So what happened?

       Yeah, well, that last post wasn’t a very good one to shut down on was it? Thank you to those who took the trouble to be in touch.... A most know, the Ca Pros is a long way from slowing me down – it’s only the side effects of the drugs that are the problem! And some travelling and quite a lot of new work...
       In the last few weeks the parish has been putting a new Team in place. It’s been a complex process, and there were a lot of learnings but at last we are under way. There are six of us, about half “called” and the rest formally elected by the Annual parish meeting. It’s an interesting mix of new and experienced people and we are already catching up on long-term matters that haven’t had top priority in recent years. The Paihia congregation is continuing in great heart and good numbers and there is much to be thankful for.
       It’s a different story at Russell, where the parish has at last had to recognise that the days of a viable congregation has come to an end. There are now no services, not even over summer, when there are usually some visitors. But we will celebrate the building’s centenary in April with a significant closing event.
       So that’s the life of the parish: ongoing life in one congregation and closure of another. And I suppose that’s a little like my own life in recent weeks. A couple of extended trips away with the caravan, interspersed with some frenetically busy weeks back home. And a rising PSA that resolutely marks out the days and months and years. Sitting in the sun in Timaru right now, I am making the most of them, one day at a time.