Wednesday 28 December 2011

Attempting to reach out and connect with more people with social networking

Hello. My name is Father Gerald Westcott. I am an Anglican priest living and working in rural Newfoundland. I am married to a wonderful wife, Valerie; and we have three beautiful children, who are now young adults finding their way in life.

Finding OUR way through LIFE is something of what I hope this blog will be about.

My parish is the Church of the Resurrecton in South River, just south of Bay Roberts in Conception Bay North. Our web page is www.anglicanresurrection.com.

As a Christian community, we have been trying in various ways to reach out to the region around us in meaningful ways. We operate a daily cafe in our Emmaus room (our own version of Starbucks!), offering lunch, refreshments, and a listening ear if asked for! We run a monthly seniors cafe, and a week night messy church for young children. And we offer life skill courses such as parenting, bereavement, marriage, divorce and separation.

Of course, we also gather for liturgy (worship) on Sundays and Wednesdays; we teach and practice corporately Christian mediation; and we offer courses on the Christian faith such as Alpha.

My desire is to connect with people in meaningful and relevant ways, and in a manner that will make a difference in the living out of their lives.

For me, meaning and purpose in life is found in Jesus Christ.

Yet, having said this, and because of this, as a faith community, we want to meet people where they are, not where we think they should be. Consequently, we exercise a radical hospitality, a radical welcome to all.

Anyone and everyone is invited to journey with us in any of our various environments, in the unfolding conversation and discovery of Life.

And hence the beginning of blogging for me.

This can be potentially for me another environment to try and meet people where they are, and for us to share a conversation about Life, where we all change and grow into more loving and compassionate people in the process.

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