Good day and a welcome to our church here at St John, the Baptist, Bircle. 

I am a Bury girl, born and bread.  Although I was officially installed as the Incumbent SSM, in October 2024, I have supported the church, along side the previous Vicar, Harvie Nicol, since 2019.  If you haven't heard about me, you might be wondering what I’m like, and what are my plans.                                                                                                                                I’ll start with the easy bit; I am a 60 something-year-old who has lived in Bury all my life.  I have been married to 'R John' since 1989 and we have two daughters Tash and Fee, and two grandchildren Callum and Delilah. I retired working for HMRC, formerly Inland Revenue (but please, don't let that put you off), exactly 40 years to the date I started in 1982. I've even got a medal to prove it!                                                                                            Whilst working full time I trained on the Southern North West Training Partnership (SNWTP), of which we affectionately became known as the Guineapigs' due to be the first years intake on the new training partnership. I was ordained deacon in 2010 at Manchester Cathedral. I served my curacy as an Ordained Local Minister (OLM) at my sending church of St John with St Marks', Walmersley, Bury. In 2015 I moved to the Roch Valley Team, Bury, which included St Peter's church and St Thomas's church.  From 2019, when Harvie arrived, he invited me to also work at St John, The Baptist. I worked at all three church's until I was installed solely at St John, Bircle.                                                          However, the rest of the Deanery of Bury has not escaped me. I have been honoured and privileged to have ministered at all church's in the Deanery, and they have even asked me back!                                                                                                                                                   So, what is my ministry, my calling and my aims? My love for Jesus keeps on growing, through the good and tough times.  I am here to continue to serve Him first and to find out what He has in store Bircle and its community.  I seek to help grow the Kingdom of God in the community working  with our congregation, young people, families, ecumenically with other faith denominations neighbours and our Mission Community. I want to see the Kingdom of God grow younger.  I want to see the Kingdom of God grow stronger in its faith and abilities.  To this end, I come with a servant and pastoral heart, a listening ear and willingness to nurture and encourage everyone in their faith and gifts.  I am sure that things will change and with much prayer I am sure we will find our way forward.                                                                                                                           My focus is about family, faith and unity. I believe that the Kingdom of God, needs His church to be united in purpose and working to its strengths. We have to find 'new ways of doing church', as “one size doesn't fit all”, but we must respect the traditions too. To this end, I will work with the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and will share plans with the congregation as they formulated and before new ideas put in place. I will ensure that I work with ministers and leaders so we all know how we can support one another and share best practice.                                                                                                                              Yours in Christ, prayers and blessings.

Janet 28/05/2025.