Our Minister

December Circuit Link Letter
from Rev Deborah Kirk, Superintendent Minister

The people who wait in darkness have seen a great light: on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9 : 2

Here we are again in the season of Advent. How is that possible? Before we have really noticed, the end of November has passed, and everyone seems to be counting down the days to Christmas. Each year, Advent gives us an opportunity to focus on those ‘waiting’ days, and each year, I for one, find that the busyness of those days takes over from the waiting and reflecting.

There is a website called ‘Engage’ which has lots of Advent resources, amongst which are some ‘Tiny Advent Poems’ – not really ‘poems’ as such, just thoughts really about waiting – and in them we catch a glimpse of patient hope, anticipation, excitement, deep memory, destination….

Here is a sample:

• Advent is waking in a cold house, hear the heating tick and hum into life – warmth is on its way

• Advent is unseen bulbs asleep in frozen earth. Handwritten markers hold promise of spring colours

• Advent is the hush in the theatre between the house lights going down and the curtain going up

• Advent is opening the blind – sunrise – the sky is all the colours. Darkness shrugs away

• Advent is jigsaw bits, still scattered. But you’ve pieced together the frame: ground and sky

• Advent is turning off the lights before you bring in the birthday cake

With each of the thoughts is a picture, and I am planning to put one a day onto the Circuit Facebook page so that it might serve as a memory for myself and those of you who can access it to stay in the waiting place. (I don’t use Facebook myself, but it is a good place to share what we are doing with people in and beyond our churches.)

We need these next 4 weeks to work our way through the days like a journey, opening the doors of the Advent calendar, lighting our Advent candles, doing our various preparations, reflecting on the lectionary readings, and each day remembering a little bit more about what Christmas means. As we get our homes ready, we get our hearts ready.

T S Eliot wrote: ‘’the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time”. Advent is an encouragement to take the time to really journey through the days, so that when we hear those wonderful words of John's Prologue on Christmas morning, even though we have heard them many times before, we will hear them with fresh wonder and joy, as if it is the first time:

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being... 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth'.

Peace for your Advent journey, Deborah

CIRCUIT PARTNERING -
TAUNTON DEANE & SOUTH SEDGEMOOR
AND SOUTH PETHERTON & CREWKERNE

December 2025 Update

Since my update last month, both our CLTs had the opportunity to meet with two members of the South East Cornwall Circuit. That Circuit merged 3 Circuits last year, and so they have wisdom to share in terms of process.

We shall need to pass particular resolutions in our Church Councils early next year to take to the Spring Circuit Meeting. The proposal is that our combined area will be known as ‘The Heart of Wessex Circuit’.

One of the main issues we shall be considering in our own and joint CLT meetings will be our ministry staff team, ordained and lay. Part of this will be carefully looking at areas of growth and potential across the larger area, and making sure that our resources are used to best effect, both in the towns – Taunton, Bridgwater, Chard, Crewkerne – and in the more rural locations.

Please ask anything you are concerned about, and Annie and I, as well as the Circuit Steward representative on your Church Meetings and Church Councils will keep you informed of progress.

Deborah

Introducing… Kingsbury Episcopi Methodist Church, Folly Rd, Kingsbury Episcopi, Martock TA12 6AZ

The village of Kingsbury Episcopi is located on the southern edge of the Somerset levels, and has a population of approximately 1300 ‘souls’, with a mix of retirees and working folk.

The Episcopi part of the name derives from the fact that the parish was originally part of the lands of the Bishop of Bath & Wells, and despite being very close to Muchelney Abbey, was never part of the Abbey conclave.

The village has a 12th century parish Church, an excellent volunteer-run community shop and community centre, and, of course, our Methodist Church.

Methodism came to Kingsbury largely because John Wesley was a great friend of the Reverend Thomas Coke, who was a curate in the Parish of South Petherton.

The first Methodist church building, was erected in 1810, and the current building was opened for worship in 1900. The larger building was needed because of the ever-growing number of worshippers (oh, that this would be a problem today!!!). Like all churches, numbers slowly declined after WW2, but our church was still a very active worship centre in the village up to the end of the 20th century.

In about 1984, it was decided to modernise the church worship area, and most of the pews were removed, with some being replaced in a ’horseshoe’, and the pulpit from ‘on high’ was replaced with a ‘ground level’ preaching station. This left a large clear space at the rear of the worship centre for activities by the children, the Girls Brigade, and for suppers and breakfasts – the Easter morning one being a favourite.

In the early 2000’s, another scheme was undertaken to create some ‘proper’ toilets (the old ones dating from 1900 were described as ‘desperate’), a ‘proper’ kitchen, and a new meeting room - called, not surprisingly, The Wesley Room. In the cold winter months, we move Sunday worship from the main church into the Wesley Room, which is created like a ‘chapel’, and is warm and comfortable. This was a major fundraising venture with about a third of the money being raised by our own efforts and ventures and the remainder coming from grants, etc.

In the early 2000’s our ‘resident’ organist moved to West Cornwall, and declined our offer to return each Sunday to play for the service!! So we have installed a high quality sound system, and all our music for services now comes from CD’s, mostly the piano recording of Singing the Faith’, but also from commercially available choral singing discs.

We are a happy band, with almost all our members and friends of retired status, and our usual Sunday congregation numbers about 15-20. We gained several new members when the church in South Petherton sadly closed earlier this year. We hold services, in the morning, on the 1st, 3rd, (and 5th) Sundays in each month. This decision was made to help the Circuit which has a shortage of prescribed preachers.

Sadly, most of our activities left us through the Covid pandemic, because of the loss of several key workers – a number died and others decided that it was time to ‘give up’ for various reasons, the predominant one being ‘old age’. So our activities, such as ‘Sunday Lunch for Singles, Girls Brigade, Wednesday Fellowship, Children’s Craft Mornings, have not returned – for the time being!

But are we downhearted? Never!! We look forward in faith to better days, and the future of our fellowship as a witness for the Lord in Kingsbury Episcopi village.

We continue to support Blytheswood Care with shoeboxes for Christmas and this year sent 22 boxes to Ukraine.

We also have each month a Special Project collection for a wide variety of charitable causes, both local, national, and international.

We do however continue with our ‘Coffee Pot’ on Friday mornings, which is a community venture, and well attended by folk from the village.

Kingsbury Episcopi village holds a large community May Festival, on the first May Bank Holiday, which is attended by large crowds, and is a major attraction with ‘thousands’ coming from miles around. For our church, it is a major fund-raising opportunity, and we join with the parish church in providing one of the main sources of refreshments for the whole day.

During the day we have 3 or 4 choirs doing performances in our church during the festivities. These include the local primary school choir, a folk singing group of ladies, and a community choir. These give us an opportunity to ‘show off’ our church, to large numbers of the public, who come to listen to the choirs.

We are well supported by our Minister, Rev Andrew, who is both helpful and prayerful to our efforts to keep our church as a living witness in the village.

Edwin Guttridge

November 2025 Update

I mentioned in the ‘Circuit Partnering’ article in last month’s Circuit Link that conversations about joining with neighbouring Circuits had been going on for some time.

I actually came across a letter in a previous Link in which Stephen Mares wrote in 2015: ‘what is encouraging is the openness of members of our Circuit to consider possible new patterns, which could involve joining with one, two, or three other Circuits in the future’ !!

Some may remember that particular time when we were considering a joining of all 4 of the Somerset Circuits.

The current proposal seems wonderfully manageable by comparison, and much more exciting in terms of actually getting to know who our neighbours are. The two Circuits map can be found below so that we can familiarise ourselves with the position of the churches in the area.

Below you can read a short write-up from Netherhay Methodist Church. Netherhay is actually in Dorset, which means that we have been a little challenged over a name for the new area. We had thought ‘Somerset Hills and Levels’ but of course, it won’t do to leave out one of the churches. So what about ‘Heart of Wessex’ as a name?

‘Where is Wessex?’ you ask….and we think that is a good question to prompt curiosity and interest in what and who we are.

Opinions/responses on a postcard please … but hopefully not too many or we shall need another year to decide!

Next month, we hope to share lists of dates and invitations to each other’s events. But in the meantime, please put 22 November in your diaries, and consider having one, two or all three courses of the Pot Luck Safari Meal in Broadway Hill, North Curry & Curland and Temple churches - see the poster further on in this issue of The Link and around your churches. Please let Joanna or Christine know you are coming.

Any of the Leadership Team will be pleased to talk to you about the plans, there will be regular updates in the Circuit Link, and Circuit Steward representative will update your Church Councils as the year continues.

Deborah

Introducing… Netherhay Methodist Chapel, Drimpton, BEAMINSTER DT8 3RH

Netherhay Methodist Church is situated in Drimpton, a small village of 400 residents in West Dorset on the border with South Somerset endowed with a village hall, pub and two community magazines with a wide range of community activities. The Chapel is just 12 miles from the Jurassic Coast with its beautiful beaches and surrounding countryside.

The Chapel was built in 1837 and is in good repair. In 2006 it was renovated, pews were removed and the whole building made into a more flexible space, with a modern kitchen, community room and disabled toilet. A local artist made a magnificent wooden cross, with matching altar and two lecterns. Outside the graveyard is well tended. Sadly, the local Anglican Church has been scheduled for closure for some time and we are in talks about ecumenical work.

Members attend regularly along with several others. Every two weeks a service is held either for Holy Communion or Prayer/Worship led by a Minister or Local Preacher and in the intervening weeks without a Minister, the Members organise a DIY service where they bring their own contributions to read, eg stories, poems, prayers, readings, etc , and hymns are sung. This is quite informal and very enjoyable particularly for some who are new to Christianity / worship.

Major services such as the Carol and Harvest Services are well attended by the village.

There are a range of community activities in the Chapel Community Room and these include an art class, meetings such as the Village Horticultural Society, musical events, topical talks, etc, and the adjoining studio is currently available for hire.

There are a number of fundraising events held during the course of the year organised by Chapel Members supported by others including lunches, Christmas and seasonal activities and musical events. It should be said that both the community activities and fundraising activities bring in essential revenue.

Martin Coulson

October 2025 Update

Last month I wrote about the conversations which have been ongoing for several years, and which are now becoming more intentional, working towards the joining of our Circuit with our neighbours to the south, with a view to being together by September 2026.

To help us understand the similarities in size and make-up of the two areas, I have marked the positions of the 7 churches in the TDSS Circuit, and the 5 in SP&C on the map below. The Circuits also have similarities in their mix of towns and villages, and the opportunities for work and mission.

The two Circuit Leadership Teams met together for conversation, visioning, and relationship building, facilitated by Sharon Rowe, from the Learning Network, to begin to think through the resources we shall need, and the steps we shall need to take. We shall keep you informed as we go.

One ‘relationship building’ idea was to divide the 12 churches into 4 groups of 3, which are reasonably close geographically, and hold a quarterly ‘safari supper’ (i.e. 3 churches coordinate to host one part of a meal each – starter, main and sweet) to encourage us to move around and meet different groups of people.

There are other opportunities of course for people to visit a church in our neighbouring Circuit for worship or events, and a list of forthcoming events will be published in future Circuit Link magazines.

Meanwhile some of our Local Preachers are already swapping pulpits, and meeting over the monthly Fellowship Zoom Meeting which David Clitheroe coordinates.

Any of the Leadership Team will be pleased to talk to you about the plans, there will be regular updates in the Circuit Link, and Circuit Steward representative will update your Church Councils as the year unfolds.

Deborah

September 2025 Update

For many years – at least as long as I have been in this Circuit – there have been conversations about joining with one or other of our neighbouring Circuits. But talking about it was as far as it got…until now…

Our neighbouring Circuit of South Petherton and Crewkerne, a Circuit of similar geographical area and 5 churches, has requested that we join together with them. We have had several meetings of our respective CLTs, and conversations with our District Chair, and in November 2024, our Circuit Meeting agreed to explore working together, with a view to being a united Circuit in September 2026.

This is going to be worked out over the next months, and will involve considerable planning and practical preparation towards the best outcomes. I have invited Revd Andrew Longshaw, the Superintendent of South Petherton and Crewkerne Circuit, to introduce himself and his Circuit (see his letter below) and already our Local Preachers share two meetings a year together, and run exchanges for LWPT Sunday in the Spring. Over the next months, we will include some information in The Circuit Link about the 5 churches in the SP&C Circuit, and it would be really good if some us could commit to attend some of their events and services as we can. Several members from SP&C have been attending occasional services in our churches and we have had the opportunity to make them welcome.

We are aware that our plans depend on the gifting and resourcing of God’s Spirit, and we know that both our Circuits have people who are eager to use their Spirit-gifts to serve God through his Church. We will be looking for ways to encourage and enable those gifts to be used and shared – if you are discerning the call of God on your life just now, please come and speak to me or to Annie about how we can help you to answer that call.

This is an exciting time, and we look forward to how God will use the flexibility of our structures and our renewed focus for the growing of his Kingdom in us, through us and around us.

Deborah

Introducing Rev Andrew Longshaw

Hello, my name is Andrew, and I am the Methodist minister for Crewkerne, Chard, Ilminster and Broadway Hill, Netherhay, and Kingsbury Episcopi Methodist Churches, and Superintendent Minister for the South Petherton and Crewkerne Circuit.

I have been a Presbyteral Minister for twenty-four years and I have worked in: Birmingham, Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Liverpool, North Cumbria (Carlisle), and Wakefield, in West Yorkshire. So, as you can see, I and my wife Lizzy have moved around the country serving God.

However, that is not all of me; Previously my profession was as a senior lawyer, in the Civil Service. I studied law and sociology at Warwick University, after studying politics and philosophy at Ruskin College, Oxford. I mainly worked in the area of Constitutional and Administrative law and undertook appeals procedures, regarding cases to do with social welfare, equal rights and equal opportunities law. Then, everything changed when God called me to the ministry. After feeling all secure and settled, in a well-paid job, where career and financial progress were the standard expectation, I was cast upon the ocean of God’s will. While Lizzy continued to work as a Senior Library Assistant at Oxford Brookes, I studied theology at Queen’s, in Birmingham. That was a great time in an ecumenical setting, which prepared me for much of my ecumenical work around the country, particularly in Liverpool and Cumbria, where I also served as the District Ecumenical Officer.

Much of the time I have spent in the North and especially the North-West of England because of my mum’s health and needing to be close to her. Mum died during the first Lockdown, from vascular dementia, which she had for over fourteen years. The last twelve of those were in care or nursing homes, in the place she had lived for much of her life, near Warrington. This time, we needed to be nearer to Lizzy’s mother, who had Parkinson’s and dementia and who lived in Oxfordshire. Lizzy’s mother died in August 2022.

People have said that I am a kind and caring minister and therefore I place a great deal of importance on pastoral care. I also like to be actively involved in the communities I serve, and so try to get out and about to meet people. Lizzy and I love music and the arts. I like reading but realise that I need to be taking more exercise (don’t we all). We have been very blessed in that our other great love is travelling and to that end we have been to wondrous places around the world. More recently we have seen the Northern Lights in Finland, travelled around the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, been on an adventure cruise to the high Arctic, and my recent Sabbatical was spent in Canada.

I believe that I am a person who doesn’t like to continually look back at what I have done, or where I have worked but to let that inform and contribute to the work I do now and in preparing for the future of the Circuits and churches I currently serve and will serve in the future.

Blessings, Rev Andrew Longshaw

Introducing Rev Joe Haward,  Queen’s College Taunton Chaplain

Hello! My name is Joe Haward, and I was recently called to become the new chaplain at Queen’s College, Taunton. The journey to Queen’s has been a few years in the making, and it feels as though it has happened at “just the right time,” a kairos moment. Jesus often spoke about kairos, of trusting God, and stepping into the will and purposes of God. Already it feels as though I am in the right place at the right time, and I am very thankful to God for that sense of peace.

About Me

Where do I start? I grew up in Essex with my identical twin brother on an island called Mersea, a place that would be cut off regularly by the tide flooding the only road onto the island. Born into an Indian family, my brother and I were put into foster care, and then adopted onto Mersea, into a family of oyster farmers, a trade the Haward’s have been involved with for nearly 300 years. I worked with my father as the eighth generation oyster farmer, cultivating and selling oysters around the UK and world.

Up until the age of 21 my life revolved around work, alcohol, drugs, and partying; I had no faith or concept of who God was. But then, much like the fishermen Jesus called, I encountered Christ and had a transforming spiritual experience and gave my life to God.

Ministry

Soon after I felt a deep sense of calling, and began working for a Baptist church as an evangelist. From there I studied theology at Spurgeon’s College, and was ordained in 2010. Since then I have been working in Devon, and much of my ministry has been exploring chaplaincy, about what it means to ‘incarnate’ yourself within a community, sharing the light and love of God. As such I developed how to share Jesus within my area, and what it might look like for faith to grow within the places where people already gathered. I did community work in schools, a disability charity, hosting weekly community meals, and working as an industrial chaplain for an accountancy firm. For the past 2 years I have worked for the NHS as a Senior Community Mental Health Chaplain, working with people in mental health crisis, visiting them in their homes, and walking with them towards recovery and hope. It has been a real privilege.

Queen’s College

I began at Queen’s at the start of term, and there is a deep sense of welcome. What chaplaincy will look like here is going to evolve as I gain an understanding of the school, and what my calling is to this community. It is an exciting journey ahead. I believe, at its heart, chaplaincy is a calling to hold hope for those who are unable to hold it for themselves, until such time they can hold it. I spend all day every day in the heart of a community of people, and seek to represent Christ to them, offering unconditionality, and the eternal truth that God is for us, not against us.

Prayers

I value your prayers. Moving to a new home on-site, settling into a brand new role, and trying to listen well to the voice of the Spirit, are all things I would appreciate your prayers into.

One of my favourite thinkers of the Church is Gregory of Nyssa (4th Century), so I will leave you with one of his reflections:

“Concepts create idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees. As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has their eyes on Christ.”