July 2011

Dear Friends

On a beautiful blue day I was able to do something that I will never be able to do again in my life. I was able to climb the ladders to the top of the scaffolding, stand level with the great dome above the bell tower and see an amazing view of East London. As the contractors complete their work the highest tiers of scaffolding will be removed, and it will be literally impossible to stand where I was standing because there will be nothing but thin air.

Gillett and Johnson are busy restoring the bells and transforming them and so the work of renewal both inside and outside continues. We have an amazing building that still rises like a great Cathedral Church above the streets around it, and during June it was great to see it filled for a number of events including the baptisms of Andan and Simeon when we were joined by their families, friends and many young people from the Swift Centre. I am glad that as we are renewing our buildings there are real signs of God renewing the human community of the Church.

As Simeon reminded us when he spoke recently, life’s not all plain sailing and there are trials, temptations and many real challenges. He reminded us that we can take cover behind the battlements but God is calling us to go beyond the secure and familiar and to go where the action is. Of course we will feel more vulnerable and exposed to danger when we do but Christ is there.

Our verse of the year said that ‘The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure footed as the feet of a deer and he helps me stand in the high places’. I should have remembered that when some of us went up the scaffolding, as there were some alarming gaps in the planks beneath our feet.... If we are to follow Christ to where the action is, we need to remember that he is the source of our strength and that if we nurture our relationship with him and remain focussed on him we can be sure- footed and stand tall even when we are feeling exposed and vulnerable.

Looking forward, let me tell you about some of the things that will be happening soon.
We are entering high summer and I am hoping it will be long, languid and lazy but then again August can be among the wettest months of the year. Many of the young people from the Swift centre will be going away under canvas for a week in Suffolk and shortly afterwards a smaller group will be off cycling half way across Europe. In September we will have our Sunday School rededication when the Chyps team will be sharing some new things that will be happening. We will also be remembering Steve in a very simple way and focussing on the region of Jos in Nigeria, which Shola recently visited. We will be celebrating Harvest on Sunday 2 October and on 9 October there will be a united service when we will hear more of the ideas and plans for evangelism in our group of four Plaistow churches in the Olympic and Diamond Jubilee year of 2012.

I also invite you to be mindful or Ruth, Jerry and Rosie Clewett who are going away to work with United Mission to Nepal in August, Hannah Brook who is going overseas for a year to work in Jordan and Simeon Burnett who will be beginning a year working with XLP, a Christian charity working with young people in schools and on the street in East London.

Your friend and pastor
Mark