Dear Friends
We are a few days into the summer holidays for me and Toni; our first summer back in Cornwall! A summer of both working and looking forward to grandparents being in St Austell.
We are also looking forward to joining in on the team at Creation Fest, – there is still time to book and camp with St Martin’s. Or come for the day, we will also have a gazebo up where you can come and grab a tea or coffee. For more info, check out: Camping Tickets — Creation Fest 2.0
Over the summer locally we have our holiday club: Blaze Holiday Club (12-Aug-2025) · ChurchSuite Events and some Thursdays we shall have presence in the park, which is an opportunity to connect with our community at Castle Park. Then, at the end of the holidays, we shall be having a family BBQ and Silent Disco at the Church on Friday 29th August from 5pm.
The summer is also a time to reset and recharge but also reflect on the last few months. It is also a time for many of our ministries to have a time to rest, for example- through August we won’t have our Sunday children’s groups at 11am, but will be in together and doing Church a little different, so do come along and bring the whole family – a great opportunity to think about how we do Church all together.
A keyword for the summer is ‘rest’. How do you rest? Do you find rest helpful and refreshing or are you someone who finds it hard to rest and you are always busy. As I get older, I love to rest – in fact I love to nap! A great Sunday afternoon is having a nap. A good holiday is having a nap in the sun! Jesus was really clear in the bible about the importance of rest and refreshment. In Mark 2, it says this:
“Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” – Mark 2:27
Here, Jesus is reminding his disciples that we are made to rest, and rest in the Lord. This is why we encourage you all over the summer months to find rest and refreshment. We know as a Church family that September will look busy.
Over the weekend, we celebrated two great pieces of news. Firstly, Tiff has been selected to train as a Distinctive Deacon, training part-time over the next three years, meaning that she joins Nikki in training for ordination. Nikki is training full-time over two years and training to be a priest. Nikki is stepping down as Operation’s Manager and will be in full-time training, but also serving across the benefice. While Tiff will continue in her role on the staff team.
Then we also shared that with Nikki leaving, Rachael Pryor will be our new Office Manager, a new role replacing the Operation’s Manager role. We are excited about her joining us in the team and in the coming months, starting on the 1st September, and this will also see her will step down as Church Warden.
We shall also be saying goodbye to Karen, our children’s worker, and Darren, our Church warden, as they prepare to move to Somerset. They will be greatly missed, and this will see Rachel, our family worker, become our children’s and family worker. We will also welcome Hannah Smith as our SWYM student, a year-long internship learning and serving the Church here at St Martin’s and St Keyne.
Then also in September, the long-awaited work on the Hall will begin, meaning the office will move down to the lower hall, with less access to Upper Hall and fewer car park spaces, but we are also very hopeful for the work that will be done and improve our Hall and serve our community.
This is another reason for this summer to take some time to rest and be refreshed, as we know in the words of Green Day, when September comes, we are going to not only need to be rested and refreshed but ready to see what God is asking of us.
So a question for you – how are you going to rest and rest with God this summer? The secondly, what might God be preparing for you in September?
As we begin the summer, let us pray together these words from Jesus who invites us to rest with Him.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
May your summer be full of peace and rest and refreshment ready for September.
God Bless
Rev Mark