Beyond Our Ken

We have an ornate board in Holy Trinity Church which lists the Rectors of the parish since forever. It is an interesting piece of social history in itself. The person who designed it, aware that we had had Rectors since the middle ages, only left enough space for a few more. They also failed to pass on the secret of their calligraphy so the last two post-holders have been written in slightly more clumsily. The early years of the parish were under the incumbency, and presumably therefore Lordship, of John de this and Richard de that. Normans then. In the twentieth century a couple of Rectors turned up who required to be known by their initials not their Christian names, which says a lot, either about them or about how they were perceived.

We've only had one Ken, who left yesterday after ten and a half years here. He has presided over a huge re-ordering project to leave us with one of the nicest and most useful church buildings (old and functional) in the Diocese. He has had to cope with the resignation of one assistant priest following an inappropriate relationship and the suicide of another. Almost everyone who has been here the whole time has applauded the way he held things together through these difficult experiences.

Ken is heading off to Cornwall where he will be nearer his beloved sea, but with a difficult new job to do being a minister in a tourist zone. Ken is an occasional blogger so you may find news here.

There will be a vacancy here for a few months. Look out for the adverts in the autumn maybe.