Coming into my last weekend of ministry here brings a whole range of emotions and memories. It all began with a conversation at a tea room beside the river in Barnstaple with Archdeacon Mark, who I'd known from my curacy in Oxford.
On Wednesday some of us attended an inspiring Archdeacon's Visitation, one of the services in which Church wardens are commissioned. The role of Church warden is an ancient one, they are Bishop's Officers with distinctive authority and responsibility
When I was interviewed for this post, Archdeacon Mark surprised me with a final question: "what is the gospel, for you, summed up in a single sentence?" Perhaps because it was a surprise it was easier to answer the heart:
