Good progress towards our Priest-in-charge

In early December we were delighted to have confirmation that Revd Chris Gaynor will be the new priest for our benefice. His start date has not been confirmed yet, but April has been mentioned (as Easter Sunday is on 20 April, it will be good to know which end of April to plan for).

In a Christmas email, sent jointly with his wife Phee, Chris said “Amongst the busyness of the services over the next couple of days, may you experience the complete welcoming presence of Jesus as you celebrate his birth in the Benefice. And then may you be able to have some rest, enjoy Christmas with family and friends and be led into the new year with hope.”

December’s services

December was gratifyingly successful for our church. Starting on 10 December, we joined forces with village enthusiasts to sing Kemerton street carols – led on the trumpet by our neighbour Tom, we sang through the centre of Kemerton, and then into the pub. Donations into our buckets raised £150 for Tewkesbury Foodbank.

The same week we held our customary Carols by Candlelight service, led with enthusiasm by Revd Kay Mundy. We had a larger congregation than ever, many of whom stayed for the traditional refreshments, and together we raised £388 for Cheltenham Open Door. Our thanks go to Kay, Joe Tuffill playing the organ, the tower and handbell ringers, the catering team and above all the cheerfully raised voices of our congregation.

And so on the Christmas Day, when we had yet another large congregation, led by Revd Katy Morgan. Our recent Christmas Day organist was unavailable, and we were deeply grateful to Kim Caswell for leading us from the keyboard. Katy and Kim together capitalised on this by bringing us a musical sermon, merging the thoughts and words of “Christ be our Light” into the text, and singing its chorus as a repeated congregational response.

Amongst these special events, we had our regular communion services, and a benefice morning praise service to round off the month, led by Sue Bennett, and with Kim again leading our hymns, and a good good-sized congregation for what can be a rather quiet Sunday.

None of these events would have been possible without the commitment and care given to us by our visiting priests, in both Kemerton and Ashchurch, our musicians, and our own members who join in developing and running our services, all helping to maintain us as a vigorous worshipping community.