This morning I will be received into Membership at my new church, and this afternoon I will be inducted as the Minister.

A morning cup of tea in a seventeen year old mug! I know this because I was given it (actually I was given two) the evening before my induction service in The Gathering Place.

It’s sitting on a coaster I have had one week, a fun gift as part of leaving present from Railway Town Baptist Church.

And not forgetting dear old Dibley Baptist Church who took a chance on a NAM nearly 23 years ago, and so gave the opportunity to start writing this story.

A special day and at the same time an ordinary day - I am sure with more cups of tea along the way!!

There are all sorts of guidelines about moving house with cats... some more helpful than others, it has to be said.  Over the last couple of days, now that they have been here two weeks, I have slowly been introducing the kitties to the garden... first of all just a few minutes, with me following very closely and scooping them up if they showed any signs at all of going too close to potential exit routes!  Yesterday, and this morning I have (at least temporarily, and ham fistedly) blocked the two gaps in the fence, and today they were actually allowed out, watched from a distance, to explore on their own.  I had all the trepidation I imagine of a parent letting their child play in the garden 'unsupervised' for the first time and watching from the kitchen window.  After around half an hour they each wandered back inside, looking for 'second breakfast' before settling down for a nap.

I am in a similar place, albeit as a grown up human not being actively watched or confined to fenced in space... Where are the boundaries and what are they? What is safe and what is unsafe? And yes, the mysterious truth that, unseen but still there, God is watching through the kitchen window of heaven to make sure that I don't do myself, or anyone else, any serious harm, whilst giving us the freedom to explore and experience life in this new place.

Unlike the kitties, I have not had second breakfast, nor will I take a nap, but I do know that this is a good place to be, and that God is with me.

The photo - a jigsaw piece and a tube of bubble mixture - was taken at yesterday's service... the jigsaw piece, a reminder that the jigsaw that is God's church doesn't have corners of edges, but is composed of pieces that can be rearranged endlessly, and connected to other partial jigsaws to form something beautiful... and bubbles as small, fleeting, vulnerable expressions of prayer.

I have now completed ministries with three 'smaller' churches...

• Dibley had a membership in the twenties, and, at the time, ran a lunch club with over sixty members
• The Gathering Place was middle sixties, and saw itself as small
• Railway Town has upper twenties in formal membership but now nearer eighty in regular contact

And Church No 4... ah yes, it has to await a nickname - has around sixty members

These churches have much in common, as well as much that is unique, but what strikes me is the beauty of their smallness and (relative at least) vulnerability... these are churches where you are known by name, and where you are missed if you missing... these are churches where you are needed (and also where you can't really hide)... these are churches that have to live with a degree of messiness and uncertainty... these are the churches that are like jigsaw pieces, and bubbles, and dandelion seeds... these are the churches that are like pearls of great price, formed in hidden places, wrought of sacrifice... these churches are beautiful... 

I am sure that God loves them, and I am privileged to serve them.  

Yesterday was my final service as the minister of Railway Town Baptist Church.  We reflected on Romans 12, shared some activities, released each other from the covenant of ministry, broke bread and I handed back my keys.

After the blessing I was sent to sit on the front pew, as the choir and musicians sang a beautiful rendition of 'For the Joys and For the Sorrows' which they had prepared specially.  There were speeches, there were incredibly generous gifts, and then the choir sang an Irish Blessing... plus of course we had a plentiful buffet and a LOT of cake (there were two special cakes!).

It felt like a good ending, the culmination of three years when we have all worked hard, taken risks and found unexpected blessings along the way.

Yesterday, we filled 60 communion glasses and needed every single one of them - for sure, we had one or two extra people present, but we also had a fair few away... which is pretty much double what we put out when I first arrived (and always had some left over).  It's not that we've done anything very radical, it's just the mysterious graciousness of the God who is always there, in joyful times and sorrowful times, and who sometimes likes to surprise us.

I take happy memories of these three years - it may not have been a long ministry, but, with God's help, it was a meaningful one.   

Apologies for being so silent... between packing, moving and unpacking I have been very occupied... also a few practical glitches (due to previous owner taking away box that clearly says 'do not remove') meant slight delay getting broadband up and running.

Anyway, I think I can say that I am about 90% sorted, if by that we mean having opened every box, removed its contents and with rooms functional.  Nowhere near that if we recognise that the books in the office have simply been plonked on shelves unsorted (apart from the Bible commentaries which are in order!).

It is fair to say that the office is now functional, and I really enjoyed spending yesterday doing college work (I am technically back at work this week) at my desk.

I find myself reflecting on the truth that 'functional' is good enough, and that the place will never be fully 'sorted' even if I spend every moment of every day sorting it.  A bit like life, really... we need to be able to function, to do a 'good enough' version of whatever it is we do, but it will not - and cannot - ever be perfect.

Meanwhile, the Clepto Kitties are settling in remarkably well, and seem to be enjoying having a much bigger house to rule!