Starting out

The Sunday before Christmas 2012, and a bit of a new start.  Where this blog will take me (and you) I don't really know, but here's the starting point.  I'm living in Welshpool, on the Welsh borders, and we're sort of in the process (probably, nothing is signed as yet) of moving from one house to another.  I used to be the Vicar of Welshpool, but all of that came to an end two years back.  I had been a priest of the Church of England and the Church in Wales for over thirty years.  You may not be too surprised to hear that for quite a while I was mentally and spiritually nowhere;  now, two years on, I remain a work in progress, I suppose.

Though I no longer operate as a priest of the Church, I remain a believer, and a regular participant in worship.  I do in fact continue to preach from time to time, as invited, but with no greater authority than that of a fellow pilgrim;  I do not feel the time is right for a return to leadership or sacramental ministry.  I no longer stand at the altar, and perhaps I never will again.  The Church pays me a pension, and I suppose is bound to feel some continuing responsibility for me;  but for my part I no longer have any great sense of place within that Church as an institution. Having said that, however, I do not intend for the present to dwell on the events that have brought me to this point.  This blog is about moving on, not looking back.

I am married to Ann, and our next anniversary will be our 38th.  Our four children are fairly widely scattered now.  We have two small grandchildren, who are a great delight to us.  I supplement my pension by working as a gardener, setting up sound systems, and assisting a local funeral director as a member of his casual staff.  I am happy in the work I do, and as a singer, a poet and a naturalist (my degree is in botany).  I love to travel, and have managed, over the years, to see a fair bit of the world, preferring the ordinary places to the "sights", by and large.

So that is my starting point.  You will be very welcome to travel on with me from here, if you'd like to tag along.