Getting to know ..... Lora Bernabei

Lora first came to Holy Trinity in the late 1980’s and has been a part of  our community for many years. She explains to Gerard Jordan how she discovered Holy Trinity and why she feels so attached to our church.

How Lora came to Holy Trinity

Growing up in New York, Lora and her family were members of a Baptist church which Lora particularly remembers as a welcoming church with a sense of community. However, as a young adult Lora gradually drifted away from church-going for a while, until in her thirties she began to explore whether she might again find “a church that welcomed  the stranger”; so she started to pop into a church on the way home from work and attend their weekday service.

She explains “as a child I used to sing in church and have always loved singing in choruses; so when I was searching for a church I did sing at one for a while and I also tried all sorts of other churches”.  Lora remembers an Episcopal church where she felt really welcomed, but also other churches that didn’t seem at all welcoming to newcomers.

Coming from an Italian background, Lora had often visited Europe with her family. So, when she realised she wanted a change of life she lived in Spain for two years before settling on the French Riviera in December 1988. “Loving singing as I did, I joined the Choeur Philharmonique de Nice and at the first rehearsal a Scottish man introduced himself and said his name was Tom Tennant. We got chatting and Tom explained that the English church in Nice was holding a sale that Saturday; so Tom suggested I come along and get to meet some people there and that is how I first came across Holy Trinity. I went along to the sale and then came to church the next day where people felt really welcoming: it felt good vibrations straight away, so from that point on I started coming regularly.”

Holy Trinity in Lora’s life

It was not long before Lora became actively involved helping out with church life. “I used to help organise events with Valerie Haxton. One event we did was a dinner called The Spring Fling. It was really successful. The hall looked lovely and we put on big-band music of the 1940’s and soon everyone was up dancing. The priest John Livingstone loved it and soon after I was asked if I would be interested in taking over as churchwarden from Tom Tennant’s wife, Finella. Not being sure what was involved, I was a bit wary but Finella encouraged me so I agreed. I started in 1990 alongside Jill Pirdas who was also a warden at that time, and stayed in the role for five years. I also got involved with the finance committee, having majored in finance on my MBA. During that time Holy Trinity purchased an apartment in Beaulieu that is still rented to the priest there. I loved being part of the team: everybody always got on with each other and worked so well together”.

During her time as churchwarden, Jefferey Rowthorn who was Bishop of  the American Episcopal churches in Europe came to visit Holy Trinity and Lora spoke at a discussion group that he was leading. As a result of this, Lora was invited to become a member of the Episcopal church’s commission on ministry. “It was really interesting getting involved in this work, where every six months we would meet at an American church in Europe to help the Bishop identify suitable local candidates who were interested in going forward to train for the priesthood”. Lora was involved with this commission for seven years and ended up chairing the group. She also served on and then chaired the European Institute of Christian Studies, which had been established to develop training for priests in the Episcopal church.

When she retired from work, Lora moved away from Nice for a while, seeking a change of air, “but when I returned I was so pleased to find that Holy Trinity was still the same welcoming church that I remembered from before and there were still the familiar loving faces of people I knew, like the Slaymakers and the Tennants. When I first came to Nice I knew nobody and Holy Trinity became like a family and a home for me. It anchored me and never let me down; it was always caring and supported me through hard times too”. Lora  emphasises how she still loves helping to contribute to this sense of community, which is such a key part of Christianity for her. She explains how over the years she has spent at Holy Trinity her faith has deepened and has been enriched by the sermons she has heard and by the work she has done both here and with the Episcopal church. “The tradition and ritual of the church service is particularly important to my spiritual experience, as is the music. I remember how back in 1989 I was moved when first hearing Jean-Marie play the organ: the organ and sacred music adds so much to my spiritual experience and my spiritual journey”.

In conclusion, I asked Lora for any advice or insights she would like to share about how our community can grow and flourish.  She answered: “It is so important to give people recognition and thanks. I have always been so impressed by how much people have given to our church over the years and this is so key to the spiritual life of the church too. It is crucial that we constantly affirm our volunteers by continually giving those who serve our community small signs of appreciation, as public recognition for the work that they do and the gifts that they bring.”

Lora and her husband Arthur Reynolds at Christmas!