The United Reformed Church Chesham

Dear Friends

As you have all noticed, our church building has developed unexpected structural weaknesses, leading to a thorough examination of some of the decorative pinnacles – or wee towers as I would say!! The ongoing efforts behind the scenes to get things put right made me think of our congregation worshipping inside, and how we cope with other sorts of unexpected weaknesses.

Covid and Lockdown have of course influenced our worship in many ways. When we lost a member like Betty we were not able to come together to remember her in the place she loved, until recently. Other members like Marjorie and Margaret W. moved away to safer places, while others find it difficult to adjust to new customs. The question of whether to mask or not to mask has now been resolved. Those who feel safer wearing a mask can sit on the lefthand side of the church after entering, the rest is open to all. Many of us who were not so computer literate are often able to zoom in from home to join meetings which otherwise entailed miles of driving through sometimes wintry conditions.

We are blessed that numbers at services are remaining relatively constant, since we reopened for worship, but involvement in running the church now falls on fewer shoulders. We must all think what we can still do, or haven’t yet tried, to keep our little church running. The interest from a minister, whose health problems prevented him from going any further, gave us all renewed hope, and what has happened once, can, God willing, happen again.

Church meetings are not the most exciting events in one’s social calendars, but because of our democratic structure they are a vital part of our existence. A certain number of members must be present in order for important decisions to be agreed. Recently we had to ask a helpful member to rise from their bed to allow us to agree a proposal, and there is always an anxious counting of heads before we start. Most of us don’t just pop in to our church building on Sunday morning, but none of us can afford to take its existence for granted. This is the place in which. for different reasons, we have chosen to worship God. Just as we will hopefully soon see work to preserve our structures getting under way, let us pray that our worship and work together will ensure a lasting place to celebrate and nurture our faith in the Risen Lord.

Yours in Christ, Heather A-J