Husband and wife reverends to bid farewell

Feb 8 2010 By Vicki Eltis

Reverends Nick and Hazel Whitehead

RESIDENTS in Hersham will gather on Sunday for the last ever service held by Reverends Nick and Hazel Whitehead who have been the heads of the church for the last 18 years.

The pair will be leaving St Peter's Church, in Burwood Road, after being asked by the Church of England diocese to take on three parishes in the Surrey Hills.

On Wednesday the husband and wife team will hold a service to give thanks for the good relationships between the community and church during their time in the village and a final service will be at 10am this Sunday.

Mr Whitehead, a father of three, said: "We have enjoyed our time enormously here and will be sad to leave. I do feel I am being called to do something new and I am looking forward to a new challenge. Our last service will be sad as it's the time we say goodbye."

Mr Whitehead says his highlights of working in Hersham are collaborating with the people of the parish and designing and relighting the interior of the church in 1990 to 2003.

He will most significantly remember his involvement with the funeral of Sarah Payne and how he supported the family and community at that time.
It could take up to September for someone new to take over.

Meanwhile four members of Mr Whitehead's team remain, including Revds Jonathan Andrew and Sue Gray and two licensed lay ministers Adela Foddy and Lorna Espenhahn.