Just a short while ago I left my previous ministry as Lead Chaplain to the University of Brighton and Priest in Charge of the Parish of Stanmer with Falmer.
What particularly attracted me to Waterlooville was that the church itself was in the centre of the town, and was very much at the heart of the community. The tolling of the bell every hour during the daytime, which can be heard across the town, is a kind of symbolic reminder of this.
Shortly after being inducted as vicar by the Bishop of Portsmouth the parish opened its annual pop-up charity shop in the town centre. This event which began back in 2002, initially every other year, is now an annual occurrence. In a way it seems to me that the shop says something about the kind of community St. George’s seeks to be: not a church that is inward looking, but a church which looks outwards to the wider community it seeks to serve. The pop-up shop is eagerly awaited by the local community (as evidenced by the queue of people waiting to come in on the opening day). It offers good quality goods at affordable prices, but it is also an opportunity for members of the local community to meet and chat with volunteers from the congregation of St. George’s, myself, and with each other. Indeed a number of folk came in most days during the two week period that the shop was open, and not always to buy anything.
I am immensely grateful at being given the opportunity to serve in this parish, and excited at what lies ahead.
Published 26 October 2018
