Perhaps its rather too late to wish you a Happy New Year given that its the 9th already. Nevertheless I hope yours has got off to a good start. We've has a very exciting start to the year as the builders have arrived to do the Quinquennial repairs. Every five years the Church Buildings have to be inspected and they are then repaired to bring them back up to standard. We've been planning the repairs since the report was delivered in 2005 as there is quite a lot to do and none of us could quite get our heads round it. Between the two Churches there are £42,000 worth of repairs to be done, which will completely clear out our bank accounts but will ensure these wonderful buildings are at the centre of the village in future generations. Thanks to lots of wonderful efforts at the Old Church in past decades the bulk of he work this time is on the Upper Church.

We're currently in the Epiphany Season when we give thanks that the birth of Jesus wasn't kept a secret but was revealed to everyone. We began last week remembering the wise men who brought the gifts from afar. They were gentiles (non Jews) and the message they bring is that Jesus wasn't just for the Jews but for the whole world. This Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Christ when there was a voice from heaven revealing Jesus as God's Son. Then next week we'll celebrate the miracle of the water turned into wine at the wedding feast in Cana - the first miracle, a sign of things to come. Its an interesting Season - one for giving thanks for those who passed the faith through the ages to us and for thinking about how we can continue to spread the Gospel.

So as we begin 2009 we're ensuring that we pass on our buildings and our faith for the years to come.