As I write this, I am in the middle of the preparations for my last Sunday at Largs. We will keep the Feast of St Columba, the church's patron saint. In itself that is an appropriate occasion to finish on but in addition we are hosting the monthly ecumenical service for Largs Churches Together in the evening. It is to be in a Songs of Praise, which I have entitled "Haggis with Rösti", with Scottish and Swiss flavours in the selection of hymns.
There is much to give thanks for as we look back on our time in Largs but also much to be excited about as we move on.
When you move somewhere new one of the intriguing things is to see what is in the garden you have inherited. It takes a whole year, of course, as you wait and see what comes up where. In the spring you find out what bulbs have been planted and later on you find out how well the shrubs and roses are doing. Eventually you can see where new planting would improve matters, what needs to be pruned and what is not flourishing at all. You also get an idea of where you can plant things, so that they will not encroach on something that will come up later - or conversely, be checked by more vigorous plants.
I cannot help thinking that this policy of wait and see applies to many aspects of church life. A new incumbent needs to see what the soil is like, what is doing well, how action in one area will affect the overall picture. You will probably have ideas and plans that you will want to share with me - and I shall be only too happy to hear them - but my response may well be "Let's see what else is growing in the garden".
A related task for a new incumbent is to act the "daft laddie" (to use a Scottish phrase). That is, to ask simple questions like "What is this for?" or "Why do you do it that way?" These are not meant as criticisms but, rather like the gardener waiting to see what comes up, to see if there is a reason for something or whether that particular detail "just growed".
What is growing in the garden that is St Ursula's, Neuchâtel and Thun? We are looking forward to finding out.
Peter