Vicar of Bolton Canon Dr Chris Bracegirdle Christmas message

Two years ago, at the end of a year that had seen lockdowns, closure of businesses, serious illness, and Covid deaths numbered in their thousands, I wrote that it would be a year to remember. 

Now we are two years on, free from many of the confines that 2020 and 2021 imposed and feeling that we’re back to ‘normal’. 

2020 though remains a year to remember and a year that still leaves its scars.  Pain of bereavement, damaged health, lost income, lost business, fear of socialising – these and many more features remain evident in our communities and we must never forget how 2020 has taken its toll on the lives of so many people.

Whilst so much of what we all take for granted was lost during that year, there is much that we can still be thankful for.

Canon Dr Chris Bracegirdle (Image: Newsquest)

The generosity and kindness of thousands of people across the borough of Bolton in supporting others in need, in putting their own lives at risk to care for those who are poorly, and in looking at new ways in which we can hold communities together – all of these continue to be truly inspirational. 

Just as Covid-19 is no respecter of faith, age, gender etc., so too, people of all faiths and none, of all ages, and from every part of the Bolton family continue to come together to care for each other and that’s something very important and special.

We continue to have much to concern us - continued war in Ukraine, struggles to meet soaring energy and other basic need costs, provision of effective health care for a growing and increasingly needy population… the list goes on.

In these and other areas of need, I remain full of admiration for people in Bolton across the faith spectrum who have done ‘their bit’ for others. 

For Christians, Christmas marks that time when God made himself known to the world through the birth of his son, Jesus Christ. 

The teachings of Jesus brought many things, amongst them, hope for a better future, and it’s that hope that I pray we will take with us into 2023. 

We have no idea what the future holds but we can be thankful that whatever shape it takes, there is that genuine desire in Bolton to give of our best in caring for each other.

With very best wishes for a happy and peaceful Christmas,

Canon Dr Chris Bracegirdle

Vicar of Bolton