STEPHEN’S LETTER

Dear People of St Cuthbert’s,

When considering leaving a community, and in my case retirement, I necessarily have mixed feelings. While looking forward to the future, I am thinking of all the hundreds of people that I have left behind over the years in the various parishes and churches where I have served. The task of saying goodbye is difficult and even painful for both sides but it is part of everyday life that we all experience. When Jesus told his disciples, ‘it is for your good that I go away’, he was challenging his disciples to see that the future was going to be different in terms of the way they related to God. While no one wants to suggest that a departing Rector should be compared to a departing Jesus, there is one similarity in that a set of relationships is coming to an end in preparation for a new and different network of relationships in the future.

A church congregation and its relationship with its Rector is a complex thing and I have had cause to think about it in the past and will ponder and maybe write about it in the future. In my opinion the task of the clergyman is to help to provide a supportive environment for a church community to grow – in numbers and also spiritually. The growth that is important is the growth of insight and spiritual awareness alongside an increase in the individual’s capacity for patience, tolerance and love. That means encouraging mutual support and care, not only between long-standing members but also with the stranger who comes for the first time.

It is very strange to think that this is the last Rector’s letter that I will be writing. I have always felt it a privilege to contribute to The Sign, which is, as our editor points out, an opportunity for an articulate group like ours to reflect on a whole variety of issues. Sometimes these issues are religious in a narrow sense while others reflect a broader approach to life. In either case, our community is being encouraged to share together what it means to be human in the 21^st century. So in this, my final letter as Rector, I want to wish the Sign well, as of course I want to wish all of you well, as we move into a new stage in all of our lives.

My hope for the future is that the spirit of St Cuthbert’s in terms of its worship, its prayer and its capacity to care for its members will continue and grow. Whatever contribution I have made to this process will be remembered, not attaching to me personally, but as part of the long-term journey of the congregation of St Cuthbert’s of which I and Frances have been privileged to be part over the past seven years. Our thanks to you all for allowing us to be fellow pilgrims on this journey and may God bless you all in the future.

Stephen