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Helen's Christmas Letter
I always try to keep my Christmas letter quite short, but it seems to grow and grow as I
remember different highlights of the year – so if you do manage to plough through to the
end, congratulations, and thank you so much for your attention! It has been a breathless
year, but one punctuated by moments of fun and also peace where God was allowed to
break in to the busyness.
Working for Christian Music Ministries has consumed
the majority of my time this year. These are exciting
times for the ministry as we seek God for the future
direction. The last couple of years have been dominated
by the musical ‘Two Sisters and a Funeral’, but it seems
that over the next few months we are being invited to
lead quite a number of music in worship events. This is
exciting as we are also in the process of writing a book
about worship, provisionally called ‘Worship Works’.
The plan is for this book to meet both practical and spiritual needs in more traditional
churches that perhaps don’t have many resources. I took part in a number of CMM music
weeks this year, where I was privileged to train the choir.
I also had a few events of my own this year, including a
musical in a day event at one of my parents’ churches in
Port Talbot, South Wales. The visit to Scotland was
another highlight, especially as my sister Miriam was on
team, and we were able to play and sing together.
James and I have had a
busy year, so it has been really important for us to get
away and take some time for ourselves on occasion. In
January we had a long weekend exploring the wonderful
city of Bruges in Belgium. The weather was crisp and cold,
and the city was at its quietest and best just for us! In
September we had a holiday in the Lake District and finally
climbed Sca Fell Pike
after a disastrous holiday with swine flu scuppering
our chances a couple of years ago. Then just last week
we took a few days to do absolutely nothing on Gran
Canaria. We’d never been on a package holiday
before, so we were a bit apprehensive, but it was a
brilliant way to relax, even if we had managed to book
into a hotel filled with Scandinavians and Germans!
Conducting at While Shepherds
Watched in a day
Bruges
James on Bow Fell
Sunset on Gran Canaria
It has also been a delight this year to be involved with my choir,
the Chanterelles. We used to be a girls’ choir based in
Leicestershire, but have re-formed as a ladies choir in the last few
years. We rehearse three or four times a year, and take part in
competitions and concerts. The highlight was taking part in the
Cork Choral Festival in Ireland back in May. It is such a
prestigious competition it was an honour just to be invited. We
came top of all the ladies’ choirs, but the eventual winners, the
Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club (from the Philippines) were
simply astonishing, and well worth looking up on youtube!
Another exciting moment was singing a trio with my sister Miriam and our friend Amy as
part of the choir’s Macclesfield concert in September.
James and I have also been settling into our new church, Saltley Methodist, over the year.
James is able to lead worship there most Sundays, and I get there whenever work and
local preaching allows. It is quite a small church right on the frontline in terms of mission
in a majority Muslim area, and we had a very exciting
Sunday back in May when 3 men originally from
Kashmir were baptised. James and I have also been
involved leading youth services and a circuit outreach
ministry called ‘Resonance’, which has been very
challenging but worthwhile. Alongside this we have
somehow found time to be part of the horns section
for Jazz Church, based at Shirley Methodist Church, and
this included leading an act of worship at Greenbelt.
On Valentine’s day this year, we travelled to rural Oxfordshire, where James’ dad Terry
was married to Pauline. The ceremony was lovely, if cold, and it was nice to get to know
some of Pauline’s family a little better at the reception. In August my sister Deb had her
second baby – a boy named Ioan Peter Benjamin. We managed to get to North Wales to
see him while he was still just a few days old, and we are looking forward to meeting him
again over Christmas. Last year my parents moved to South Wales, and one of the lovely
parts of this year has been co-ordinating our days off and meeting
halfway. We’ve thoroughly explored Abergavenny and
Monmouth, as well as Goodrich and Raglan castles.
Thank you so much for all your love and support, and I pray that
you all have a lovely Christmas and a Christ-filled 2013.
Helen
On Ireland's highest peak
Ioan Peter Benjamin
Terry and Pauline