As I started to write this article looking back on 2020, I took a look at what I wrote a year ago. I am going to begin with the final paragraph….
So it is in any faith walk with God; we learn to trust through the continued practice and exercise of our faith relationship. It starts with a small step of saying “Yes!”. Put your hand into the hand of God, and find HOPE for the future in 2020.
The year of 2020 has certainly been a testing year. None of us could have imagined what we were going to face when the clocks turned midnight launching us into a fresh decade. This pandemic has brought fear to most, if not all of us. We have suffered loss in so many ways; the people we have known and loved; loss of freedom; isolation and loneliness; poor health and well-being; job losses and fear of loss of employment; struggles for businesses to keep going or survive, and so much more.
In recent weeks we have had the good news of the vaccination being rolled out, and a number of the older members of our community have already begun to receive these; but now we have fresh news that the virus has mutated, and we have had fresh limitations imposed upon us, when we had just begun to hope we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hope…. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that things will turn out for the best; a feeling of trust (I would say in God); a belief that God is for us and not against us; that what is going on will pass, and that the future is in God’s hands. I wonder how you would describe your hope?
For me, hope and faith are over-lapping realities. I have heard hope described as faith in the future tense. I might not have all the answers, but I know where my future lays. My faith is in God, the God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, so that we could get to know him and learn how much God cares for his people. Reading about Jesus’ life, death and coming back to life in the Bible, helps me understand something of God’s plans for the future of humankind; his plans that gives me hope and a future. For me, the reality of relationship with God, through Jesus; knowing that nothing can separate me from his love, is the basis of my hope, which I share with you.
As many of you know, I am considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable, and like many have been shielded, and when not I have taken great care to follow instructions to take care for myself and others. There is a passage in Romans chapter 8 that I think is the source of my hope:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; …… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is in God’s word that I find HOPE. There are many things that I, personally, am unable to influence or change but I believe in a God who calls me to be rooted in the peace and grace of God; knowing the love of God in Christ Jesus. Through a living relationship with God I am able to trust him for the future; He doesn’t promise to make it free of hardship but he does promise to always be with me in love, support and encouragement.
Hope is important to me. It doesn’t stop me feeling frustrated at the situation we are all in currently, but it does help me dig deep for strength to keep going, or to face the difficulties that cross my path. Without hope I would not be able to serve or love in the way that I try to do. We all need hope at this time.
What has the church been up to in 2020?
We had so much planned for the last year, which just fell by the wayside. The 75th Anniversary of VE Day would have been commemorated well in Belton style, for instance. Even so, wasn’t our community so creative in commemorating this anniversary.
In March the churches were closed for lockdown, and my husband, Tim, and son, Andy, helped both All Saints Belton and St Peter and St Paul Burgh Castle meet on line. Services have continued on-line, although some services and one Messy Church has taken place in the buildings.
The church is not the building, it’s the people! I’ve heard that said so many times, but how true it is.
The church has continued to work with our Moorlands Primary Academy, leading Collective Worship each week and special services for Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas through Zoom.
Leaders of Young at Heart deserve a mention for all the hard work they have put in trying to help people who were feeling isolated or lonely; dreaming up such things as Afternoon Tea deliveries on a couple of occasions, courtesy of Binkys, monthly quizzes and all sorts of activities.
A lot of work has been carried out by The Pantry volunteers supporting families and individuals in need, for which we are grateful for the donations received from many organisations and individuals, including both Belton & Burgh Castle Parish Councils, and the Village Voice. And I mustn’t overlook the work done by many people in the church for the on-line Christmas Fair which raised around £650 for The Pantry foodbank.
On the pastoral side, there have been more funerals than we would have liked. Viv and I always find it a privilege to support our local families in bereavement, but this year has been a year of adapting what we have been allowed to do. We have carried out full services beside the grave, seeking to give as good and full a tribute and send-off as we are able to; something I had never had to do before in 23 years of ministry. Sadly, most of the weddings planned for 2020 had to be postponed until 2021, although one was celebrated in February and another in December, so life and love goes on. Thank God!
There is, hopefully, much to look forward to in 2021. I hope that once again we will be able to throw open the church doors and welcome people in for coffee and cake, and to worship God in song and strong voice. I look forward to being able to invite people to The Rectory for the Summer Fete, and for all of us to be out and about greeting one another and not fearful.
