The Minister's Letter

Dear Friends,

October is one of my favourite times of the year, when the leaves fall from the trees. I have memories of walking along the lane to school kicking up the crispy leaves and smelling the earthy smell that wafted around as I waded through them. It was a small pleasure and one I’m looking forward to doing again with Nonsuch Park and Epsom Downs on the doorstep. As an adult, I’ve come to enjoy the colours of the trees as they change from green through various colours of yellow, orange, red and brown. Although leaving the family behind to go off to college in Cambridge over the past few years wasn’t always easy there were compensations on my drive there – the trees, it was glorious just to see the changes every week from green to their autumnal glory, dark sticks and blossom then bright green leaves that mellowed to a deeper hue over a few weeks and as the year went by the change again to autumnal colours.

Autumn is a time of change in the natural world and it will be, too, with the new pastorate of Epsom, Ewell and Tolworth as I become your minister. Not that I intend to come and be the new broom, you know far more about the churches and communities of which you are a part than I do, so I’ll be relying on your knowledge to help me out. As I’ll be serving three churches there will no doubt be a need to adjust to doing things differently; to begin with. at least, I plan to lead worship on a Sunday morning at each church once every three weeks, though your usual communion Sundays will stay the same. I’ll also be leading evening services once a month alternating between Epsom and Ewell’s joint service and Tolworth. There will also be opportunities for pastorate worship where the three churches come together, the first time being a carol service in December.

Thursday will usually be my day off; at the moment I’m not sure when I’ll be moving into the manse so for the time being, if you need to contact me, please go through one of the church secretaries. During the weeks before my ordination on the 22^nd I’m planning on trying to visit all the different church groups and get to know the area a little better. I also have several synod and area events to attend; I’m hoping that there will also be time to visit some of you, too.

What do you expect from this new beginning? I’d love to know: please share your thoughts with me or one of the elders so that together we can seek where God is leading us. Just as spring brings bright new growth to the trees together we can bring new growth and possibilities to the communities we seek to serve.

As I write I’ve just returned from a pre-ordination retreat as part of my preparation to become your next minister. It was wonderful to have time and space to think, walk, pray, read and reflect. The time of waiting is nearly over for both you and me. I’m looking forward to getting to know you and the communities around each of the churches, so that together we can serve the people of Epsom, Ewell and Tolworth.

With love and blessings,

Heather