“I hear you’re retiring.” This remark has been made by countless people in recent weeks. And yes, in July I retire from my role as Assistant Minister of the Benefice of Adbaston, High Offley, Knightley, Norbury, Woodseaves, Gnosall and Moreton. Why? Simply because I have passed the age at which clergy may continue in office in the Church of England. It will be my second retirement in recent years. The first was when I retired as a chaplain in health and social care. For almost 20 years I had the privilege of offering support to older people, including many with dementia or severe and enduring mental health conditions. In that time, I met some amazing people and learned a great deal about living well with dementia. Retirement from the Benefice means that I shall hang up my clerical robes and put away my clerical collars for a few months. Later in the year I may be given ‘permission to officiate’ and be able to take a limited number of services. I have no plans, though, to move from the house in Gnosall we bought in 2018 after my husband’s retirement. For some, retirement is an exciting prospect – a season of opportunity and possibility. But it can also be daunting and disorientating. Now that I’m retired, who am I? Who might I become? And what will I do? Family and friends who are long-retired leave me in no doubt that retirement marks a significant transition in life. We may face the loss of a role we’ve had for all or most of our working life and the status it brought. With work no longer providing a place to meet people, we may have to find new ways of making meaningful social connections. Retirement presents the challenge of adjusting to a fixed income. We need to be realistic about our ability to maintain our homes and gardens as we’ve done in the past. If health becomes an issue we may face tough decisions about where we live. Navigating the journey of retirement will take me time, especially as activities that give me a sense of purpose are closely linked to the church. Like all retirees I shall need to find a new rhythm of daily life. Yet I’m grateful that I won’t, like many clergy, be moving from church accommodation to a home of my own in a new area. Retirement is not simply stopping work; it is the beginning of a phase where we rethink how we spend our time. We may hope to reconnect with passions and interests that have taken a backseat during recent years. Years ago, I fancied the idea of learning Welsh in retirement. I also thought I might take up the organ again. Now, though, my goals are more modest: to return to a choir, take regular exercise and spend time with family and friends. I firmly believe that retirement does not mean the end of significance and meaning for our lives. Our role may change but we still have responsibilities and opportunities to serve. Whatever our age and stage in life, we are held in God’s love. Moreover, God has plans and purposes for us. So with the writer of Psalm 71 we can trust our future to God’s care. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. Revd Cathy Dakin
We are a rural benefice (known as the Staffordshire Border Group of Churches), west of Stafford, made up of 6 churches in 5 parishes who enjoy working and worshipping together. We wish to appoint a Rector who understands the challenges of rural ministry and who has an imaginative approach to mission. Our ministry team is very supportive and although our congregations are small they are very faithful and committed.We need a leader who:Has the vision to encourage and enable us within the limits of our resources.Can help us reach out to a wider age range to grow our churches.Can be an active presence in our communities and take advantage of the many active groups within our villages.Can enable creative ways for people to experience church.Is this you?Enquiries: please contact the Bishop of Stafford’s Office: gemma.trueman@lichfield.anglican.orgAll applicants should normally have 3 years experience in the Church of England or another Anglican church in the British Isles.Closing date: 29 May 2025Interviews: 17 June 2025To apply, please visit: https://lichfield.anglican.org/our-churches/vacancies/rector-staffordshire-border-group.phpAll applicants should normally have 3 years experience in the Church of England or another Anglican church in the British Isles.
As we enter December, we enter the season of Advent which leads us to Christmas. This is followed in the New Year by the season of Epiphany. This time of year can be very busy. For many it brings excitement and joy, while for others it can give rise to stress and heartache. All too often the search for the ideal or perfect gift for loved ones along with the planning of special celebrations and meals can distract us from the true focus of Christmas, which is to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. It is in celebration of this greatest of gifts that we exchange gifts on Christmas Day. Some countries, though, celebrate and exchange gifts 12 days later on Epiphany, remembering the visit of the wise men to Jesus bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. This year my first sighting of Christmas cards, gifts and wrapping paper came in July. At one time the various seasons would be distinct and Christmas goods would not appear in the shops until bonfire night and fireworks were finished. It seems now that commercial pressures distract us from remembering what Advent and Christmas are about. Please do not think I have become a grumpy old man in my retirement! I love Christmas and all that comes with it, especially the celebrations and the enjoyment of both giving and receiving gifts. Christmas is a time when we are to show each other good will and share love, happiness and joy and when we can reach out to those who are struggling to hold onto hope. in his novel "The Keys of the Kingdom" A. J. Cronin tells the story of a compassionate and humble priest who is sent to China to maintain a mission. He comes face to face with desperate poverty, civil war, plague and is met with hostility from his superiors. At one point the writer describes hell as “that state where one has ceased to hope”. Day after day in the news we are confronted with the stories of people living in war zones such as the Gaza strip, Lebanon and Ukraine. Situations where children and families are caught up in conflict and violence, where they have lost all hope and must feel that they are in hell on earth. Nearer to home people may be struggling to hold onto hope as a result of homelessness or poverty, cruelty or neglect, constant pain of mind or body. As we enter the darkest days of the year the Church keeps Advent, a time of hope and joyful expectation. As we journey through the days of Advent, we’re invited to watch and wait for the promise of light and hope, bringing to God our longing for peace and justice throughout the world. Recognising our failings let us ask God to change us and help us to reach out to touch others with his love. At Christmas may we celebrate with joy the time when Christ entered our world as our Saviour and friend. As we exchange gifts with loved ones, we give thanks for the gift God gave us in Jesus. The gift that we are loved, are never alone and can have hope for the future. I hope that you will have a good time this Christmas as we remember the coming of the Christ child. We would be delighted to see you at one of the Christmas services. John Underhill
November is a month of Remembering, we will be holding an All Souls service on 3rd November at St Lawrence, Gnosall, an opportunity for loved one's names to be read out and remember those we have lost in the Benefice. I’m sure we all know the rhyme Remember, remember the 5th November, the date we remember the failure of the gunpowder plot. On the 10th November Remembrance Sunday services will be held across the Benefice and then at 11am on the 11 November each year, we will join with many countries around the world in two minutes silence to remember all who have been killed, wounded or affected by war. In 1914, Edward Grey, Britain’s then Foreign Secretary, uttered these words on the eve of Britain officially entering the First World War: “The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” Since then however, the United Kingdom has been involved in many more wars and conflicts. At Remembrance services all around the globe the words of the Kohima Epitaph are read: When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today. However, it is based on something much older. It was Simonides who wrote the famous lines about the Spartan action under King Leonidas who held the pass of Thermopylae against the Persians in 480 BC. One translation of Simonides' epitaph reads as follows: Tell it in Sparta, thou that passes by, here, faithful to her charge, her soldiers lie These moments in human history and the experiences and memories that we each personally have show us that the lamps do not go out, that the hope of peace and justice in the actions of our service men and women keep the lamps lit. This is the promise of God that although we may try, we cannot extinguish what is good in humanity and God’s creation. In the Gospel of St John, we read “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it”. So, as we remember the lights going out over Europe at the start of the First World War and the sacrifice of all those affected in the conflicts since, let us be inspired in the knowledge and faith that they will always be relit by those prepared to give themselves for others. They left home and family often to foreign lands in the search of justice, freedom and peace; the effects of which we feel in our society today. The world could have been a very different place for us without their sacrifice, which cannot and should not be forgotten. The memories we recall should spur us forward in the search for true harmony and peace throughout the world. As the Lord commanded the apostles to “Do this in memory of me” we pray for the grace of the great sacrifice of Calvary to engulf the whole world that we may live in the harmony for which Christ prayed; and to our fallen we say “We will remember them”. Adie Harris
