Having been a 'full time' Pastor/Teacher for 40 years I took a gap year in 2009/10. Most individuals take such a year before going to University - I just had mine a bit late! The year was spent at Jubilee Church in Cape Town and during that time I wrote a weekly blog. Some 8 years later I've decided to write again.
On returning from South Africa we moved from Brighton to Bournemouth and I became a volunteer Elder at Citygate Church there for 6 years. More recently we have moved to Gateway Church in Poole, the move motivated solely by the fact that our elder son Matthew leads the church and we feel we are at the stage of life when it is good to be with some of the family and supporting our son's ministry as directly as we can. The geographical move has been no more demanding than after years of turning right out of our road and driving 2 miles to Citygate Church Bournemouth we now turn left out of our road and drive 2 miles to Gateway Church Poole. We are still able to navigate this level of change!
Anyway, the change makes me feel that this is a good time to start writing again. I have spent nearly 50 years as an Elder (Minister, Pastor, Teacher) in various churches so it's time to share some of my memories, reflections and musings about church life as I have known it. This may not be the safest blog - I'm retired so what the heck, but I will try to be informative, entertaining and provocative- So why not dip in from time to time and hopefully as I learn how to handle this site I can add in some helpful resources as well. Maybe after 50 years I can share some wit and wisdom. It's time for me to write again....