The New Year will see changes in personnel at Stanborough Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Garston.

Associate Pastor, "Pastor Karin" Wieczorek, will be returning to her native Sweden to take up a post there. A keen traveller, globe-trotting Karin previously spent time working as a minister in Australia before taking up her post in Garston where she had been for two years.

Watford Observer:

Pastor Karin Wieczorek.

Making a welcome return to the church is Pastor Mary Barrett has lived in Garston with her husband, Jonathan who is also a minister, and two daughters since 1999.

This was the time when she first started work as an assistant pastor in London, however, her first official post as a minister was at Harrow in 2004.

She joined the ministerial team at Stanborough Park Church in September 2006 working as Associate Pastor for several years before moving to churches in Stevenage, Welwyn and North Watford.

It was at the North Watford church that she and her husband, who preceded her as its minister, took up the challenging role of relocating from its Leavesden Road site, which it had occupied for around 90 years, to its current home in Brixton Road.

This isn’t the first time Mary has followed in Jonathan’s footsteps. He was also a minister at Stanborough Park more than quarter of a century ago when as Youth Pastor he helped to establish the weekly Soup Run for the homeless of London, an activity which has continued since then without a break.

Mary says that she enjoyed her time working with the three churches but now wishes to cut down travelling time and work nearer her Garston home.

Of her new role she says: "I will be working at Stanborough Park Church as an Associate Pastor. I am looking forward to going back as I enjoyed my time when working there in the past, though I am sure that there will have been changes, so things will be different."

In her spare time Mary said: "I love walking, so you may see me walking in the early mornings and swimming. I also like writing and have written 5 books. I also enjoy crafts and making things and baking." She also enjoys spending family time with her husband and two grown-up daughters, Rima and Sharma."