Mirian Thurlow writes

It has been a week of sunshine so far and whether you love it and spend as much time as possible soaking it in, or you prefer to seek out a nice shady spot it seems that summer has truly arrived in time for the holidays!

But it has also been a strange week as restrictions were lifted on Monday, in what some called ‘freedom day’ and others have labelled the start of an experiment. However, rather than bringing certainty as we might have hoped it has brought a lot of uncertainty. Some of us are excited about being able to see more of our friends and families, but some of us are apprehensive and worried about the consequences of lifting all restrictions.

As was mentioned on Sunday, for the time being as a network we are keeping the precautions we had in place because we want to ensure our church spaces continue to be safe spaces where people feel they can come and join in with what’s going on. So, we are asking those who do come on site to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Unfortunately singing will still be only for those joining online from home, but as we wait and see we hope it won’t be too long before we are able to sing together again.

But with schools breaking up this week and holiday season getting well and truly underway there are lots of exciting opportunities to join in with the network over the next couple of weeks and months. Summer is always a good chance to slightly change some of our usual patterns of meeting and worship God together in different and creative ways. So do look out as we send out details of various summer events across the network and even on the beach!

I have been here at CCBN for almost a month now and looking back over the past few weeks there have been so many situations where I can clearly see God’s hand has been at work, in both big and small things in my life. And as I have been reflecting on this I came across Acts 26:22: ‘God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike’. God walks with us and helps us in all places and all situations no matter whether they feel big or small, and in all things we can testify to his goodness. I want to encourage you to look out over the next couple of days for the ways God is with you and helping you in the small and great alike,

Many Blessings,

Miriam