On Sunday 25th August, the church said farewell to Rev Richard White with an emotional and joyful service, followed by a church family barbecue.<br><br>We wish Richard and Louise many blessings as they start their new chapter in Dorset.
As St John's welcomed Richard White as our new Priest-in-Charge on Monday 28th June, so we said a very fond farewell to Erik Wilson who has steered us through the last nine months as Interim Minister.Erik was Vicar of nearby St Martin's (where Richard's wife Louise has just become Curate) many years ago before spending 20 years as Vicar of St Barnabas in Middlesbrough, from where he retired to Beverley with his wife Jane in 2018. They both answered the call from Archdeacon Andy and Bishop Alison to re-start worship at St John's after a gap of several months, as the 2020 Covid pandemic measures began to lift last October.St John's is growing once again through Erik's faithful teaching and warm leadership; as he and Jane return to worship and ministry at St Mary's in Beverley they go with our gratitude, our love and our prayers. We know they’ll be staying in touch, and we look forward to Erik leading worship at St John’s every now and again.
The next Vicar of St John's will be the Revd Richard White, currently Director of Making and Nurturing Disciples in the Diocese of York and a former Canon of Liverpool Cathedral.Richard, 50, is married to Louise, who is shortly to be ordained and will serve as Curate at St Martin’s in Hull. They have two grown-up children.For the last two years Richard has been responsible for setting up projects to help the Diocese of York meet the challenges of working with younger adults and people in places of hardship; in Liverpool he pioneered a weekly café-style service at the Cathedral and a project supporting parishes 'planting' new congregations. Previously he worked for eleven years for Youth With A Mission (YWAM). He trained for ordination at Trinity College, Bristol.Richard said, "I'm humbled and grateful to God for this call to St John's at a time of great change and huge opportunity. The church family at St John’s has strong roots and is ready to grow, and I’m hugely grateful to Erik Wilson for his warm and faithful ministry at St John’s this year and into 2021. I'm so looking forward to meeting the sisters and brothers I will come to know as friends.”Richard hopes to move to St John’s in June 2021, with Canon Erik Wilson continuing to serve as Interim Minister until that time.
Canon Erik Wilson, new Interim Minister at St John's, spoke about our Sunday service on the 4th October:"Around 40 people gathered to worship God and take part in the first Sunday service at St John’s Church since March. "Many of the congregation have been part of the St John’s family for decades and so the return was very emotional for some." "It was a heartfelt celebration - although COVID regulations may have made it rather muted!"Next Sunday’s service will be Holy Communion, which will be conducted in accord with COVID guidelines; the theme of the service is the faithfulness of God.
