AS a former midwife the new curate for Okehampton and Northmoor churches, the Rev Lynne Burgon, is certainly looking forward to delivering pastoral care to her parish congregations. Lynne said she has already received a warm welcome from the people in West Devon since she and her husand Malcolm moved here six weeks ago. She was previously curate of Fremington Parish Church near Bideford for five years. Her role will be assistant to the Rev Stephen Cook and his team serving the churches of All Saints and St James in Okehampton, Sourton, Bratton Clovelly, Germansweek, Northlew, Sourton and Bridestowe. She said: ?Everybody has been really friendly. The biggest difficulty is that I?m just one name and face for people to get to know but I have to get to know hundreds of people ? but I have enjoyed meeting them all.? As a mother of three - Steven, James and Carolyn, who are all grown up and a grandmother to 15 month old Elliott, Lynne is especially looking forward to working with children and young families. Lynne, 48 and originally from Stockport in Cheshire, spent the last 30 years working within the NHS as both nurse and midwife, but sees her new vocation as an extension of caring for people?s needs. She said: ?During my time as a midwife I was privileged to witness the birth of many hundreds of babies, and each time I was struck by the miraculous effects of this tiny life coming into the world. ?Not only is each birth a miracle in itself but also the way in which human beings relate to each other through this experience always fills me with awe. ?Midwifery has been a large part of my life and it was partly due to my experiences that I began the path to becoming ordained as a priest. It was not an easy decision to make, I never planned to become a priest but gradually I became aware that God was asking me to bring another dimension to my midwifery skills. ?I now think of myself as more of a ?Spiritual midwife? ? instead of helping at the physical birth of babies, I now help with the spiritual birth and nurture of people.? Mr Cook told the Times: We are delighted to have Lynne working with us. She is a really good people person and brings with her a whole new range of gifts and ideas, which I am sure will be of great benefit as the years go by.?
