Displaying items by tag:priest

A Season of Growing by Canon Val Kenyon

Throughout the centuries, Pentecost Sunday has marked a day, and a season when a small, uncertain group of followers of Jesus came alive. Pentecost Sunday is a day full of energy, wind, fire, and voices raised in every language of the day, a day full of noise, colour, and chaos!

While an extraordinary day on so many levels, what stands out isn’t just the spectacle of it all, but what God is actually doing. The Spirit makes space for many voices, many languages, all speaking to those present on the day. What we see is not uniformity, but unity. Pentecost is expansive, open, and deeply embracing all.

Pentecost reminds us that we are part of a faith community shaped not by sameness, but by shared purpose and Spirit-filled generosity. The Church, at its best, is a place where we don’t have to agree on everything to belong, where listening matters as  much as speaking, and where God’s love stretches us beyond our usual boundaries.

And then, almost quietly, we move into what the Church calls “Ordinary Time”, the long green season of Pentecost. Green for growth. Green for life. Green for the slow, steady work of becoming. If Pentecost Day is the spark, this season is what happens next: learning, practicing, growing into who we are becoming as people of the Spirit.

So, what might that look like for us, day by day? Perhaps for some of us it begins with paying attention, noticing where the Spirit is already at work in our lives and in the lives of others. Maybe it looks like listening more deeply, especially to those we don’t usually hear or  understand easily. Maybe it means trying one small act of courage each day, speaking kindness, offering welcome, choosing generosity when it would be easier to withdraw.

Maybe it’s making space for reflection—asking, even briefly, “Where was God in this day?” and “How am I being invited to grow through it all? “And maybe it’s about staying open. resisting the urge to shut down or close off, and instead trusting that the Spirit is still moving, still speaking, still surprising us.

Pentecost reminds us that we are not alone and not stuck. So, as we step into this green season, we celebrate that God is still breathing life into the Church, into the world and into each and every one of us.