Vicki and Jeffrey James have waved goodbye to St Mylor Church as their ministry in the parish come to an end.

Vicki and Jeffrey are moving out of the parish to Truro as they start their next adventure.

In an announcement on social media St Mylor Church said:

"We wish to thank them both for their commitment and service to the parish, especially in these last difficult weeks.

"It is unfortunate - to say the least - that we have not been able to mark this departure and say farewell in the way we would wish.

"However, Vicki & Jeff are not going too far and you may rest assured that, as soon as we are able, arrangements will be made for us to give them a proper Mylor send-off. In the meantime: Vicki & Jeff, please know that you go with our love and best wishes for your retirement."

Jeffrey James has been the minister for seven years with his roots in the parish going back forty years, but now he feels the time is right for fresh eyes to take up the position at the church.

Looking back on his time in Mylor and the time as priest, Jeffrey said:

"I first came to the church in Mylor in 1976 when I was then the boyfriend of the woman who is now my wife and we had come down because her mum lived in Falmouth and I had come down at the end of the summer holidays, we came back in 1980 to get married at the church and we had our two children Ruth and Hannah baptized there in 1985 and 1987.

"I was working as a health service manager and came down to work for the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly health authorities in 1990 and we lived in Mylor Bridge, we lived two doors away from where the vicarage is now and we lived there till 1996 when I went up to Gloucestershire to work for the health authority there, it was there that I trained for the ministry.

"The time came for me to retire from the health authority at the age of 60 so we came back to Mylor with me here as the parish priest and that was in 2013 which was an enormous surprise and a great source of delight for us because we had never imagined that opportunity would present itself and it did."

Vicki and Jeff have been involved with the ministry for seven years and now Jeff is aged 67 he says he would like to "change the balance" of what he is doing in his life.

Jeffrey continued:

"There have been lots of moments here in my time at the church to be delighted with and very joyful about.

"Every year there is a celebration called Sea Sunday which is a lovely time where we decorate the church, that is a great highlight. At the end of August, we have St Mylor's Festival which is a very special occasion.

"Christmas and Easter are always good times, in recent years Remembrance Sunday has become a significant event with more people turning out to remember as we have gone through the anniversary of the first and second world wars.

On the decision to leave the parish after being within the community for so long, Jeffrey added:

"Yes it is a very difficult decision to leave and yes it is the right time, it is a difficult decision to leave because with my roots in the parish going back over forty years it is really quite hard to leave the place with a sense of moving on.

"I think the church is getting ready for a series of changes as it looks into the future and I think there is a time where it is important to get new and fresh leadership to help take the church onto its next journey.

"Church leadership typically involves people being in a community for five to seven years to be able to get to know the people and get to know the place so you can offer a pattern of leadership that is right for the local community.

"Now is probably the right time for me to go and leave the coast clear for fresh eyes and new imagination to help take the church on its next journey through life."

We wish Vicki and Jeff all the best in the next stage of their lives and thank them for their service to the community!