SHE has had a fabulous time being a curate – but now she’s looking forward to the excitement of running a parish.

Bishop Jonathan and the Simeon Trust have appointed the Rev Buffy Langdown to be the new vicar of Portsdown and Purbrook, subject to DBS. She’ll switch from her current role as curate of All Saints, Denmead, over the summer.

In her time as curate, she has been involved in pastoral ministry, youth and children’s work, and the village’s holiday club, as well as leading services and preaching. She has also launched a ladies’ group and a prayer ministry team.

“It has given me a real opportunity to grow as a priest, to develop my own style of pastoral ministry and to learn from the clergy and lay ministers here, who have been generous with their time and wisdom,” she said.

“It has also deepened my understanding of God’s faithfulness within a community and given me time and space to hear people’s stories – that’s real time, not just fleeting moments, which allows you to walk alongside people through their joys and challenges.”

She is looking forward to working in Portsdown and Purbrook, succeeding the Rev Andy Wilson, who retired as vicar earlier this year. And it was a role she felt called to by God.

“I had done a placement at the Rowans Hospice and felt that Purbrook was a place where I was supposed to be,” she said. “It was a niggling call that wouldn’t go away. I went into the process of applications and interview partly to experience what that was like, but also because I didn’t want to let this one go unless God closed the door.

“Although the parish will come first, I’m hoping to develop more links with the Rowans Hospice, with the staff and patients there and with their families.

“I’m also hugely excited by the prospect of a new worshipping community in the development at Berewood. It’s a bit of a blank canvas, and there are so many opportunities, so we need to pray and discern which ones we should explore.”