Looking forward

With gratitude and thankfulness

A somewhat more personal post today!

As many of you will know, I have recently moved from Hong Kong to the Highlands of Scotland after being the Vicar of Christ Church, Kowloon Tong in Hong Kong for 24 years.

Life as the Vicar of Christ Church was never dull, but it was demanding, especially so being the only clergy there. It was a bit strange, then, to go from celebrating the Eucharist and preaching several times a week to having no regular commitment. I am fortunate that my wife, Winnie, was not only so supportive during my time at Christ Church but has been willing to continue that support here in Scotland, while all the time having a ministry of her own.

Moving here has, nevertheless, given me a bit of time both to reflect and to settle into a different rhythm of life. One thing, however, I was clear about in my mind on moving from Christ Church was that it was not to stop doing something but to do something else. I was also clear that what I would like that something else to be is writing, preaching, and teaching.

It is one of the 'Catch-22s' of ministry that one of the reasons you get ordained is because it gives you the authority and opportunity to preach. The catch is that once you are ordained, you quickly find you don't have the time to preach, at least not in the way you would like to because of all the other demands on your time and attention.

It may not always seem like it but preaching takes a lot of time. Not primarily the time when you are in the pulpit but the time beforehand to read, research, and write. When I first felt God calling me to preach, I remember David Pawson, a Baptist pastor who was a major influence on me during that period of my life, saying that you needed something like an hour of preparation for every minute you were in the pulpit. As the Vicar of a church, that sort of preparation is simply something you don't have the time for. I don't mean that to sound like a complaint; it's just the reality.

Anyway, moving here means I now have more time. The question on arriving here, though, was whether I would also have the opportunity. Thankfully, Substack gives me a place to write, but as an Anglican priest, I also need the permission of the Bishop if I am to be able to preach - in Anglican churches at least!

Which brings me to last Sunday!

On Sunday, February 23, I was licensed by Bishop Mark Strange as a priest in the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness and as a Chaplain of the Cathedral of St Andrew in Inverness. St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. St Andrew's Day also happens to be the day I was baptized as an infant. A happy synchronicity!

February 23 itself is the Feast Day of St Polycarp. St Polycarp was the Bishop of the Church in Smyrna at the beginning of the second century. St Polycarp was martyred for his faith in Christ while still ministering at the age of 86. The good news for me is that age wise I still have some way to go, although I hope that when the time comes my ministry won't end in quite the same way as his did.

I am very grateful to Bishop Mark and to the Provost of Inverness Cathedral, the Very Reverend Sarah Murray, for the warmth of their welcome and for giving me the opportunity to go on ministering in this way until God wants it to end.

I still miss my friends in Hong Kong, mind you. Hong Kong remains a big part of my life and will go on being so. I am, then, also grateful to Archbishop Paul Kwong, the Principal of Ming Hua Theological College in Hong Kong for allowing me to continue as a member of the faculty there. Ming Hua has been an important part of my ministry over the past few years, and I hope I can continue to contribute in some small way to its work!

So now I have no excuse! I have the time to read and write, the opportunity to preach and teach, and, hopefully, also under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be of some use. All I need now are people who will want to read what I write and listen to what I say!

St Paul, in his letter to the Roman believers, writes that no-one should think of themself more highly than they ought to think (Romans 12:3). I realize that I am in danger of such arrogance in assuming that people will want to hear my words. St Paul in the same passage, however, also tells his readers that having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, we are to use them in the appropriate way (Romans 12:6-8). I hope in my writing, preaching, and teaching that this is what I am trying to do.

Thank you to all of you for taking the time to read these posts and a special thank you to those who have signed up to support me as I write them. I hope anyone reading what I write will not be disappointed! If you feel the posts are worth it, please share them for me.

I wanted in this post to express the thanks and gratitude I feel as I enter this new phase of ministry. I cannot, then, end without expressing my thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her care and intercession and to St Catherine of Siena, my patron and friend, humbly asking for their intercession on my behalf for whatever the future may hold. As I do so, I remember the words of St Paul:

'But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 3:13-14, ESV)