Clergy News July 2023

We will be very sorry to lose our two team vicars in the autumn of this year but wish them both well in their exciting ministry challenges ahead.  Please do pray for them and the the Saffron Walden ministry team in the light of the changes taking place in the coming months.

Rev'd Alex Jeewan
 

The Bishop of Ely is pleased to announce that The Rev'd Alexander (Alex) Jeewan, currently Team Vicar, Saffron Walden (St Mary's) and Villages including Ashdon, Debden, Great Chesterford, Hadstock, Little Chesterford, Littlebury, Wendens Ambo and Wimbish with Thunderley in the Diocese of Chelmsford is to be Priest in Charge to serve in the Benefice of All Saints, Milton (Subject to a satisfactory DBS check). Alex will be licensed by Bishop Dagmar on 26 October 2023.

Alex, his wife Caroline, and their two sons, Thomas and Ben, hope to move in October to be licensed at the end of the month.

Alex says, ‘It is with excitement that I accept this post and the next stage in my ministry. I am looking forward to working with All Saints and the people of Milton to see God working in and around us. Caroline and I are very much looking forward to the new joys and challenges that it will bring. However, it is a mixture of happiness and sadness, as I have very much enjoyed my time as Team Vicar in the Saffron Walden Team. I will miss my friends, colleagues and parishioners but I know God has called me on to pastures new.’

Please do pray for Alex and his family as they prepare to move and as he prepares to take up his new ministry in Milton. We also pray for the parishes in the Saffron Walden and Villages Team as the family prepare to say goodbye to them.

Please also pray for the Saffron Walden ministry team in the light of the changes taking place in the coming months.

Ella Harris will remain as curate for both Saffron Walden and the Cam Village churches. However, it should be noted that Ella will continue her training and, at this time, will not be occupying the role that Alex leaves behind. Please continue to support Ella as she continues to train to be a priest in God’s Church.

Rev'd John Saxon

Bishop Roger and Archdeacon Ruth are pleased to be able to formally announce the good news that, subject to appropriate DBS clearance, the Rev'd John Saxon has been appointed as Rural Missioner to the Harwich Deanery and will be licensed to the parishes of Dedham, Ardleigh, The Bromleys, Little Bentley, Great Oakley, Tendring, Wix, Beaumont-cum-Moze and Wrabness, joining Rev'd Phillip Young, who was appointed as Rural Missioner last year.

John is currently Team Vicar in the Saffron Walden and Villages Team Ministry in this diocese.

John and his wife Dawn hope to move in the early autumn and it is likely that the Bishop will license John to his new responsibilities in early October.

John says: “It is exciting to feel called to start a new chapter in ministry.  This was unexpected but seems to be a call to continue to help lead a collaborative approach to ministry: a journey that we have already begun in the Saffron Walden Team.  Dawn and I will be sorry to leave friends and colleagues in the Walden area, not least Debden and Wimbish, but are assured there will be a warm welcome from the Harwich Deanery.  We look forward to discerning with all of you what the shape of this collaborative and pioneering ministry will look like and working across the 9 churches to see the fruit of God’s kingdom grow in and through us all.”

We look forward to welcoming John and ask for your prayers for him and Dawn as they prepare to move and as he prepares to take up his new ministry.  We also pray for John’s parishes in the Saffron Walden and Villages Team as they prepare to say goodbye to them.

John is the second of two Rural Missioners to be appointed to 9 rural parishes in Harwich Deanery; he and Rev'd Phillip Young, appointed last year, will share in pioneering leadership together and help shape a new approach to rural ministry in this part of north east Essex.

Thank you.