It’s been a while but it is so wonderful to be coming back! Thank you for inviting me. For those who don’t know me I am a second year curate for St Luke’s church Barton Hill and St Ambrose Church Whitehall. I am also a district nurse working in the Chew Valley.

I arrived at St Martins in May 2017 very unsure if God was really calling me to ordination. I had only agreed to come here if all my family came too, that was my line in the sand and it was a big commitment for them to come to a different church and a new community but wonderfully my family agreed to come and we arrived on mass. Well, all four of us! And you made us so welcome.

My first memory is Becky asking us to come up to the front and explain why we were joining you for a year. I stumbled and muttered something about God calling me to ordination and having no real idea what that meant and why he had called me. Unsurprisingly Becky was not inspired by my muttering but over that year with her help and yours my sense of calling grew and a month after leaving you all, I went to BAP or interview and the bishops advisory panel said YES to me training for ordination and the rest as they say is history. So you all hold a very special place in me and my ministry and it’s a real privilege to be back. It will probably be just me and Neil coming this week as both Elizabeth and James have left home since we were last with you. We are officially empty nesters!

If you are new to St Martins since I left you, you can see a bit of my creativity above the Holy Nave Altar. I had made a similar one for Christ Church, Clifton and it was decided you would like to make one too. Becky chose the colours of red and orange to represent the holy spirit. It was great to bring together all your creativity to make something so special that fitted above the altar so beautifully. When it was hung up it was discovered there was a light there that they hadn’t known about, it was almost like it was meant to be. I think it is a beautiful piece of art depicting the heart of your church. I hope it remains a blessing to you all.

I am so looking forward to being with you this week and I will be looking at just why St Martins church is such a special place to be and worship. What makes it a place people want to come and explore their call to follow Jesus. See you on Sunday!