Next week sees the departure of our current Locum Chaplain, the Very Reverend Alan Woods, and his wife Barbara. We hope they have enjoyed their stay with us and particularly the barbecue, when Fr Alan was able to chalk up one more year!. Please accept our thanks for all you have done and our best wishes for a safe journey back. The replacement Locum Chaplain, the Reverend Dr Martin Kitchen, is new to the Greater Lisbon Chaplaincy. Below is a letter he has sent us by way of introduction: Dear Friends, Sheila and I are greatly looking forward to our first visit to Portugal while I act as your locum for six weeks from the middle of August. We live in retirement in Wall - near Hexham in Northumberland - having enjoyed interesting and varied careers. I studied German and French immediately after leaving school, then later went to King's College London and the University of Manchester to develop my interests in the New Testament (where German, especially, proved very handy). My wife trained as a physiotherapist at Guy's Hospital in London, and her fascination with the possibilities of an evidence-based approach to professional practice led her into teaching and research in both London and Manchester. I was ordained in 1979 and trained Church Army Officers while serving a curacy in Southwark. We then moved to Manchester, where I became Chaplain to what was then the Polytechnic. After that we moved back to Southwark, where I spent nine years as Adviser in In-Service Training. There followed seven delightful years as a Canon of Durham, a brief period as Dean of Derby, then parish ministry in four rural parishes in Essex. A good proportion of my time in the later part of my ministry involved developing links with the Lutheran churches of northern Europe, so the south of the continent will open up new vistas for us. We are very grateful for the welcome we have already received by courtesy of the world-wide web, and we look forward very much to getting to know you all - and finding some sunshine! With very best wishes, Sincerely yours, Martin