THANKS

My grateful thanks to all those who made the service for the 50th anniversary of my ordination as a priest such a memorable day. I will always remember it and all my family and friends who came to share the service with me.

I am so grateful to the Rector for allowing me to take over the church for the morning and for agreeing to all my requests for how the service should be arranged. It was wonderful to have Bishop Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield, with us. He actually asked if he could come! It was also wonderful to have another bishop at the service in the person of my great friend Bishop Richard Fenwick, former Bishop of St Helena, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean. I thank Richard for his outstanding sermon. I can’t thank Glyn Williams, our talented organist, enough for his superb contribution to the service, and it was a great delight to have the choir to sing the Eucharist. I’m so grateful to my good friend Prebendary Rob Haarhoff for leading the intercessions. I also thank my daughters, Clare and Abigail, for reading the lessons,  and my granddaughters, Beatrice and Alexandra, and my grandsons, Harry and Sam, for their contributions to the service.

My greatest thanks go to Alison for her organisation of the lunch and for much else. Thank you to Claire and Phil of the Fruitful Deli for their professional contribution to the lunch.

I had not realised how many people in church took photographs at the service. I now have dozens of visual reminders of a lovely day. Finally, thank you to the churches and friends for their gifts, and for the attractive cards. I had no idea that there could be so many differently designed cards with the words ‘50th Anniversary’ and ‘Priest’.

Please keep Sunday 22 May 2033 free for my 60th anniversary!!!

William Price

23.08.05

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