Glasgow Central Station is an odd place to get a call to pastures new. But, sure enough, it was whilst waiting for my connection back to Largs that my mobile rang and it was Bishop Geoffrey to say they had decided to invite me to Berne and Neuchâtel.
Shareene and I visited at the end of January and it seemed right for us to make the move. So now we are surrounded by cardboard boxes and difficult decisions about what to put in them. Some of our effects are due to be shipped off to Berne in May and others will be stored at our eldest son's house near Stirling. We have three grown-up sons and seven grandchildren. We are quite a scattered family and in fact it has been suggested I should change my name to Abraham, the father of many nations, as our grandchildren were born in England, Ireland, Trinidad, Scotland and Canada.
I was ordained in Salisbury Cathedral in 1985 and served as curate and priest-in-charge in Wiltshire for 13 years. We then moved rapidly northwards via Sale (Cheshire) and then Largs, where we have spent eight happy years. Given my interest in languages and the fact that I first felt the call to ordination whilst working in Holland, it seemed right to come back to the Diocese in Europe at some stage. What we saw and heard about Berne and Neuchâtel seemed attractive and we hope that we will be able to contribute to the life of the chaplaincy in return. The move from a modest-sized congregation in Scotland to a larger, active one in Switzerland is quite a challenge but we are sure it wiill be an opportunity too.
We look forward to getting to know you and to worshipping together - and exploring Switzerland too. We are fond of walking (in a none-too strenuous fashion) and have a great love of mountain scenery, so I am sure there will be plenty for us to enjoy.
Peter Potter