Minister's Monthly Letter - September

Dear Friends,

This is the start of the new Methodist year and I am pleased to give you my greetings as your new minister in this circuit!

Thank you for your help and prayers and warm welcome. We are also very grateful to those who have worked on preparing and decorating the manse for our arrival. We are settling in well.

I have moved here with my husband Ian and we are enjoying getting to know Worcester and the surrounding area as this part of the country is new for us. We were previously living in Didcot where I was a minister in the Wantage and Abingdon Circuit for 5 years, having arrived there as a probationer, following my training at Wesley House in Cambridge.

I was born in Wantage, lived for a couple of years in the USA, then in Weymouth and then near Warrington. I studied physics in Oxford and there met Ian. We later married and moved to London and I began work in microelectronics research at GEC in Wembley and Ian worked as an actuary in London. After a few years I had a complete change to become a primary school teacher in Harrow. We have two adult children, a daughter Joanna who lives in Abingdon and works in Oxford and a son Sam, who lives and works in London.

September is a time of new beginnings in many ways. As well as being the start of the Methodist year, it’s the start of the school year, the college and university year, and the start of a new autumn programme in many clubs and societies, including various groups in our churches.

For some people, new starts arise because of significant personal changes: moving home, starting new studies, change of work, health or family circumstances. Some of these changes are welcomed, others present great challenges.

A new start gives us an opportunity to look afresh at what we do and who we are as individuals and as a church community. It’s a chance to think about our priorities as followers of Jesus Christ.

I look forward to getting to know you and sharing with you in this journey of faith as we seek together to discern where God is leading us.

Every blessing,
Katherine