Dear friends,

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus among us. He is Lord, the King of Glory. The promised Messiah. The Way, the truth and the Life. He is goodness, beauty, forgiveness, hope and love. It is he alone who can read the entire story of our lives. Jesus is the Word made flesh. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

One word and one alone captures the meaning of Christmas and it is the word: LOVE

As you celebrate Christmas welcome Christ with love in your hearts. Heaven and earth will bow down before the baby in the crib who became the Christ on the cross.

The meaning of Christmas is this: God became HUMAN and in becoming human redeemed the world by being born, by dying on the cross and by rising again on the third day. The Christmas crib and the cross are deeply related and reveal how deeply and intimately God immersed himself in the human condition.

As usual we shall be celebrating Christmas in the parish church with those familiar carols and readings, and we hope that you will all be able to join us for the advertised services. Once again local organisations will be decorating Christmas trees for a Christmas tree festival. It is always a great joy to see the community and church working together and I hope that as many of you will bring your family, children and friends to see the trees and to the Christmas services.

May God Bless you all this Christmas and in the New Year,



Father Andrew Gough
Vicar