Saturday 27 April 2013

Dreaming dreams at the Salmon

To the Salmon Youth Centre (left) for our first joint PCC dayaway since the parishes of St James and St Anne's formally became a united benefice in February (a bit like a marriage following a long engagement).

Worship, bible input from Genesis & Revelation, lunch, lots of tea and coffee and the chance to chat and dream dreams were all vital ingredients of the day.

Our two main sessions focused, firstly, on our gifts, opportunities and spiritual assets, and, secondly, where might God might be leading us in the coming year. The latter was a chance to throw caution to the winds and to dream dreams.

Impossible dreams? Who can say that a dream is impossible if it is God inspired?

Towards the end of the last session I returned to our motto verse from Ephesians 3.17-18 and to the words words: deeper and wider. I suggested as a church that we needed to first deepen our spiritual lives, and deepen our knowledge of God's love; and then that love of God needed to go wider into the community, reaching out to more people.

None of that can happen without prayer so we concluded the day by climbing to the seventh floor roof garden of the Salmon Centre where, with a bird's eye view of our local area, we prayed for the people of Bermondsey.

How do you round off a day like that?

How about a bit of Brahms and Schubert in a concert of chamber music by Debbie (a member of St James, a member of our women's bible group and a professional muscian) and her friends - in St James in aid of the St Anne's building fund?


Brahms and Schubert arer not the first names that come to mind when most people think of Bermondsey but then life in Bermondsey (as I am constantly finding) is full of surprises - and thanks to Debbie we all had the most wonderful conclusion to an absorbing day.

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