Mid-week Joy special – Edith’s Retirement
As Edith retires this week it seems like the right time to celebrate some of the many things which have given us all great joy during her eight years here.
Edith’s licensing as Priest in Charge took place on Wednesday 5th September 2012, and she immediately became an integral part of parish life. As early as December that year a large number of parishioners met in the cold, unwelcoming space at the back of St Thomas’ Church to discuss the need for toilet facilities, and from there the Development Group was formed.
Meanwhile, the parish bounced back from three years without a full-time vicar. Edith and Stephen joined us as we re-introduced Carol Singing around Lees to raise money for the Booth Centre. Edith, alongside Ruth and David, led us in our annual Whit Walks, where we then met up in St Thomas’ with the other members of Churches Together in Lees and District for a joint service. This is one of several joint services and events which we share annually with our friends from other local Christian Churches, including the Good Friday Act of Witness in the centre of Lees.
Life events such as weddings and baptisms are amongst the most enjoyable parts of a vicar’s job, but they are even more special for the families involved.
Because St Agnes' Church is so tiny it is quite rare to have weddings there, but to the left is a photo from Estelle and Mick's wedding at St Agnes' in 2016.
Here’s a lovely message to Edith from Liz Bentley - “To Edith. I wish you and Stephen a very happy retirement. I personally thank you very much as you were at both my Grandchildren’s Christenings, even attending down at St. Edwards RC. and reading the lesson for us. Father Dolan said that was definitely a first for him, sharing the Christening service with a C of E Vicar, so perhaps it may go down in History! You presided at my Granddaughter’s christening and that made it very special for me. You must go and enjoy your beautiful family now. Lots of love from Liz Bentley and family.”
Our Sunday Schools, children and families are very important members of our parish community, and are encouraged to play an active part in special church services throughout the year.
One of the innovations made by Edith was admitting children early to Communion so that they could make the decision be Confirmed later, and whole families are now often Confirmed together.
Social and fundraising events with Rose Queens, Harvest Queens and the Ladies of Leesfield continued, as well as the extra work of the Development Group, and we were all very busy.
Extra fundraising events in aid of the Development Fund were held in Lees Library, St Thomas’ school hall, St Edwards’ function room, and pretty much anywhere we could find! Some old events like the teddy bear parachute jump were revived, along with new ones like the Parish Boundary Walk and a Big Band Extravaganza. Stephen became a regular on the Boundary Walks, whilst Edith took on marshalling duties.
Edith was licensed as Incumbent on the 25th October 2015, and then on the 28th May 2016 we celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the clock and bells at St Thomas’.
The separately heated Community Room with kitchen facilities has enabled us to invite many more visitors to events such as Heritage Open Days, local schools’ choral speaking, Ladies of Leesfield meetings and regular weekly opening.
Our Tuesday morning service of Holy Communion has become far better attended now that we can gather in a warm space and socialise afterwards, and we have been able to hold Taizé services and Emmaus groups there.
Social and fundraising events held by a variety of groups are now a regular feature of parish life, and Edith has been very much involved with the Big Brekkie for Christian Aid and the highly popular Cheese & Wine evenings!
With three Church of England Primary Schools in our parish, Edith’s work as both Governor and Vicar has been particularly demanding, and nowhere more so than at St Hugh’s. Edith has done so much to ensure that the children experience church in school, including Christingle services and even baptising the child of a member of staff there.
Bishop Mark visited Holts with us on his Prayer Pilgrimage in 2017, and school staff proudly carried the St Hugh banner at Whit Sunday walks.
In 2018 we became part of the Inclusive Church network, and in 2019 Neil was licensed as an Authorised Lay Minister. Our new Thursday evening service “Worship for all Generations” launched in October 2019 has been enjoyed by so many of us.
2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, especially Edith – as our church buildings closed she has had to learn many new skills to ensure that everybody can worship in a way accessible to them, and then preparing to re-open church in such a limited way. The 150th Anniversary of St Agnes’ Sunday School & Day School couldn’t be celebrated as we would have wished, and our farewell to Edith wasn’t what we wanted.
All these things will happen when we are able to gather again properly, but in the meantime we were able to celebrate Edith’s last week in a few small ways.
Thank You Edith!
To watch a farewell video from Edith please click on the following link - Edith's video
You can also see the Worship for all Generations "Thank You Edith" video here - Thank You Edith
