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The congregation of St. Mary's the Blessed Virgin, Gomersal, and invited guests bade goodbye to Fr. John and his wife the Revd Jenny Barnes, who are taking a well deserved retirement.

During the nearly four years that they have been in post, Fr John has been very active in promoting St. Mary's as a place of worship for the local population. Fr. John has started many new initiatives and built up a strong link with both St. Mary's First & Nursery School and Gomersal Middle School. Twice a month during term time there was a Tots Praise service, school children performed Christmas shows for their parents and wider family. The Ministry of Healing became a regular feature during communion at the Sunday Service, a church website has been up and running for a couple of years and many more ideas which are still in their infancy have been started by Fr. John.

One of Fr. John's favourite blessings at the end of the service was:

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”  

A beautifully commissioned calligraphy of this blessing was presented as one of his leaving presents.

Following Fr John's last Parish Eucharist, parishioners enjoyed a wonderful buffet and sharing stories of Fr John's time at St Mary's.