Weekly letter from St Luke's - 17 February 2023

Dear Parish Friends In the church calendar we come to the last Sunday after Epiphany; Lent starts this coming week with Ash Wednesday. We will celebrate the Transfiguration on this day (the lectionary also gives us the option to celebrate this on the second Sunday in Lent, or on 6th August) as it seems to bring together many of the themes that we have thought about throughout this Epiphany season. Who is Jesus? The transfiguration story links Jesus to the long history of God and God's people, and the light reminds us of the Epiphany message that Jesus is the light to the nations, bringing the gospel of salvation to all. St Paul puts it very well in his first letter to the Corinthians (4:6): For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ This Sunday our services are as usual: APBA Holy Communion Order Two at 7am and then Family Service with communion and Children's Ministry at 9am (also streamed on Zoom). The week's notice paper and 9am service sheet are linked below. Our Annual Meeting will be held this Sunday, 19th February, at 10.30am. A link to the report book online is here, and a few printed copies will be available in church. Following the Annual Meeting, at 12noon (this does not imply that the Annual Meeting will last 1.5 hours!), there will be a Parish Lunch in the upper hall to wish Chris and David Bromwich well for the future, as Chris steps down from a number of her rolls in the parish. Please bring a plate to share. Yours in Christ Rev'd Timothy