The Lord be with you!

The Lord be with you!

We had a wonderful gathering of new members this week and it is so wonderful to see, "God adding to our numbers every day" (Acts 2:47)

We also bid farewell to one of our longstanding members, Ann Havemann. We pray for her smooth transition into this new season of her life.

Glynnis Stander, who was an organist and faithful member of the Parish for many years, passed away on Tuesday. Her Memorial Service will be on Tuesday, 17 February at 14h00 at All Souls. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

There is a flurry in the flowers and we are calling for a Garden Workday on the 28th February. What we need is willing hands and Trailers/ Bakkies to move a few dozen pots and a whole lot of plants. You will see we also need some more tools and are prepared to even fix up broken spades, forks and rakes to assist.

Lent begins on Wednesday with Ash Wednesday services at *08h30* and *18h00* We will meet every Wednesday at 18h00 for an hour of Lenten Reflections and contemplative prayer on the theme of *set our hearts on fire* In Holy week we will have the Stations of the Cross meditations and should we have enough support - we will have a Passover meal too.

As we prepare for Vestry on 8 March, I remind you that we vote a Council into place and need 3 Wardens, a Treasurer and at least 5 Councilors. Nomination forms will go up soon. These Councilors will have the role of monitoring ministry areas of the church. They are not leaders of ministry but their portfolios will be to council, me and the Champions to ensure that every ministry is integrated into the life of the church. With our shared leadership model we need to evaluate the ministry areas and ensure that people are being capacitated to fulfil their ministries in the life of the church. They will also advocate for the ministry and deal with budgets and expenditure to ensure good fiscal management. I pray that this will grow from strength to strength this year.

May we give of ourselves completely to God's work in our lives, being transformed in ourselves that we may be a transforming community in our society.

Yours in the service of Christ.

Andrew

Feast of the Transfiguration