornings and everywhere you look people are collecting their harvest of fruit and the last of the garden produce. For most of our Harvest services this year we will be asking for donations of both produce and money for a Coventry charity who work with refugees and asylum seekers called Carriers of Hope.