Below is a letter to the parish from Linda Beville, Emmanuel’s music director, regarding her departure to take another position:
Dear friends of Beckford Parish,
At the July Vestry meeting for Emmanuel Church, Mother Kathy read a letter that I wrote in June notifying her, the Vestry and Beckford parishioners that I would be leaving the position of Organist the end of August. I have accepted the Music Director and Organist position at Emmanuel Church Delaplane and will start in September.
Your love, support and goodness have nurtured me for four and a half years. Thinking of not having those “arms” folded around me every week has taken courage to look towards the future and much prayer to listen to God’s small voice about where I should be lead. In the end, I accepted their call to that ministry.
I have worked with four rectors/ interim rectors and three secretaries. As it happens, Emmanuel Delaplane has just lost their rector so that parish will walk the path that you did. Is there another Mother Kathy out there?! And, when we were able to combine our talents, the musicians at both Emmanuel and St. Andrews gave some lovely spiritual moments in the Evensongs and joint services. Unassuming as you all are about being such Godly folk, there is a lot of exceptional Christian living in Beckford Parish—you walk the walk.
Jim and Michael will miss you, too. I want to remain a part of the prayer chain and continue to receive Melissa’s extraordinary newsletters and notifications.
As it happened, the past Sunday I had chosen for the Gospel hymn # 304 – “I come with joy to meet my Lord.” Our Gospel reading is what churns us up for the week ahead and gives us its wisdom at a new point in our life. How many times have I sung this hymn! Yet, it was not lost on me the timing of an old message as I sang the last verse: Together met, together bound, we’ll go our different ways, And as his people in the world we’ll live and speak his praise.
With deep love,
Linda Beville
0 Comments