It was always going to be a quiet day at church this morning, however there were more than the man and his two dogs that I was expecting. I’ve had the worship for the day planned for a couple of weeks, and thinking on new years and new challenges, had opted for a family style service. I always knew that I would be lucky to have any families unless I forced my own to put in an appearance – not likely that given I went to bed at 1am and I am reliably informed that they were still up at 2am.

So family style here was a couple of dramatised readings with reflections and some bubble prayers. I’ve good folk here and for the most part they play along. Two of the ladies kindly blew bubbles while the prayer of intercession happened.

The theme of our service was “naming”, and that in naming we claim people and things as precious, or as parts of our lives that make us whole.

Tradition names our passing new years with a number, but perhaps we should name them with the promise of what we hope each year might encourage in our faith. So for our congregation we might want to name the year with what we hope to share in the encounters we will make in faith this year. For us that involves taking part in the National Stewardship campaign and possible changes to our buildings – how might the naming of these things encourage us in our knowledge of God and how we share it with each other and the community.

Each person there has left with a prayer postcard on which to name a child or idea for whom they would like to pray. This is to be kept in a place where they might encounter it on a regular basis.

My personal naming of the year ahead would be for it to be much like the last, although perhaps with a few less deaths amongst the congregation. As I write I have heard today of the death of someone I was friendly with at school. A reminder on the first day of the year of how fragile our human life is, and yet while there is sadness, all moments of sadness, pain, joy, and comfort shape our lives, marking who we are and who we are yet to be.