A church vicar is set to retire after 18 years.

Rosie Harper has been a vicar in the Parish of Great Missenden with Ballinger and Little Hampden since around 2003 and says the “overwhelming story” of her time at the churches is “about the people”.

She said: “We have worshipped together, we have cried together and laughed together.

“On the whole I’d say we’d grown to love one another because of all that we have shared. Some very intimate moments of listening, of weeping, of silence.

“Some big shared national moments. I vividly remember standing on the chancel steps as the Gulf War began, and of course just last year as the pandemic took hold and we didn’t even know if we’d see one another again.

“I think of the people who have worked tirelessly alongside me for the good of the church and the community.

“Of the many hidden saints whose whole lives are acts of love and service. I think of glorious music, chiming bells and magnificent flowers.

“I think of unbelievable quantities of amazing cake.

“In so many ways our churches are still the heartbeat of our community and even people who are not particularly religious value and support us.”

But, she says, things have changed as the Church of England has “shrunk and aged” over the past 20 years.

She added: “We have not been immune, especially because this area has an aging community anyway.

“Gradually the pattern of church attendance has changed too. People used to come twice a Sunday not that long ago, now twice a month is seen a pretty regular.

“This has pushed us to innovate and I’m sure the next vicar will do so even more than me.

“I do have a fear that as the Church of England feels increasingly under pressure it will become more inward looking and behave more like a sect than a National Church. I do hope not.”

Rosie says she is looking forward to being “slightly less public property”, adding that some people had told her she was the “worst vicar they had ever known”.

She added: “My overwhelming feeling, however, is one of gratitude. I have been blessed by friends and colleagues and members of the congregation and community who have encouraging and thankful, challenging and supportive, funny and generous.

“I have baptised them and married them and sadly enough I have also buried them.

“These are good people and I leave knowing that the church is in good hands until they find the next vicar. The past has been amazing, and the future is bright – it’s just not Rosie shaped anymore.”