Moving on… and growing together
By the time you read this article, you will probably already have heard that I shall be leaving parish ministry at the end of next month. My last Sunday service will be on 29th October at Monewden at 11 am and followed by a shared lunch.
I first looked at the churches of the Charsfield Benefice six years ago. John and I had been praying about where God was leading us when I received a call from the Archdeacon asking me to consider the half-time post of Priest-in-Charge of the Charsfield Benefice. At that stage I didn’t even know where those churches were! So I set out one Saturday to find them
The first church I found was Letheringham, and having at last discovered how to get to it through the farmyard, I was delighted to find it unlocked as were all five churches. All were clean, well tended and with fresh flowers. All had an atmosphere of prayer and worship, which helped to confirm my sense of God’s calling to work in these villages. I was licensed at Priest-in-Charge on Shrove Tuesday 2001.
For a “townie” like me the last five and a half years have been a steep learning curve. My licensing coincided with the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease. Immediately we had to close Hoo and Letheringham churches for the time being, and the other churches in the benefice “hosted” their services for them. In this way, and in others, the people of five different parishes, six different villages, have been drawn to work together and to get to know each other better.
Now these parishes face the prospect of joining with three more. My retirement will set in motion the moves necessary to create a new benefice combining Charsfield with Debach, Monewden, Hoo, Dallinghoo and Letheringham with Earl Soham, Cretingham and Ashfield, with a full-time Priest-in-Charge.
I hope that the experience we have already gained of working together may be sustained and developed during the time of interregnum, and may continue as the new benefice is formed.
Betty Mockford