Furlough 2008: May-June
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| On May 1st, Ascension Day, at the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies at the Queens Foundation in Birmingham, the successor institution to the United College of the Ascension where we trained in 2004/5, we gave a talk, together with two Sri Lankan Methodist Ministers, who are studying there for 2007/8, Reverend Sumithra Fernando and Reverend M.G. Edmund. | At Queen's we also met many former mission partners and others who have visited Sri Lanka on official business. Here are they are: from the left, James & Rosemary, Reverend Val Ogden, Reverend Donald Eadie, Kirsten Eadie, Reverend Richard Tanner, Reverend Sumithra Fernando, Reverend Janet Tanner, Reverend Judith Chapman, Reverend M.G. Edmund, Reverend Philip Chapman and Reverend Dr. David Palmer. |
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| On Friday May 2nd we went to Dudley to meet with friends of Rosemary's from her training days at Queen's. This group meets for mutual support and theological reflection once a year. From the left: Andrew Wickens, Andrew Wood, Hilary Smith, Liz Wills, Caroline Wickens, Rosemary and Jonathan Froggatt. Rosemary has not been able to attend the Group since 2005 and both Rosemary and James really valued the day together. Picture taken by James. Not able to be there: Dawn Wood. | On Thursday May 8th we met with Barbara Belsham (Diocesan Link Officer) and briefly visited some parts of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds which is twinned with the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. We visited some USPG parishes including St. Aidan's Church in Leeds, a huge and beautiful church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. |
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| We visited the Sheffield District (our other Link District) for a few days and on Friday May 9th we enjoyed a lovely walk in the Peak National Park with David Willie who, together with his wife Daphne, worked at Mount Lavinia Methodist Church (an English speaking congregation) in Colombo, for July-September of 2005. This was part of the British Methodist Church's tsunami response, enabling local ministers to go to affected areas. David and Daphne are our Sheffield District Link people. | As part of a much larger event on Saturday May 10th 2008 called Chesterfield on a World Map (part of Hope4Chesterfield events) covering numerous places all over the world, we set up a display in the Market Hall in Chesterfield. It was encouraging to meet so many people with a deep interest in the worldwide church. This event was organised by Paul and Jill King who had visited TCL in November 2005. |
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| We went to beautiful Bakewell, in the Sheffield District where we gave an afternoon talk in the Methodist Church on Sunday May 11th and later took the evening service. Our subject on this occasion was "A Sunday in Kandy". This picture shows Derek Price (Bakewell Church member and cousin of Rosemary's father) and Daphne Willie, lighting wicks on the very small ceremonial lamp we brought from Sri Lanka. We began all our talks with this lamp. The next day we returned to Bakewell and spoke with the children in the Bakewell Methodist Junior School there. | Our hosts in Sheffield were the Wills family and we had a lovely long walk with Liz, John and Susan in the Derbyshire Dales on Tuesday May 13th. |
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| We later went west to Liverpool where we stayed with our friends Neil and Karen Drayton They are former Mission Partners who had served on the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean. Here Rosemary and Karen are pictured by the Mersey on Tuesday May 20th. The previous morning Carole and Jim Booth had hosted an informal event for some interested people in the Liverpool District. | On Sunday June 1st, we visited two churches in Worcester, St. Andrews and Bromyard Road. Rosemary led the worship in one while James, supported by a local preacher, shared a reflection and led prayers of intercession in the other. Rosemary wore her white SL sari for most of her Sunday services. The picture shows Rosemary with the Reverend Anne Smith, the Superintendent Minister of the Worcester Circuit. St Andrew's Methodist Church had kindly donated 50 new Hymns and Psalms hymn books to TCL in 2005. |
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| Rosemary and James share about Sri Lanka during their talk at Bromyard Road Methodist Church, Worcester, after lunch there on Sunday June 1st. | We were very fortunate to be able to rent a small, very comfortable, bungalow, called Emmaus, in the grounds of St. John's Convent at Kiln Green on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead. The convent was perfectly situated for our various travels but, above all, the nuns, together with Andrew and Gloria Curtis, and our neighbour Florrie were perfect hosts. Sisters Antonia, Anne and Veronica were all lovely. On our last day there on Monday June 23rd we were treated to lunch with the Sisters. A super end to our stay. |
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