Dear Friends,

The month of Christmas has arrived!  The following 3 weeks offer us the wonderful opportunity to prepare ourselves for this greatest of all celebrations, the Christ Mass – Immanuel, “God with us”!

We were blessed with a beautiful wedding last Saturday – everything, including the weather, was perfect.  Peter and Dom made a lovely couple and the ceremony was deeply significant for them.  They are currently honeymooning at a Mozambiquan coastal resort.   Thank you for all the expressions of interest and good wishes.

What a thoroughly heart-warming Carols evening we enjoyed together last Sunday – the ambience, the music, the eats and fellowship afterwards, even Father Christmas! – everything went off fantastically.  Furthermore, a generous offering, which was dedicated to Bramley House, was received.  Thank you to Taiki and many others who made this such a significant community event.

Today we formally express our gratitude and say farewell to Paul and Lesley after more than a decade of loving and faithful service, Paul on several occasions after his retirement stepping into the breach.  I am personally very grateful to Paul and thank him for his loyal, generous support and ministry in this past year and wish him God’s blessings in his work at East View.  We will still be in touch in terms of our Brooklyn arrangement with Paul for 2012.

Please notice the “extreme makeover” to our Pastoral Centre – and thank you to Joe Brown and others in this regard.

Gail and I are grateful to be away on annual leave from 9th to 23rd December, back in time for our Christmas Day services and look forward to celebrating with you there.

‘til then, Gary