HELLO WORLD
HELLO WORLD
What's Been Happening
Wiltshire Churches Together Quiet Day was held at Ivy House 20th March 2012 Thanks must go to Helen Lems and her team at Ivy House for their wonderful hospitality and to WCT for organising and subsidising the event, bringing together a large ecumenical group from the area for the day; many with anticipation knowing that the retreat leader was to be Canon Geoffrey Barton. We were encouraged to think and pray about a way forward for WCT and how the organisation can be of best support to it's members. Unity was very much in our thoughts as we considered the call of Jesus to 'Follow Me' In simple trust like theirs who heard, Beside the Syrian sea, The gracious calling of the Lord, Let us, like them, without a word, Rise up and follow thee, Rise up and follow thee. Did the first disciples have an advantage over us in knowing the physical being of Jesus, the most compelling person ever? What made them up and leave their jobs, homes and families for a life on the move? How do we respond to this same person without being able to see Him physically? We have the sense of a call in our spirits which grows into vision and requires a response, God in Jesus waits for our 'yes' to follow. We were given the picture of a circle with dots around the circumference all connecting with one in the centre. Each dot representing a person seeking Christ and He in the middle, we are all seeking the one in the centre and when we find Him we find one another also. Jesus is the one we all look to as the foundation of our faith but are we really seeking Him for ourselves as mature Christians or are we still following a doctrine because that is the way we have been taught by our parents? We looked at two instances in the Gospels where the response to the call was 'no, not yet' or maybe even 'no, never'. God longs to give us so much more - He waits for our 'YES!' Jesus' physical journey focussed on the Resurrection through the cross becomes our spiritual journey. Jesus told His disciples 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God', purity comes with focus - to will one thing, the will of the Father. 'Call - Vision - Response'; will ours be Yes, No - not yet or No - never? Thank you Geoffrey from us all for an inspiring quiet day. 
Making a Difference Together - Living Examples
Another successful Forum was held on 12 November at Market Lavington Community Hall.Presentations from three Churches together groups and input from the Abbot of Downside Dom Aidan Bellinger.
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Farewell from Kate Sax
Moving on always brings very mixed emotions. Joy and excitement about something new, tinged with sadness at leaving friends behind and perhaps regret at not having achieved everything one thought one might!I have met some wonderful people on my travels around Wiltshire but am very conscious of many that I never got to meet! I really enjoyed visiting different churches and leading worship and preaching - a special privilege to take a service for a different denomination.
So I leave with warm thoughts about many people and groups and prayers of encouragement for all. I don't think Jesus ever intended to instigate such a wide diversity of followers but there again he must have known that human nature being what it is, it was bound to happen! Creation is immensely diverse as is mankind - what it important is that we all follow the one same Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul says then, encourage one another and build up the unity of the Body of Christ - seek to do those things which do build us up and pray for discernment, strength and guidance through the Holy Spirit.
I shall be continuing the work of Mission Enabler in a much smaller area in Bath and Wells Diocese, as well as being Parish Priest of Churchill and Langford and I will take with me many lessons learnt from my time with Wiltshire Churches Together.
With prayers and blessings, Kate Sax
Shared Visions of Fresh Expressions at Christ Church, Warminster
Over 40 people came together to hear inspirational speakers from the National Fresh Expressions Team and local stories from practitioners in June.
Christ Church in Warminster provided a great venue for those taking part which included Ian Adams - National FE Team Facilitator, Philip Bromiley - FE Vision Day Facilitator and Rector of Oldbury, and John Wraw, Archdeacon of Wiltshire (pictured above).
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Wiltshire Churches Together Forum - hugely appreciated!
Over 70 people attended the WCT Forum at Market Lavington Community Hall on a sunny Saturday in May.
Participants came from Churches Together groups around Wiltshire, representing all the major denominations.
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Silver Surfers Techno Clubs take off!
Last year talks took place between Revd Kate Sax, Ecumenical Mission Enabler for Wiltshire Churches Together and AgeUK around the subject of providing IT training for senior citizens. More >>
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