where it all began...

On Friday I went to the Faith Stories book launch at Bishopthorpe Palace, the home of the Archbishop of York. The book was out yesterday so you can go out and buy it!

I’ve written about it before and how my story is in it but here is the video to accompany my story. So now you know what I look and sound like!

Because it is half term and York is kind of on the way, well in the right direction, I decided to visit my parents for a long weekend. My brother and his young son stayed Saturday night too and Sunday morning after they left I realised it was still early enough for me to go to church.

I don’t often visit this church but it is the one I grew up in, where I was baptised as a baby, where I was confirmed as a young teen and where as an older teen I would slide along the pew with my friends to see how many of us we could fit in a row!

The building holds special memories for me. As I sat there a stained glass window caught my eye. Part of the image is of a young woman with braided hair standing on tiptoe listening to Jesus. She is almost like an old friend to me.

It’s not just the building that evokes strong feelings; a church is really the people not he bricks and mortar.

The congregation has changed over the years, new people have come while others have left for pastures new, this side of heaven or the other.

Some of the congregation are like permanent fixtures, faithful and enduring.

At coffee time I sat with my old guide leader, my friend’s mum, a mother and daughter who always sat in the same pew as me and my grandma. Also there were my old youth leaders, a man who I once led the pathfinders group with and a woman who was my housegroup leader.

Before me were people who had a part in my upbringing, who remember me as a little girl or as a teenager or as a young adult before I left home and married.

I have fond memories of them all and enjoyed being in their company once more. I was almost the last to leave I was so busy chatting.

This is where my faith story really began and it was good to go back and remember.