063 - Chapter 63

(Illustrations: Church of the Good Shepherd, Battle Hill and St John’s Kingston Park.)

St John’s Kingston Park church is a Local Ecumenical Project just like Church of the Good Shepherd, it even looks the same in structure, so we decided to worship there one Sunday to see what it was like, as we needed to find a new spiritual base.

We found it to be a very welcoming church with just the kind of worship we enjoyed, with challenging sermons, good lay participation, modern hymns and a talented music band that played with expertise and sensitivity. Also, you could not tell which of the folks who worshipped there, were Methodist, Church of England, Baptist or URC, all worshipped as one at every service. We both decided that this church was just right for us, even though it was quite a journey from home, and especially difficult on Sundays with road diversions! It was also an evangelical church, similar to one we’d admired so much in York, i.e. St Michael le Belfry. It was exactly the kind of church we’d been looking for, the same spirituality, our ideal really, and an immediate answer to our prayers. The vicar at St John’s was someone I already knew, Revd Roger Mills, and I admired his style of preaching and teaching. His sermons were always clearly set out with bullet points and illustrations which were shown on the front wall via a computer projector system. This church ticked all our boxes, and we soon settled in. We didn’t need to look for the next ten years. We looked forward to worship each Sunday.

I was given permission to officiate as a priest there, to preach and sometimes lead the Family Service, and also several evening Eucharists.

Over the next ten years, our lives centred around family and friends; looking out for my mam and Nancy, babysitting Luke and Katie, and making more time for each other. We holidayed at the caravan and attended church if we happened to be there on a Sunday, and I also presided at services in one or two Lake District churches too.

I gradually took more on, outside of church. I already knew that whatever I did achieve was because of God’s great provision. I had gifts that could be put to use, yes, but I’ve always believed that when a gift is offered to God it becomes what is called a ‘spiritual gift’; something which God uses to touch the hearts of others, and He multiplies and expands that talent into something quite extraordinary; far more effective, imaginative and colourful.

Luke 6.38 is so true. .

‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’

God has provided me with a wonderful husband, who has been so loving and supportive, and he was happy spending time sharing in my work, as we uploaded more of my music, dramas and CD’s onto my website, just as Stephen had directed, so that others cpuld use them as a resource. It was a great  learning curve for us both, but we couldn’t have managed all this without our son’s constant guidance and assistance. 

God inspired me with fresh ideas for dramas and assemblies and I was able to set up a project at the Diocesan Church House, in Percy Main, for members to access the resources I’d written and collected. I also did presentations and talks for clergy and teachers there. I was excited when Wild Goose publishing, company published a few of my poems and dramas, as did an outreach children’s magazine for churches, called Together with Children.

God opened up places where I could go and witness to my faith, in word and music in Ryton, Heddon-on-the -Wall, Sunderland Women’ Aglow, Low Fell, Alnwick Gardens,, Marlow Methodist, in Buckinghamshire, Durham Cathedral, the Sage, also care homes and sheltered accommodations. The door to prison ministry opened up too, which I’ll mention later.

God also opened doors to three more assembly venues in Wallsend; Jubilee Primary and Carville Primary schools invited me to take assemblies there, and also Beacon Hill Special School. What a pleasure it was to be with the children at these schools, but especially at a school where visuals, and colourful resources spoke to children with special needs. These schools were outside of my last parish, so with permission from the priests whose parishes these school were in, I was delighted to do these assemblies every month. It kept my hand in, it kept me in practice, relevant and up to date!

Another call came from my sister Joan, a priest at St James and St Basil Church Fenham, who set me the task of setting up Godly Play at her church, and demonstrating and purchasing all the materials for her keen volunteers. That took two months, and I enlisted the help of Jim, the carpenter once again, (chapter 54) who did a marvellous job for us.

An invitation also came to join a Diocesan committee responsible for a children’s project ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ which was to be held in Hexham Abbey over a period of three days in holiday time. I had already written over ten songs on this theme, and all I needed to do was provide them with recorded backgrounds, so help came in the form of a former pupil, a brilliant keyboard player, Martin Brunton, who helped me to record the backing tracks. Garth Hodson, our friend from Durham folk clubs, offered his studio and recorded us. 

All of the leaders in our team dressed as characters from Narnia, and against the backdrop of the Abbey it gave a far more authentic feel to our production.

We also did the ‘Narnia’ project in two other Diocesan churches:- St James, in Benwell and St Michael’s Alnwick.

I really was in my element with all this outreach work, and Bob was thrilled to see my more creative gifts being put to greater use.

I certainly couldn’t have managed all of the above, AND done full time ministry at the same time, had I remained where I was in the Willington Team, but one day we would return there, because it was home to us.

I felt God’s hand on all this, his timing was perfect, and once again it felt so right.