Dear friends,

There has been quite a bit of excitement in the parish recently as we are beginning to realise that our Curate, Andy Smith will soon be arriving. It was great to be able to help him and Nicky decorate their new home in Pennington Vicarage, experiencing at first hand their wonderful hospitality and welcome; and of course the briefest meeting with their one-year-old daughter, Olive, would melt anyone's heart.

Although it is still a month until they arrive properly, it seems an appropriate moment to make it clear what is involved in training a Curate, and what we can expect while Andy is with us.

To start at the end, the nominal training period is four years, which means the Smiths will probably leave here in early 2013. In the short time before then we must, in partnership with the diocese, help prepare Andy for his next role in the Church, which is likely to be Parish Priest or Chaplain.

When we welcome Andy among us in July, he will be a deacon. This role is focused on service, both in the community and in the church. In the normal course of events Andy would then be ordained priest in a year's time. Until then he cannot preside at a Communion service, and he would not normally lead a wedding service. He will share in other ministries as his training progresses and he feels he is ready to take them on.

Throughout his time here, the first call on Andy's time will be his training, including frequent courses hosted by the diocese. He will also be observing and learning from our leaders here, both lay and ordained, and visiting other churches in the area. One of the reasons we have been selected as a training parish is the breadth of experience we can offer him.

Andy and Nicky will also be bringing with them tremendous gifts, which they will want to share with us as we work together to build up God's people in this place. It will be an exciting journey of mutual service and learning, which will help us all to grow in Christ.

Clearly supervising Andy in his training will take quite a bit of my time, especially in the first year, but I must say I can't wait!

With best wishes, Peter