Curate's letter

August 2021

Click for the Vicars letter from July 2021

A new beginning at St Georges's

Hello. How are you? Please let me introduce myself: I’m your new minister - and yet, I have been with you since September last year. How can this be?

You see, as a Curate in the Church of England, my first year here with you was spent as a Deacon. The Deacon is the first Order, the foundation for all priestly ministry in the Church. Deacons ‘are called to serve the community in which they are set’ - so that’s why you will often see me behind the counter in the café on Mondays or Tuesdays - literally serving you coffee, or sausage rolls, whichever is your greater need! I have tried to serve you in all the ways that have been possible, although it has often felt like a bit of an uphill struggle, but there have been ways and means to keep popping up in the life of the village.

On the first Saturday in July, I was made a priest by our bishop, Bishop Rose, by anointing and prayer and the laying on of hands at Holy Trinity in Folkestone. It was a very joyful occasion, although restrictions meant that sadly not many from our parishes could take part in person. One who was there was, of course, Revd David Commander, who is training me during these three years of curacy. His support has been wonderful and I am learning so much from him.

So, now I am not only your deacon, I am also one of your priests. This doesn’t mean that my service stops. I will still be there with the ‘cuppa’ and the roll, but I will also serve you another bread and cup: Holy Communion on Sundays, or on Tuesdays in Sandhurst Mission Church. This is at the heart of every priest’s life, the one thing that makes all the other parts we play make sense. The coming together as a congregation to remember all that Jesus did for us in his death and resurrection, is what makes church church. That, and the people.

I am at last able to take weddings and baptisms, as well as funerals, which I have taken for a long time, even as a lay person, and it will be an absolute privilege to work with you, as we plan and celebrate these milestones in your family’s life together.

When life gets tough, then I am only a phone call (01233 820100) or an email away (details on the church website). If you, or anyone you know, could benefit from a visit, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Or maybe you want Communion, but can’t get to church? Then I and my lovely new-but-old Home Communion set, a wonderful gift from the family of Revd Sheila and Barry Smallman, can come to your home.

As things open up a little, it will be wonderful to meet more and more of you at different village events, or just as I walk around the village. Please come over and say hello! Don’t be put off by the awkward spelling of my name - if you can say Yvonne, then you can say Ylva. It is Swedish, and an old Viking name, and so am I - both Swedish and a bit of an old Viking, in the best possible way!

Revd Ylva Blid-Mackenzie, Curate