JULY 5 will see the installation of the splendid new vicar of Malmesbury Abbey, the Reverend Oliver Ross. It’s a great moment in the life of a town like Malmesbury where the Abbey still plays such a central role in the life of the town – from a churchy and a non-churchy standpoint.

I know Mr Ross to be ‘splendid’ since he comes to Malmesbury having been (inter alia) Chaplain to Trinity House, of which I am proud to be a 'younger brother'.

Trinity House is a great institution. It has responsibility for lighthouses and maritime aids; for training of cadets; for pilotage around our shores; and for a variety of charitable purposes, including housing and long-term care for retired seafarers.

It has a magnificent HQ on Tower Hill close to the Tower of London; and it is run by 30 or so ‘elder brothers’ and about 400 of we ‘younger brethren’.

Founded by King Henry VIII in 1514, last week saw our 504th annual Trinity-tide events, including an AGM at which we all remain standing (a very good way to keep meetings short), a splendid banquet, and a stroll through the streets of London, led by our Master, HRH The Princess Royal to St Olave’s for our annual service.

Mr Ross gave a splendid farewell sermon after 12 years as the Chaplain to the Fraternity, including the fascinating fact that the Bible contains 366 injunctions that we should ‘Be not troubled’ or similar words. That’s one for every day of the (leap) year. The service includes two great prayers of Sir Francis Drake.

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves; when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore……. Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas; where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of the land, we shall find the stars….”

It’s all about stretching ourselves, stepping boldly into new worlds, trusting to God and a strong light. It’s a good analogy for the new vicar of Malmesbury; for most of us in our ordinary lives; perhaps even for us all as we venture into a post-Brexit world. Yet it’s also about seeing things through to the end.

The other prayer by Sir Francis Drake reads: “O Lord, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour in any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished that yieldeth the true glory…”

Wise words for us all in our private, and political, lives. We wish Reverend Oliver Ross all happiness and success in his new role, in Malmesbury Abbey, and pray that he will have all the lighthouses and pilotage that he may need to ‘venture on these wider seas’.