About me
We are pictured here together as a family with Edward, Juliet and Tilly, in Scotland, at Christmas in 2019.  Strange to think that only weeks later we would be separated for nearly seven months due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
  
Not on view is our British Blue Shorthair cat, Sykes, who will be joined in September by two kittens; bundles of furry trouble.  Make the most of the quiet Sykes, your peace is about to be shattered!

We moved just around the corner from St Mary’s Church to Newbegin, two years ago, but we started our married life in Leeds 41 years ago.  David was beginning a career in surgery, and I was working as a nursing sister in intensive care and coronary care.  Fast forward to today, we have three grown up children, but tragically, we lost our youngest daughter, Kathryn at the age of 5yrs after she died from measles whilst being treated for Leukaemia.  David became a Consultant Urologist at Castle Hill Hospital in 1991 and has specialised in surgery for kidney cancer and stones.  Anne manages David’s patient practice but, following ordination to Holy orders, she has reduced this commitment to allow her to begin her ministry as an Assistant Curate.  During the Covid pandemic this year, she has also worked part-time at Hull Royal Infirmary in the Chaplaincy department.  
 
Our connection with St Mary's Church
Our association with St Mary’s Church goes back many years to a time when our children were little.  Edward our youngest child, was baptised at St Mary’s and both of us were members of the PCC.   Anne was PCC Secretary and David was responsible for the garden fete.  We moved to Beverley Minster so that the boys and David could join the choir.  David also became Churchwarden and chairman of the staffing committee.   Anne was led in a different direction as PCC Secretary and training as a ‘Reader’.  However time with Richard Walker at St Nicholas Church and Jeremy Fletcher at the Minster led her to a Bishops Advisory Panel, training for Holy Orders and Ordination as Deacon and Assistant Curate in 2019.  She is now delighted to be joining the ministry team at St Mary’s Church as Assistant Curate.  Both David and Anne will move to St Mary’s together.
 
Our passions
We love to spend time together as a family, enjoy theatre in the round in Scarborough, casual entertaining and in different times visiting Portugal with the family.  Anne is committed to her ‘call’ to ministry and the priesthood.  She is drawn to teaching through preaching, being involved in choral worship (although she enjoys many ways of revealing Gods love in praise and prayer) and is particularly passionate about a pastoral and caring focus in all church life and ministry.  David is passionate about his vocation as a surgeon and his faith is  nurtured through choral music (particularly Thomas Tallis, Jean Langlais and Herbert Howells).
 
What encourages our faith
Both of us have a deep and abiding faith that has gifted us much, but at times that same faith has been tested to the very edge through the loss of Kathryn and other traumas that have hurt us to the very core.  What has helped to maintain our commitment to God and church has been a firm trust in the love of God and the healing touch of the Lord to sustain us through difficult times.  Being together as Christians in prayerfulness and a reflective approach to scripture and music have helped us to grow through our journey in loving communion with Christ, over time.

• That God will open doors of ministry, blessing partnerships and friendships.
• That those who serve will be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize open‑door opportunities.
• That God will prepare hearts that are ready to receive his Word.

If September brings some kind of new beginning for your family, such as a child starting nursery, school or moving up a class, it can be helpful to know that God is always with us wherever we go.

The start of a new term is an opportunity to ask for God’s blessing on the places we will go and the people we will meet.

Here’s a simple way to do this:

• Look in your child’s school bag. Often there is a name tag built in. You can usually take the paper slip out of the tag.

• Write on the back of the paper slip a simple prayer for your child, for example, ‘Dear God, please bless (child’s name) at (nursery/school) this year’, or similar words.

• Replace the card in its holder, and nobody will know the prayer is there except you, your child and God.

• If the bag doesn’t already have a tag, you can use a keyring (one of those with a plastic frame and a paper insert) and attach it to the zip.

  Parents: if you take a bag or briefcase to work (or even if you just have a handbag or sports bag) why not make yourself a blessing label too?
  
  Bedtime prayers
  Saying a simple prayer each night at bedtime can help children relax and know God will be with them through everything they'll do the next day. Ask your child if there are any special things happening, whether there is anything they're excited about. If they have any worries or think there might be problems to tackle the next day, let them know they can hand their worries to God, because Jesus promised that everyone who has problems can come to him, and he'll find a way to lighten the burden.

  You might then like to pray with your child about those things, to say thank you for everything that's going well, and ask for God's help with the challenges. The following prayer is an example, but simply talking to God like a friend is often the easiest way to pray!

  Loving God, thank you for all my friends, and my teachers/carers. Thank you that I have the chance to learn new things every day. Please bless everyone at school/nursery, and please bless me too. Help me to know that all day long, whether I'm having fun
 or whether I'm feeling upset, you're there for me.
 Amen

Meeting ID: 886 3328 2147

Passcode: 744468

A simple form of evening prayer and candle lighting *

At St Mary's we would like to invite you to join us in a short time of prayer every day at 7pm. It involves lighting a candle and placing it in the window and then saying the following prayers as individuals or as households.  You can join with others in these prayers on our Facebook page.

The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord
who made heaven and earth.

A period of silence for reflection on the past day may follow.

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

The following may be listened to Sweetly Broken (Riddle)  

The reading for the day (see below)**

The candle is lit and the following prayer is said
Heavenly Father, accept this burning candle as a sign of faith and love.
Like this candle, bring light into our world
Even as this candle is lit may we know your presence
and be consumed in the warmth of your love.
In your mercy, Lord hear our prayer.

In peace we will lie down and sleep;
for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

Abide with us, Lord Jesus
for the night is at hand and the day is now past.

As the night watch looks for the morning
so do we look for you, O Christ.

The Lord bless us and watch over us;
the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us;
the Lord look kindly on us and give us peace. Amen.


The readings for the next two weeks

Thursday 4th  
Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. 1 John 4:7-9, The Message
Friday 5th            
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. Colossians 1:15-17, The Message
Saturday 6th      
Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Romans 5:9, 10, The Message
Monday 7th 
God . . . decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Romans 8:29-31, The Message
Tuesday 8th
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 The Message

Wednesday 9th
...those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:10
 Thursday 10th
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. Psalm 17:15
Friday 11th
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Saturday 12th
Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5
Sunday 13th
One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. Psalm 27:4
Monday 14th
For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12
Tuesday 15th
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy Psalm 107:1-2