St Mary Redcliffe A Year at Redcliffe Magazine 2022
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Discipleship<br />
God’s Kingdom, can get it right. And for me,<br />
getting it right is about prayerful reflection,<br />
fostering rel<strong>at</strong>ionships, <strong>at</strong>tentive listening<br />
and above all, shaping our ministry to serve<br />
others.<br />
Youth Church has always been my gre<strong>at</strong>est<br />
challenge. Practical factors undoubtedly<br />
play a role in our p<strong>at</strong>terns of worship,<br />
not least as we are governed by time and<br />
resources. Consequently, incorpor<strong>at</strong>ing<br />
Youth Church into our morning worship<br />
always seemed the ideal solution. However,<br />
despite trialling this in different ways, it has<br />
never taken off. Wh<strong>at</strong> has proven successful<br />
is running a monthly Youth Church on a<br />
Sunday afternoon <strong>at</strong> 4pm.<br />
I believe good discipleship needs to<br />
be sincere, and it is important th<strong>at</strong> we<br />
communic<strong>at</strong>e both who and wh<strong>at</strong> we are.<br />
We are a church, and whether it be Toddler,<br />
Children’s, Earth, Online or Youth Church,<br />
we are Christ-centred. Yes, we play games,<br />
yes, we are cre<strong>at</strong>ive in our approach, but the<br />
Gospel remains integral to everything we<br />
do. We are growing together in Christ.<br />
Moving forward...<br />
When preparing for ordin<strong>at</strong>ion training,<br />
I was asked “Wh<strong>at</strong> will be your gre<strong>at</strong>est<br />
sacrifice?”. Ordin<strong>at</strong>ion means leaving SMR<br />
– the church where I have belonged since<br />
2003, where I am a member and volunteer,<br />
an employee and ordinand. Seeing life from<br />
all these perspectives has without doubt<br />
been a gre<strong>at</strong> privilege, and something I<br />
hope to hold onto when I am one day an<br />
incumbent in my own church.<br />
As I approach my final year <strong>at</strong> <strong>Redcliffe</strong>,<br />
my aim is not to embark on new ideas and<br />
ventures, for this will be now the joy and role<br />
of my successor. My sole aim for the year<br />
to come is to assist in making the transition<br />
as smooth as possible as our Children’s<br />
Ministry prepares for the next stage of its<br />
journey. I have a few dreams of my own for<br />
my future ministry, not least making God’s<br />
love known to all God’s people, particularly<br />
to those who feel unwelcomed in church.<br />
However, I am learning to trust the call to<br />
holiness and the direction this takes me.<br />
My voc<strong>at</strong>ional journey has been truly life<br />
transforming, and I am really thankful<br />
to the people of <strong>St</strong> <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Redcliffe</strong> for this<br />
special gift.<br />
Becky James<br />
Families and Youth Minister and Ordinand<br />
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