THE STONE FAMILY 

As we did a year ago, we’re looking forward to overlapping here in Brighton for a day or two after Christmas. Meanwhile, here’s our news from 2024…

 

Tim

 

So nothing huge from Charity and me for 2024, only if you skip the wedding, becoming youth pastors and buying our first home! We’ve had a lot on across this year, but obviously the highlight was getting married – we had the best time on our day and it was such a joy to share it with friends and family from all over the world. We definitely made the most of a short but sweet honeymoon in Turkey as well!

 

We’ve also committed to staying in Coventry for the next few years as we’ve bought our first house! It’s definitely been a learning process with a lot still to do but our home has been such a gift and we’re looking forward to grow into it as the years go on.

 

We’re so excited to be taking on the Youth Ministry at Mosaic Church, having been made Youth Pastors in November! Charity is happy contributing to National Rail improvements as a consultant for Mott MacDonald whilst also leading the Youth Ministry in her spare time. I’ve now left my role at Coventry Cathedral and am now working part-time at church alongside an admin role for a social enterprise looking out for elderly and housebound people in the city. We’re loving it so far and we’re really expectant and excited for what’s coming in 2025. God’s been doing some amazing things and we’re so happy being on the journey with an amazing community of people around us.

 

Thank you to everyone who’s supported us, prayed with us and for us and taken care of us in this huge year, we are overwhelmingly grateful! We pray you know God’s blessing this Christmas and in the coming year!

 

Alastair

 

This year has been wonderful as I’ve settled with Elspeth into life in Ripon and work at the Cathedral. It began with the recording of the choir’s Christmas CD, which is available to buy from the cathedral website and to download or stream from various places online (no proceeds come back to us though unless a hard copy is bought through the cathedral!). As part of my development as an organist I worked towards an FRCO diploma, which I received with prizes for the highest marks across all areas of the examination, despite my best efforts.

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Other highlights included visiting Oxford for a recital, a college ball, and El’s graduation, and returning to Coventry for the beautiful wedding of Tim and Charity. Also during the summer was the Ripon Cathedral Choir’s tour to Bavaria, which was an intense few days packed with concerts, services, and sightseeing.

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This year I’ve been able to get involved with more freelance work, which has been very exciting, including recitals at Bradford and Wakefield cathedrals, Leeds Minster, as well as concerts across the local area. A more steady gig is my role as accompanist for Knaresborough Choral Society, which immerses me in music that I otherwise wouldn’t normally encounter in my day to day at Ripon.

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Looking forward to next year and all that it will hold as my time up here draws to an end. Very happy Christmas to everyone from both of us in North Yorkshire!

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Buff

 

The best bits: Tim and Charity’s wedding was magnificent; visiting them, and Al and El, makes me believe in time travel. We are so proud of them. I’m sure they were all 12 years old last week.

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David and I went to Guernsey to recover from the time machine – and saw puffins.

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Seeing our extended family – in the deep south and wild north is always a delight.

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Best books: How bad are bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee, Saving Us – A Climate Scientist Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World – Kathryn Hayhoe (and anything else by her...)

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Best Film: Conclave and Douglas is Cancelled (I know that’s TV).

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2025 Ambition: Rolling out the Carbon Literacy Project training (Church of England version) to Chichester Diocese – find a course near you!

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Biggest Challenge: Finding things that will grow on our car park veg patch; must be proof against wind, rain, slugs, caterpillars and birds (and whatever digs holes in my planter).

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David

 

Tim and Charity’s wedding was the family highlight in 2024 – a wonderful day of joy and celebration which we look back on with enormous gratitude.

 

Back down to earth, it’s my fourth and final academic year at Brighton College before I retire next summer – so I have a diverse sequence of ‘this is the last time I’m doing this’ events to savour at the moment. What will I do from July? Who knows – but Buff tells me that she has a little list…

 

Meanwhile, I now join her for Park Run – in the sense that we start at the same place and at the same time. I enjoy staying at the back as ‘Tail Walker’ and am inordinately proud of the fact that I achieved a personal best at my first event and was second in my age category (the number of people in which reached double figures – two!)

 

The opportunities to help out at local churches when the vicar is away or they are between vicars continues to keep me occupied and I’m still making waves – not only in the sea from time to time but also over the radio on Coventry’s Radio Plus every Sunday morning.

 

As we peer into the uncertainties of the future, may the hope we find in the coming of Jesus to be God with us both sustain and stimulate us all!

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With our love and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,

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David, Buff, Tim & Charity, and Alastair & Elspeth