Pastoral letter: September 2025

Dear all,

Happy new Methodist year, it is really good to be journeying with you. I hope the summer has been a time of rest and enrichment. Welcome to all those who have joined the district, we look forward to working with you.

I was fortunate enough to spend a week away at Sheldon during August, a retreat centre nestled in the hills of Devon, a place of peace, quiet, worship and cake (which is always a bonus). Sheldon is a place that offers particular sanctuary to ministers, it is set in acres of woodland, orchards and they have a collection of rare breed sheep with whom you can become acquainted. I spent several days walking, reading and  each morning to get up quite early and walk and for the most part I only came across the sheep bleating from one corner of fields to another. However, the day before I left, I wandered into some woodland on the edge of the site where the trails felt largely untrodden. As I went around a corner, I heard a crack in the bracken and there was a Doe standing just before me on the pathway. She didn’t move for a few moments, and we simply looked at one another before she bounded up the hill and out of sight.  It was a God-filled moment, a few seconds which felt longer than they lasted, a surprising encounter with a beautiful creature. It is a moment that has endured in my mind.

 You can zoom in on the map. Clicking on place markers will give the name of the church and also a link to its page on this site. The county areas of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are shown on this map. Norfolk is shaded in a salmon colour, Suffolk pale blue and Cambridgeshire pale green.

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