Dear Friends,

As most of you will be aware, I have just returned from 3 months Extended Study Leave. Church of England Clergy are eligible for this period of study leave after they have been ordained for 10 years, although in my case for various reasons it was rat5her longer than that. The reasoning behind this is the recognition that in full time ministry there is not a huge amount of time available for personal study or development. It is a privilege rather than an entitlement, and one for which I am hugely grateful. I took as my theme, Creativity and Theology and whilst at the time I submitted my proposal I expected to be looking at the theology element from an academic viewpoint it ended up being much more of a personal exploration of my own theology and a journey discovering much more about myself, my relationship with God and about developing my creative skills, not always terribly successfully.

Being someone who enjoys crafts I realised I had a mountain of craft projects that I have accumulated over the years and have never had the time to complete, so this gave me the opportunity to try some of those projects, I still have quite a lot left though so think they will have to wait until my retirement in a few years time. In addition to this I was able to attend some craft courses, one at Lee Abbey in Devon and several at Westhope College, just outside Craven Arms. If any of you have not yet discovered Westhope yet, please do have a look at their website, it is a wonderful place and offers a huge variety of crafts to suit most people and it is wonderful to have it on our doorstep.

** I have a couple of photos of some of the projects I have made, and I have made up a scrapbook of all my projects, so if anyone would like to have a look at it, please do ask me.

Sadly, just before my return to work came the very sad news of the death of one of our Richards Castle parishioners, Richard Kightley, who was a member of the PCC at Richards Castle and Deputy Church Warden up until last year. Richard and his wife Jane were very involved in the Benefice and Richard is much missed by all of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jane and the family at this time.

Last week, also came the very sad news of the death of Prebendary Ann Barge, a much loved Priest known and loved by most people in and around Ludlow. Ann was very much a friend to our Benefice, and to me personally, and loved helping out by taking services when she could and I know she took several services for us during my study leave. I had only spoken to Ann a few days before her death and we were planning a catch up so that she could hear all about my study leave. Our thoughts and prayers are also with Ann's husband Ian and their family at this time.

There were times during my study leave when I felt as if I was being pushed out of my comfort zone, times when I felt that I wasn't good enough, times when I found it difficult to grasp a new technique or skill, but during those times I was reminded of the story in the Bible of the Feeding of the 5000, when a small boy came to Jesus with all that he had, 5 loaves and 2 fish and gave them to him, God did the rest.

As we enter a new season of the year some of us may feel a bit out of our comfort zones, perhaps we are starting new schools or a new job or project, or moving to a new area, so my prayer for each of us is that God will take what we offer, no matter how small we think it is and use it for His glory.

With my love and prayers, Lynn