Surprise announcement

Friday night, and for much of Saturday South Wales was hit by a huge deluge of rain. It rained hard in Cardiff but probably less so than further inland. There were photos in the news from late Saturday afternoon of the water level in the Bay lagoon raised enough to cover the boardwalk on Mermaid Quay, indicating a volume of water coming in so rapidly that the weir on the barrage itself couldn't take it away fast enough. 

There were also photos of the Taff Trail footpath near Blackweir Bridge covered with water, indicating that the river was at that time running two metres above normal. It's just as well that where the Taff runs through urban areas it was re-engineered to handle big changes in river water level, but this weekend's 'extreme weather event' was a (so far) rare functional test of its re-design, made in the aftermath of the December 1979 flooding of the city. I daresay we'll see more of the same under the impact of climate change. 

I was disinclined to go out in the rain and try to take photographs of my own, and when I got around to walking to the river this afternoon the level was only half a metre above normal - which we see quite often in winter.

I celebrated the Eucharist at St Catherine's this morning at Fr Mark's request, so that he could start the service by announcing his departure from the Parish, before moving on to St Luke's, to make the announcement there at the end of the service. He'd started at the earlier service at St John's, feeling the need to make the announcement personally in each place on the same day, understandable after twenty years in creating a United Benefice out of three old parishes from scratch. He's confided in me Wednesday last, and this gave me an opportunity to preach with this news in mind - a privilege indeed. 

It came as a shock to most people and it's clear he will be missed. He's been appointed to the post of Canon Precentor at Llandaff Cathedral, to a new role created by Bishop June. She was previously Dean of Salisbury and has a strong sense of the strategic value of Cathedral ministries and evidently she wants to improve the resources available for this. Already a senior member of the Cathedral Chapter, Fr Mark brings a wealth of pastoral experience to a situation which has not been without its troubles and conflict in recent years. I'm sure he'll be an invaluable asset there in team building with a renewed sense of purpose in facing up to changing times for the whole church. 

It's too early to start wondering who will take his place as Rector of Canton. Bishop June is certainly being effective in recruiting and deploying new incumbents. Given my present medical problems need sorting out before I can travel abroad again, I'll be around to help out during the interregnum during the early months of 2019, but for the sake of the Parish I hope for everybody's sake this is only a short spell.