Clergy Letter
This month we are grateful to the Rev’d Bill Sloan who ministers at Samlesbury St Leonard the Less for supplying the Clergy Letter.
A very happy and peaceful New Year to you all. I hope and pray 2020 is a really good year for everyone.
When I was thinking about 2020 I reflected on the year 2000, only 20 years ago and all the scaremongering that abounded at that time. We were told computers would stop working, the millennium bug as it came to be known would not only stop computers from working but will also stop aeroplanes, etc. None of this came to pass.
As we enter a new decade what are your fears for 2020? Perhaps you’re looking forward to the New Year with excitement and have no worries. Or perhaps you have some hangovers from previous years.
Whichever side of the fence you are on we can all trust that in God while we travel through the decade He is always with us and is always prepared and willing to listen to anything we have to say. All we have to do is to talk with him. For some this talking with God follows a relatively formal time of morning or evening prayer. This is what all clergy have to do as they pray for the parish and its people. For others it is less formal and regulated as they talk with God at every opportunity in the day. And for others it happens on an irregular basis, once each week, month or even year. It really doesn’t matter how often or how regular your prayer is, the valuable thing is it does happen during important times in your life.
In our services in the Church of England we are encouraged to pray for the Church, the World and to Thank God for His goodness. I would suggest this is a good place to start and you could try reading your Bible, perhaps at the same time and one chapter, and see where you are in a few months time. You could follow this pattern at some point in every day bringing the needs of your family to God and asking for His help in solving them.
As we live through this new decade what are you dreams for it. Whatever they are talk to God about them and ask Him to lead you in the way.
This new decade of 2020 will be entirely different from the 1920s. There will be a lot to talk to God about with all the uncertainties we see in the world just now. One area I would ask you to focus on in your prayers is for peace in our world. There are far too many wars in the world with some people trying to escalate these wars. Pray that God will heal broken and war torn nations and bring a lasting peace to His world.
My prayer for you as you journey through 2020 is that it will be a Holy, Good and Peaceful decade and you will find peace in our Lord Jesus.
With every blessing for 2020
Rev’d Bill Sloan
