St Denys Church Evington Leicester

Copies can be collected from the table in church or delivered by one of the regular distributors. It is also possible to have copies posted to you (at an extra cost to cover the postage)

The magazine costs 60p per issue or £7.00 annually

If you would like to receive a sample copy of the magazine please use the contact details below

Format of the magazine is an A5 booklet with 28 pages. It is packed full of useful information as well as the Vicar's monthly letter, contributions from parishioners, poems, calendar, etc etc. There are no commercial adverts, so no space is wasted.

Contact: magazine@stdenys.org.uk
(please put 'Magazine' in the subject of the email)

Vicar’s letter for February

Dear Friends

The Nativity of Outsiders

There are times in our lives when we all feel like ‘outsiders’, whether it be outside of family structures, a circle of friends, being in a different country or even in our church communities (we hope that this isn’t the case but it can happen). We can also be made aware of being on the ‘outside’ when we don’t hold views or beliefs similar to those around us or we have a different political or social perspective on something. Sometimes the sense of aloneness that this causes makes us feel as though we’re standing and peering into a window of a perfect picture of belonging and togetherness that we’re not part of.

It struck me over the Christmas period that the nativity scene is the perfect model of what it is to be included because it was made up of those on the outside of conventional formed groups. The nativity collective is made up of individuals who wouldn’t normally be associated with one another. There were the lowly shepherds, the misfit family with the illegitimate child and finally the wise men with their riches but who were humbled by the simplicity of the situation that lay before them. We must not forget the animals, who also played their part in this scene of perfect inclusivity.

This is a picture of outsiders brought together in hope for the future, people who believed that things were going to get better in the world as a result of new birth. This is something that we can hold on to throughout 2012. Just as one of the Common Worship Eucharistic prayers tells us: ‘this is our story and this is our song’. This is our story of inclusiveness from our faith tradition that we can share and celebrate with others to join in also.

One of my best Christmas moments this year was playing Joseph in our crib service nativity play at St Philip’s. We had young people from the local Muslim community sharing with us in the nativity story as well as many other members of the wider St Philips community. It was a joyful time for the whole community and I hope, included everyone.

With very best wishes for an inclusive 2012!

Sonya Brown

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