A review by Rev. Clare Stainsby

           It’s now around 9 months since I arrived at Patricroft as Minister. As I have said many times, I came with great excitement at the potential in this Church to grow and develop, and move into new places. I still have excitement about this.

        I have been especially grateful to Patricroft leadership team for the willingness to change times of Services, in order to enable me to see more than one Church on crucial days  - in recent times on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  I am more than willing to put myself in as many places as possible, where there is a willingness for  flexibility on behalf of the Church.

            I also need to say thank you for a number of other things. Since the day I arrived, this church family has been kind, caring, supportive and encouraging. I know that some of what I bring to this Church is quite different from what has gone before. And I suspect that for some I may be pushing the boundaries of their comfort zones quite a lot. But then, is comfortable where we ought to be as Christians, living out God’s love in today’s world?

           I believe we are in a unique position in Patricroft, the only Church in close proximity to a large area of housing. I am aware, also, that a large proportion of the congregation travels to Patricroft and do not live in the local community. That makes of an interesting dynamic for what we can be and do here - one which we need to work out together. I know that if we are to grow as a Church, both in numbers and in depth of faith, we need to put some time and energy into it. That doesn’t mean that we need to make Church life all-consuming, to the detriment of other areas of our lives. But we need to ask the question, what can I do to help us grow? And that includes me.

        I am very glad to be here in the Salford Circuit, and I am clear that it is where God wants me to be. Patricroft is a big part of that sense of God’s purpose for me, though how things will pan out in the years ahead is by no means clear to me. But I am committed to walking this road, however rough it may be.

          Let’s see where He can take us, and to Him be all the glory, all the way!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              May 2016