My grateful thanks to everyone for their warm welcome to St Mary’s since my commissioning as Assistant Priest back in mid-December. I have very much enjoyed becoming part of our worship life together and starting to get to know people.
For the past eighteen years I have been a full-time Carer for my daughter Millie. This chapter of my life sadly came to an end in November when Millie died. This has opened up for me the possibility of returning to the work that I was doing before her illness. Quite a bit has changed during those years – I’ve moved to Scotland and from the Church of England to the Scottish Episcopal Church. I’m also older and possibly wiser but the jury is still out on that one. I have had a number of clergy colleagues over the years but before working with Fr Terry I have never had one that loves a cooked breakfast and football scores as much as I do! I have appreciated joining in with the life of prayer that Fr Terry maintains at St Marys through the week. This has been a great help in my life at this time.
I am not at St Mary’s every Sunday. Unlike our other Assistant Priest, Fr Jason, I do not have responsibility for one of our smaller SEC churches in the city but I am often elsewhere providing cover for other clergy. For example, on Palm Sunday I was with Bishop Anne in Lerwick and on Easter Sunday I am to preside at Kincardine O’Neil. I hope to get to know as many of the church family as I can over the coming weeks and months. Please do invite me for a cup of tea, a country walk or 9 holes of golf.
One of my first impressions is that we are a healthy mix where some have been members for many years whilst others are recent happy newcomers like myself. Your welcome excites me to think what we might be together as we move forward into the coming years.
Fr Roger