I have accepted an invitation to become the Rector of St Mark's, Barrington Hills, Illinois, USA (http://st-markschurch.org/)  The church, an hour from Chicago, is part of the Episcopal Church of the United States, part of the Anglican Communion, and is very much like St Faith's in its size and worship style.  I gave the Bishop my notice on Friday 25 April 2008 and the Churchwardens that same evening.  Graham Frost, elected Churchwarden today, 27 April 2008, was aware that I was looking at this move, prior to making his decision to stand.  It has been a very hard decision for Susan and I to make - all four of us are very sorry to leave wonderful friends and the church at this time in its work, especially the PDG's project.  However I am confident that the church is in the hands of good leaders, that there are very many dedicated people within the church who will continue the work that has been going on for the last seven years.  Once we leave - probably the end of July - the Bishop will instruct the Archdeacon to initiate the process of finding a new Rector for St Faith's.  I am confident he will want to see the continuing growth of Havant, as he values St Faith's very highly.  It is very likely that there will be some excellent candidates interested in becoming your next Rector.  In the mean time I shall work with you to put as much in place for the interregnum as possible.  I would like to thank you all for all your kindness and enthusiastic service for the church over the last seven years.  It has been a wonderful experience being with you, seeing the church grow, and making so many good friends.  I will keep a very interested eye on progress here and keep you in my prayers for the coming years.

The Reverend David A Gibbons