A letter to my church: 10 years of thank yous

Romans 13:7
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Ahead of our final Sunday at our current church we are going through the period of reflecting on the last ten years and how significant they have been.

Personally, I wanted to celebrate the friends that have invested in my life over ten years. I wrote to a number of them to express my gratitude and to honor them for the role they’ve played in my life. However, I also want to share some wider thank yous to you all as my church family.

If you’ve been part of Jubilee Church Hull past or present this is for you:

Dear Jubilee

Thank you for teaching us to value every person, welcome, love and include them. Thank you for shaping a community that is generous, servant hearted and risk taking. This will continue to be the most profound thing we will carry away with us. Thank you.

Thank you for saying thank you. There were a number of times in the last several years that a thank you from some of you was like the fuel in my tank to keep going.

Thank you for being so releasing and encouraging.

Thank you for your love, care, input and encouragement. I have felt you believed in me, far more than I believed in myself.

Thank you for giving me the freedom to get things wrong and take risks.

Thank you for listening to me and affirming my gifts even when what I brought was simple and at a basic level. You have always believed there was more for me and seen gifts in me that I hadn’t seen in myself.

Thank you for giving me time and permission to wrestle with theological things I have found difficult. Thank you for encouraging me about my journey without wading in with your opinion or telling me what I should think.

Thank you for being honest about not having it all altogether!

Thank you for always being willing to learn. It is so releasing to be lead by people who know what they don’t know!

Thank you for believing there continues to be more for us to discover.

Thank you for listening to me when I’ve needed to rant, cry and process.

Thank you for challenging me to forgive and show grace when things have been hard.

Thank you for giving me the space and time to heal and change.

Thank you for believing for breakthrough when I saw none.

Thank you for walking it through with me no matter how slow the progress or how obvious it may have seemed to you – you were willing to allow me to discover it myself.

Thank you for treating me with dignity.

Thank you for the time that you cared for me and Mum as my dad was dying. Thank you for the peace and comfort you brought to us at the time.

Thank you for being good at pursuing me, for speaking into my life and seeing things coming before I did. For filling in the gaps in my knowledge and experience.

Thank you for equipping me in so many areas.

Thank you for trusting me and giving me chances to lead.

Thank you for treating me like an equal when you had far more to bring.

Thank you for the meals you’ve cooked, the babysitting, the cards written, the cleaning done, the flowers left on the doorstep, the boxes packed moved and shifted (three times!), the phone calls, the surprise parties, fun at the dinner table, the tears we’ve shared, the laughter, the meat we’ve barbecued, the vases you’ve broken and then replaced, the gifts exchanged and so so so much more.

We have loved every minute of our time serving at Jubilee. Thank you for including us. John and I love you all deeply.

Abi