Janet’s April letter to the Community
As I wrote my letter to you for the April magazine last year, the pandemic was beginning to accelerate. Very shortly afterwards, and by the time the magazine was published, churches were closed and t
he nation had gone into lockdown. With sadness, we celebrated Easter without access to the church building, and, for most, without Holy Communion.
This year is different. We are beginning to emerge from the pandemic. More than 23 million adults in the UK have received the first dose of the vaccine and infection rates are falling. Our children have gone back to school (much relief all round!) and there is a prospect of many people being able to return to work, especially in the hospitality and retail sectors in the next few weeks. We will also, with thankfulness, be celebrating Easter in Church. There will necessarily be some differences from the pre-Covid pattern: we have to maintain social distancing, we are still not allowed to sing and communion is still being offered “in one kind” – that is, with the bread only. But we will be together in Church! And we will be able to celebrate together the great Feast of Easter, with all that it teaches us about hope for the future and new beginnings.
“Together” is an important word here. One of the great losses of this past year has been the limitation of social contact. For some it has meant real isolation. For all of us, a degree of sadness and frustration with distance from those we love, important milestones not celebrated and inability to offer physical support to those who are suffering.
The Christian faith is a faith in community. We are not just individual pilgrims on our own individual paths to God, independent and with no relationship to each other. St Paul repeatedly describes the church as “the body of Christ” – connected, working together, each making their own contribution and valuing the contribution of the other. Back in June last year I wrote that it was my prayer that this time of separation would make us all the more appreciative of each other when we were able to meet again. Let’s demonstrate this appreciation this Easter!
With every blessing for a joyous Easter,
Janet