St Andrews Chronicles
As I write, the snow is fast disappearing, having lingered longer than the holiday mood that came with it. The gasp on opening the curtains, the blast of light and beauty, brought with it a joy and energy that I think we all needed!
Steve Rogers
Steve’s footprints are all over the place at StACC*. Terry walked past the church and saw the thick ice covering the distance from road to building. “Let me clear that up”, he said, pulling his gloves on. “Steve would have done this.” Steve’s family and the StACC family have ordered two benches to sit together outside the church. Much of our pastoral work goes on outdoors these days: it is as if God has taken the church out of the building. These two benches will be lovely reminders of Steve and a place to sit and think or talk and pray. Thank you so much to everyone who has given to this memorial so far. If you wish to Donate via our giving page using the reference Steve
COVID-19 crisis food cupboard
The food cupboard is StACC’s outreach to those who are vulnerable and marginalised continues despite COVID-19. The church ‘meeting room’ has morphed into a ‘COVID-19 crisis food cupboard’. Up to 50 bags of food each Tuesday are put together for young families as well as the ‘Foxhill Focus’ family of vulnerable adults, for whom Susie Houston also prepares a tasty and healthy takeaway meal. THANK YOU so much for your wonderful, generous donations to make this happen. We are so grateful to you. For some people, a bag of food and a listening ear can make all the difference.
We try to be and bring good news to encourage and assist those who are experiencing a range of hardships, including: Poverty, poor mental and/or physical health, severe depression and anxiety, bereavement, homelessness, fighting addiction, struggling to care for family, severe isolation and loneliness. Sadly, our list of people approaching us for help is increasing, and we are aware that there are many more who are not receiving any help.
‘It’s not just the food, it’s feeling like I haven’t been totally forgotten’. (foxhill focus member)
Prayer
Recently we held a ‘Jericho Prayer’ weekend, when a group of praying pilgrims walked (separately or in bubbles) as part of their daily exercise around the boundaries of the estate, praying, listening, and blessing the community here. We wanted to surround the estate in prayer seven times over and we certainly managed that and much more! We would like to continue with these weekends, as well as ‘StACC Action… or Staction’ litter picks, when we can safely do so.
In the meantime, we continue to pray and many of us continue to walk around the estate as we do. While the snow and ice of last week has gone, the days of frozen plans roll on. All the same, those huge footprints left by Steve are being filled by his church family. Terry, breathlessly reminiscing over Steve while scraping away with his spade on Tuesday morning, is not the only one. We all continue to remember Steve in so many acts of service. “Steve would have done this”, we think to ourselves, “… this one’s for you, Steve”. A trip to the post office for someone housebound, daily dog walks for someone sick, time for a chat with someone grieving, a tablet for a child’s online learning, a delivery of flowers, a phone call…God is still calling and using his people to reach out to the Foxhill community.
Meanwhile, daily sharing on WhatsApp of testimony, hilarity, tragedy, scripture, prayer, news, worship, the glorious and the little things of life continues. Amidst all the challenge and hardship, our God has not changed, the St Andrews family demonstrate daily the truth that the apostle Paul was convinced of; 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 (and certainly not COVID-19) will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Cath Candish
*StACC = St Andrews Community Church, Foxhill