4th October 2024

People gathered for last night’s First Wednesday community meal with a sense of expectation and joy. “It’s lovely to come here”, “the food is always good”, “you get to meet people” were all phrases I heard (as well as I can remember them) as we sat with our coffee waiting for Bruce and Ali to arrive with the first course.

What a good time we had. It goes without saying that the food was good but actually people around me were commenting on the flavour of the vegetables, the texture of the mashed potato, the generosity of the sausages.

Most of all we were there to meet each other and get to know one another better: sharing fellowship. There was a lot of laughter at my end of the table but then I was sitting with Rosemary and Pete who formed a double act that deserves wider recognition.

At the end of the evening, as David pointed out, everybody got on and cleared everything away without anybody needing to be told what to do.

As Sam prayed in the grace at the start of the meal, we had encountered people and, as we did so, we had encountered God. I pray that as the winter draws on, people will still feel able to come out for their monthly feast.

Nick Parsons