CHRIS Mann led the service on Mothering Sunday, March 19, at Crediton Methodist Church.

The challenge was to show a picture of churches where we had felt nurtured and there were nine different entries from around the country.

Chris said that as we give gifts to our mothers today, we thank them for the love and support we have received as we have grown up. 

More than that, as Christians we owe thanks to the mother churches which have done the same job in raising us in the faith as our earthly mothers have raised us to become adults.

As we grow, we need to be fed, taught and supported to become healthy, happy and confident individuals. The same is true to us as Christians and how wonderful it was to see so many photographs of where we have been nurtured in our faith. We grow through our experiences, through our successes and also through our failures.

Hopefully mothers are with us as we celebrate milestones in our lives and are surrounded by love. The church has also played a part in the people we have become.

The people who worship together share in the comfort,  love and support we experience from our own mothers. We grow and become the people God wants us to be as we become more confident and surrounded by God’s love in our mother church.  

All of the things that we need to grow and be happy, healthy and successful as human beings, we also need from our faith family if we are to grow into responsible, helpful, loving, caring and kingdom-building Christians.

Today that is what we are here to celebrate. It is about all we heard in the reading from Colossians 3 because we are called to be peaceful and thankful, to let the message of Christ dwell within us and shine out and rejoice in the fact that God loves us. The church works effectively and efficiently when it shares that love with others, when it knows what it stands for and when it teaches people how to respond to the situations they face in life.

All of us here today are grateful to have received that gift from God. All of us here have been nurtured, cared for, loved and supported and, hopefully we in turn have offered that support, love and nurturing to those around us. That is what living in the community of Christ means. That is why our churches should be beacons of love, hope and support to our communities. Whatever difficult times we find ourselves in, because we have the love of the family of God we are able then to offer that love, care and support to the people we meet in our everyday lives. 

Of course it is important today that we remember that not all have been fortunate to receive that love, care and support and nurturing as we have received. Some people have not had good support from earthly mothers.  It is important that, within our communities, we help to mend those broken lives by showing the love that has been missing. We must be ready to show the love and care of Christ by our actions, love and worship.

All of us value being able to come together to worship and all value each other in this congregation and wider church. We pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit we continue to show your loving, nurturing and care to all with whom we come into contact.

Posies of flowers were distributed to the whole community, gentlemen as well as ladies, to give thanks for our mother churches.

Bronwyn Nott