Last week's History talk

The 35th AGM of Audlem History Society held on Thursday 19th November was followed by Rev. Jennifer Matthews' talk 'Finding Jesus – My Personal Story'.

Jennifer is Methodist minister for the Audlem Mission which includes the Hankelow and Hatherton churches.

She described growing up in Barbados where church going and religious debate were a natural part of family and community life. Among happy memories of her teenage years were the excitement of choir-singing at festivals and her success running a popular Sunday school and holiday club.

Later, when she and her husband Clive moved to Britain in 1989 there were new challenges to face. While bringing up a young family, Jennifer studied for a degree in Social Psychology and it was only while she was considering various career options that she became increasingly aware of a vocation to enter the ministry.

Although brought up in the Anglican faith, she found the Methodist Church best suited to her calling and trained at Queen's Theological College, Birmingham. There were ups and downs and moments of self-doubt but Clive's encouragement helped her to persevere and achieve her goals.

Jennifer described her story as a journey from belief in a God of judgment to one of trust in a God of love and redemption. She spoke movingly of the influence of her mother whose deep religious convictions had shaped her outlook on life.

We were pleased to learn that she finds Audlem people friendly and welcoming. We, in turn, felt privileged to hear the personal history of a valued member of the community told with modesty, sincerity and gentle warmth.

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