From Revd Anthony Cross

Dear friends,

“School’s out for summer” sang Alice Cooper in 1972. For many people, the close of the academic year brings endings and beginnings. Over the past few weeks we have had leavers’ services and events for the Year 6 students in our village schools. Some of them have been at the same school for seven years, so moving on from that familiar environment to senior school is a massive change.

This summer has seen changes for me, too. I finished my studies at Sarum College in Salisbury and was then ordained deacon in Winchester Cathedral on the 29th of June. I started my new role as curate on the 1st of July. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the welcome I have received across all of our churches and villages as I have travelled about. It is a pleasure to be your curate, and I look forward to spending the next three to four years with you. Thank you too for the generous gift of a stock. This holds the oil for anointing that I can use when visiting people.

As we begin this new season in our lives, my prayer is that God will continue to do wonders in our communities as we hold to the fundamentals of Christian faith: loving God and loving others.

May God bless you all.

Anthony