As David and I prepare to bid farewell to you at St
Peter’s at the end of April, I thought I would take this opportunity to take
my lead from Mary, the mother of the Lord, to ponder for a moment and reflect on
the ten very happy years I have spent with you all.
My diary of 13th September 1988 records a “day
of great welcome at St Peter’s”, closely followed by my first celebration of
the Eucharist the next Sunday at 8am, and Harvest Festival sermon a week later.
It was a fairly terrifying time, deeply conscious as I was that I was
treading a new path of women’s priestly ministry in the parish.
But I need not have worried - you welcomed me very generously, and I
quickly felt very at home.
Working with Adrian Berry was an exciting experience as he
developed the ministry of the whole church, and the arrival of Dowell Conning
and his family brought new insights too. During
this time I was given the opportunity to go away for a month, to experience the
Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola – a particularly blessed retreat
for me personally. Then I took on a
new Diocesan role as Vocations Advisor, which gave me the opportunity to be with
all sorts of different people as they tried to discern God’s call to them. I
am sure that I learned as much about vocation from them as they did from me!
In 2003 together we negotiated the time of vacancy and,
although it was busy, we were very blessed and ably assisted by the
churchwardens. The “together”
was an especially important feature, with so many people contributing their time
and their skills to ensure that the ministry of St Peter’s continued to
flourish notwithstanding the vacancy. In
February of that year I was invited to represent the diocese in building up our
links with the Church of South India, and, with about 20 others, flew off to
visit the church in Bangalore and Dornakal – an immensely significant time of
living in a culture very different to our own, and seeing the church at work
there.
Later that year, Paul Wilkinson was appointed as
Priest-in-Charge, and the challenging work of creating a team among the South
Cheltenham Churches, which had already been quietly going on for several years,
became more prominent. It has been
fascinating watching the team take shape and to be a part of that historic
formation. Then, when Anne and
Sandra arrived, we all began to enjoy the benefits and riches of a much larger
team of clergy at St Peter’s and across the SCC.
I am very grateful for all their support, and for the opportunity to work
with all of them.
Which brings us up to today.
As I look back over these events, several key elements come to mind:
the faithful maintenance of twice-daily prayer in the church;
the willingness of many to engage in training to provide support for the
bereaved; the fun of preparing and
sharing a Passover Meal together at the School;
the companionship of being in silent retreat together at Nympsfield;
the joyful fellowship of several ‘craft days’ in the Cottages to
prepare the church for festive worship; the
sense of excitement as several of us took our first tentative steps in Prayer
Visiting; the joy of seeing others
responding to God’s call to ordination and other forms of ministry; just
recently, the many blessings of the Journey in Prayer, and the wonderful keeping
of Holy Week and Easter with Bishop Michael.
And all the time the quiet work of ministry continues, not just of those
of us with clerical collars on, but everyone.
Faithfully offering worship that honours God, reflects the richness of
the church’s liturgical year and tells out the story that guides, supports and
enriches our lives. All of this
ensuring that the work of the church goes on and that the building is not just a
building, but a living house of prayer where the community of those who really
care about each other, meet in fellowship to worship God and take the Good News
of the gospel back out into our homes and our working lives.
Thank you for allowing me to
share these last ten years with you – I will always treasure them.
St. Peter’s is a very special place with special people generously, as
ever, taking its part in the life of South Cheltenham Churches; looking forward
to the refurbishment of the Cottages; and witnessing to Christ in the wider
community and in the world; so many people using their gifts for the work of the
Kingdom. May this continue as new
people come forward and offer their gifts as well.
My future ministry will be
very different. I shall continue to
hold the Bishop’s Licence, and to be involved in other forms of ministry in
the diocese. I am looking forward to
the challenge of a new role, and I look forward to welcoming many of you to
Glenfall House in the years to come.