Firstly Our welcome in the benefice, so many smiling faces and encouraging words
So many people coming to our daughter Frances’s funeral, such a sense of comfort and love outpoured, even when we had only just begun to get to know you.
Presiding at communion in all four churches, the amazing honour of saying Jesus’s words, sharing his presence in places made holy by hundreds of years of repetition.
Words of encouragement at the end of services, warm and kind affirmation that means so much. It’s such a blessing when someone tells us they found something helpful in a sermon!
Planning services with a group of people, all contributing in their own unique way especially that moment when you can sense God’s guidance pulling everything together.
Regular congregation members engaging with Sunday Central services, and later on Messy Church services, when they were right out of their comfort zones!
Eating together as a congregation at the Maundy Thursday services and after Messy Church Sundays, such a strong sense of being God’s family
Youth Church kids playing forty-forty in our garden, set free from being secondary school teens to just play and have fun, still children. We thought that it was just the boys that enjoyed jumping on each other all over our sofas, but it turns out that girls play that way too give half a chance!
Conversations with Youth Church kids – and the privilege of still being able to talk with them years later as they have gone on into jobs and universities.
You might think that there would be nothing joyful about COVID, but we felt God’s blessing as we learnt together how to use Zoom, and celebrated as a United benefice Sunday by Sunday
The blessing that is Messy Church - the joy of people of all ages working and worshipping together, with little ones making a beeline for activities run by volunteers in their eighties. The creativity, both from children and volunteers – the way children proudly go home with their creations! And the hush that falls, just sometimes, in the prayers, even little children responding to God’s presence.
Watching people eat together at Messy Church, families all mixed up as people make new friends. It’s such a joy to be able to nurture people in a very fundamental way by feeding them!
Over the years all the church buildings have needed work to be done and time and again we have been blessed by donations and grants including getting the VAT back just before the scheme closed – God at work.
The delight of watching children grow in Toddlers – little ones I first met when I took on running Toddlers are starting secondary school now! I love running the singing and story time, there’s a delight in dancing the Hokey Cokey with them, some our grandparents also danced!
Taking our son Thomas and his wife Diana’s wedding, with the loving support of the church community.
The first Messy Church communion service on Good Friday, the joy of seeing children take communion for the first time, but equally the reverence of some younger children deciding that they were not ready yet.
Watching birds at our kitchen window, with a bird table and nest boxes, especially when the babies were fledging, terrible time wasters!
Some of the moments of joy in our garden – watching the Northern Lights, having a lawn mown for us in beautiful stripes, the summer jasmine grown wildly but smelling amazing, snow turning it into a wonderland, and listening to birds, with the help of the Merlin app, counting as many as 26 species.
Walking and talking with other dog owners on daily walks around Longden, lots of important conversations shared over a stroll.
Walking and talking with Happy Hikers, the ladies walking group that meets at the Knapp - friendship, beautiful scenery and charming dogs!
The privilege of Freddie choosing to serve his curacy here – we did point out that we did not have families coming to Sunday services and were delighted and honoured when they chose to come. Freddie, Carol, Daniel, Abigail and Elijah, you have all been a wonderful blessing to us.
Tracy’s ordination – particularly for me her priesting – and the delight of our supervision sessions, growing together in understanding and experience. The very special joy of being able to be a training incumbent when I thought having M.E. would make that impossible.
Being alongside people going through tough times, the privilege of being able to listen and pray, and see God bring peace and grace especially at funerals.
We have known God’s presence again and again at services, but there are some that will particularly stay in our memories – candlelit carols, sunrise on the Knapp, the Palm Sunday procession, the pet service at Pulverbatch when people brought horses, the Walking Nativity – but often it’s in the ordinary services like Thursday Communion that God catches us by surprise, reminding us that he is close.
Then the joy of baptisms and weddings, being with families at these special moments, seeing God at work, and the fun I have had in leading collective worship in schools and the children engaging.
Running groups to teach and share, and nurturing lay leaders – passing on what I have learnt
The healing services at Hanwood - yes, some were healed, then the meditation services, being still in God’s presence, an enriching time.
The warm friendly welcome our son Matthew has had in our churches, even when he wants to ask questions about his colouring in the middle of the service and talks almost inaudibly about things no one else understands!
Praying together and hearing people share their experience of prayer, so encouraging to know that people have found something helpful. The delight of seeing people deepen their relationship with God through Prayer in Daily Life.
The conversations on the Benefice pilgrimage and a welcome at each church with lots of food - the satisfaction of physically walking through the parishes, joining them together
The generosity of people in giving so much time, energy and money in keeping the churches going, the deep faithfulness of so many people. This has been such a blessing.
We feel so much that God led us here and blessed us through all of you. We pray that he will continue to be at work, both here and in our lives as we leave for our new home.
Revds Graham and Emma Phillips