As I write I am sitting at the kitchen table in the vicarage and marveling at the beautiful sunshine streaming through the window; it seems that at last Spring may be here, well that is until you venture outside and discover a bitterly cold wind! Nonetheless, March 1st has not just brought us St David’s Day but also some much needed sunshine, a new month and new beginnings.

Just this morning in church I spoke about all of the good things that happen at St David’s and the surrounding areas. If you are not already involved in the life of St David’s, it’s never too late to join the good people here. Believe it or not church folk are not as scary as we sometimes may seem and being part of church is much like being part of a family; there are happy times and not so happy times, there may sometimes be fall outs but underneath all of that we are a bunch of human beings who care.

I am presently contemplating new beginnings as come Easter Sunday, I will be saying farewell to St David’s and moving on to pastures new. A new beginning for me and my new parish; also for the people of the parish of St David’s as they contemplate what lies ahead for this church.

Personally I find new beginnings quite exciting; we had another new beginning last week as on Ash Wednesday we once again entered the season of Lent. Lent is a time for reflection and for some inward looking. It is a time when Christians and none Christians can do some reflection on our life journey so far and a bit like the church of St David’s reflect upon what the future may look like: Those of us who have faith in God will call upon Him in our prayers as we reflect, and the people of St David’s will be praying for all who live in our parish.

If you are one of the folk who get this Messenger through your door every two months then you are being prayed for. Lent is an important time in our spiritual growth and of course it leads us through to another new beginning: That of Easter time; the great Sunday the third day after the unjust crucifixion of Jesus; Easter morning when several of Jesus’s female followers found that Jesus was no longer in the tomb where He had been laid and who, according to the gospel of St Matthew, were told by an angel of God:

“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.”

And sure enough Jesus did appear to His followers in Galilee and there was another new beginning, the birth of the Christian faith.

If you are unsure about faith matters, unsure what you think about God, whether He exists or not, then why not try something new this Lent, this coming Easter time. Find a church where you feel comfortable (I can heartily recommend the big red brick one on the corner of Queens Drive and Rocky Lane!!) and see what you make of it.

I am here at St David’s until Easter so please do come along to say hello, and farewell to your current vicar, it will be great to see you. As I contemplate this latest new beginning in my life I will leave behind this parish with my warmest regard for the people here and my blessings and prayers for all the people of the parish of St David’s.

Rev Peter F. Smyth
Vicar@StDavid’s

All of us at St. David’s wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year.

This coming year we face great challenges.

On Sunday 8th December our vicar the Rev. Peter Smyth announced he was leaving us to be vicar at Holy Spirit Church in Dovecot, a church he had worshipped at before he was ordained and where he had been helping out during their interregnum – the term used for when one vicar leaves and another is appointed, but when he applied for this vacancy he thought he was leaving us in the capable hands of our Ordained Local Minister the Reverend Sheila Jennifer Gillies. Tragically less than a week later we received the news that Sheila had died after a short illness.

Sheila was one of us, having attended our church in her youth. Then like so many went away to college to train as a teacher and then went on to teach in a British Army School in Germany where she made many lifelong friends.

When she returned from Germany she taught in primary schools in Liverpool but by the turn of the century her hearing problems made life difficult to hear her pupils and she reluctantly had to take early retirement. At the age of fifty she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she faced the problem with positivity. After treatment she went on to train as a Church of England Reader. This involves reading, but also taking funerals, leading Services and preaching. Then with the development of science she had an implant and after a couple of months had the latest hearing aid fitted. She was amazed to find when driving home from the hospital that cars made different noises when you accelerated and braked and that when she turned off the gas fire it also made strange noises.

After much soul searching she applied to the Church of England to become a priest, but because of her early retirement on health grounds they would only accept her as a Non-Stipendiary Priest. That meant she would not be paid but would continue to serve in her own parish of St. David’s.

The Bishop of Warrington ordained Sheila deacon in her own church, and as we waited to process into church I looked up and on the church bell tower I saw two white doves, the symbol of St. David. It seemed he was giving her his blessing. A year later she was priested in the Anglican Cathedral just days after the Rev. Robert Williams had been inducted as our new vicar. Not many new vicars would welcome saying that there would be no service on the their first Sunday as most of us were going to the Cathedral to support Sheila. There then followed ten years of happy partnership between Sheila and Rob.

Sheila was involved in all aspects of church life, leading a house group where she challenged her group but her quirky sense of humour always came to the fore. On Mondays she would be helping at the lunch club, often washing the dishes and then sweeping the floors. She also helped run the babes and toddlers group on Tuesdays and on Fridays would be helping in the café.

She loved taking baptisms and weddings with her own individual style. When she took funerals she brought comfort to the bereaved. She helped the chaplain at Broadgreen Hospital and if anyone was ill she would be visiting them at home or in hospital.

In spite of many health problems Sheila would be always laughing and joking, even as she left the health centre the day before she died. We are all going to miss her greatly, I count it a privilege to have been her friend for nearly a quarter of a century. We send our condolences to all her family.

Sheila passed away in Fazakerley Hospital on 13th December and her Funeral took place on 8th January at St David’s.

Cynthia, PCC Secretary