Grove Park Church Welcomes New Vicar
Bishop joins congregation at Induction ceremony for Rev Caroline Halmshaw
Rev Caroline Halmshaw (fourth from the right in front row ) with the Bishop of Kensington and other clergy
July 29, 2023
The Institution and Induction of the new vicar for St Paul's Church, Grove Park, the Reverend Caroline Halmshaw, was held last week (Monday, 24 July) at a well-attended ceremony.
Also present was the MP for Brentford and Isleworth, Ruth Cadbury.
Charanjit Arit Singh, Chair of Hounslow Friends of Faith and Father Michael Dunne of Our Lady of Grace & St Edwards, attended, along with Bessie Woods, represending the local Quaker community.
Councillor Gabriella Giles, Riverside Ward, London Borough of Hounslow was also present, as well as Councillor Gerald McGregor, and former councillors Paul Lynch (former Mayor of Hounslow), and Sam Hearn.
Local resident Jeremy Day represented Chiswick businesses.
The choir of St Paul's Grove Park was assisted by choir members from St Nicholas and St Michael's Elmwood Road under the direction of St Paul's organist Tom Torley.
There was a personal touch added to the occasion when soloist Miranda Johnson, a friend of the Rev'd Halmshaw and her husband, sang the hymn 'As The Deer Pants for the Water".
Parishioners gather in St Paul's Church
The Rev'd Halmshaw is a former Associate Vicar at St Mary with St Alban in Teddington and was part-time Director of Post-Ordination Training for the Kensington Area of the London Diocese. This is a role that supports newly ordained curates as they start parish life.
She was ordained in 2018 and trained to be a priest at St Mellitus College. Before training for ordained ministry, her earlier career was in nursing and midwifery and, after further study, she worked in International Development in the charity sector. Her focus was on health programmes, especially maternal health and reproductive rights (SRHR).
St. Paul's, Chiswick
The Rev'd Halmshaw is married to Rick and they have a 15-year-old son called Alec. They both grew up in Radlett in Hertfordshire and have lived mainly in London and Brighton. It was in Radlett, back in her teenage years that she started going to church. Her mother, Stella was ordained in 1987.
Her predecessor, Reverend Michael Riley, was vicar at St. Paul’s for over 33 year before retiring last July.
The family will move into the vicarage over the summer and her first Sunday Eucharist service is scheduled for 3 September at 10am.
Further details and photographs can be seen on the St Paul's website.
Anne Flaherty
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |