Dear Friends,

For those of you who weren’t at the Confirmation Service this afternoon, I am writing to let you know of an announcement I made at the end of the service, that after 12 years as Rector of Cranleigh, I will be leaving in the Autumn.

I have made no secret of the fact that I had been pondering retirement for some time, but as I have shared with many of you privately, we haven’t had a ‘plan’ for retirement and there have been many complications around factors like, where our daughters might be living, about Kate’s job, and about the cost of housing in Surrey!  In amongst it all, I have always felt that God had a plan, and that a door would open.  Quite unexpectedly, that door opened back in May, with the advertising of a House for Duty post at Holmbury St Mary and Wotton, just down the road, in the Leith Hill Benefice.  I quickly realised that in return for working 2 ½ days a week (a mere breeze after being Rector and Area Dean of Cranleigh!) we would have a house to live in and the means for Kate to continue her job at St Cuthbert Mayne School for a few more years!  After a conversation with Bishop Andrew, I decided to apply. And have subsequently been appointed, and expect to take up the post in November!

 Of course, leaving will be a huge wrench for Kate and I, as this has been such a happy place, and we love being a part of the St Nicolas family, but I will have plenty of opportunity to talk about that later!

Yours, as ever,

Roy