A New Appointment
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 20 hours ago
On Sunday 26th April in one of his last services at Town Church, the Very Reverend Tim Barker was delighted to Commission Ian Burnett, as a Lay Pastoral Assistant. Ian undertook training locally with Revd. Penny Graysmith, Revd. Beverley Herve and Beverly Linnecor. Congratulations Ian!
Ian has written a lovely letter following his appointment. Please do give it a read below, he is a very interesting man!
A few words from Ian Burnett
It is a great honour and privilege to become the Lay Pastoral Assistant at Town Church, and I want to thank everyone who has so warmly welcomed me into this role.
I am especially grateful to Penny and Tim for their support in helping me reach this decision, and to the Rev Bev Herve, who has kindly agreed to mentor me while I find my way in the role until Penny returns.
I look forward to becoming part of our community and contributing to the church’s work among parishioners and visitors alike. I am excited to embrace the challenges ahead. I believe our lives shape us so that we may use our talents and experience to help one another, and I want to do the best I can for our church.
To begin with, I shall simply be a presence in church, probably on Monday mornings for a few hours.
I sometimes think of myself in this role as a Simeon figure: an older man lingering in the temple, patiently waiting for whatever the Lord may send. I may even be persuaded to sing the Nunc Dimittis.
Please do seek me out and come for a chat. I would love to get to know what is happening among us, and to explore how I might help develop this role in a positive way. I also make a strong Turkish or Greek coffee, so you are very welcome to join me for a highly caffeinated conversation.
Most people will already know me as one of the choristers in the choir, singing an enthusiastic tenor line in my favourite hymns or adding colour to the psalms at Evensong.
Choral music, and church choral music in particular, has steadied me since my youth and has been a vital doorway into my faith for many years. Looking back, I see it as a still, small voice of calm that has been calling me for decades, and I now feel it is time to answer.
Since retiring from teaching, I have felt God’s calling growing stronger. Once I was no longer focused on getting students through exams, I realised I still had much to give. I also came to see that I could not simply retire from caring for others, which had been part of my working life for so long. For that reason, taking the Lay Pastoral Assistants’ Course in 2024–25 felt like a natural step.
What else can I tell you about myself? I am one of the older choristers: the one who sometimes wears bright blue shoes under his cassock, sings Cwm Rhondda with Robin at full strength, and in summer may be spotted in shorts and blue Crocs beneath the cassock.
I also read and write a little poetry. I do not intend to inflict my scribblings on you here, but I do believe poetry can be the language of the soul. Singing psalms for five decades gives one a strong sense of the weight of words.
I would like to share one poem with you, because it sums up my faith, my conscious contact with God, and the way I see each and every one of us. It is Expectans Expectavi by C. H. Sorley. I first encountered it as a choir anthem by Charles Wood during a flickering, candlelit autumn Evensong, which, for me, is the finest service in the finest season.
Its closing stanzas speak of our souls as sanctuaries where God may come and tarry a while, if we keep them “lit” and “unlatched.” Those words began a slow spiritual awakening in me, though I did not fully realise it at the time. How do we keep ourselves “lit” and “unlatched” in our busy lives?
Over the years, and through observing those I call “spiritual people” who seem to have grasped something essential, these words have deepened in me. They have led me to believe that we are all made in the image of God, and that each of us has something unique and precious to offer to God’s world. It seems to me that, in the best moments, we become mirrors reflecting the Divine in all its wonder and vulnerability.
That is deeply moving to me, and it gives me confidence that something good, intentional, and life-giving is at work as we live and interact together.
I hope this gives you a little more insight into who I am and how I see the world. I am still learning and discovering. I look forward to working with you, and for you, as we explore our faith together.
Here are the words from Sorley’s poem that have touched my soul for many years:
“This sanctuary of my soul
Unwitting I keep white and whole,
Unlatched and lit, if Thou should’st care
To enter or to tarry there.
With parted lips and outstretched hands
And listening ears Thy servant stands,
Call Thou early, call Thou late,
To Thy great service dedicate.”
Peace and blessings,
Ian Burnett
