Well, would you believe it? I’ve officially been at All Saints with St Frideswyde for a year! A year ago today, lots of us squeezed into church and I was licensed and installed. Since then it’s been full on, a big learning curve and a HUGE joy.

I thought I would be the only one to remember. But yesterday, at the end of the Remembrance Sunday service, I was interrupted. I thought ‘oh no, I’ve forgotten something, what did I forget?!’ But no, the lovely David walked down the aisle with a bottle bag and a first birthday card, and I was presented with a huge chocolate cake! So I wasn’t the only person to remember, and thankfully, my congregation wanted to celebrate too!

So, to quote Rent the Musical, how do you measure, measure a year?

We could talk numbers; cappuccinos in the Hub, sermons preached, names learned, friends made, friends lost, emails sent, meetings attended, miles driven, stitches knitted, Facebook posts shared, communion wafers eaten by Sophia, but I couldn’t even begin to count! That being said, installed a To Do List app on my phone and laptop a couple of weeks after I started, and that tells me that I have completed 1246 non-household tasks!

We could talk about lessons learned; steering a bigger boat means thinking about things further in advance; if you want to see how people feel, send out a survey; the Leading Your Church into Growth program is brilliant; you can take a risk if people are behind you; Switch Island is very unpredictable!

We could talk about highlights; the Pet Service, a new Brownie unit starting up,working with our nursery, introducing baptism cakes, leading the Good Friday Walk of Witness, 2 family fun afternoons, the Leading Your Evangelism into Growth conference, starting up Warm Spaces this winter and celebrating my 30th birthday in the Hub.

But what I think strikes me most is the things that ASSF and I love together. We love the environment, and we are committed to preserving God’s creation for generations in whatever ways we can. We are passionate about Palestine – months before the war broke our we decided to become a Sabeel-Kairos community. We love to sing together, loudly and with gusto! We like doing things like worship, prayer and community events outside, and we know what an impact those things can have. And mostly, we love God and we want to see our church grow.

And we all love Sophia! A year ago, ASSF got a new vicar with a toddler. That’s huge! They’ve taken her under their wing and helped her, supported her, taught her, laughed with her and been so very generous towards her, both in their attitude and their treats!

This photo here I have called my ‘happy vicar face’. I took the screenshot during my first service, and I haven’t really stopped smiling since! I’m fulfilled, working hard and loving it. Here’s to many more years together!