There will be a Farewell Service for Clare Downing, who has served as Moderator of the Wessex Synod of the URC. All are welcome, however we would be grateful if you could e-mail the Synod to let them know if you will be attending, so we have an idea of numbers for catering purposes.
Dear friends,
Many of you will already be aware from the email to ministers and churches just before Christmas, that I will be leaving my post as Wessex Synod Moderator at the end of March 2023. I have been called to serve the North Western Synod as their Moderator, for the next three years, which will take me to retirement.
Following an unsettled time in the North West, it has been agreed that they would benefit from a Moderator serving them on a transitional basis. My experience here, along with offering them some support whilst I was General Assembly Moderator provides a good foundation for helping the Synod move forward.
Whilst there is a degree of excitement at taking on a new challenge, I will be very sad to leave Wessex behind. The churches, the people, the staff team and the beautiful area have meant that this has been a good place to be. It has been a privilege to spend twelve years of my ministry here. It’s not always been plain sailing but I hope that, like me, you will have enjoyed this stage of the journey. You will see elsewhere in this newsletter that there are plans for an event to mark my move, and I hope that I will be able to say goodbye in person to many people both there, and at other events in the next couple of months. I will certainly appreciate the opportunity to thank so many of you for the support and friendship that you have given me.
Please pray for John and myself as we prepare to move to Manchester – though the exact destination is as yet unknown. Pray too for the Synod Executive as they plan for a period without a Moderator, and also start the work towards a future appointment. The timescale for this is not yet fixed, so there will be a period where various responsibilities will need to be shared out amongst other staff and volunteers. Times of change can be disturbing, but
also bring new opportunities – and we believe in a God who works for good in all things. I am reminded of the response which is commonly used in our partner church in Zambia: God is good – all the time; All the time – God is good.
Clare Downing