Dear All,
PETERTIDE – or St. Peter’s Tide – this year falls on Sunday 29th June and is one of the two traditional times for ordinations, (the other being Michaelmas on 29th September). This year is significant, as Jan Bennett from St. Maxentius and I, are hoping to be two of the twenty-two ordinands ordained deacon in Manchester Cathedral.
This service will be the culmination of four years of discernment and training since I answered God’s call on my life. It has been a time of academic learning covering topics such as the Old and New Testaments, Creeds and Councils, Discipleship and Leadership. One module and three assignments remain!
There has also been formation training at residential weekends over the last two years on topics such as understanding other faiths, the sacraments and funerals.
However, the largest component has been my practical experience in the parish and wider team. Due to the sad passing of Reverend Peter Reiss and latterly the promotion of our curate Reverend Hannah Lane to be Vicar of Bolton, it has meant that I had opportunities not normally available to ordinands.
The latter half of 2024 enabled me to lead different services such as Wholeness and Healing services, the Service of Commemoration, the Toy Service, Christingle, and the Carol Service. We were also able to hold a Prayer and Activity Day at St. Andrew’s Church in November.
None of the above would have been possible without the unstinting and continued support of all of you in the congregations at both Christ Church Walmsley and St. Andrew’s, as well as those in the wider community. Requests for help, advice and suggestions from me have always been met positively and with willing and wholehearted commitment. This has sometimes even involved courage, particularly when this has meant having to wear a costume for Christingle!
Your help has been very much appreciated and has encouraged and upheld me when life has seemed a little daunting and even challenging at times. A huge THANK YOU to you all. Grateful thanks are also to be recorded and passed on to my two Supervisors, Reverend Lee Higson and Reverend Hannah Lane, for all their wisdom, insight and support during the last two years. I would also like to extend my thanks to our new Team Rector, Reverend Ian Hepburn, who has already shown me kindness and understanding as he begins his ministry here.
I realise I am fortunate indeed to be blessed to live in our parish. I am excited and looking forward to continuing to journey with you, serving you all in my curacy, in the joys and challenges ahead.
Today I have been reading Nehemiah 12:27-29, 43 about the dedication for the completed wall around Jerusalem. Although the wall was built, there were still issues and concerns, but they now had God’s protection. We will always have problems and worries and there will always be things that need working on. However, it is important to stop periodically, to reflect on how God is at work around us and through us and to give thanks for that and to celebrate. So, please can I ask you to pray for me and the rest of the Parish Team.
I would like to close with a quote from Isaiah 52:7-8:
How beautiful on the mountains Are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy.
With every blessing,
Angie Foster
