STUDLEY and the Arden Marches of Parishes have a new vicar – and she’s rolling out the welcome mat.
Kate Mier arrives two years after previous vicar David Silvester stepped down from the post.
It’s a time gap that’s been sorely felt but the Rev Mier is determined to join in the life of local villages and to throw the door open to the wider community and beyond.
“It’s about being a Christian presence, by being out and about in the community and offering hospitality and welcome,” she said.
“People know about the Church, it’s about welcoming them in.”
Rev Millar, who grew up in Kenilworth, worked as a chemist before getting a sense of a religious vocation in the 1980s.
She was ordained in 1996 and held a number of posts, including vicar at the nearby parish of Wellsbourne and Walton.
Last year she took a gap year at the Christian centre in Yorkshire.
“It was to discover how we do Christian community well – how at a time when there is a lot of hate in the world – and given all of our differences – we can live together and offer hospitality.
“When I applied to the Arden Marches they wanted to offer an open door to God, an open door to a new vicar, and an open door to the wider community.
“So I look forward to working with the other denominations and gettting out and about in the community.”
True to her word she is inviting everyone to join her for refreshments, whether churchgoer or not, after she leads the service for the first time at St Mary’s in Studley on Sunday September 2.
“The service is at 10am and at 11.15am there will be refreshments afterwards and it would be nice if people from the wider community joined us,” she said.
A similar welcome has been extended to the residents of Mappleborough Green when the Rev’d Mier holds her first service at the Church of the Holy Ascension on September 9.
“We are much better at bearing grudges than letting go,” added Rev Mier.
“Every person is different from each other and it is about valuing the differences and saying whoever or whatever you are, you are welcome, there is space for you.”
