Faith in the Community: 'Twixmas' is a time to look back and forward

TWIXMAS: the time between Christmas and the New Year. This is a strange time for many if not all of us – a time of not quite knowing where we are.

And it can be a time of reflection: looking back at what’s happened in the last year, remembering previous years, and perhaps making resolutions for the next year.

It’s a helpful reminder that, as human beings, we are always living inbetween-times. However hard we try, we’re never going to be the finished article – instead, we’re always works in progress.

As an archdeacon in the Church of England, my job is to support the work of churches across a really diverse patch, stretching from Gosport and Fareham right up towards the Hindhead Tunnel, taking in Petersfield and the Meon Valley.

The buildings come in many shapes and sizes, but the real churches are the people – and they’re all different, too. In our differences, we’re brought together by faith in God, who loves us just as we are, and wants us to grow into the people he has made us to be.

This isn’t something we can do on our own – we need to be together, as a collection of works in progress.

As Christians, we believe that, without God’s love, we’d be lost. So we know that we need to rely on him. And we also need each other: for support and challenge; for eating and praying and lamenting and laughing together.

Jesus shows us that responding to God’s love means loving other people – and not just those in our churches.

Recognising that we’re not the finished article, we realise that we don’t (thankfully!) need to wait until we have our own lives completely worked out, before we respond to the needs of those around us.

I’ve met lots of people in churches over the past year, who, in reaching out in service – bringing joy and dignity and hope to older people; helping young people to realise how precious and valuable they are – have told me how much they themselves have grown. Being in a community of love and bringing that love to others is deeply fulfilling.

So why not treasure this twixmas as a time to think about how you have joined in with this in the past, and how you might join in afresh in 2025. Happy New Year!