In this story of 'How I Came to Faith', we hear from Jackie Jones, who used to go to church as a teenager, but hadn't connected with God or her faith ever since, that is, until she had a conversation in a local cafe.
Towards the end of Covid, Jackie had been watching the online services that were being created by Christ Church, Higher Bebeington. She wasn't a parishioner of the church or a churchgoer of any other church, for her the online services were a way of feeling part of the community. When the lockdown rules were relaxed, Christ Church announced that they were organising a local walk around the village, that would take in the local woods and a visit to the local cafe, called Muzzys. Anyone and everyone was welcome to come along.
In Muzzys, Jackie sat with Revd Eunice Blackmore, Associate Minister at Christ Church and their conversation turned to how Eunice had come to faith. In Jackie's words, "When I look back at it, I actually grilled her." For many people who find faith, there is a moment of epiphany when everything changes. For Jackie, that moment came shortly after leaving the cafe. "When I got up and walked away, I just felt as if something had turned in me. And I heard myself saying, It has to be now."
It was a turning point in Jackie's life that totally transformed her daily life. Jackie has since immersed herself into church life at Christ Church where she is involved in children's work and is also coming to the end of her first year of Pastoral Worker training offered by the Diocese of Chester.
You can see Jackie's first-hand account of how she came to faith in the video below.