Dear Friends, First and foremost I would once again like to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and wishes, during my incapacity, due to shingles in April. Knowing that people were thinking about us both and praying for us, brought us much needed comfort, following yet another spell of illness. I do hope that you managed to spend some time with family and friends, as we celebrated the risen Christ. We are now fast approaching Pentecost and we will once again come together as a pastorate to celebrate with our friends at Trinity as they celebrate 160 years of Christian presence in Oxton. This year has been a year of celebrations for many people for many different reasons and this has included a Coronation and Eurovision, held just over the water. You may well have had other family celebrations where you have been able to come together and spend time sharing family stories. These are the occasions which are most memorable and also the ‘catch ups’ that come about at short notice or unplanned leave the greatest memories. I am sure, when we have such events, we talk about what we did, in order to celebrate or how we laughed and shared quality time together as a family. At Pentecost everyone heard the good news in their own language and amazed at what they were hearing and witnessing. They talked about what they had seen and shared the story with others – and so through the power of the Holy Spirit people started to hear the good news of Christ. If the disciples hadn’t shared their stories of life with Jesus, we wouldn’t be here. The gospels weren’t recorded for another 60 years. The disciples had confidence in what Jesus had said to them and what he had shown them. So much confidence and filled with the spirit of Pentecost, they shared their stories with anyone who would listen to them. It is all about sharing and talking about what our faith means to us; relying on the Holy Spirit. Just as they all spoke in their own tongue, of what God was doing, we are called to do the same. I would urge you to think about what your faith means to you over the next couple of weeks and encourage you to consider attending the Talking Faith day at Hoole URC Chester. Mark