July 2025 Clergy Letter

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29 v.11)

Last Sunday we had a special service to celebrate the end of Curacy for Rev Chris Alexander and anticipate her licensing this month – Tuesday 22nd July 7pm at Hodnet Church. We had planned to do the two things together, but the necessary paperwork was not in place, so she faces a hiatus….an ‘in between time’.

We are unused to such pauses in our fast-paced modern life. We tend to finish a job one week and start a new post the following one, but transitions are significant times for pause and reflection.

For many of our school leavers (and we will be holding special services this month) July-August is a time of transition between Primary and Secondary, or school and college.

It is important to have a good ending; to celebrate with friends, remember and give thanks for shared experiences and see how we have changed and grown. It is good to anticipate the new beginning, the horizon which is opening before us and the new opportunities ahead. However, none of us like uncertainty and as we wait, we often find our fears wrestling with our hopes in the ‘in between time’.

The bible has many examples of these times of transition. The Israelites left Egypt (where they had been slaves) in a glorious and dramatic escape through the Red Sea, but they then had to wander through the wilderness for many years before entering the Promised land. In the wilderness they learnt to rely upon Hs daily provision for them. Jesus himself was ‘driven by the Spirit’ into the wilderness after his baptism, as he left his life at home in the Carpenter’s shop at Nazareth and started his public ministry as a travelling teacher and healer. He was tempted in various ways to give up on his calling and follow his own desires or take an easier option. He found strength to overcome these voices by remembering the words God spoke over him at his baptism in the River Jordan, “‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

So let us not try to avoid or shorten the ‘in between times’ in life. They are necessary pauses to be thankful for the journey we have made, to remember the God who has faithfully provided and to trust that He will guide us into the new adventure which lies ahead.

Rev Becky Richards (23rd June 2025)