I started going to church when I was 7 because I had joined Brownies and went to monthly church parades at Pitshanger Methodist Church. My Dad would drop me off and then return to pick me up. There was something about the music in church that took hold of me. By the time I was 10 I had joined guides and was allowed to travel to church parades by myself. I also got involved in helping out with the church craft fairs and coffee mornings.
When I was about 16 I began to go to church more frequently and sat with my friend’s family, and took much more notice of the service. When I was 18 my maternal grandmother died and this got me questioning things. My friend had just started confirmation classes and somehow I ended up going along to church every week. I got confirmed into full membership of the Methodist Church. As a result of this my Mum then started coming to church and took membership herself and became Church Secretary. I stayed with Brownies and became a Brownie leader.
I went on and married Matt at the church, and our 3 children were baptized. Matt was baptized too. But despite all this I didn't feel anything spiritual or connected to the church.
In 2006 I moved churches and came here to Northolt. Suddenly I felt I was at home, I belonged and I was comfortable. I found that there was a music practice on Fridays and I decided to go along. The first song I learnt to sing was "King of Kings". The words really spoke to me - "in Royal robes I don't deserve". That's when it hit me that Jesus loves me no matter what. I needed to love myself too.
The next hymn that stayed with me had the words "Here I am Lord, is it I Lord". I felt I was being called by God to spread His word via music and song. I then realized that I remember passages in the Bible if I can relate them to a hymn or a song. I joined the music practice when there were 4 of us going through the songs for Sunday on a Friday night. On Sundays we sat in the pews and this went on for a few months. We were getting more confident and suddenly a microphone was set up in front of me and another singer. It was scary as I never thought that my singing was good enough, especially if you asked my brothers or children!
After the first week we got a lot of feedback. We worked more as a group and Toby joined us as our drummer. We named ourselves ‘Shalom’. We are always encouraged by the church and the ministers and we like a challenge to learn new songs.
I then felt being called by God to further my calling by enrolling on the Worship Leaders course at the end of 2022. This course trains you to be a worship leader, takes you through why we worship, and how services are put together, and helps you get a better understanding of God’s Word.
When my Mum took ill in January 2023 I decided to put my Worship Leader studies on hold, even though my Mum was encouraging me to carry on. When Mum passed away at the end of September, I felt God calling me to serve and carry on with the course, to spread the word of God’s unfailing love for all. This is my way of following Mum’s belief in me as she always said I am at home in this Church.