Do you enjoy birdwatching? | Faith Matters

During the month of September we are having a special focus on our local birdlife at the church where I serve as associate vicar, the Good Shepherd, Shoreham Beach. The congregation has made life-like models of the wading birds that populate the Adur Estuary, and they are on display alongside our altar. Sadly, many of these beautiful and quirky birds, like curlew and snipe, are now endangered because they struggle to find safe places to nest, or food to eat.

The model birds stand at the heart of our worship as a reminder that Christians are called to care about all living things. We are praying for our local wading birds and the conservation groups that work to protect them. We have arranged a birdwatching morning and an evening talk in church from a local RSPB bird warden.

All of this is happening during the church season of Creationtide, that runs each year from September 1 until St Francis’s Feast Day on October 4. It is a time for Christians to be attentive to the natural world, to remind themselves of its goodness and their connectedness to all life.

We live in a time of ecological crisis, and the degradation of our environment is heartbreaking. Christians have looked afresh at their faith for guidance. We have found new meaning in that popular Bible story about Noah’s ark. In this ancient story, so loved by children, we see that God gave Noah a mission to build a huge ark and invite in all kinds of birds and beasts, to stay alive. God’s directive makes it clear that Noah and his family are charged with seeing to the survival of the other living creatures.

I hope you might see enjoy some precious glimpses of your local birdlife this autumn, and it will be a reminder to you that, like Noah, we have a responsibility to take care and look after creation.

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Dates for your diary

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• Macmillan Coffee Mornings and Afternoons – Friday, September 29

Many churches in Sussex will be hosting events in support of Macmillan. Why not visit some of our wonderful houses of God and at the same time support the work of this important charity?

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• Service for Black History Month, Chichester Cathedral –Saturday, October 7

At 11am on this day people from across Sussex will gather in the Cathedral to celebrate the rich diversity of humanity, with the guest preacher being Guy Hewitt, the Church of England’s first Racial Justice Director.

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• Diocesan Walsingham Festival, St Bartholomew’s Church, Brighton – Saturday, October 14

A day to celebrate together the love and prayers of Mary, especially under her title of Our Lady of Walsingham. Join other pilgrims from across the Diocese in the stunning church in the heart of Brighton for Solemn Mass, healing ministries and two keynote speakers. For more information and to book your free place, visit www.olwfestival.uk.