The distance from friends and family is much more obvious. I guess this goes without saying, so I am trying to be more diligent about keeping in contact. I plan occasionally to send an informative email so that we can remain connected in some small way. I sent the following email just the other day and included these couple of photos as well. It offers a bit of a glimpse of our experiences in Thatcham and in our new church appointments. We look forward to sharing more about our journey!
Dear Friends,
We are settling into our new home in Thatcham. It is a nice town and offers easy access to many places in south England. We live just a short 3 minute walk to the train station and an easy walk along footpaths to the town center. We live right across from a large park with a children's playground, so we can easily venture out for some running and climbing. We are right between Newbury and Reading, and we are about an hour train ride away from London. Thatcham is a commuter town for many people, so the trains in the morning and evening spill over with commuting passengers.
We are literally finding our way around, learning the roads, and even on some occasions getting lost (at least for me:-)). Thankfully, we have been given a TomTom (known as a Sat Nav in Britain, not a GPS) as a gift, so we are appreciating the navigational assistance. We actually found it much easier to acquire two cars and a Sat Nav than to get cell phones. Until we have been residents for at least a year, we are dependent upon the less convenient, high maintenance pay-as-you-go phones. (I mean no disrespect to any pay-as-you-go people out there.)
On a given work day, we take Laura-Clare to nursery (Monday - Thursday). She enjoys her time at Woodlands, and she is flourishing amidst the many offerings that they have even for a two and a half year old. She is managing, despite our initial concern, to be very agreeable with the requirements of wearing a hat and wearing wellies for outside play. On the other hand, she has everyday for three weeks rejected her lunch because she is extremely selective (i.e. picky and headstrong). Fortunately, she does eat her morning snack and afternoon tea. No worries. She is not going hungry. :-)
The going favorite toy for Laura-Clare right now (besides her ever-faithful Baby Madison, of course--thank you Angie and David!) is the excellent Play Doh Big Barrel that I found at the Toys-R-Us in Reading recently. It is chocked full of Play Doh and accessories, offering hours of fun for Laura-Clare to "squish and squash." She has also added to her favorites collection a new, little pram for Baby Madison. Laura-Clare loves to push the baby in the pram on our walks to the park.
We are juggling our new home life with our new ministry responsibilities, and we are appreciating the challenges. The Methodist Church has quite a different structure from The United Methodist Church, so we are learning much along the way. Although the two Churches share some similar terminology (District, Circuit, Superintendent), these function in different ways. We are having fun trading stories and making comparisons. This is certainly one very interesting part of being in ministry in a new culture.
There is a deep interest with the church in Britain to explore new ways of worshipping and simply being church. What we might call emergent worship in America is called fresh expressions in Britain. Fresh expressions are being explored quite a bit in seemingly unexpected places, and it offers exciting possibilities for new ideas in the local churches. Also, there are distinct and vital ecumenical relationships within communities.
We officially began our ministry work on September 1st and were welcomed with a worship service on our first Sunday. This was a lovely occasion for our two Circuits to come together. (Feel free to read my blog post about this welcome service.) Since then, we have now had three Sundays for preaching and leading worship after months of being in limbo. It has helped to give us much needed grounding. We are each and everyday trying to make the most of our time in this new place. In addition to the things of ordinary daily life, we are happy for the opportunities to explore. We are looking forward to a few days away to Wales in November for a break before Advent and Christmas.
Needless to say, we are overjoyed, curious, excited, and overwhelmed by the experiences thus far. We will appreciate keeping connections with you and do hope that you will keep in touch!
Love,
Amy (and Timothy and Laura-Clare)
