Dear Friends,

We’re back! Thank you for your patience during this time. It has been a very busy few weeks, but the Conference is now a distant, but very good memory – and plans are afoot for the next one! More on the Conference later.

We are now in the Season of Creation, and in my parish we will be having Masses around the creation theme this weekend. This is the third year running we have celebrated it, and it is something that young and old alike engage in. We have a cloth ‘river’ running down the altar steps, and in the porch we have some large, flat stones, that one of our teenagers has decorated with creation-themed quotes. These will be brought down the aisle in our offertory procession, and laid ‘in’ the river. I find it quite amazing the ideas that come to the fore.

Something else that has also amazed me is the number of people who turned up to a Social Action Evening at our church on Friday. From being a church that struggled to find volunteers for anything, we ended up with 60 people engaging with our Diocesan Caritas Director, and some representatives from CAFOD. It was a thinly-veiled attempt to launch Live Simply, but it was remarkable that so many people wanted to get involved in general outreach – those that, due to busy lives, are usually unable to get involved in anything. Everyone sensed that need to do something and be part of something…..All we have to do now is channel their enthusiasm
before it wanes!

As you can imagine, after so many weeks of no e-bulletin, there are
multiple articles that I could share, but this particular one will be dedicated, topically, to the Climate/Environment. There are plenty of actions and events that you can get involved with – and many without leaving your armchair!

The next edition will be out in three weeks’ time, the 1st October. The reason being that we are holding one of our Open Networking Days in Birmingham on Saturday 23rd September (more details below). I hope to be there (although don’t fancy getting the train at 4.25am!). It will be good to see some familiar faces, as well as some new ones!

If you are wanting anything advertised in the next edition, please make sure that I receive the information by Friday 29th September. Thank you.

Enjoy what I hope will be the last of the very hot weather,

God bless

Sharon

NJPN E-Bulletin 10th September 2023