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September’s Pastoral Letter

Some words of hope

It’s almost 40 years since Paul and I
married at Swanage United
Reformed Church. Rev Louise Drake was the Minister at that time
and Ernest Burgess the Authorised Person. Mum and Dad were
well established members; Mum played the organ and initiated the
odd singing group. Dad was a techie and recorded the services and
delivered tapes to those who were no longer able to attend church.
Many a time he could be found crawling under the floorboards
engaged in some project or another!

There have been many changes since that time; four vacancies
and as many ministers have come and gone since Louise Drake.
Martyn, our most recent minister, will have moved on by the time
this letter goes to print. We pray for Martyn, Lynn, Alex, Madge and
Graham as they begin a new chapter in their lives and we ask for
many blessings on them all.

There have been many highs and lows in the long life of SURC, as
with any church or body of people who work closely together. Paul
and I have only been regular attenders a relatively short time, a
drop in the ocean compared to many of our church family and
compared to the long life of the church overall, but we have been
well aware of the peaks and troughs over the years.

We are all about to embark on a new chapter in our journey
together; we will be without a minister once again and we know not
for how long. However, vacancies can be positive, as seen at
SURC in times gone by; they can be times of renewal and growth
and there is no reason why this should not be the case on this
occasion. But this will only happen if we are all prepared to pull
together.

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