Dear friends,

Autumn is a time of change; a season ending and a season beginning. While I mourn the loss of warm summer evenings and family gathered around the BBQ, I am trying to embrace the warmth of snuggly jumpers, chilly and colourful walks and open fires! We are also looking forward to our joint Harvest Festival service which is held at St. James’ this year, October 5^th 10.30am with a focus on thanksgiving and Eco church – what is it and how can we get involved!

It is also a moment of big change in the Pakenham household as our last child (our baby!) flew the nest to Royal Holloway to begin her Uni career. It’s a poignant moment. All the tears, struggle, joy and laughter of intense parenting of small, and not so small, children is over. We hope and pray we have equipped them all for life outside the nest but are always here with a safety net of hugs and hot chocolate if needed! So a new season for us in all sorts of ways! But life is full and although we are now ‘empty nesters’ I’m sure our days will feel far from empty as we continue to find joy and meaning here in our wonderful communities. But if I’m looking a little lost over the coming months do feel free to give me a hug!

The quote above is a reminder to us all (perhaps especially me!) that we are surrounded by the wonder and beauty of God on a daily basis, so we are never really alone!

With love, Rev’d Kia 😊