The Vacancy ends...
What a year! 51 weeks later and we're still standing (and smiling!).
Deborah's Service of Licensing was a very special occasion and it was wonderful to see the church so full as people joined in this great celebration.
A couple of weeks beforehand, each of the churchwardens, including Derek, received a personal letter from the Bishop of Hertford, thanking us for everything we have done during the vacancy to keep things afloat.
He acknowledged that others will also have contributed to maintaining the life of our church and asked us to convey his thanks to everyone - something we gladly do. He went on to say, “This will be an exciting time and I am sure you will all continue to work together for the work of the parish and in witness to the Kingdom.”
We would also like to express our own thanks for everything that everyone has done over the last year. Thank you for your commitment to St Mary's and to us, thank you for your support and thank you also for your prayers. We have genuinely appreciated them all.
As a church, we can be proud that we didn't just stand still, feeling sorry for ourselves until a new vicar turned up. At St Mary's, it's been business as normal, plus growth and also new projects. Not many churches would have tackled a refurbishment project during a vacancy – we did!
Would this have been possible without Lindsay Campbell in the Parish Office? Or David Jeffers, our Sacristan? To know that we have the backing of such a reliable support team has been such a huge relief.
Phil Osborne and Michael Baker have been wonderful, as always, and also personally supportive of us all. They’ve each shouldered different burdens and additional workloads as necessary and it’s been a joy for us to work with them more closely.
We would particularly like to single out Revd David Smith who stepped in at very short notice to help out – for a retired priest, he’s probably never been busier as he’s also been helping out up the hill, round the corner and along the road at the other local churches now going through a period of vacancy.
David has been unfailingly supportive and caring and we owe much of our sanity to him for the sheer number of services that he has taken. David is having a short (we hope) break from taking services at St Mary's. As a small, but nonetheless heartfelt, token of our gratitude and appreciation, we presented David with a gift of wine at the 8.00 am service on Sunday 7th October.
David's charming letter of thanks can be viewed by clicking here.
But the person who, above all, has shouldered the biggest burden of them all has been Revd Dr Anne Shaw. She has been a star. This was her third vacancy at St Mary’s, when she’s not just taken on responsibility for leading our worship, but also the pastoral oversight of the parish, looking after us and caring for each of us.
A vacancy is a disruption to the normal rhythm but Anne provided us with continuity. Some people have asked us (jokingly, we hope) whether or not we really need a vicar – they haven’t really noticed much difference. That’s a fine tribute to Anne’s ministry. She has been the glue that has held us together. We know it has not always been easy with the other commitments in her life, but she always made us feel that St Mary’s was her top priority.
Anne – we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We all now look forward to an exciting future and the many blessings that it will bring.
THANK YOU, EVERYBODY!
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