Introduction
Skychaplain Wed, 26/02/2014 - 10:53
Hello Everyone,
My name is Michael Banfield, my wife is Linda, and you will sometimes also see our grandchildren Jericho and Rose with us at Christ Church. We've recently joined the church as Baptist members, as we have previously been life-long Baptists. I'm actually a recently-retired ordained Baptist minister, and my last "church" was London Luton Airport (!), where I was full-time Senior Chaplain for eighteen years, ministering to people of all faiths and none, and leading a volunteer team of ten part-time chaplains.
We chose Basingstoke to move to for retirement, mainly as both our daughters live here and work nearby, and one set of parents are also here. The others (we have all four between us) are in Broadstone, Dorset.
What do I enjoy about Christ Church, and why did I feel led to be committed to it? Well, after eighteen years of ecumenical ministry, with strong support from the local Anglican diocese, I've come to believe strongly in doing together whatever we can do together, so to be part of an ecumenical church like ours seems natural. Add to that the fact that we live in Marnel Park, not more than a mile and a half away, and it seemed a good choice. That was confirmed when we began to attend, and found a lively, friendly, warm fellowship, with biblical teaching and joyful worship. Then there was the coffee afterwards on our first Sunday. Well, that was worth returning for! And that was before I knew how often cake is mentioned.....
I'm intending to blog here from time to time - hopefully about some more important subjects than my life history, so feel free to check back soon.
Michael
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