Pause for Thought - January 2026

winter
‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6: 19-21)

As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve and January heralds a new year and new beginnings, this is often a time when people pause to reflect back on the year just gone, and think forward to the year ahead. New Year resolutions are made, often only to be broken a matter of days or weeks later.

A lovely tradition that I grew up with, being part of an ecumenical church, was saying the Methodist Church Covenant Prayer together on the first Sunday of the New Year. It was a way of challenging and commissioning ourselves before God for the year ahead.

But this is a prayer that comes with a caveat – it will move you out of your comfort zone!! As worldly values try to persuade us to put our trust and riches in things that are tangible, the riches of the Kingdom of God re-centres our point of gravity to those things that are unseen yet of eternal value.

At Greyfriars Church we prayed this as part of our intercessions at the beginning of the month. And I offer it to you now, to ponder what this might mean for you, to commit yourself to God in ways that might take you out of your comfort zone, yet open up to you the riches of the Kingdom.

The Methodist Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen

With my greetings for a New Year full of the riches of God.
Revd Alison
Priest-in-Charge

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

New to church?

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at Greyfriars Church (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 11am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you will be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. It is a great way to meet people and find out more about us.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. If you need a large print service book, please ask.

Our Service

The main service begins with a warm welcome from our Priest-in-Charge. Our service of Holy Communion includes hymns accompanied on the organ, bible readings, a sermon, prayers of intercession and responses. If you are a communicant member of another church, you are invited to share Holy Communion with us. Or if you prefer, you can come to the altar for a prayer of blessing.

Serving and Volunteering

Once you've settled here with us, if you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. It's also a great way to get to know more people.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome, or if you would just like to meet with someone before you come, please get in touch with us by filling out the form below.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

We will respond and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Who's who


Revd Alison Hudson
Priest in Charge

We hope that you will join us and feel at home at our lovely church community.