May 2008 - Volume 30, Issue No. 5

Dear Friends

We’ve certainly had some wintry weather during April. During a slightly milder spell I ventured out into the Rectory garden armed with secateurs and loppers. Attacking the overgrown shrubs is something I find most therapeutic! Not that I’m an expert gardener. Ron, my husband, knows much more about gardening than I do, having been brought up on a small farm and market garden. Perhaps that explains why he avoids gardening like the plague! In fairness, though, he is the one who remembers to water the house plants.

I recall the first time I ever pruned the roses. I cut them back so severely that I thought I’d killed them. I hadn’t. The roses survived and flourished. Jesus often referred to growing things when teaching about the Kingdom of God. He also spoke of God the Father as the gardener. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a rose tree or a shrub and to come under the pruning knife. I do know what it’s like to receive attention from the divine gardener. There are times in all our lives when God has to do a bit of pruning.

In John chapter 15 Jesus speaks of himself as the vine and Christians as the branches. We are to remain firmly grafted into the vine, attached to Jesus, if we are to grow and bear fruit. Jesus says that the gardener cuts out the dead wood, and cuts back fruit bearing branches so that they will yield yet more fruit. Being pruned can be a painful business, but every gardener knows that it is necessary. When the plant grows and bears fruit we see the purpose of the pruning.

In these days of diminishing numbers of clergy we are having to think and pray about what can and cannot be maintained in the life of our churches. Steve Osman, myself and our lay leaders in the Cluster are committed to doing our very best to provide pastoral care and to arrange for worship in each parish church. Having said that, some changes will be necessary, in order to produce a pattern that can be maintained with a reduced ministry team. To begin with we plan to change certain services around. If the time comes when we need to cut back, the question will be how to do that in a way that will produce more abundant growth.

Of course, much of the life of our churches goes on, led by able and gifted lay people, with support and encouragement from clergy where needed. I wonder, though, how much of what we do is really producing fruit in the lives of our churches and our communities. Is there any dead wood that needs cutting out – activities and groups begun, perhaps, a long time ago, and which have served their purpose or are becoming burdensome for the leaders? Are there other activities that are achieving some results, but which could do better with a bit of pruning? This could be a good time to look at our churches with a gardener’s eye, and decide what needs attention if we want to see growth and fruitfulness.

With my love and prayers
Glynis Hetherington