Kathy to step down as Head of Ministry of Wholeness and Pastoral Care

At the end of June, Kathy Prosser will step down from her role as Ministry Head as she senses God calling her to concentrate on a ministry of Communion and building relationships as Chaplain in local residential homes and hospitals. This role she will take up at the start of September, after a 2 month summer sabbatical. We want to thank her for the way she has worked consistently over the past 4 years to build, nurture and equip a number of teams to take forward the many aspects of pastoral care and establish a comprehensive safeguarding process in collaboration with the Diocese of Bristol. Her God-given compassion, spiritual insight and professional experience have been a rich gift to us all.

We have not been able to replace her as ministry head with anyone who has the gifts, time and calling to step into the role at this time. Therefore the following plan will be put in place, to be reviewed in 3 months at the end of September 2017:

• We will leave the post vacant as we pray that God will guide us forward
• We hope that a small group from the pastoral team might provide a point of contact for enquiries and concerns, and, along with clergy, coordinate possible ways of responding. They will not be taking any wider leadership responsibilities.
• In the meantime, Jo will be the first point of contact for any pastoral concerns.

Jo and the Ministry heads will review any pastoral concerns at their monthly meetings.

We encourage you during this time to pray for the pastoral needs of the community and for the gifting and calling that we need to be provided.

We also want to encourage everyone to be proactive in looking out for one another, especially the vulnerable or the less well connected members of our church community. We are all members of one body.

Many of us are in Life Groups, which play an important role in supporting and equipping each other. If you are not in a group, perhaps now would be a good time to build this link to deepen a sense of belonging. Life Group members, are there people who you could connect with so that they also feel they belong more fully?

Our goal will continue to be the same: that we are a community that seeks to equip each other to stay faithful to God and to learn how to grow through whatever life brings. We acknowledge that we can never meet all the pastoral needs of anyone, but we can point each other to the One who can truly supply all our needs.