The churches of St Stephen, St George and Claines in Worcester came together on Mothering Sunday for their first joint service, which also included the commissioning of their new Children, Youth and Families’ Minister, Heather Murphy.
The stipendiary clergy in the parishes, Lindsey Coulthard and Sarah Carwardine have both been licensed as Associate Priest in each other’s churches and are planning to worship together on every fifth Sunday, with the services rotating around the three churches. The first service for Mothering Sunday was led by Lindsey with Sarah preaching. There was a combined choir from across the churches and two young people – Izzy and Max – read the bible readings.
In her sermon, Sarah said: “Mothering Sunday is a celebration of mothers but also a celebration of Church - traditionally people would return to their family church on this day and also spend time with their family. It is a time to be thankful to the role of our churches in guiding us all and a great day to come together to celebrate our churches. For many people and for a whole variety of reasons, Mothering Sunday can be really hard and that’s OK. Church should be a place that we can be exactly who we are; a community where we love and care for one another, regardless of our circumstances. Today we come together to celebrate the gift of Church as we come together as one family.”
During the service, Heather Murphy was commissioned as the Children, Youth and Families’ Minister across all three churches. She was anointed with oil as she starts her role and prayed for and blessed by the clergy and lay ministers present.
Heather said: “It is hard to put into words what this morning has meant to me. I feel overwhelmed and very blessed; it was so special. It is a real privilege to be in this role. I have felt so welcomed in all three churches.”
Lindsey said: “This was the first of our united services bringing three churches together to worship under one roof. It has been extra special that the first one is Mothering Sunday and also Heather’s commissioning. Heather has already made a difference in the short time she’s been with us. We also shared our 8 o’clock service together and I’m looking forward to rotating around all our churches.”
