Revd. Linda Williams; Curate-in-charge, All Saints District Church Harpenden.
What can I tell you?

Year on year we excitedly speculate, seeking just a spot or two of snow, hoping they might herald a 'white Christmas! And so it was this December as I prepared to celebrate my first Christmas in my new post that we lay very still beneath a deepening white blanket. Like it or loathe it the snow transformed the Harpenden I visited on a bright July 2010 for interview for the post of curate-in-charge of All Saints Church. I was thrilled be offered the post by the end of that summer day. Suddenly five months slipped away and I was licensed during a wonderful, laughter-filled, celebratory service by the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, newly installed Bishop of Hertford, on December 8th. But what else can I tell you about myself? Well, I'm a life long Christian, the cradle to grave sort. After too many years of prevarication and denial, I finally pursued a vocation to ordained ministry just nine years ago. God just doesn't leave you alone when He has plans for you….and of course I should have paid attention a lot earlier! I trained for ministry part-time with SEITE (South East Institute of Theological Education). My 3rd year included full-time study placement at the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. Here, with a group of Christians from around the globe, I completed the University of Geneva Post-graduate Theology Certificate in Ecumenical Studies. I made what I'm sure will be life-long friends and links with Christian denominations worldwide. You'll discover I've a strong interest in things European, with family in Belgium, language skills and a first degree in European Studies from East Anglia and Brussels Free University. I'm currently completing a BA in Theology. I was ordained NSM in Croydon and served my title post at All Saints, Kenley in the London Borough of Croydon, Southwark Diocese. I served on Croydon South Deanery and Southwark Diocesan Synods, Southwark Diocese Companions in Mission Parish initiatives, Southwark Diocesan Ecumenical Advisory Committee, local Churches Together movement and had begun to lecture on ecumenism at Southwark Diocese IME post-ordination training. I have also been an honorary hospital chaplain in Croydon for several years.

But as I said, God just doesn't leave you alone when He has plans for you. Through my training I'd explored a growing conviction and call to full-time ministry which the Church of England affirmed during the time of my title post. I quickly found this call challenging in a practical way as I stepped up to lead the church in Kenley during their long periods of time without a Vicar. I loved it and come now to All Saints, Harpenden with an enthusiasm to grow and help others grow increasingly in our faith and to live God's love here together. Family Roots I'm a 'Maid of Kent,' born in Maidstone, Kent just over half century ago! My English family have three hundred years of agricultural labouring in Kent behind them and I, my cousins and our extended family grew up on farms in the Medway valley. My family's historically strong commitment to the Church took in Georgian ancestors who were Parish clerks scribbling graffiti on registers, to my Grandmother's parish 'teas.' I remember well my Dad on tenor bell ascending to the bell chamber on the end of a rope as he 'rang up;' while I stood on a box tentatively learning not to let go of the bell rope myself (I never learned bell ringing-something I might correct in Harpenden?). Like my Mum I found myself baking for the Mothers Union, (lately a 'deanery' member for my title parish had no branch). I grew up within both continental European Roman Catholic and Anglican family backgrounds. These two strands of Christianity provided insights and influenced my own faith development and were formative in grounding my interest in ecumenism. After university I worked for a major insurance company in the City of London, commuting from Kent and then Sutton. Nigel and I were married there twenty-eight years ago and we have one daughter Victoria. I also returned to full-time work at Woodcote Infant & Nursery School, Coulsdon, in SEN support for individuals as a DfES Higher level teaching assistant both before and after ordination. Most satisfying and a great privilege was being the link person between my workplace and my church; outreach which has sparked others to know God's love and come to faith. I am still keeping up with my long term family history hobby which was inspired by my father and has led me around the world. I enjoy creative activities working with my hands; sewing, drawing, painting and gardening. So there you have it, some of the experiences and skills I bring to serve at All Saints. Certainly I am excitedly speculating on all the very new challenges that await me and my family after a remarkable year for us; my husband taking a career break after many years in financial services, our daughter hopefully joining the RAF after university, whilst I am honoured and privileged to be licensed, by the grace of God, to serve at All Saints. God bless, Revd Linda Williams