Rural Churches Welcome New Reader

St John’s Church in Peasedown, St Julian’s in Wellow, St James’ in Foxcote and St Julian’s in Shoscombe are all part of the St J’s Group of Anglican Churches, led by Revd Matthew Street.

Within the Anglican tradition Readers are lay people from all walks of life, who are called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach, teach, lead worship and assist in pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work.

Sarah Stockinger, who lives with her husband Andrew and two young children in Farmborough, started attending St John’s Church in Peasedown in early 2011 and liked what she saw. She commented: “As a family we were attending a large church in Bath where I was contracted to set up and implement a 3 year degree Church Leadership programme.  

“It was here that I met Matthew Street from the St J’s Group who invited us to visit Soul Food one Sunday afternoon where we instantly were made to feel welcome and our children really enjoyed the family feel.”

From this month Sarah is licensed to work alongside Revd Matthew Street and the benefice’s Associate Vicar, the Revd Richard Fothergill. Matthew said: “We’ve had the privilege of listening to Sarah preach already, which is one of the reasons we’ve wanted to sign her up as a Reader so quickly.

“She’s also currently studying for an MA in Missional Leadership – which equips Christians to live their faith in a very practical way. Whether that’s by getting involved in social action projects, or working alongside everyday people in their community.”

“Her skills will be a big asset to the outreach work we are doing in Peasedown, Wellow, Foxcote and Shoscombe.”

The office of Reader is the only lay ministry in the Church of England which is voluntary and nationally accredited.

There are now over 10,000 Readers, with men and women represented almost equally.

For more details visit the new look website for the St J’s Group, www.stjsgroup.com, which includes details of future events, the church’s work in the community, activities going on during the week and live recordings of Sunday sermons.