My time in Railway Town Baptist Church ends on 31st August, and my final preach is 30th August.  At the time of typing, I am surrounded by boxes, piles of books, bin bags and goodness knows what else as I sort stuff ready to move to Manchester next week.

One result of this is that I am writing my last two services this weekend, and thinking where to store them so that they don't get lost in transit... I am leaning towards printing them and taking them to church so that at least I know they (and the accompanying 'tat') are there. 

Way back in 2009, as I prepared to leave Dibley, a small church that had run out of money to pay me, I crafted a liturgy for a release of covenant at the end of a ministry - a sort of spiritual undoing of the promises we made to each other at the induction.  Over the years, I shared the liturgy with others, and in 2020 it was published as part of a collection of Baptist women's writing.  In 2023, I adapted it slightly as I prepared to leave The Gathering Place, and on 30th August it will once again be refreshed for this context.

Each time I have revisited these words, it has been surprisingly emotional... recalling what has been good and what hasn't been so good, what I think I got right and what I know I got wrong... and so on.

Moving to what will be my last pastorate before I retire also feels decidedly different... it is not the open end of Dibley or the Gathering Place, and it is not the transitional role of Railway Town, but is its own, unique, waiting to be discovered 'thing'.

I know that I have worked hard for this congregation, and as our paths diverge, I journey onward with a positive sense that this calling is now complete.