Saying Goodbye...

Over the past few days I've had to say some goodbyes to some people and its been hard.

College term has come to an end so far as the Anglican Ordinands are concerned (the Methodist Student Ministers do an extra week) and so last week there were a number of services/events to mark the moving on of my Anglican brothers and sisters to ordination.  The reality that people I had spent time with, shared laughter with, engaged in deep meaningful conversation with and shared worship and fellowship with were leaving suddenly hit me quite hard.  It was particularly hard at the Leaver's Ball when I knew that I would probably been seeing many of them for the last time.

I will have to go through the same set of emotions this week too as the second year Methodist Student Ministers prepare to leave college.  On Friday we'll have a Leavers Service and Dinner and the goodbyes are going to be difficult again.  Some of the leavers have touched my life and faith in quite profound ways and I will miss their love, concern and patience.

Last night at church we had the last service at our church from a Minister who is leaving my home Circuit at the end of the month to move to a new station.  The service was excellent with a very powerful sermon about trusting in the Holy Spirit.  This Minister has been an encourager to me over the past few years, helping to support me through Local Preacher training, candidating and now through my first year traing to become a Methodist Minister myself.  She has also made a really valuable and siginificant contribution to Circuit life and ministry and she will be greatly missed by many people, myself included.  There is a Circuit Service to say goodbye, of course, but yesterday evening marked Poulton Methodist Church's goodbye.

Of couse there are a lot more goodbyes to come in my future, not least next year when I have to say goodbye to the college community itself as I (hopefully) move into Circuit Ministry as a Probationer Minister.  Goodbyes are never easy and I don't think that they ever will be but I thank God for all those lives that have touched mine in profound ways and helped to make me the person that I am; and I look forward to all the people I have yet to meet who will also become important to me.