I am writing this month to announce my departure from St. Peter’s Church. After much prayer and thought I have realised that it is time to retire in order to look after my family more effectively and to take a different approach to ministry. I have informed the bishop of my intentions and am making plans to leave at the end of the year. This will give sufficient time to make all the necessary arrangements. It all feels very strange at the moment.
Retirement will be a time to live more simply. I shall certainly be busy with my caring duties and whatever priestly tasks I am called to undertake (there is always a parish which needs cover whether for holidays, sickness or a vacancy), but everything will be done without the responsibilities of an incumbent. I shall also be living somewhere much smaller so there will be much less space for clutter. The accumulated possessions of a 19 year residency here and over 30 years of married life make for something of a surfeit! I am looking forward to making some space at the vicarage over the coming months. How much does anyone actually need?
In due course the parish will need to consider the next phase of its life. Before too long someone from the Diocese of St. Albans will be in touch about the next stage. Nothing will be done in a hurry so there is plenty of time for you to reflect about the needs of the parish and specifically the needs of St. Peter’s. The PCC will prepare a new Parish Profile which will describe the life of St. Peter’s, its activities, strengths and weaknesses, and above all your hopes and intentions for the future.
If there is plenty of time to think, much more is there time to pray. We are God’s people and a part of God’s Church. He has made it clear to me that it is time for me to leave – something he revealed to me on Ascension Day. It is also clear to me that having been spared during the pandemic, we have had the opportunity to draw closer together as a community and to welcome newcomers who have had a significant and far-reaching effect on our corporate life. This is something that God is doing amongst us, something which creates the context for our prayers and for future ministry. In the weeks to come may God’s purpose be revealed to us in prayer and fellowship.
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