I have already begun to say my 'goodbyes!' I have enjoyed my time in this area as minister at Radford Road Church, Whitnash Methodist Church and at Wellesbourne Methodist Church.

In our weekly series, the Rev Clive Fowle, Methodist minister at Radford Road Church and Whitnash Methodist Church begins his round of goodbyes.

I see my ministry in terms of 'reconciliation' between ourselves and God and between ourselves and each other. I have developed the healing ministry at the churches and worked with others to develop MACS (Mediation and Community Support).

I value the friendships made across the ecumenical and inter-faith divide. The support for the peacework in Croatia has been wonderful and the involvement of the community here in helping to heal the divisions in the aftermath of war in Croatia has been significant. I leave the area with a multitude of good memories.

But life, as they say, moves on and there is a time to say 'hello' and a time to say 'goodbye!' The Leamington phase of my life is almost over and the Rugby phase is just beginning.

Throughout my life I have been saying 'hello' and 'goodbye.' I do not mean just the many places where I have worked, but I mean the various stages of my life from infancy to youth to middle age, from being single to getting married, from having three sons at home to seeing them go off to university.

As I go through each stage there have always been mixed feelings. Sometimes I feel sad and regret but also excitement at the next phase but my Christian faith encourages me to anticipate the new thing that
God is doing in my life. As the hymn-writer writes
All the way my Saviour leads me;
What have I to ask beside ?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?

Now it's back to packing up boxes !