Pastoral Letter  SEPTEMBER 2008   Pastoral Letter from Richard Worsfold, Team Rector Tightening the Belt These are my first magazine reflections after returning from 3 months’ study leave away from the parish. I’m very grateful to everyone in the Team Parish who has enabled me to have what was in the end a vital break from day to day ministry. Alongside the experience of worship and prayer in different churches and retreat houses here and in Tanzania, my study leave provided me with the opportunity to address some significant lifestyle issues. Put simply, I’ve returned to ministry 31 pounds lighter and with three extra notches to tighten on my waistbelt! What surprised me most as I went through this process was that controlling my eating habits was not for me a negative thing, but a means of enjoying food more, its variety of taste rather than its quantity. It also made a surprising reduction in the family food bill……………. Of course there is much talk of ‘belt tightening’ now as a result of the economic difficulties so many are facing in this country and across the world. Sadly the impact of such pressures hit some very much harder than others. But where the impact is not so severe a bit of belt tightening can be positive as well as negative. In a world dominated by the desire for more and more material possessions, it can be helpful to rethink how we value the different aspects of our lives. How do we weigh up the value of the latest computer game given to the children when compared with the value to them of an afternoon’s football with dad or mum? Or an afternoon shopping for the latest fashions compared with an afternoon visiting a sick relative? Or a monthly donation to a kidney research charity compared with monthly instalments for a new sofa? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So said Jesus, and surely he’s right: the things and experiences we choose to go after, will affect the kind of people we become deep down. The staple diet of most Tanzanians is a home-grown maize porridge known as Ugari. Occasionally they will buy rice as a treat, but rocketing world rice prices have made that difficult this year. Nevertheless whenever local Tanzanians hosted me for a meal I was offered rice that they had gone out of their way to buy for me. Tanzanians place great weight upon the values of hospitality and generosity, whatever their circumstances. It made me wonder if they could say the same about me. Richard   Team Parish News Our Mission Partnership hosts new Discipleship Course The Certificate in Christian Discipleship is Diocese-wide course that enables people to explore their own Christian life and faith in-depth in the company of others from different backgrounds.  Participants do not need any qualifications, just a desire to learn.  This year the course is being hosted locally, at Stanton Under Bardon, on Thursday evenings beginning the first week in October. The conveners for the course are Richard Worsfold and Simon Nicholls (vicar of Markfield) with tutors drawn from around the Diocese. The course runs on a weekly basis through the year to June next year. Please take one of the leaflets from the back of church or find out more from one of the team clergy.   ‘Come and See…….The Diocesan Assembly’ On Saturday 20th September 9.30-3.30pm the newly built Samworth Enterprise Academy in South Leiceter will play host to a special Diocesan Assembly to which Anglican Christians in Leicestershire have been invited. The title ‘Come and See…’ reflects a programme of workshops presenting all kinds of ways in which local churches can grow in their mission and ministry. From church planting to retreats, gospel music to financial administration, inter-faith dialogue to website technology. This is particularly suitable for those on church councils in the Team Parish, but would be of interest to anyone concerned developing the mission of our church. Last minute bookings may be possible; please ask team clergy for details.