From Rev’d Caroline – 01285 712467 – carolinesymcox@googlemail.com
Readings for Sunday: Genesis 1.28 – 2.3; Matthew 10:40-42
The following is taken from the Parish Newsletter for Sunday 28th June 2026
Our 10am service this weekend sees us celebrating two wonderful things. Firstly, the ordination of Rev’d Vicky to the priesthood, and her first celebration of Holy Communion – an incredibly special event and a true joy. And secondly, laying the foundations of our Bug Church – a scale model of the church to be filled with all the good things to make it a good home for any number of the ‘creeping things that creep upon the earth’, as Genesis puts it. In this we will be joined by representatives from Fairford Primary School, our partners in the creation of our Bug Church, and its sister church that will be built on the school grounds.
Tying these two special moments together is our awareness of how God builds his Church and his Creation, calling people into service. To follow Jesus is to be ready to have open eyes to look at the world, and to recognise the ways in which we can help, care, and play our part in building God’s Kingdom.
The call to a person to ordained ministry is one very particular way in which God might call us to serve him. It is one way among many though – vocation might be a voice calling us to all kinds of different roles and tasks. And we believe that God calls each and every one of us. Our task then, is to recognise what God purposes for us, and to respond to it. Where is God calling you to be? Who is he calling you to become?
What he is always asking from us though, is a willingness to love. To look for ways to love – whether that be offered to the smallest millipede or to the most important person in the world. Jesus says, “…whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Which little ones might we reach out to, this week? What encouragement and care can we offer? May we find opportunities to build God’s Kingdom as he builds us, his adopted children, into the Body of Christ, his hands and feet here on Earth.
Rev’d Caroline
Updated 4th August 2026