AFTER five years without a minister, worshippers at the Church of the Nazarene in Halliwell are looking forward to new beginnings and putting the tough times behind them - with new pastor Tracey Day.

Tracey, aged 37, will be officially introduced into the Brownlow Fold church next Friday, but she has already met the congregation and is looking forward to beginning her work in the area.

Mother-of-three Tracey became a Christian only at the age if 16. And it wasn't until four years ago, she says, that she received the calling to preach. Husband David had just been made redundant from his accountancy job in Norfolk, providing an ideal time for the family to up sticks and move to Manchester for Tracey to begin her training.

Challenge

She trained at the Nazarene College in Manchester and is delighted to have been given her own church so soon after completing her studies.

"It will be a big challenge for me to come here straight from college, but I am relishing it," said Tracey.

"The area used to be quite trouble hit, but I know a lot of money has been ploughed into the area for regeneration and I get the impression that things have improved."

Tracey, who is now living with her family in Hulton Lane, Deane, will begin working as a part-time pastor at the Brownlow Fold church and as associate pastor at Bolton's first Church of the Nazarene in Southend Street.

But once the small Halliwell church starts to build up a larger congregation, she hopes to concentrate her efforts there full time.

"This will be an opportunity for me to engage in people's real lives," added Tracey. "Lots of families have problems in all areas and I want to show them the church can be relevant and can help them. I didn't become a Christian until I was 16, but since I got involved with the church it has become one of the major things in my life."

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