In 2009 Andy Mason joined the Ministry team in Kingwood and was appointed Minister at Large (which I always joked sounded sinister). Up to this point, I had seen the church as a set of traditions, but Andy soon showed me what church was supposed to look like. I soon got on the Andy bandwagon, thoroughly finding myself on most occasions out of my comfort zone, talking to people who, for whatever reason, found themselves in dark places. When Andy decided to leave Kingswood in 2017, I found it hard to think about not working alongside him anymore, asking how the project we started would survive without him? I was thrilled when Andy decided to start the School of Mission and asked me to do the website as this meant that I would once again be working with Andy. I unfortunately never made it to any of the events he arranged but was pleased that I could still be of use to him even though he had moved down to Poole.
Andy was not a very organised person, to say the least, due in part to his unquenchable thirst to see people meet with Jesus. Andy is still the only person I know who did not just double or triple book himself but, on many occasions, quintuple book himself. But that was Andy, always wanting to be a part of everything, be it the local food bank, community flat or the mother and toddlers group. Andy is still the only vicar I know who can turn up to a service he was leading and suddenly rush into the church office, roll up a piece of paper and wear it. Why did he need to wear a piece of paper? He had forgotten to put on a dog collar.
Another great thing about Andy’s ministry is that he was not afraid to make a fool of himself to get the gospel message. Whether he is dressed as a pirate, superman or John Wesley. Andy even once for a Christingle service dressed up… as a Christingle. This was what made Andy… Andy. Sadly, much of what Andy started in Kingswood could not survive without his passion. One of those projects was the church plant which Andy told me early on in his ministry he wanted to plant down at the New Cheltenham end of the parish. All Souls Southey Park was finally planted on May 19th 2013, and for seven years, it graced that end of the parish, which had sadly been neglected.
Every good vicar has a story which they tell over again to make a point one of Andy’s was The Starfish, which is below:
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realise there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…
”I made a difference to that one.”
ORIGINAL STORY BY: LOREN EISLEY
Andy was what you would call warts and all, honest about his feelings, failings and obstacles. Andy would often talk about his struggles with depression, which was not helped by battling the everyday politics of working within the Parish of Kingswood. Although many look back at Andy’s time in Kingswood as the best time, we have had in a long time. We saw growth within the areas of outreach, youth work and families. Everything which Andy touched seemed to grow. Unfortunately, some were stubborn and blind to changes that needed to be made.
It was not all doom and gloom for Andy in Kingswood. In 2010, Andy’s daughter Hope was born. I can remember when Andy first brought Hope to church. The expression on his face said it all. This girl was special. The smile on his face went from ear to ear. Before she was born, a small discussion was going around amongst the children on what Andy’s baby would be called? They all thought it would be something like Faith or Mary. Andy had plenty of faith. What he always longed for was Hope, and now he had her.
We now come to the portion of this post that I never wanted to write. Talking about all that Andy did in Kingswood has been brilliant. Unfortunately, Andy never saw his next venture come to fruition. He was preparing to launch his book Meeting Brendan in Birmingham, all about his tour of the UK visiting Christian projects. Andy sadly died on 2nd December 2021 after being knocked down ten days earlier. This is something I am finding hard to come to terms with, even after driving down to Poole for his thanksgiving service on 4th January 2022.
I am grateful for seeing Andy one last time at the beginning of the October half-term. We discussed the School of Mission website re-branding and his book launch, which was due at the end of November but sadly never happened due to Andy’s accident. (Sadly, our next meeting would never happen on the 5th December). As with most of our meetings, Andy started talking about how he did not feel he made a difference in his eight years in Kingswood. My usual response was always to try and show him all the good he had done, such as the large number of young folk he had helped.
What I should have said was. Although some of the projects you started have now come to the end of their season. You need to see your work in Kingswood as the boy with the starfish and not as the man on the beach. You may not have made a difference to the whole of Kingswood. But you did make a difference to all those you met. Andy, you did make a difference because, Andy, you made a difference to this one.
