Dear Friends,

Lent begins very early this year - 6^th February - so it is almost upon us.  In past years, Bishops of Guildford have issued a `Lent Appeal` for whatever charities were being supported at the time by the Bishop of Guildford's Foundation.  This year, our Bishop's `Lent Call` takes a radical new form.  Instead of being purely monetary, Bishop Christopher is calling on all people in our churches to pray, to fast and to give during Lent.

He says: "In this biblical way, we try to come close to Jesus for the forty days in the wilderness and close to the suffering world for which he died on the first Good Friday.  I am asking everyone to pray each day for closer communion with Jesus Christ as he looks with compassion on our broken world."

Every church will have prayer cards, in the form of bookmarks, and there will be a simple form of daily prayer on the back page of an accompanying leaflet.  Bishop Christopher invites us all (except children and those who are frail with age or sickness) to fast -  an important emphasis in the New Testament -  by giving up one meal a week and giving what we save to local and international Christian outreach.

The Bishop is proposing two charities that the Lent Call would benefit, and this year their work will be explained in the accompanying leaflet so that they can become part of our prayer as well as our giving.  The overseas charity is the Amos Trust, and particularly its work with street children in South Africa, and in peace-building in Palestinian territories.  Locally, funds will go through the Bishop of Guildford's Foundation to projects like the Lakeview Community Action Group in Woking supported by St Andrew's, Goldsworth Park (and by Thursley!); multi-faith youth work in Guildford College, supported by St John's, Stoke, and family support work through the Trinity Family Centre, Leatherhead, supported by St Mary and St Nicholas, Leatherhead.  All these work with the more deprived and vulnerable groups in our diocese, and need our help.

The Bishop says: "I ask you this year to give to the Amos Trust which promotes justice and provides hope in a number of parts of the world, and nearer to home I ask you to give to support local community projects through the Bishop of Guildford's Foundation. 
I urge you to support my Lent Call by praying, fasting and giving."

Please consider carefully how best to respond to our Bishop's 'Call'.  The prayer cards and leaflets will be available in church, to help you with praying and giving - giving up one meal per week and calculating how much to give instead shouldn't be too difficult !  You might also try coming to our frugal 'Lent Lunches' at the Elstead URC on Fridays, 12 to 1.30pm, where you could compare notes...