We have an update from the lovely Rev Chris Hood from the Old Felixstowe Parish

Old Felixstowe Parish Update

By Mel Saunders On May 24, 2021

June brings the promise of sunny days, warm evenings and, this year, a potential easing of lockdown restrictions. There is still some uncertainty about exactly what will still be in place – for example, will we be able to sing together in church – but I guess each of us is looking forward to a return to a sense of normality, whatever that may mean.

I wonder how you feel about being in a crowded café or packed pub? I am looking forward to such a time but I also feel somewhat anxious as I imagine it. TV programmes filmed pre-pandemic look strange as we see people within two metres of each other. What will it feel like again for that to be normal again?

For many of us, June is often a time when we begin to look forward to summer holidays, barbeques and getting together with family and friends. I hope and pray that each of us may find some time this summer to take a moment to stop and refresh ourselves in whatever way fits with us.

I have recently been reading about how we need to adapt and change as we encounter new situations. One book describes how US pioneers Lewis and Clarke were seeking to find a route to the North West of the USA and were navigating a river. As they travelled west, they assumed when one river came to an end a further river would develop and take them towards the Pacific. However, what they encountered were the Rocky Mountains and they needed to think differently about the canoes they had brought to navigate the new passage. The mountains required a new method of navigation and new people such as the young native American Sacagawea to help them work out the route forward.

As we journey together through the pandemic and beyond, I think that we may have to learn new methods and from new people about how we navigate this ‘new normal’. I wonder what new skills and ways of doing things you think we may need? In Old Felixstowe Parish we are aware that the Good News of Jesus has not changed – our core purpose to live, show and tell His love continues – but perhaps how we do this may change.

As always, I would welcome you to get in touch and come and share what we do.

Rev Chris Hood