Plain and Parochial
Please forgive the rather plain and parochial subject matter of this communication. It struck me that this would be a more effective way of communicating a couple of important announcements, particularly as a number of people have been away in recent weeks.
Sunday 8 September marks James Crockford’s last Sunday with us at St Mary’s. He will be moving to Cambridge to start his new role as Dean of Chapel at Jesus College, Cambridge, the following week. There will be an opportunity for us to show our appreciation for James’ ministry following the 10.30am Sung Eucharist. If anyone would like to make a contribution to the farewell gift for James, please get in touch with Ana-Maria in the Church Office or with Nicholas or Megan, our Churchwardens.
We have advertised for a new Associate Vicar and we hope to interview prospective candidates on Thursday 12 September. Please keep those considering this role, as well as those who will be responsible for appointing a new colleague, in your prayers over the next few days. We hope to announce the appointment once the formal process has been completed, but we suspect that it may be some time before the new Associate Vicar arrives - possibly the beginning of the new year. In the meantime, I have asked the Revd Laurence Price, who is currently the Interim Chaplain at the Queen’s College, to fulfil an interim role at St Mary’s. He will be with us for three days each week until the new Associate Vicar starts. We will also be able to draw on the assistance of the Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker and the Revd Alan Ramsey, our Associate Priests, as well as the Revd John Findon, the Revd Donald Reece, and a number of College Chaplains. I am so grateful to them for their offers of help.
A couple of other staff changes are also afoot. For some years, Ana-Maria Niculcea has served as our Administrator. She has flourished in this role and has made a significant contribution, not only to the administration of the University Church, but to a number of different aspects of the Church’s ministry. With Esther Brazil starting as an ordinand at Ripon College Cuddesdon, we thought long and hard about whether we should appoint a new Ministerial Assistant, or use the resources available in order to fund a different kind of role. The churchwardens and I have decided to appoint Ana to the role of Education and Outreach Officer. This is a newly configured role which means that Ana will continue to work on our educational programme, to help us develop our work with schools and to promote understanding of the rich history and heritage of St Mary’s. She will also be able to develop opportunities for service and outreach in the wider community. The churchwardens and I are also in the process of appointing a new Administrator. We are just completing the various formalities and we hope that the new Administrator will start in mid-September. Once the new Administrator begins, Ana will take on her new role as Education and Outreach Officer.
It is a real blessing to have such able colleagues. There is a strong team at St Mary’s, and in the months ahead, we are going to embark on a series of conversations about our plans for the future. In the course of the Michaelmas Term, there will be a number of Sunday Forums, when we will discuss and debate different aspects of the life of the University Church. These conversations will serve to inform an Away Day for the Parochial Church Council in the new year, as we will begin to flesh out our plans for the future and to think about the many ways in which St Mary’s will continue to serve the University and our city.
GO before us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help, that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy Holy Name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting Life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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