Rector - Revd. Teresa Townsend

Dear Friends,

My Ramblings from the Rectory this month come at a time when the evenings are beginning to lengthen and the spring flowers are bursting with colour.  I wonder if, like me, you breathed a sigh of relief when the clocks changed at the end of March, bringing those longer, light evenings and the promise of warmer spring and summer days ahead. If you are a parent of small children, perhaps not quite so much – but for me, the winter months felt particularly long this year, and I am now firmly looking towards blue skies and sunshine…soon, I hope.

During those darker months, Nic has worked so hard nurturing seedlings and small plants to bring colour into the garden. I’ve been delighted by the vibrant flowers now filling the front garden bed, which I can see each day from my office window. They have lifted my spirits enormously, as has the ever-growing patch of cowslips on the top lawn. These are carefully left in place when the grass it cut – Nic has become quite skilled at steering around them.

In our parishes, we have been exploring what it means to Sow Seeds – seeds of growth in faith, prayer and community. As part of this, we have also planted physical seeds, reminding ourselves that all we have is part of God’s creation, and that includes us. At our January prayer morning we had the opportunity to plant seeds if we wished. In February’s Messy Church, we planted bulbs as part of our theme on the Fruits of the Spirit and at our April gathering, families were already sharing their excitement at what was emerging.

There is something deeply hopeful about growing things as I often share with you. We take time to tend and nurture what is small, paying attention to roots before anything else, trusting that what is unseen will sustain what is to come. Yet in a world that often feels so uncertain, hope can feel harder to find.

The rising cost of living, increasing fuel prices, and the strain on many households weigh heavily. The news is often bleak, with conflict and division never far from our screens. It can be difficult to hold onto the beauty of creation when we know there are places where growth is hindered, where care is lacking, and where communities struggle deeply.  We cannot ignore these realities because they affect us all, and especially the most vulnerable among us.

And yet, even in the midst of all this, there remains a quiet, persistent message: that life continues. It may look different, and it may require new beginnings, but it is there. The world does not always feel full of hope, yet spring still comes. It is not an answer to everything but does remind us that the story is not finished.

We are still in the Easter season – the time between Christ’s resurrection on Easter Day and his ascension into heaven. At its heart is a hope that isn’t loud or easy, but quieter and deeper, a hope that is able to sit alongside the reality of how hard life can be at times. It speaks of a life that finds it way even through darkness, and a love, seen in Christ, that is not undone by all that goes wrong. It is the kind of hope that doesn’t draw attention to itself, but is there nonetheless, should we wish to look for it – like a small flower in an overlooked corner of the garden.

Perhaps in this month of May we are being invited simply to notice again – to pay attention to what is quietly growing. It may be the small signs of life in our gardens, in the world, in one another or even within ourselves. If we look, we will find something to hold onto and be encouraged by.

My hope is that we take time to look, to find hope and light in our lives and encourage one another along the way.

Every blessing

Teresa