15/08/2026
Dear friends of St James the Great Church, Sunday 16th August, we keep the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the appointed Gospel is Mary's own song, the Magnificat — sung not from comfort but from the uncertainty of an unmarried pregnancy, and yet full of confidence that God has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
The Assumption carries that confidence to its furthest point: Mary, body and soul, drawn into the life of God as the first sign of what is promised to every baptised Christian at the resurrection. The Church has always resisted any suggestion that the body is incidental to salvation — Mary's Assumption stands as our answer to that suggestion. Whatever weariness we carry in the body this summer, we carry it as those already promised its redemption, not its disposal.
The Heatwave - Parish life always eases a little in August, with many of you away — but this year that gentler rhythm has run alongside real physical strain. The UK is now in its fifth heatwave of the summer, and the ground and our patience are both feeling it. Please keep an eye on elderly neighbours and anyone struggling in the heat: a knock on the door or a bottle of water left on a step is no small thing at the moment.
Looking Ahead: Launchpad and Youthscape - over the coming three to five weeks, I will bring more detail to the parish about a new chapter in our common life: Launchpad, a coaching programme run by Youthscape to help churches like ours begin serious, milestone-sustained work with young people. ‘Youthscape’ describes it as "an informed, practical and hopeful" course for church leaders taking first steps in youth ministry, and from what I have seen of it, that holds up. Over several sessions, it helps a church take an honest stock of the people and resources it already has and build a realistic strategy from there rather than an aspirational one.
Our own shape for this will be simple: build in a settled habit of prayer for our young people and families; build up the volunteers and confidence to accompany them; and build out into the wider community around us. This is not a side project. I want it to become part of how this parish understands itself. More information will follow.
Sustaining This Work-This builds on real generosity already shown to us by the Mission Opportunity Fund and the Fellowship of St John the Evangelist. I will be reapplying to both for support as this next stage takes shape, so that it is properly resourced. Alongside this, we intend to maintain our links with the Education Department at the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and to build in resources reaching our local Church school children and their parents."
May you find rest, shade, and refreshment in these last weeks of summer, and keep our parish, and this developing work among our young people, in your faithful prayers.
Fr James McCluskey
Fr James
The Virgin and the Angels, detail of the Assumption of the Virgin
Antonio da Correggio (1489–1534)
