What happens next? With Richard off to Chile and Wendy to England, we are fortunate that Linda is here to fill part of the vacuum that is left. But filling the whole vacuum would be too great a burden. So what happens?
The period between one Chaplain's departure and the arrival of the next is commonly called an interregnum, from a Latin word meaning "between the reigns" of two rulers. It is a misleading word because our chaplains' authority stems from their ministry, and a "minister" (the word means "the lesser half") is a servant, not a ruler! The correct word is "vacancy".
Interregnum is also a misleading word because it gives the impression that there is nobody in charge of St Ursula's during the intervening period. In fact, our Bishop, Geoffrey Rowell, remains spiritually in charge of us. It was he who licensed Richard and Wendy to serve us, and it will be he who licenses our next Chaplain. It is to Bishop Geoffrey, and to Bishop David Hamid, his suffragan (a word that means supporter, or second-in-command), that our churchwardens are responsible at all times, and particularly during this period.
The word Bishop is the English form of a Greek word meaning "overseer", and Bishop Geoffrey is responsible for overseeing an area extending from the Canary Islands all the way to Vladivostok and beyond. Locally, he is helped by the Venerable Arthur Siddall, Archdeacon of Italy and Malta, the Chaplain in Naples, who is currently acting as Archdeacon of Switzerland, and by Adèle Kelham, the Chaplain in Lausanne, who is acting as Area Dean. They will be on hand to help during the vacancy.
More practically, we shall be having a succession of temporary ministers, called locums (from the Latin words locum tenens (or locum tenentes in the plural) - people "holding a place"). From 9 September to 11 November, Canon Roger Wikeley from Liverpool will be looking after us. Then from 18 November to 30 December, Canon Geoffrey Allen, the former Chaplain in Arnhem and former Archdeacon of North-West Europe will be here. In the new year, the former Bishop of Durham, Michael Turnbull, will help us from 20 January until 9 March, and then from 16 March to 20 April, Alan Chesters, former Bishop of Blackburn.
In the meantime, your wardens and your council will be working at selecting Richard's successor - no easy task! We have to prepare profiles of what kind of church we are and what kind of chaplain we expect. We have to choose two representatives who will guide us in our choice - for we can either advertise the post and invite candidates for interview, or we can ask the Bishop to propose someone (whom our representatives can decline!). We have to frame an advertisement which draws the candidate who is right for us. In all of this we value the input and the prayers of you, the whole church family.
Ministry is not about "pleasing people", so the saying that one cannot please all the people all the time is out of place. But we seek someone who will serve this curious, mixed assortment of misshapen bricks, and we pray:
Heavenly Father, pour down your Holy Spirit upon this Church and chaplaincy, and grant us a new vision of your glory, a new experience of your power, a new faithfulness to your word, a new consecration to your service, that through our renewed witness your holy Name may be glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HD