It is hard to believe that the ever youthful David Bennie turned 70 at the end of June. After 24 years of dedicated service to St Mary’s David has decided that the time is right to retire from his role as our Youth and Families Minister. He will be sorely missed by all at St Mary’s and by the wider village community to whom he has contributed so much. 

David started working for St Mary’s in 2001 and in his early years he ministered to the children up at the church as well as taking school assemblies and running various youth groups. David also became a scout leader in Leigh and ran summer camps, church group weekends away, play events on the Green and holiday craft clubs. 

David also agreed to serve as Deputy Chair of the Parish Council for a number of years, having been co opted onto the Council to represent the interests of the children and young people in the village. 

David has organised a number of Alpha Courses over the years and these led in turn to the formation of various house groups where David has led, and continues to lead, Bible study and Christian fellowship. 

David’s role evolved with the passage of time and he gradually became ever more involved in leading the main services at St Mary’s. For many years now David has led two family services each month offering a more informal style of worship alongside our more traditional Holy Communion services on the other Sundays. 

When Covid struck at the beginning of 2020 David stepped up and ran online church services on Zoom as well as online Christian craft groups for the kids. When we were able to meet outside again David started Forest Church – an informal child centred Sunday service. Forest Church initially met at the Leigh Forest school but now meets in Jessica’s Hall every other Sunday. Around 40 families now attend Forest Church with their children and enjoy a morning of Christian worship and craft. Family services and Forest Church will, of course, continue after David’s retirement, but his absence will be keenly felt.  

In addition to his work in the village David has also been heavily involved with a small charity called Gambian Projects Overseas. This charity supports and helps to build and maintain schools in Gambia. David was introduced to this charity by a member of the St Mary’s congregation, Christine Curwen, and  David’s first ever visit to Gambia was with our current Church Warden, Linda Boyd in 2003. 

For the last 20 years David has taken groups of people out to Gambia to work on various projects and supply much needed resources. Many members of the Parish and congregation have accompanied David on these trips and in doing so have learned so much about the challenges faced by those delivering education in developing countries with very limited funds at their disposal. 

St Mary’s owe a huge debt of gratitude to David for all he has done over the last 24 years but particularly so since the Covid pandemic and Lionel’s subsequent departure in October 2022. 

Thank you, David, for all you have done. We wish you all the very best in your retirement.