Sash Magazine Letter
How good are you at planning ahead? I always have plenty of good intentions it’s just that at times my intentions don’t live up to my plans. For instance I had intended to tell you about myself long before I started working with you, yet somehow here I am having spent a month amongst you already.So where do I start in telling you something about myself? I am married to Karen and we live in Chorlton We have three children, Kathryn who is 14 and Hannah aged 11 go to school in Hulme and Rebekah aged 8 who goes to school in Chorlton.
So what else can I tell you about myself and how I ended up in Chorlton? I grew up in Timperley and went along to Woodlands United Reformed Church with my parents. I became a Christian when I was about 16 thanks to a combination of church, Christian Endeavour and Billy Graham’s influence. When Karen and I married we moved into exile in Warrington, however this was soon to become home and the place we were to find so hard to leave behind in years to come.
I suppose I had felt a call to ministry almost from the moment I committed my life to Christ; however I had always dismissed it, as the time never seemed to be right. We both continued to bring up our young family and ploughed our time into working with our local church, St John’s United Reformed Church in Warrington. Yet no matter how busy we were, there was still a need within both of us that we were unable to fill.
Shortly after Kathryn was born a friend left us with the words of Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ We believed firmly that God was calling us; yet failed to see how this could be to full time ministry. There seemed to be too many obstacles preventing us from answering this call. One Spring Harvest we sat down with some friends of ours who were on home leave from Tanzania where they were working as missionaries. We talked and prayed all evening about our situation and felt God telling us to step forward in faith, to push doors and see where they opened.
I went to see Graham Cook, who at that time was the Mersey Synod Moderator, only to discover my academic qualifications were not sufficient for me to train for the ministry. So the first door I had pushed on seemed to have closed in my face. However, to my amazement, I found myself (thanks to the generous support of my church) studying part time on the Faith In Living course at Luther King House, as a way of proving my ability for further study. So, to cut a long story short, I applied for the ministry the following year and was accepted to commence training in September 2003.
I spent my first year in an ecumenical placement working with St Edmund’s and St James’ C of E churches in Whalley Range and Moss Side. The time I spent there was both challenging and fulfilling. Having struggled to say goodbye to our church family in Warrington, we could not have wished for a warmer welcome. Karen and the family quickly settled and made friends. They continue to attend there regularly to this day. My second year was spent on placement at Hulme, Chorlton Road and United Peoples Churches which formed part of The United Reformed Church South West Manchester Group. Again this past year has been both challenging and rewarding as I have settled back into life in the URC.
The past years that led us to where we are now have been a long journey. We look forward to this time now where our journeys meet. We are excited at the prospect of getting to know you all and working alongside you. I close by reminding you of the words that have guided and encouraged us over years gone by and I hope will sustain us in years to come:
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
Yours in Christ
Stuart, Karen, Kathryn, Hannah and Rebekah.
posted by Sale and Ashton URC @ 9:19 AM
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