This is the month when, at last, we shall welcome Spring, when everything in nature unfolds, full of promise. It is my favourite season. I delight in the gradual greening of the land and in every flower that opens—snowdrop, crocus, coltsfoot and all the rest in their due time.

It is time for the congregation to open up too. Though this year we have had more snow, ice and bitter cold than we have become used to, the winter weather need detain us no longer.

If worship should not be kept waiting, neither should the work and administration of our congregational life. Our annual general meeting takes place this month. There is a year to appraise and celebrate, officers and committee to elect and the coming year's programme to approve. We have been going through a period of change, indeed we still are, and the future has looked uncertain but, like Spring, it is now full of promise.

This coming AGM will be my last one. We have had some good, productive ones over the years, with lots of energy and ideas coming from the faithful attainders. What would I like to see this year? A full house for a start, enthusiasm for an exciting programme and plenty of volunteers for all the tasks that keep a congregation moving forward with confidence. An AGM should be above all a joyful occasion when we give thanks for another year of work and worship and pledge our commitment to our beloved community and its future.

All around the country, similar meetings are held at this time in our Unitarian churches and chapels. It is good to hold other congregations in our thoughts. It helps to feel a part of something larger, which may be a force for good in the world. Let us be effective stewards of our ongoing liberal religious heritage

From Celia.

March 2010