From the minster’s desk – April 2024

Christ is Risen! Happy Easter!

I hope and pray you had a blessed time during our preparations, and continue to enjoy the Easter celebrations—which last as long as Lent: I remember reading Bishop Tom Wright arguing that during the 40 days of Easter, Christians should celebrate with a champagne breakfast every morning! Now, as a good Methodist, I don’t even know what champagne is, but appreciate the sentiment that Easter is to be celebrated for its whole season.

Paul and I have some family news to share with you which will mean some changes for us as a couple and consequently have an impact on our churches. Many of you will know Paul has taken a break from aviation and flying for the past two years: the decision was a mixture of burnout after flying all the PPE out of China into Europe during the pandemic and wanting to try a career in academia. Since moving to Cambridge, Paul has been lecturing with Anglia Ruskin University, but has made the decision to go back to flying.
In March, he accepted a job as a Captain on the A320 for WizzAir, based out of Luton. Paul will spend the next few months in the simulator learning how to fly an Airbus (he’s been on a Boeing for the past 25 years and—trust me—they are very different!) based at Gatwick and Luton airport. Assuming he passes all the exams and tests on the A320, he will begin Line Training sometime in the summer before being allowed out on his own. There’s a lot of things which can happen to mean that he doesn’t end up flying, but we are cautiously confident this is going to work out and feel now is the right time to share this news with you.

I hope you will understand that with Paul flying again, our pattern of family life will be taking a change as we work out how to spend time together—ultimately we need to work out how to see each other when Paul is in the country and I’m not working a 10 hour day! I hope this makes sense, and you will be supportive of us as we navigate this change.

Thank you for your support and prayers

Rev Jenny (and Captain Curtis!)