From the Rector: It is with joy that I can announce that Pauline Jones, a student studying at the Scottish Episcopal Institute, will join us on placement at Holy Trinity for 6 months. Pauline will start in August until the beginning of Lent. Pauline will become part of the community, learning ‘priestly stuff’ and accompanying me on the many varied tasks of my week. This will not be full time – but on a part time basis. I hope and pray that this will be a fruitful and enriching time for us all. I am sure you will welcome Pauline as generously as you always do.
Here is an introductory letter to you all from Pauline:
It was my first, and definitely socially distanced, meeting with Rev Liz about my forthcoming placement with Holy Trinity and I was nervous wondering what she going to expect of me. We had a lovely walk along the river and around Haddington, during which Rev Liz highlighted various places of interest. I have been to Haddington a couple of times and pointed out a café at which myself, my husband Chris, along with our son, Joshua and daughter-in-law, Helen had stopped for refreshments. Rev Liz informed me that during lockdown this particular establishment was now offering afternoon tea. The latter was a particular interest as I have just celebrated my 57th birthday with a home-made Champagne afternoon tea! Afternoon tea, until lockdown, has been one of our favourite things to do on a day off. My husband, Chris, and I both enjoy cooking and set ourselves a challenge of making something extra for the afternoon tea which we had not made before. So I made macaron’s (not to be confused with coconut macaroons!),whilst Chris made strawberry tarts.
Days off in our house are Tuesdays. My husband Chris, is the Rector of the Berwickshire Group of Episcopal Churches (Coldstream, Duns and Eyemouth) so Sundays tend to be busy. The Rectory is located in Duns, which allows us to indulge another of our favourite past times which is rambling around the historic Duns Castle estate. I love history and am hoping to learn something not only about the history of Haddington but also about the 250 years of history of the church too.
Although I do get on a bicycle for our holidays, I confess to being not particularly sporty, although being Welsh, I am passionate about the Six Nations rugby tournament! I was born in the tiny city of St Asaph, in North Wales and remained there for the first 32 years of my life. During that time, aside from marrying Chris and giving birth to Joshua, I attended Bangor University, followed by several years working as an engineer.
However, God called both Chris and I into full-time free-church Christian ministry and so in 1994, we moved to Ringwood in Hampshire, to attend Moorlands College. Since then, I have proceeded to follow Chris around the country, which has found me in Somerset, Oxford, the Lake District, Cheshire and now the Scottish Borders. During that time when not working alongside Chris in his role, I have retrained as a physics teacher, subsequently teaching and tutoring physics, along with marking physics exams every summer. I trained as a spiritual director whilst in the Lake District, and find quiet reflective prayer plays a key role in my relationship with God.I also enjoy writing poetry and my favourite poet is Welsh poet R. S. Thomas. His poem entitled Folk Tale is a particular favourite.
Reflecting on my meeting with Rev Liz, I know I am looking forward to, as much a social distancing will allow, spending time with and learning from Rev Liz, the congregation at Holy Trinity and the wider community of Haddington
However, as our time together was drawing to a close, Rev Liz set me a couple of tasks. Neither of which is going to prove easy, one is to reflect on areas where I think I need to develop and the second is to write a magazine article that tells you all something about myself and to be honest I’m not sure which is the hardest…
Pauline Jones
