Blessings from the Vicarage

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Firstly, THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH for your kind words, cards and gifts in celebration of my being priest and vicar in this benefice for 15 years. The celebration we had on Palm Sunday after the service was truly a surprise and I am both humbled and thankful for all those who came and contributed generously to the day in various ways. My apple tree is now planted and my ‘rambling rector’ rose will soon be scrambling up its purpose-built trellis, I’m sure! I am also very much looking forward to using my very generous garden voucher to get wonderful shrubs and plants to enjoy this summer. Thank you, thank you.

It has always been my privilege and pleasure to serve everyone to the best of my abilities in these villages, (as well as those who come from beyond the boundaries) and I really do mean everyone, because I believe we are all children of God – whatever ‘God’ may mean or not mean to people – it’s simply about loving and respecting all people wherever they are in life. I remember over 30 years ago before I started this journey, my vicar in All Saints Church, Alton, played the tune to ‘Star Trek’ before giving a sermon that suggested we are all made of stardust, and indeed we are… Therefore, it is my belief that as we all come from the same origin, we should be able to love and care for each other, no matter how different we have become in body, mind and spirit; and that has always been my aim as a priest – to love everyone as Christ loves you: walking alongside you daily in general life, as well as in all the gateways of life: birth, baptisms, confirmations, revelations of love, marriages, illnesses, suffering, death, funerals and bereavement care, always giving love and the hope of eternal life.

Gene Roddenberry wrote in 1963 (the year I was born), “If man survives long, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and their cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety…not something to fear.”

You probably won’t believe this, but I was actually a very quiet, shy, introverted child, but I did love reading, learning all aspects of science and playing piano which helped me achieve, cope and be imaginative in life. Going forward to be a priest, after being a nurse for over 20 years, was the scariest thing I had ever done in my life, because I knew I would be meeting different people at different gateways of their lives all the time! But what I have discovered after 23 years of walking this priestly journey, is as John Stott once titled one of his books: “My People, My Teachers”. Ultimately, we learn most from each other as we live…

But there is so much to fear in the world today – fear of people of different speech, colour, culture, creed, class, generations, sexualities, attitudes and abilities even. This fear has reduced humanity’s ability to positively learn about those who are different, respect any differences and interact caringly, cognitively and peaceably with them. I believe that is why violent, bullying and destructive tactics are being used to subdue and subordinate populations worldwide. The continued conflicts between America and Iran, Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war, Myanmar, Yemen, DR Congo, Mexico, Nigeria, to name but a few…are testament to this increased ‘fear of the different’ and are having deep and lasting effects on humanity’s ability to be human.

When asked by an educational psychologist at my Bishop Advisory Panel (BAP) what I would do about my fears going forward to be a priest, I responded, “Go ahead scared…” and I did.

I could say this because I knew that the most frequent sentence in the Bible is, “Do not fear” and that I could depend on God to give me all that I needed to fulfil what God had asked me to do. That was in 2002, and that faith of God in me has never let me down. God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit has enabled me to have such a blessed life both personally and professionally, through 3 years theological training, a 4-year curacy, 8 years as Hospice chaplain, 5 years as Area Dean and 15 years as your priest, and long may that continue...

So let us all not fear whatever the world throws at us: let us trust God, live in God’s infinite love shown in Jesus Christ, and breathe in the Holy Spirit of Eternity. Amen

Love and Prayers,

Jane

PS. We are having a Thanksgiving weekend to raise funds to pay for having a parish vicar on the weekend of 23rd/24th May. Please visit St Mary’s where I will be giving tours from 10am with refreshments available and donate anything you can, as we were £14,000 in deficit last year and are looking at a deficit of £20,000 this year ☹ We are doing much fundraising to assuage this this year, but the Cove Brass Band are coming to play a concert on Saturday 23rd May At St Mary’s Church – see details on website and posters.