Clergy are eligible to apply for a maximum of three months’ leave after every seven years of service in any diocese, calculated from ordination, commission or appointment. I was ordained deacon on 15 December 2017 and began work as a curate on 15 January 2018. That’s why I applied for study leave and a grant from the St John’s College Trust Board. My study leave was approved and I received a grant. As a result I will be away for just under three months from late April just after Easter to the middle of July. Most of that time will be on study leave, but I will also take two weeks annual leave during that time.

My plans for the study leave is to write a book chapter on excavations I have conducted at Tell Halif in Israel. This will set out as concisely as possible what was found in the area I supervised during those excavations. As part of that I will set out what I think the household looked like at the time it was destroyed and what that may mean for our understanding of life in Ancient Israel. Nevertheless, I have to include sufficient detail to allow others to give a somewhat different interpretation of the finds. After all, excavation destroys the evidence and as an archaeologist it is my duty to record that information.

Because I wanted a change of scenery and access to a good library while writing the book chapter, we are going to Bern in Switzerland, where I can use the university libraries. This is also the university where I completed my doctorate. The whole family will be going to Switzerland and we’ll live in an apartment in Bern. From there we can also easily take the train to the mountains and other interesting parts of Switzerland (Bern is a nice city itself).

During my absence the Rev Geoffrey Lamason will be the interim priest-in-charge of St Paul’s Papanui. He will come from Morrinsville to Papanui for just over two months.  I hope he can introduce himself in the next newsletter.