Many of you will know Elliot Grove really well - and many of you won't have met him yet! Elliot- seen here with his wife Sarah in the picture above (and yes that is sunny Jersey!) will be ordained deacon (the first stage of being a vicar) this Sunday, at Winchester Cathedral. Then he'll be starting his curacy with the Pastrow family of churches, north of Andover - here's their website (https://www.pastrowfamily.org.... started at St Francis Church when he was born! He was brought along by parents Andy and Fiona (our esteemed treasurer and church warden) and accompanied by his brother Philip. So many of you at St Francis have walked with him as he's grown in faith and calling. As a church family it's a moment of great pride and celebration, as one who's been nurtured by so many of you takes this step in following his vocation. Do pray for him and Sarah as he's on retreat this week, as he's ordained and as he starts curacy. Elliot's just one example of how vital church family is, in enabling us all to step into what God is calling and gifting us to do and be. That's true whatever age we are, whether God's calling us into a new thing in retirement or we're working out who we're called to be and what gifts God has given us as children and teenagers, young adults or even in middle age! The love and encouragement - not to mention the nudges back on course, grace and forgiveness - that we give each other, enable every one of us to be all the more fully the people God has called us to be. Paul's advice to the Thessalonian Church (1 Thess 5:11) is for us at St Francis too:'So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.'
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