Well God was good because despite several hundred weight of lead being dumped on to the ground and spilling on the road no one was injured and no cars were damaged.

I can still remember meeting the Bishop, not long into the diocese, for the first time close up, and he said call me Bob.  There we were, Bob, Emslie Nimmo and myself pushing pews and lifting the more precious artifacts to dry places.  There were a few other willing workers as we tried to salvagewhat we could as the water poured in.  It was during these early days that ideas were ‘floated’ (excuse the pun) to maybe rethink what we could do when we rebuilt the church; maybe we could rethink the layout even divide the nave and give ourselves space to do other things.
In fact at that time the opportunities were wide open but by the July the vestry decided to split the church and well the rest is history………….

The good thing was that we had insurance cover and Bishop Bob was supportive of retaining St Clements. It was a long journey but as any who have been (and if you haven’t then I recommend a visit) have seen it is a wonderful worship space and God is still at work.

Here are some pictures of the devastation inside the church – God works His miracles in every place and for us it was at this time and place.

By Alan Finch
Lay Reader at St Clement’s