JOHN SMITH

Two new Readers, John Smith and Mary Lynch joined us in April. This month John tells us about himself, and next month we will have a piece by Mary.

Dad was an Anglican priest, so I was brought up in a series of vicarages and rectories in the south of England, and lived the Christian faith from birth. I came north to go to Durham University, and back again to Liverpool in 1973 after two years volunteering in West Africa (Cameroon), and a postgraduate degree at Reading. I did 27 years with Liverpool Social Services, moving from untrained Social Worker to Senior Manager responsible for all the City Council’s services for older people. Early retirement followed a change of senior management regime, and after a year I took on the role of manager at the Council for Voluntary Service in Westbourne Road in 2002. We have recently joined forces with our colleagues in Wallasey, Heswall and Bebington to form Voluntary and Community Action Wirral (VCAW). I have taken the opportunity to give notice that I will retire later in the year, which will hopefully allow more scope for activity within the St Bridget’s community. However, I will continue to be involved with various community groups in West Kirby and Greasby.

I married Margaret in 1974, and we have lived in Greasby since 1975, and worshipped in the parish until a few months ago. I became a Reader in 1986. With the changes in direction in Frankby/Greasby in recent years, I was delighted to find a new home, and a warm welcome, at St Bridget’s a few months ago.

Margaret and I also worship at Our Lady of Pity Roman Catholic Church in Greasby. We have been greatly helped throughout our married life by the Association of Interchurch Families, where we have been able to explore our two-church identity, and to be involved in national and international discussions about the issues of marriages between Roman Catholics and Christians of other traditions. The two children (David teaching at a sixth-form college in Sheffield, married to Sarah with two young children, and deeply involved with their local Anglican church) and Jane (working in Stage Management at Opera North in Leeds, and also now worshipping at an Anglican church there), have both gained immensely from the shared experience of the two church traditions.

More recently, we have found another spiritual home in the Iona Community, and hope to bring some of their insights with us to St Bridget’s – denominational boundaries are superseded there by a commitment to merging work and worship, to inclusivity, to exploring new forms of worship and singing, and to working for justice and peace, locally, nationally and internationally. We have also both been involved for many years with Traidcraft (Margaret was one of the first Fair Traders in 1982) and with Christian Aid (running local activities since 1979).

John Smith

May 2008