There comes a moment in the life of every parish when it’s time for a change of leadership. George and I have been here at St Michael’s for 21 years, and we now feel that the time is right for us to move on, and for St Michael's to look for a new Rector. So I will be stepping down from the role of incumbent shortly after Easter.

We’ll be very sad to leave you all, as this church has become part of who we are. But we’ll certainly keep in touch and pray for you all, particularly over the months of vacancy, while you go through the recruitment process, which I’m afraid is rather long and arduous in the Church of England.

We’ll be moving in April to the parish of Aldenham, near Watford, where I will take up the part-time role of Team Vicar within a Team ministry that includes two other parishes.  I will be responsible for the parish of St John the Baptist, Aldenham. The role will involve Sundays and two weekdays, which will give me more time to spend with George, including some cheap flights to South Africa to see our son Adam, his wife Marjoli and their little boy Joshua.  I’m also hoping to be studying for a part-time MA from September, and doing some in-depth Bible teaching in the diocese of St Albans.

There are some who have already been speculating about how long it would be before I move on, but for others this news will come as a bit of a shock. However, there are still 3 months to go, and I will be working with the PCC and other leaders to make sure that the parish is in a good position to carry on the work of worship and mission during the period of the vacancy. And our Area Dean, Laura, and Archdeacon Stephen will ensure that other clergy will be available to assist John White and Jane Kraft.

Please pray for George and me, and also for everyone here at St Michael’s facing a year of change.  The important thing to remember is that this is God’s church, and he will be there to guide and empower us for whatever he wants us to be doing in 2026. May God bless us all.

Too busy! That’s my excuse for not writing a blog entry yesterday as I said I would. There are so many interesting talks, meetings etc going on here, you could go from one to another. And I’ve had some parish work to catch up on too!
One of the great things about Spring Harvest is that it aims to cater for all ages and all sorts of people. The Big Start is a short, fun all-age service at the beginning of the day (9.00 am). Then there are groups for kids and a Bible Study for adults – not a group thing but a talk. And there are many different opportunities to get involved with prayer, too, using different styles of prayer.
But in case you think of prayer as a kind of optional extra to life, or something that is mainly about changing the way you think about the world rather than something that miraculously changes events, the story Pete Greig told yesterday about a member of his church may make you think again.
You will remember the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge in April 2017, in which 5 people were killed and over 50 injured. Pete’s church member, called Jonathan, left his home especially early on 14th August last year, and having arrived at Westminster where he was due to attend a meeting later in the morning, he felt God telling him to pray against another terrorist attack. This was around 6.30 in the morning. He walked around the streets near the houses of Parliament for about an hour praying against terrorism.  At 7.30, while he was drinking coffee in a café, a car deliberately swerved into some cyclists and pedestrians. The BBC report of the event  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45180120) says that the driver of the car had been driving around the same streets where Jonathan had been praying at the same time. Fortunately, this time only 3 people were slightly injured. Moreover, while Jonathan was prayer-walking the streets of Westminster, his wife, not knowing what he was doing, had felt moved to pray for his safety.
The point I took away was that I need to be ready for God to prompt me to pray, because you never know when your prayers could make a life-changing difference to the lives of others.  And at this time of political turmoil, division and uncertainty in our country, is it not possible that God is calling on Christians to devote ourselves to prayer, both individually and corporately, so that good may triumph over evil, love over hatred and peace over division?  Or are we too busy to pray?
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5 children, a teenager and 13 adults make up the St Michael’s “delegation” to this annual Christian conference at Butlin’s, Minehead. Yesterday’s rain is over and the sun is now shining on us as we explore the Butlin’s facilities, Spring Harvest worship, kids’ groups and most importantly, this year’s theme: Prayer Unlimited.

We all know how important prayer is to the Christian life, and we all experience varying degrees of inadequacy, and varying amounts of hope and doubt as we try to make prayer central to our lives. So far we’ve had a great mixture of inspiration and encouragement at Spring Harvest.  Last night Pastor Agu Irukwu, originally from Nigeria, talked about Elijah, his faith and also his weakness, and called us to consider if we would be part of an “Elijah generation” who will pray earnestly and persistently and “give the Lord no rest”(Isaiah 62:6-7) until we see a spiritual awakening in our nation.
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In this morning’s Bible teaching on Matthew 6:5-8 Pete Greig helped us to see that Jesus was saying prayer should be simple, real and persistent.  He spoke movingly of how he had spoken angrily to God when his wife was about undergo a dangerous operation for a brain tumour, telling God that it was not OK for him to take her, and reminded us of Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah and the psalmists complaining to God and saying how they felt about their situation. 

​This afternoon he dealt with the issue of unanswered prayer, looking at Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane (Mark 14:32f) and on the Cross. In Gethsemane, Jesus trusts God’s love as his Father (“Abba”) and his power “All things are possible to you”, but still prays that God will take away his cup of suffering.  God does not answer that prayer, but Jesus accepts God’s will and through this the world is saved. In the same way, suffering and experiencing God’s absence can be part of his purpose to help us grow. “You can never learn faithfulness until your heart is broken”, said Pete Greig.
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More tomorrow! …

Parish clergy usually take a week off after Christmas. The Sunday after the Christmas just gone my wife called in to the church to drop something off, and mentioned that she and I were going to a service at a different church that morning.  “That’s a bit of a busman’s holiday”, commented someone.
An interesting comment: perhaps after all the services I’d taken part in over Christmas I ought to take a Sunday off going to church?
In fact, we went to St George’s Church in Owlsmoor and had a great time of worship with them, and the sermon stimulated some interesting thoughts.  What we would have missed by staying at home!
To me, being in church on a Sunday is just like eating and taking exercise – it’s just part of life.  I need the spiritual input just as much as I need physical nourishment and exercise, and it’s great to meet with my brothers and sisters in Christ who worship in another location.  The great thing about going to another church, which we always do when we’re on holiday, is that my wife and I can sit together and just worship, rather than having to lead or preach. That’s a real holiday treat!
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