They think it's all over...

...it will be at Christmas.

It was announced to the congregation at Mashbury this afternoon that I will be reliquishing my responsibilities there at Christmas.

A tough decision this one, and one which I made over a month ago, but I'm quite comfortable that it is the right one.

There is not one reason behind it, but a combination of a number of factors that have come together.

• It is loads more time-consuming than I ever imagined. I am conscious that the hours I spend in meeting prep. are hours that I am not able to spend with my wife and kids. They are very understanding about this, but I would hate for them to resent this later or for it to damage my relationship with Tania.
• I have not felt valued by the whole Corps at Mashbury, more to the point I am often made to feel (by the senior census locals) that I am inadequate for the job and that I don't do things properly. Whether they mean for me to feel like this, or it is just me being over-sensitive, this has been quite hurtful and damaging to me personally, and quite frankly I've had enough.
• I am encouraged by the new things happening at Chelmsford Corps - both through the leadership of our new COs Alan & Lynda Watters (despite the length of his sermons!) and also by the spirituality in the emerging younger generation. There is an interesting group of young people emerging and arriving at the Corps and I wonder if God has a plan for me to be there with them as an older person to support and mentor them. Whatever the future holds, I am conscious that I need to be at Chelmsford Corps to part of what is going on there.

Intersting that there are a few bloggers among this emerging group:

http://www.ipodupdate.blogspot.com/

http://mattpie.blogspot.com/

http://confessions-of-an-innocent-man.blogspot.com/

So that's the news then - will I have to change the name of my blog at Christmas too? (Can't really be rural army and more! Shall I become suburbanarmy? Actually Gordon hasn't become ivorytowerarmy now he's gone to the training college so why should I change!)