We’ll Miss You!

At 99, Vicky Turner was the most senior member of Coffee Pot. Until recent ill-health prevented her, she was a very regular attender of this Thursday morning activity. Sadly, she has now died and will be much missed.

We pray for God’s comfort for her husband, Roy.

Weeping and Rejoicing

Four hundred and fifty people packed Saint Mary’s Church, Islington on Monday 11 April 2016 to say farewell to Jennifer Harvey. Jennifer was the wife of our previous vicar, who had endeared herself to the parish in Oadby as much as she had done to people in all the other walks of her life. This explained the huge turnout for a funeral on a Monday. She had died following an (as yet unexplained) illness of a few weeks.

Nearly 50 people, including a coach party, travelled to Islington from St Paul’s. The service was led by the Bishop of Stepney, the Right Revd Adrian Newman, who also gave the address. In this he spoke of the way the message of Christ’s resurrection gives meaning to the Christian, even in the face of the apparently senseless.

Despite the sadness, the service was an uplifting act of praise to the God that Jennifer worshipped. The hymns included “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood?” which Jennifer had long ago said that she wanted at her funeral. Later, they discovered that Charles Wesley had written this hymn while he was vicar of St Mary’s Islington, where they now served.

The tributes spoke of Jennifer’s love for people, of her friendship, of her concern for the underprivileged, of her faith and of her concern for social justice – not to mention her love of a party! When Simon gave his tribute, every individual there was moved.

There was a time to get to know people from Jennifer’s different backgrounds, over cake and Prosecco afterwards.

Jennifer, it was a privilege to know you – and life on earth will be more boring without you. Our prayers go out for Simon and their children.

John Starie's Funeral Talk

On 19th October St Paul's church family gathered with many others to give thanks for and celebrate the life of long term member John Starie.
During that service I was able to share some of John's testimony after his stroke in 1988. Many people were encouraged by John's own words and have requested to see them.
Follow this link to read it for yourself.

John Starie – 1933 - 2012

A week ago John Starie died. With his death St Pauls lost one of its most committed members who, despite enormous problems had made an outstanding contribution to the life of this church.

John had been born in Leicester in 1933, the youngest of five children and went on to Alderman Newton Grammar School. He attended Sunday school, committed his life to Christ at the age of 14 and was received into membership of the Methodist Church in 1952. In the youth club, there, he met Beryl; they married in 1955 and had three children. Although his son died tragically in 2005, two daughters outlive him.

In 1960 he became a Methodist lay preacher; although somewhat disillusioned he subsequently left the Methodist Church, though retaining his Christian faith. He joined St Peter's, our sister church in Oadby in 1980 and was confirmed.

At work, John started as a buyer for an engineering company, but then went as a mature student to train in Birmingham as a Probation Officer and joined the Service in Leicester.

In 1988 he suffered a massive stroke which affected both his speech and mobility. He and Beryl joined St Paul's in 1988, a few years after it had been founded. They subsequently moved to Oadby, where they shared a house with their friends Gordon and Diane.

Inevitably, John's stroke curtailed what he was able to do, but he was still more active than many others in full health. He prepared the churches monthly "prayer starts." With Beryl, he was a Home Group leader, the church's representative for the Evangelical Alliance, also for "Churches Together in Oadby" and the church's contact person for their CMS mission partner, Jane Jerrard.

John was an inspiration in the way that he managed to overcome his difficulties with a warm smile. You could rely on his presence at prayer meetings. His mobility scooter was not only a means of transport but even a means of Charity fundraising as he joined the "Ride and Stride" sponsored visit to Leicestershire churches.

A "well done Good and Faithful Servant" awaits him in heaven. He will be much missed here. Our thoughts and prayers are with Beryl, his family and his friends. His funeral is at St Paul’s at 12:30 on Friday 19 October.