Extract from Barbara Priest’s sermon - 11^th August 2024

“All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen.”

That is the prayer of Mary Sumner, the founder of the Mothers' Union.  It was her commemoration day on Friday 9^th August, and it was my privilege to lead a retreat morning for Sherborne’s Mothers' Union, taking elements of that prayer as my subject.  

It is a prayer which I will now use a lot and I think it is a prayer we could all take to our hearts, as it offers three elements with which we can make a difference to the lives of others: through the words we speak, the prayer we breathe and the life we live.  And I think it vastly appropriate for our own dear Sue, and her life of faith here among us in Silton.  We were all touched at various times by the words she spoke, the prayer she breathed and the life she lived.  I remember when I walked into this church in October 2022, my first visit as a new widow, she took me in her arms and said to me, “Welcome to the club nobody wants to join”.  Those arms and those words told me what I most needed to know – that she understood, and I was not alone.

Sue was the complete package and led by example, sometimes in quite a scary way, but always from the heart and we are probably all finding it difficult to imagine this church and community without her.  But, in her inimitable style, Sue took efficient steps to ensure that all she did was ready to be smoothly taken on by others so that we wouldn’t miss her. But miss her we most certainly will.

Sue’s faith was absolute. She knew where her destiny lay – a destiny we will all share with her one day, and we commend her to those safe enfolding arms of our endlessly loving God.