THIS week, the Revd Ron Wood, creator and incumbent of St Gargoyle’s, lays aside his pen. He first appeared in these pages on 16 September 1994 (main image), and for the past 30 years has drawn, and drawn attention to, many of the foibles and absurdities that plague and enliven parish life in equal measure. Many of the scenes have been products of his imagination; many, including some of the most bizarre, have been based on real-life events, though perhaps seen through a distorting lens.

Ron worked as a draughtsman in the planning office of Westminster City Council through the 1970s, until he “finally gave in to God” nudging him into the ministry, and was ordained in 1982. He served curacies in Weston-super-Mare and the Forest of Dean, then became Vicar of Sixpenny Handley with Pentridge in Dorset, serving there for 16 years. After five years in Surrey, he moved back to Somerset as a house-for-duty priest. He writes: “I did retire some years ago, but nobody noticed.”

He has two grown-up sons by his first marriage, and one granddaughter. His second wife, Pam, died two-and-a-half years ago.

St Gargoyle’s was offered first to Salisbury’s diocesan newsletter. “They said no thanks. So, as second best, I tried the Church Times.”

Absurdity has always delighted him. Among the cartoons reproduced here is one that sparked an episode in The Secret Diary of St Gargoyle’s (Aged 984½) in 2003:

23rd September: Not paying the gravity bill turns out to have been a false economy, as we have been cut off. Hymn books and congregation all floating about in free-fall, mingling with kneelers and the builders’ dust, and very disconcerting to see candle flamers pointing downwards. I told Harry Parry to get a cheque off as soon as possible, even if it means the organ doesn’t get tuned for another month.

Ron’s benefice is currently in vacancy, and he is as busy as he wants to be, he says. We wish him a happy retirement, and will miss him in these pages.