The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Mr Chairman, I would like to say something about Judy East. I have bad news and good news. First, I am sorry she is not here, but even in her absence I feel we must speak of her. As a good grandmother, she is suffering from chicken-pox, caught from her grandson. We all send her our sympathy and good wishes for a speedy recovery from an unpleasant affliction. Worse news is that in a move of greater long-term significance to every member of this church, she is stepping down from the vital post of Parish Clerk, and giving up parish administration to our new Administrator, Dorothy Paton, whom we welcome this evening and look forward to getting to know. I do not doubt the efficiency of our new Administrator but we shall miss Judy immensely.

The good news is that Judy is not abandoning us completely, but will work halftime from next week as Verger and Sacristan. One definition of the latter Office is ‘the official who has charge of the contents of a church, especially those used in Divine Worship such as sacred vessels, vestments etc.’ So it will be alright in the future to suggest to her that a hassock needs darning, but no good asking her to book the crypt for your meeting. We shall continue to admire her presence at the head of processions, ensuring a proper pace. It is not yet clear how large her contribution will be to the Parish Magazine which she has edited with such distinction.

She will still be here, but nevertheless we have to salute the end of an era. Judy’s connection with Hampstead Parish Church began as a worshipper forty years ago. I hardly like to speculate how young she must have been then. She began to work here, as the Parish Secretary, in 1971. It was a job which had to be abolished after a while, for lack of money on our part, which gave her more time to devote to getting her degree and caring for her children. Wilfred Hill was, of course, Parish Clerk in the early eighties. It was only when Judy took over from him in 1988, seventeen years ago, that she was able to take things in hand and put them on a proper footing. She has a marvelous gift for keeping men in order, whether Vicars who have mislaid their diaries or curates who keep their diaries invisibly on curious electronic notepads or merely vagrants in the last stages of dissipation who mark their visits by pinching hymn books. She contrives literally to put the fear of God into Readers without actually saying anything at all, simply by herself being cheerful, informed, ordered, and devout. She is kind but firm, and absolutely reliable. But when she goes on holiday things fall apart and start fraying, like those disobedient hassocks. I do not know how we could live without her, and I am delighted that we shall still enjoy her omniscient and soothing presence, and still be able to draw on the depth of knowledge and the riches of wisdom that she is always ready to share.
Alan Goodison