The food, farming and countryside charity which runs the Royal Norfolk Show has a new chaplain.
The Revd Dr Tim Weatherstone, rector of Barnham Broom and the Upper Yare Benefice, rural dean of the Dereham in Mitford Deanery and the Bishop of Norwich’s adviser for rural affairs, said he was very pleased to be the new chaplain to the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA).
Mark Nicholas, RNAA managing director, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Tim as chaplain to the Association. We have a close relationship with the diocese reflecting our mutual interest in and support to rural communities. The presence of a chaplain at events such as the Royal Norfolk Show has a powerful impact and I’m looking forward to hearing his rhyming graces, as is the custom’.
This summer Tim will co-ordinate the ecumenical team of chaplains at the Royal Norfolk Show on June 25 and 26 – and compose a rhyming grace for the stewards’ dinner. The chaplains support those running the Show as well as the 80,000-plus visitors and exhibitors, chatting, leading prayers and services and highlighting the importance of faith across rural communities.
This year the Bishop of Norwich’s Lent Appeal is for YANA, the Norfolk-based charity providing mental health support for the agriculture and rural community.
“YANA is a fantastic charity with deeply committed volunteers,” said Tim “They also offer a first rate ‘mental health first aider’ course which I’ve been on.”
Tim’s love of rural Norfolk began with his first job in the county – at Duffields Feed and Flour Mill at Saxlingham, near Norwich.
“I was there for almost seven years and was taught a huge amount about Norfolk life and Norfolk people by the brilliant and kind employers and employees. That was my introduction to many things agricultural,” said Tim.
During his rural ministry Tim has learned that spending time with people, talking and listening, is vital. “Rural ministry has to do with acknowledging the essential nature of our relationships both with God and each other, as both preceding and being more important than, any tangible ‘result,’” said Tim, who lives in Reymerston, near Dereham, with his wife Mary, a pharmacist and church lay reader. They have four grown-up children.