After a great deal of thinking and praying, consulting and discussing, we have now reluctantly agreed that the wisest and safest decision is to defer Flourish from this September. We have such wonderful and enduring memories of Flourish in 2019 and we want our next event to be as equally inspiring and positive. Although it seems that it would have been possible to go ahead with Flourish this September, we cannot be sure of how free from restrictions we would be, and we have recognised that many will feel reluctant to gather in such a significant number so soon after the lockdowns of the past year.
We are now planning our way ahead as follows:
- Saturday 18th September will instead be our Autumn Synod. We will plan to meet physically, and also offer an online option so as to be as inclusive as possible. We will develop a programme that is as open as possible to everyone in the District who would like to participate. We will have a particular focus on:
- reflecting on all that we have travelled through during this pandemic, and
- committing ourselves with renewed faith to fulfilling all that God has for us in the future.
- We will now seek to agree a new date for Flourish – now Flourish 22 – to be, we anticipate, in September / October 2022. All things considered this seems to be the preferable time of year, with the best opportunity for a really successful event which includes all ages as fully as possible.
We will of course keep you updated as our revised plans develop.