A new chapter at Trinity Church Henley

Over the summer I was interviewed for and appointed as the new vicar of Trinity Church Henley! This has brought to fruition lots of conversations and planning within our church family, and also with the Diocese, who have been very supportive. As I get my feet back under the desk after my return from Sabbatical, I want to outline what this change means for me, and for church.

One church family rooted in Jesus and fruitful for Him 

This is our central vision as a church family: individually and together to be rooted in Jesus (getting to know him better, making him more central to our lives), and fruitful for him (living lives of joyful service of him). We are doing that together as one church family. My appointment as vicar means that I now have the legal and pastoral responsibility for Trinity Church Henley as a whole- morning and afternoon congregations. As we move forward, we do so as a single church family spread across morning and afternoon congregations. 

Trinity Church Henley 

Our official CofE name is ‘Henley-on-Thames, Holy Trinity’- a bit of a mouthful! Locally, most know us as ‘Trinity Church’ or simply ‘Trinity’, in part because of our strong connection with Trinity School. The PCC has agreed that we should embrace this. Whilst not changing our ‘official’ name, we will now refer to ourselves at Trinity Church Henley. Those at our 10am service who are used to referring to us as Holy Trinity Church, will adjust to losing the ‘Holy’ (in name, not in lifestyle!); those at our 4pm service who are used to referring to us as Trinity at Four, will adjust to losing the ‘at Four’ (in name, not in timings!). By January we hope we will have some fresh branding and a fresh website to reflect this fresh start for us all. And further on, we hope to all to be meeting in the same redeveloped Trinity Church building. 

A period of overlap

One of the lovely features of this transition is a period of overlap for Duncan and myself. Duncan has served as vicar of Holy Trinity since 1990. Since 1st September, he has now stepped into a supporting role as Associate Minister, until his retirement from ministry in May 2025. This allows for Duncan gradually to hand responsibilities over to me as he makes plans for the next stage, and for me gradually to take on additional responsibilities in a more staggered way. 

Much of this transition will happen behind the scenes (e.g. funerals, weddings, involvement at Trinity school etc), but those at our 10am congregation will also notice me gradually taking on more responsibilities for leading and preaching, as well as taking the lead for our new monthly ‘Trinity at Ten’ services. For those in our afternoon service, there will be very little change other than an increasing awareness of our belonging to a single church family spread over two congregations. 

We’re very blessed to have such a capable administration team with Jo Patterson (administration), Wiz Chambers (HR and operations), and Gillian Ryeland (PCC secretary), who are working hard on an administrative transition, in order that administrative functions that Duncan currently takes direct responsibility for will hand over to our admin team, rather than to me. Likewise, our finance team are working hard to ensure a smooth and well-communicated financial transition, which we’ll be in touch about later this term. 

The same passionate commitment 

Lucy and I arrived in Henley 6 years ago with a passionate commitment to play our part in reaching the town and region for Christ. What a privilege it has been to see Trinity at Four grow and flourish over that time. Those early years were especially precious times as we all enjoyed the buzz and energy of a new initiative, which God was clearly blessing. As I start as vicar of Trinity Church Henley, this passionate commitment is undimmed. In fact, I have found returning from Sabbatical into this new role energising, exciting and motivating: the dimmer switch is turning up!  My prayer and expectation is that this next chapter will open up many fresh avenues for us all to work together to make Christ known. What could be more thrilling than that?