The Reverend Clive Watts’ office in the Rectory on Cotes Road is a warm mix of ‘professional’ books and personal items that he has collected from around the world. Oh, and a large, friendly black Labrador called Kasper. Clive grew up travelling widely with his army parents and continued as an adult with pilgrimages to Taizé in France and the Holy Land; travel to a diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and regular ‘retreats’ to his cottage in Northumberland!
He intends to settle here for some time though, because he likes the parish profile which offers a style of church community that appeals to him. He feels it is a place where he can use his skills and experiences. Clive has only been a fully ordained priest since 2017, but his previous career as a community nurse prepared him with these important skills and experiences.
He is used to being with people who are ill, dying or bereaved; when they are at their most vulnerable and not necessarily able or willing to attend a church service. As a nurse he had to be able to start a conversation, relate to people and become part of the “heart of the community”. An important part of this is being able to reach people who are, or feel, marginalised. People, Clive tells me, can feel isolated for lots of reasons including physical or mental ill health. In some of his previous parishes he has run services in care homes. He explained that people who are ill or living with dementia can find something very comforting about the routines of a familiar service: the old familiar words have sunk deep in the retained memory.
The other end of the age spectrum is equally important to him and Clive continues close links with Hall Orchard School. He recently hosted a ‘treasure hunt’ in the church for Year 1 children to find and discuss aspects of church and Christian worship. Additionally, Clive provides pastoral care to, and leads a monthly prayer service for, the Sea Cadets whose ‘home’ you can see if you walk along the canal towards Loughborough.
An army childhood and nursing adulthood helps him make his style of praise and worship relevant to people’s lives, whilst still expressing “the wonder of God”. His November Remembrance Day Service sermon, for example, talked about soldiers returning from Afghanistan and it was, one parishioner told me, one of the few Memorial sermons that she has listened to with interest.
A further aspect of contemporary life that grounds him at the heart of the community is his awareness of the importance of the environment. Valuing life means being aware of the honour and responsibility we have for taking care of, and being good stewards for, God’s creation and the need to take environmental issues seriously. The Church of England is custodian of some beautiful buildings – including the churches in Barrow, Prestwold, Walton and Wymeswold. These old and historic buildings can be difficult to maintain in terms of today’s move towards a carbon neutral world. He is well aware of the difficulties of balancing this with cherishing and keeping our important heritage and sees it as part of the challenge of his work within the parishes.
We welcome Reverend Clive and his civil partner David (and Kasper) and if you see Clive around the village and want to talk with him about these, or any other, community issues he says he is always pleased to stop (when he can) and chat with anyone and everyone – parishioner of Holy Trinity Church, other Barrow churches – or no church at all.
Karisa Krcmar
You can find out more by visiting the church website: http://www.barrowandwoldsgroup.com/