Author: Stella

Suzanne’s story:
The Day God showed up: This is not my story but his. I am
another saved person in his story of life and love for me and everyone. Who would have thought my finding God would begin at a neighbour’s funeral?
As a child I had attended Sunday School; and later as a teenager until seventeen, I went purely to ensure I could attend the Church Youth Club. Then the big wide world beckoned me and God was placed well and truly on the back burner.
On entering the Church for the funeral service I experienced an
overwhelming feeling of being embraced in loving arms almost like a homecoming for someone who had been away for eons. It was so
powerful. Those greeting the mourners sensed something was
happening to me and I was invited to a “Back to Church Sunday” service to take place some weeks hence. I knew I would attend and have
subsequently become an active Church member.
You will have guessed by now those loving arms were those of my loving God. I was confirmed in my own Church and the Bishop’s words still ring in my ears. “God has called you by name and made you his own”. How could I have ever doubted his existence? He had been by my side carrying me in the most difficult situations but he wanted me to make my own conscious decision to choose him.
Patiently waiting for me to open the door and let him in.
I have been shown how special I am to him having lived a life like a
bottle in the sea going with whatever current carried me without plan or purpose. Now there is a definite plan unfolding every day- the plan God has for me. I find it hard to accept unconditional love, forgiveness and grace, but am getting there have progressing from faith to trust putting my life in his hands.
How have I changed? I have changed from the inside, not being
controlled from the outside; trusting in the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sin and his unending love. My heart has been changed by his presence in my life. It does not mean I am required to go to Church, follow the Bible’s teaching, be a “good Christian”, forgive people who have hurt me, reconcile fractured relationships- no, I now desire to do these things because I have encountered the true loving God and
undergone a change of heart and soul. A desire to have fellowship with him and bring glory to him for the rest of my life. He has and is transforming the deepest part of my character; that is the greatest
evidence I can offer.
Roger’s story:
It was a dank overcast Sunday morning as I went to church that day. Nothing spectacular. Most of the service seemed mechanical, just going through the routine, until we came to the prayers. For some reason, there I was on my knees asking God to forgive me for all the things that I had done wrong in my lifetime. It just happened, but I really meant it, and immediately it was as if the heavy clouds had lifted, and the sun was shining on me.
The experience seemed to have taken ages but the people around me were still saying the Lord’s Prayer, and I doubt anyone would have
noticed the spectacular change that had taken place in me at that
moment in time.
Subsequently, speaking to the Lord throughout the day is now common, asking and thanking on so many issues of daily life.
I have also noticed, looking back, that I must have been guided through so many difficult times and situations to arrive at all! The
challenges have not always been appreciated but I have seen the
wisdom of them later; and so I am able to put my trust in the Lord.
Judy’s story:
I was fortunate to grow up in a very loving and supportive extended family. The extended family consisted of my parents, sister, grandmother, aunts and uncles etc. - and God. For as long as I can remember I have felt a very real connection with my Heavenly Father. Although my parents obviously introduced me to God (giving me an illustrated book of the Lords Prayer for
instance that was very important to me) I feel my connection with him involved real guidance and dialogue.
Just as I received affection, support and affirmation from my family I felt I received that from God, and just as I wanted to please them and make them proud of me I wanted to do the same for Him. Of course this was more difficult because I knew he saw everything I did!
However, just as my parents were forgiving I believed that my Father God was forgiving, and I never really felt that I was unworthy to
approach him, only upset that I let him down and resolved to try to do what he wanted.
As I grew up this sense of knowing that an all powerful Christ was with me at all times, even when I was completely alone, not only comforted me but gave me a confidence, a bravery in many situations.
I faced a number of very difficult times when this confidence in Him helped me through.
That isn’t to say my relationship with my Heavenly Father hasn’t
developed and been tested since. There have been periods when I have taken my relationship with him for granted and not ‘kept in touch’. There have also been times when I have challenged and questioned, times when I have felt the expectations of me are too great, or that things ‘are not fair’ – just like the tensions in family relationships, only more heightened because frankly He is in control in a way no parent could be. But fundamentally my loving trust in Him has remained firm. Just as with the best loving parents I trust that he has always been there for me, has been patient with me, and, in His case, truly knows what is best for me. I know that He loves me more unconditionally than any parent could though and, amazingly (and, if I am honest,
unbelievably sometimes), loves everyone in this way.
Peter’s story:
My first “religious experience was not a happy one. In later life my mother told me how as a young child I refused after one attendance to continue at Sunday School. I have no recollection of this or of why.
The next step was as a teenager. My local church ran a youth club. Many of my friends attended so I joined as well. We were expected to attend evensong on a Sunday – which was quite popular as it meant an evening out! From this however came the beginnings of faith. One influence was the curate who ran the youth club and another was the church service where the atmosphere of the building, the language of the prayer book and bible, the liturgy, with the psalms, canticles and hymns seeped into me. I felt something – the presence of God?
My defining moment came when I was in the Sixth Form. I spent some time – on my own – in the local park wrestling with what I believed. Blind faith was not acceptable – after all the Nazis and Communists had faith in what they did! I had to think, was there a creator God or was everything the result of chance? For me the only
sensible answer to the world, to the universe, was there is a God. And so to Jesus. There was sufficient evidence he existed, but was he the son of God? Crucial to that was the resurrection story including the effects on the disciples. Once I decided on the truth of that I had my faith.
Since then it has been a story of how that has developed and what I have done about it – a story of ups and downs. Two years’ national service gave little opportunity. Then three years at university with chapel services revived my feeling for Anglican liturgy and gave me some spiritual refreshment. After that it was into the world of work in the form of teaching with some but not fully regular church services on Sundays.
The biggest change in my life for me personally was my marriage which brought me to Packington and so to Packington Church. For the first time I really became part of the community of the church, involved in its activities and its running, and developing and deepening my faith particularly through the influence of the people with whom I came into contact – both clerical and lay. In a sense I came “home” – I belonged to my family, to the community, to the church, to God.
And now as the years go by I can’t do as much as I used to so I am
winding down on the jobs and activities – but not I believe on my
commitment to God.
Linda’s story:
I am what many would term a ‘Cradle Christian’. I was baptized as a baby, sent to Sunday school as a child and confirmed when I was twelve. At the time I suppose I felt I knew what I needed to know about Jesus, but actually I had no idea what effect Jesus had, was having and would continue to have on my life. My learning came later as I faced the ups and downs of life. There are however, two things that stand out for me as a child, one is my memory of a picture of Jesus on the Sunday school wall, the typical blond hair, blue eyed Jesus, but it is his pose in the picture that I remember, of arms out stretched in welcome for me. The other is my complete and utter fascination with the service of Holy Communion and what was happening at the communion table. Here as in the picture arms were stretched wide in welcome for me. It is that welcome despite the mistakes I make in my life that reminds me that Jesus will always love and be there for me no matter what I do. He may not approve, he may shake his head but he will always be waiting for me to come to him.
As I grew through my teenage years, being able to talk about Jesus and what I believed was not easy, it wasn’t what people of my age did and because I went to church I found myself isolated and bullied for it. Yet spurred on by that welcome and Jesus’ love for me I stood up to the bullies and spoke about my faith to my peers. It wasn’t easy but I knew I wasn’t alone and with Jesus with me I could do it.
As I’ve grown and matured in years and faith that welcome and love has always been there for me, even when I’ve refused to see it or
acknowledge it, even when I’ve rejected it, and I have! It is during these times that I have learnt the most, grown the most and
discovered what it means to be truly ‘Christian,’ to be able to show that same love and welcome to others as Jesus constantly shows to me.
Joan’s story:
‘What does my Christian Faith mean to me?’This is the question I was asked – no more than 1 page of A5!! – such a vast subject. My hope, my fears, my reason for being, my peace of mind; are just a few words that come to mind; but how did my faith come about.
Looking back with hindsight the journey began in childhood. At 5yrs, I was taught the Lord’s prayer by Miss Wright and exciting Bible
stories told by Miss Brooks. During the next 20 years this fledgling “understanding” was nurtured by morning assemblies with Readings and Prayers at school as a pupil, then college, then again at school as a member of Staff, with little effort from me, but I grew up with
suitable words to draw on, but the notion of a walk with Jesus as my friend was not part of my vocabulary then.
As I grew up and travelled further. I met more people who helped to form who I am, too numerous to name many. Beryl, a Methodist, was a fellow student, who took it upon herself to run a short time of
Worship before the evening meal twice a week; Ann was a Roman Catholic who had a strong faith which she talked about a lot, but she was also in the centre of everything else in College life;
Denise grew up in a Jewish family, her task was to produce a Nativity Play, the drama, staging and music; the ecumenical mix was good - and these were girls of my own age-18yrs, they were good role models. The Mothers’ Union has been a strong influence in the nurturing of my fledgling faith with its confidence building and opportunities for gaining knowledge and experiences at seminars, Quiet Days and Retreats held in some memorable Holy Places; the occasional Conference and the chance to meet delegates from overseas, with their different cultures and very lively worship. In our own church I have known 5 Vicars, taken part in 4 Missions, joined in a lot of worship and belong to a Home Group. All these are part of the pattern of my faith and of who I am.
My walk with Jesus continues, it enriches my life, it gives me strength, as well as joy in “just being”; He is my help in adversity and my constant companion.

All the people who tell their stories in this booklet are members of the Woodfield Team of churches.
The churches in the Team are:
St Michael and All Angels, Appleby Magna
St John the Evangelist, Donisthorpe,
St Laurence, Measham,
Holy Trinity, Normanton-le-Heath
Holy Trinity, Norton juxta Twycross
Holy Rood, Packington
St Bartholomew, Snarestone
St Peter, Swepstone