Welcome to Earley St Nicolas
Open to God, Open to One Another, Open to the Community
Thoughts For This Week
Unity
Dear Friends,In the celebration of our service last Sunday we renewed our Baptism vowsand affirmed that we believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit who gives life to thepeople of God and makes Christ known in the world. The joy is that we are only asmall part of the...
Epiphany
Dear Friends, January can feel a difficult, uncomfortable and dark time of year for people. It can exacerbate what we’re already feeling or have lurking inside us. As I have gotten older, I have started to love this time of year, with Epiphany holding more meaning and...
See things in a new way
Dear Friends, Occasionally you see things in a new way. Earlier in the year a couple of our congregation attended a guest speaker event for Café Théologique, the public theology series I have been hosting for over a decade in Reading. The guest was speaking about the...
Gaudete Sunday
Dear Friends, This week we are celebrating Gaudete Sunday, a day of joy within the more thoughtful season of Advent - "gaudete" is Latin for "Rejoice!". We will light a pink (rose) candle on the Advent wreath and our readings are focused on the joy and hope in...
Feast of St Nicolas
Dear Friends, As we journey through the days of Advent, many of you as I am finding, are being challenged by all the different messages that are daily being shared with us. Mine started last Monday when I joined a gathering at Abbeyfield, the care home where my...
Advent Pit Stops
Dear Friends,I can’t quite believe Advent starts this Sunday. The countdown to Christmas has started. The pace is picking up. So much to do! Bring it on!...but hang on a minute, I’m already busy, how can I fit more in? Even my to do lists, have lists of their own....
Oasis
Dear Friends,This past week I was assisting Julia for a REinspired session with year 3 children from Loddon school. Shockingly, they were already looking at the Christmas story. Despite my initial grumpiness about rushing into Christmas before we had even got to...
COP30
Dear Friends, You may have heard in the news that the UN climate talks, COP30, are taking place in Belém, Brazil. This Sunday we will be lighting our eco candle and saying a prayer for COP30 at the start of our service. The words of the prayer are given below. This...
Remembering
Dear Friends,Throughout the Church’s year we are remembering. So in this year we have remembered the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed which expresses the faith in which we live our Christian lives. At our Festivals we remember Christ’s birth at Christmas and his...