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Dear Friends,

Because the summer
issue of The Link and
Outlook is always a
bumper issue, I find
myself writing my final
pastoral letter in mid-
June, which does feel a
little premature to say the
least. But the reality is
that this heralds the
beginning of a period of
transition for all of us.

We have reached the point where my ministry in this place has
come to an end. I and my family are moving to pastures new where
we will face new challenges and get to know new people, and you
will continue to meet the challenge of serving God in your particular
context, while also looking to the future and what that will bring.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter
under heaven:
God has made everything suitable for its time.
[Ecc. 3:1 & 11]

The season for my ministry in Swanage, Wareham, and Skinner
Street has come to end, but that does not mean that God’s call on
my life has come to an end; and neither does it mean that God’s
call on the life of any of the three churches has come to an end.

God still has work for us all to do. Some of it will be new work, and
some of it will clearly build on what has gone before. What is
important is that we all continue to listen for God’s call and seek to
respond to it as best as we can, trusting that he will guide us and
equip us for the work that we are called to.

The following hymn, written by Timothy Dudley-Smith, reminds us

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