Welcome
to ‘Trees of Life’!
None of us could have imagined how 2020 would unfold. The
COVID-19 global pandemic has dramatically changed life for all of us, whether
we’ve been ‘shielding’ at home, spending every waking hour with our kids, or
having to do our jobs in a very different way. And it’s looking likely that we
won’t be going back to any kind of ‘normal’ for the foreseeable future.
But as Christians, ‘back to normal’ isn’t necessarily
something we should be looking for. The pandemic has brought to the surface all
kinds of ways in which ‘normal’ wasn’t good: for our relationships with our
neighbours near and far, and for our relationships with the earth. It’s opened
up new possibilities for those relationships, and who and what we value. And
while we’ve been desperately missing being able to gather together as church,
and as neighbours, to share food and friendship, worship and learning, we’ve
also been discovering new ways to deepen some of those relationships, with each
other, with the earth, and with God.
In the early months of 2020, we’d begun planning as a church
to enter an extended time together (a year, we said) of focusing on nurturing
our discipleship, the ways in which we live out our Christian faith, our
Jesus-following, from day to day. We’d begun to develop some ideas for doing
this, centred on the passage from Jeremiah 17 that’s on the cover of this
booklet. Trees appear often in the pages of the Bible, and the image of the
tree – with roots that reach deep into the water, that survives through seasons
of heat and drought, and that continues to produce green leaves and fruit –
fitted well for our understanding of discipleship: rooting ourselves ever
deeper in faith and trust in God, to enable us to grow and be fruitful, even
through hard and challenging times. We could not have imagined how fitting this
image would be for the times in which we now find ourselves!
So, over the next few month (between now and Christmas), as a church community we’re going to be paying attention to the different ways in which we’re growing, as individuals, and as a community together:
- Growing spiritually (‘roots’): growing deeper in learning & praying, living & breathing the way of Jesus
- Growing communally (‘trunk’): growing together as a church community, drawing out & sharing all our different gifts together
- Growing missionally (‘branches’): reaching out to encounter & connect with neighbours near & far, and with the earth itself
- Growing evangelistically (‘leaves’): learning, with our neighbours, to discover & re-tell our stories within God’s Story
- Growing the Kingdom (‘fruit’): seeking justice, loving with kindness, walking humbly with God
We’re also going to pay attention to the ways in which decomposition
is going on. A healthy ecosystem is never just about limitless growth. It also
involves things dying, trees shedding leaves, and processes of rotting and
decomposing that produce rich, nutritious ‘humus’ that provides food to enable
new things to grow. We’ll be thinking too, then, about what we’ve been
‘shedding’, the things – and people – we’re grieving, and what God’s inviting
us to let go of.
What’s
going to happen?
The basic pattern we’ve developed for ‘Worship at Home’ won’t
be changing. We’re still inviting you to spend some time each Sunday in worship,
reflection and prayer, using the liturgy for ‘Ordinary Time’ we’ve shared,
‘Living in the Love of God’. If you need another copy, contact Al (07738 119
210, or hodgehillvicar@hotmail.co.uk).
We’ll still be sending out a weekly ‘worship at home’ pack (on paper, through your door, if you’ve requested it, or via email). But rather than focusing on Sundays and Wednesdays, we’ll be offering you resources for reflection over the whole week:
In each week’s booklet, there will be space for you to
write down some of your reflections – and we’ll give you a ring binder to
enable you to keep all your booklets safely in one place. We’ll also include
occasional book recommendations, and for those of you who have access to
the internet, links to online resources (e.g. podcasts, YouTube videos,
etc.). And every week you’ll be able to use our dial-up reflection line (0121
227 5533) to listen to a selection of the week’s readings and reflections.
But this isn’t just something to do on your own! We want to offer you a variety of different opportunities to connect with other members of our church community, to ‘reflect aloud’ together and share what you’re noticing, wondering and realising. These will include:
A weekly hour-long discussion online (via Zoom), every Sunday at 1.30pm [joining details are in the back of the Ordinary Time liturgy booklet]
A weekly phone conversation with a member of our pastoral care team, during which you can – if you want to – reflect on one or more of that week’s ‘questions for reflection’
Two kinds of opportunity to meet outdoors (with appropriate physical distancing, and weather permitting!):
- meeting up in a ‘garden group’, hosted in someone’s garden, in groups of up to 6, to share together
[Genny (Hodge Hill), Lyn (Castle Brom) and Sandra (Smiths Wood) have offered to be hosts. We’d love to have an offer to host somewhere in Firs & Bromford – you don’t have to facilitate the conversation.]
- going on a ‘wondering walk’ (with 2 or 3 other people), talking together as you walk (perhaps with a picnic!)
[phone/text Allannah or Gloria if you want to explore either of the ‘garden group’ or ‘wondering walk’ ideas – with offers to host, or requests to participate]
Some things (e.g. a poem, a gift, or a conversation starter) that you could share with a friend or neighbour
Some possibilities for monthly ‘catch-ups’, through existing groups and networks (e.g. Common Ground, Ladybirds, FAB Church), or new groupings where helpful
In our 'introduction' booklet (click this link), you’ll see the overall shape of the next few months, with the themes and readings for each week. These might change a little bit, as we get going and see how it’s working in practice, but it’ll look something like this!
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