The Place I Once Wondered If I Would Ever Fit Into Became the Place Where Our Family Story Was Written
By Sangeetha Samson • Daughter of Rev. C.A. Benjamin & Mrs. Kamala Benjamin
When I first heard that we were moving to Richmond Town Methodist Church, I felt a quiet anxiety settle over me. We were leaving behind a church where we had spent many years — years full of deep friendships and people who had become as close as family. Leaving them was not easy, and I honestly wondered whether I would ever feel at home somewhere new.
I had no idea that this move was part of a much bigger story God was writing for our family.
Our home at Richmond Town was an old, enormous bungalow. In the early weeks it was almost intimidating — the rooms were vast, the bathrooms larger than rooms we had lived in before, and it took some time for the scale of the place to soften into familiarity.
But it did soften, eventually. And once it did, it became something we could never quite have anticipated: not just a home for the five of us, but a home for anyone who needed one.
Our dining table never had food intended only for the family. People were always welcome — young people, church members, friends — and they came, often without ringing the doorbell, because they knew the door was rarely bolted.
Our home became a place where people from all sorts of backgrounds found somewhere to stay, to talk, to laugh, and simply to feel at ease.
“Our dining table never had food meant only for the five of us. People were always welcome. The door was rarely bolted.”
— Sangeetha Samson
Life at the RTMC Parsonage
There were the organised occasions I remember with joy — preparing for the Christian Education Block dedication, the Bible Match programmes, the Food Fests, VBS, the camps and the many other activities that gave the church calendar its rhythm.
But it is the unorganised moments I cherish most.
Beautiful evenings in the RTMC compound. The huge trees. The particular peace and quiet of a church campus in the early evening. Sitting on the steps with young people, singing songs, not because there was an occasion for it but simply because we were together and it was the natural thing to do.
One of our family’s standing jokes was that we never quite knew what it would be like for just the five of us to go out to dinner.
There was almost always someone else at the table, someone else in the car, someone else joining whatever we had planned. Young people and church members and friends became such a constant presence that a full house stopped feeling unusual and simply became what home meant.
When the Parsonage Became Part of Our Family Story
We moved out of the parsonage eventually, as all pastoral families must. But RTMC never stopped being home. We continued to worship there for many more years after my father’s tenure ended.
And the place I had once wondered if I would ever fit into turned out to be the place where both my brothers and I each found our life partners.
Years later, my own children were dedicated at RTMC.
What I had thought was simply a move from one church to another was, it turns out, God leading our family into a chapter that would become woven permanently into our story.
“The place I once wondered if I would ever fit into became the place where our family story was written.”
— Sangeetha Samson
Looking Back with Gratitude
As Richmond Town Methodist Church marks 150 years, I am struck by the privilege of having been even a small part of such a long and layered story — a story of generations worshipping, growing, serving, forming friendships, building families, and finding somewhere to belong.
For me, RTMC will always be more than the church my father once pastored.
It is a place filled with memory, friendship, laughter, faith, and family. It is the place where God’s plans for our family unfolded in ways we could not have imagined or asked for.
I had arrived anxious, wondering if I would ever feel at home. I left with a life partner, and returned to dedicate my children. Looking back, the irony of that makes me smile.
Happy 150th Anniversary, RTMC
Thank you for being such a beautiful part of our story.
