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Website last updated on 27 August 2008. |
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Our Minister
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Telephone Number: 01252 544823
Email: linda.phillips@theinvernet.co.uk
Linda writes (taken from our September 2008 newsletter) ...
Dear Friends,
Barbara has been asking me for several months to write a Profile of myself to go in the Newsletter, and I’ve been avoiding it partly because I didn’t feel it should be included until I actually arrived, but partly because I was not at all sure what to put in a “Profile”! What do they want to know about me, I wondered. Height, weight, vital statistics? No, perhaps not. There are probably many things I could tell you, the following is a selection for now, no doubt you will discover more as time goes on!
I’m a native of Surrey, born in Ewell (Epsom), where I lived until my marriage. Since then we have lived in Hertfordshire, mostly in St. Albans, where we still have our family home. Most of my working life I have been in various secretarial, clerical and administrative jobs, until entering the ministry in 2001. I was ordained in 2005 at the Torquay Conference, at the same service as our friend Libby Godden! I was first stationed in the Lea Valley North Circuit, on the Herts/Essex border, where I worked part-time. My appointment to this Circuit is my first full-time post.
I’m married to Peter, a Solicitor and native of Ealing in West London. Peter is a partner in a law firm in London, and is also a talented musician and a model railway enthusiast. He is on the organ rota at Cove, and also teaches in Junior Church from time to time. We have one daughter, Christine, who lives in Leeds, and has just completed a PhD in Early Medieval History. She hopes to become a University Lecturer in due course. That is our family, basically - oh, except that I forgot the cat! If you ever come to the Farnborough Manse you are bound to meet Mischief, who is extremely sociable, and always wants to come and say hello to any visitors.
I have been a Christian, and Methodist, since my early teens, but have wide experience of other traditions, and have been heavily involved in ecumenical work, both locally and nationally, for many years. I believe strongly that it is God’s will for the church to be united, but that doesn’t mean uniform. Our diversity of styles and traditions is part of our human nature - we are all unique individuals, but God calls us to love one another, and honour and respect our differences.
In terms of worship I am fairly traditional and middle of the road (more Wesleyan than Prim, for those of you brought up as Methodists!), but willing to try new things and lead informal worship in a variety of styles. As for leadership, I practice and believe in a collaborative style – I want people to talk to me about their vision for the future of Sandhurst and Yateley church. I want YOU to tell me your feelings about the way things are and the dreams you have for the future. Most of all, as we begin this new chapter of our Christian journey, I want us to work TOGETHER. I hope and pray that we can take this opportunity of a new beginning to recommit ourselves to God, and to the task he has called us to, that of preaching the Gospel, of spreading the Good News of his love and forgiveness to all the world.
Without YOU I can do very little, without GOD, none of us will get very far. We are God’s people and his agents in the world, so let us TOGETHER work for the Kingdom.
I look forward to meeting and getting to know you, and together seeking God’s will for us as we journey into the coming months and years.
With Christian greetings,
Linda