As we emerge from the restrictions it will be without some of those we have loved who are no longer with us.
The GCW family will miss Mary Hutchins who died in January. Mary had been a longstanding member of Wakefield Evangelical Free Church on Eastmoor. That church has since closed but GCW hopes to 'restart' it.
When Mary joined GCW it was clear she was coming to the end of her life (this one, at least). But the Christian privilege of a strange anticipation of death because it means being with the Lord and away from this life’s suffering, and an ability to be a blessing to others without the bitterness or resentment age can sometimes bring, were very evident in Mary. She knew nothing could separate her from God's love.
And so we will miss Mary dearly as we start to regather properly.
Heather Mills tells us more...
Mary was a lady of whom I have many happy memories as a quiet sweet lady in her 80’s. She passed away in Pinderfields Hospital in January 2021.
Everyone has a history. Mary was a skilled seamstress making golf bags for Slazenger in Wakefield for 40+ years. She was hugely involved with her beloved extended family in Wakefield. There had been many trips around the world to see friends and family.
The elderly Mary I knew was steady. Not physically - to be honest sometimes when I gave her a lift to a church activity, I wondered how she’d make it.
But Mary’s steadiness was in her faith and love of God, spilling out into the lives of many others. This was also shown in her endurance and commitment to being involved with her church.
Mary became a Christian in her teens and had been committed to Wakefield Evangelical Free Church on Eastmoor for over 60 years. She loved to pray to her heavenly Father. Cold wet evenings did not deter her from joining with others to pray, particularly for Christian work in Eastmoor.
In these days we all need steadiness, endurance and to be anchored in something more permanent than ourselves. We may be physically frail like my friend Mary was in her later years. Or we may be emotionally frail in these difficult times. Irrespective of how we are or aren’t we all need God.
In these days we all need steadiness, endurance and to be anchored in something more permanent than ourselves... we all need God.
It is not having faith in and of itself that gives us stability but what our faith is in. The faith that sustained Mary was in God who made the world and controls the universe. It is a life changing belief in God who sent his son to die on the cross and brought him back to life. It is a faith that is alive and works in the hearts and lives of people living in Wakefield in 2021.
The church Mary was once a member of on Eastmoor had to close at the end of 2019. The congregation had become few in number and mostly elderly. But before they closed, they passed the building into the care of Grace Church Wakefield.
We hope to re-start the church there. To be able to share about who God is; what he has done and is doing for our world, community, and individuals, building on Mary’s many prayers for the people of Wakefield in general, and Eastmoor in particular.
If you would like to know more about ambitions for a new church on Eastmoor, please get in touch and visit www.gracechurchwakefield.org.uk/eastmoor