Rector - Revd. Teresa Townsend

Dear Friends,

Another year has gone by and 2025 is in its infancy. Nic and I were reflecting on the past year as I prepared this Rambling from the Rectory. We have now celebrated three Christmases with you in the Anna Benefice, have made countless friendships and relationships, given our care, our support, our encouragement and received the same in bucketloads. We keep saying that we are blessed to live here and at the start of this new year, we say the same. We may live in the Rectory at the end of Upper Clatford, but we feel that we live in the parishes of Abbotts Ann, Upper Clatford and Goodworth Clatford. Thank you to all of you who we have spent time with during the past year and we look forward to getting to know many more during 2025.

All of us in the Ministry Team have enjoyed spending time with you all, in services in church, within the communities and when offering our support for the big life events that take place. We had few weddings this year but they were a source of great excitement as we helped couples begin their marriages.  We have had a lot of baptisms which are so special and we have sadly taken many funerals and have said goodbye to many.  Spending time with couples, families and friends for all these events remains a true privilege and one that we do not take lightly. 

Our Ministry Team meetings, which happen weekly, also continue to be a great source of wisdom, friendship, care of well-being, bible study and prayer. We eat lunch together and we laugh a great deal. They are a highlight of my week and I always feel encouraged and supported when we gather. We seek to offer the same encouragement and support within our worship services, which are very varied, and a warm welcome is there for you all, whether you join us regularly, occasionally or when we visit to bring communion to your homes. Within the churches, we continue to build on all that we hold dear and that bring us spiritual comfort, so that we are always relevant to the communities we serve. 

2025 can be a time for us to reconnect, renew and reimagine. What that looks like for each of us will be different. It may be a time of looking at new homes, or places of work. It may be a time of getting in touch with people or finding what a new normal looks like after a bereavement or a birth. I do hope that you are able to look at 2025 as a time of hope and opportunity. 

At the start of each new year, when we look back over the previous one, we notice things that gave us great happiness and other things that we are glad to have left behind. Nic was chatting about this in terms of the Rectory Garden this past year. Whilst we had some amazing flower displays and the lawn he planted has been a huge success, he’s also had disappointment with many of the vegetables. The slugs won this year but Nic is undeterred and is planning for the new growing season! 

Nic reminds me at times that change is inevitable and needed to keep a garden fresh and productive. I often notice the similarities between Nic in his garden and the work I do in the parishes. So I continue to reflect, along with the Ministry Team and the church PCCs about how we can remain fresh and productive in building our lives of faith and within our communities. We are always happy to hear of ideas and suggestions at how we can do this, so please feel free to get in touch.

May Nic and I wish you all a very Happy New Year and we look forward to walking alongside you throughout 2025.

Every blessing

Teresa