A MARRIED, ordained couple who lost a child eight weeks into a pregnancy have unveiled a memorial in the churchyard at Christ Church. Timperley.

A service was held in the churchyard where the memorial is set. And also, due to coronavirus, the Rev Jenny Bridgman, Associate Vicar of Timperley, Altrincham, is offering the service online via the Timperley Parish Facebook page

Viewers are asked to place a stone at the memorial before All Souls Day in November.

Other suggestions are that they plant a snowdrop bulb at the site, light a candle at home or, if they have lost a child, address a letter to them.

It was held to coincide with Baby Loss Awareness Week as Jenny led prayers and explain who the stone is for and the purpose for setting it in the churchyard at Christ Church, Timperley

Jenny said: “I hope the service conveyed the rawness of loss, and the wresting we do with God when a beginning quickly becomes an ending.”

Although it is six years since Jenny and her husband, Jim, the vicar at Timperley Parish Church, lost their child, they will never forget the experience.

Jenny added: “It was a Sunday when I found out I’d lost the baby.

“We weren’t sure that there was a problem with the pregnancy, so we decided to keep the morning as normal as possible.

“I went to hospital whilst Jim went to church to lead services.

“It was a very difficult experience as we came to terms with the loss of a future we never got to live and the fact that so much potential had vanished.”

Despite their loss and pain, the experience opened up conversations with others in the parish who shared their own stories with the couple.

Jim said: “We were open about our experience and we soon realised that there was a lot of unresolved pain for people in our parish.

“It was this that started us on our journey towards creating a permanent memorial.”

In future years, the couple hope to make the memorial service an annual event.