Father Rod with the Bishop of Bristol, Rt Reverend Vivienne Faull when he was installed as priest in charge at St Peter’s in 2025
By Shane Gibson
Reverend Roderick Cosh will be much missed after holding his last service at St Peter’s Church.
Although having only been installed a year earlier as an interim minister, Father Rod has left an imprint on the church community, and he will not quickly be forgotten.
Speaking with Father Rod about his time at St Peter’s, he said he had wanted to help the church re-engage with the community: “I believe that faith can be life changing, I believe that the church can offer community. And I want the congregation to be more impactful in the community.
“To achieve those goals, we have made plans to expand the coffee shop and have a carers and toddlers’ group one day a week. We would also like to host a dementia café.”
Father Rod also believes that St Peter’s is in a prime position to add substantial student numbers to the congregation, saying: “Being away from home for the first time is great but can be lonely and isolating.
“As a church, we can be a place of safety, worship and community that can support students not just as a place of refuge but to offer and establish opportunities for outreach work in the community.
“But engagement is vital. The more engagement we have, the more we can achieve.”
Father Rod said that the church should also offer ministry to larger local companies such as Airbus. He added: “Lockdown profoundly affected this area.
“Prior to the lockdown, St Peter’s did minister to people from the larger companies in the area. The Church of England made a fundamental mistake closing its churches.
“It was frustrating for a number of priests, and it looked as if the church did not care. I do not feel that we have fully recovered from the damage done.”
St Peter’s administrator Faith Tutton and the Parish Church Council shared their memories of Father Rod’s time in the church.
Ms Tutton said: “Father Rod and his ever-supportive wife Pam have been a much-loved part of our church family for some 12 or 13 years now. When our previous incumbent left, Father Rod, along with another retired priest from our congregation, Father Allan, stepped up to preside at our services.”
Father Rod and wife Pam will be much missed by the St Peter’s congregation
Ms Tutton outlined Father Rod’s role as interim minister: “He was to walk alongside the people of St Peter’s and help them prepare for the coming of a new incumbent.”
Giving a few examples of what Father Rod achieved, Ms Tutton said: “Rod set up a very popular Christmas tree festival and invited members of the community to provide pre-decorated Christmas trees which would be set up in the church enabling people to come and see them and to use the church for private prayer at the same time.
“Rod also re-forged links with the Guides and Brownies and invited them to perform the Grumpy Innkeeper at our new crib service on Christmas Eve, which was very well attended. And he brought our Lent and Advent groups back and led a series of Bible study groups.”
Members of the Parish Church Council spoke highly of Father Rod, saying he “always showed great compassion for the sick and elderly” and was “always very, very approachable”. Another said “he was great at winding people up, but ultimately, he was just fabulous to be around and greatly loved and, we miss him.”
St Peter’s is now looking for their next permanent priest. But one thing is for sure — Father Rod will be a hard act to follow.