Reverend Joanna Levasier

This is going to be my last article for the Burpham Pages as my final Sunday working at Burpham Church will be April 9th, Easter Sunday – in just a few weeks.

We will have been here for 10½ years – arriving with junior school age children and an energetic young black Labrador and leaving with (about to be) 18 and 20 year olds and a distinctly elderly dog! And can I say what a privilege it has been to have been part of the community here in Burpham for that time. So much has happened over the ten plus years and we have made some truly wonderful friends both in and outside the church community.

So much has happened over the ten plus years and we have made some truly wonderful friends both in and outside the church community.

Paul (BP Editor) suggested I share with you a few highlights, and at risk of not mentioning someone else’s much-loved thing, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things over our time here. (cue Julie Andrews!)

The very first thing that we came to in Burpham, before we’d even started, was Free and For Nothing in Sutherland Memorial Park.

Over the years it transformed and developed, giving many hundreds of Burpham people a free day out in the summer holidays – really costing nothing! Although social media meant that word spread far and wide and it became perhaps less the local community event that we were aiming for! But the sense of teamwork and commitment to bless the local community and share God’s love in a tangible way was brilliant to be part of. I can still remember 6 hours straight of face painting in the early ones! We took a breather during COVID and have chosen to connect in with the Burpham Wellfest event in the last couple of years. It’s great to see local organisations working together more to try and benefit the wider community and I really pray that those connections might grow and develop in the future. 

Our children’s Holiday Clubs have also been a highlight for me, as we have travelled through lands of castles, pirates, the wild west, up in space, across the African savanna and the lands of dragons amongst other locations – accompanied by lots of enthusiastic children. Apart from a brilliant excuse to wear crazy costumes, we have loved accompanying the children on their adventures, singing, playing games, watching dramas, ‘rewarding’ people with shaving foam ‘pies’ and exploring what the Christian faith might look like in real life today. What a fab time we have had together! 

But I expect most truthfully, those ‘favourite things’ have been little special moments with so many different individuals across the years. It has been such a privilege to be part of so many people’s lives, and stand alongside many of you at both joyful and difficult times. Thank you so much to all of you who have shared life with me in some way.

I could continue on for quite a long time, as the more I think about it, the more ‘favourite things’ I seem to remember! Whether it is candlelit Christingle services to start Advent or to celebrate Christmas with years 3 and 4 from Burpham Primary School. Taking puppets into Burpham Primary and barely being able to get through the assembly because the children were having so much fun; or singing with the toddlers at Caterpillar café and ‘standing still like a statue’. Getting stuck in at Messy church or quietly being alongside people at a reflective bereavement service at St Luke’s. Hosting Carols in the Park for the first time in 2021, and sharing the joy as the donkey ‘Merlin’ decided to bray super loudly at a quiet moment, or singing in the choir at Christmas in a candlelit St Luke’s Church. So many favourite moments. 

But I expect most truthfully, those ‘favourite things’ have been little special moments with so many different individuals across the years. It has been such a privilege to be part of so many people’s lives, and stand alongside many of you at both joyful and difficult times. Thank you so much to all of you who have shared life with me in some way. 

And I guess that probably sums up the Christian faith for me. God really is involved in all those little everyday encounters, in real relationships with real people. I got the surprise of my life when I discovered (aged 16) that Christianity wasn’t about assenting to a whole host of religious statements, but actually about getting to know God and being known. I felt like life had gone from being in black and white to in colour – a whole new depth to life opened up to me. I discovered faith isn’t about trying to convince yourself of stuff you know isn’t true, but discovering you can rely on a Mighty God who loves you.

So I guess my prayer for you all as I leave Burpham and head off to Swanage in a few months, is that you will discover this God for yourself and a whole new range of favourite moments open up that you would never have imagined. 

With every blessing
Rev’d Joanna Levasier

jo@burphamchurch.org.uk