NOT THE VICARS LETTER FOR NOVEMBER.

Well folks this really is it! Magazine production timetable demands that I pen my last words to you while still officially vicar but of course you will read my thoughts after my last service at St Mary's on the 12th October. I hope you have found the letters I have shared with you challenging and something to mull over in your minds. I have always tried to avoid the “Spring flowers and holiday time at the seaside” type of stuff that I sometimes come across. The gospel of Christ is about bringing God's grace to those who are deprived, discriminated against and ignored by the rich and powerful. These are the biblical issues that really matter, and I and the curates that have served with me here have tried to share Christ’s vision with you and get you thinking.

My experience of being part of the Christian family is very mixed: I have met some folk who know exactly what is needed to try your best as a follower of Christ. I have met some folk that probably never listened to a sermon or bible reading properly in their lives. I have met folk that really struggle with their faith and try to address the issues that face them, whether in their own private lives or out in the workplace. I have met folk that just want to help where and when they can and I have met folk that put the church at the bottom of their list. I have met folk that spend their lives complaining about others and those that do their best for everybody regardless. I have met folk that are extremely generous with what they have, and others that would pass by on the other side of need. Never have the words of Jesus been truer when he says “you will look and not see, hear and not listen”, and, “only the foreigner knows how to give thanks to God”.

For those of you for whom helping and sharing is important, it’s been a great ride and thanks for your support and encouragement – I hope we have all had some fun along the way and somehow laid a foundation for St Mary's to go on into the future. I wish Fr. Andy well as he gets into his stride. Make sure you are with him and not behind him!! For the last time I remain your friend and priest.

Your friend, Robin. September 1998 – October 2008.