Methodist congregations in West Oxfordshire and Faringdon will say farewell to their senior minister at two services.

The Revd Paul Weir, the superintendent minister for the Witney & Faringdon Circuit, is retiring after serving the churches in the area for five years.

His leaving services will take place on Sunday, June 25, at Long Hanborough Methodist Church, in Main Road, at 10am, and at the High Street Methodist Church in Witney at 3pm, with members of Methodist congregations throughout the area invited to attend.

While Mr Weir will be giving up full-time work as a minister, he will continue to be involved with the church in Devon, where he and his wife Jane are moving from their current home in Long Hanborough.

He became a Methodist minister 12 years ago in Bristol, after working as a systems engineer in the aviation industry for British Aerospace and Airbus.

He said: “I had a renewal of my faith in 1998. As a result of that calling to do more in the church, I eventually found it was a calling to the ministry, which was a surprise.

“I have enjoyed the role on the whole. It has been challenging at times and I’ve found it difficult, but on the whole it has been a great privilege, especially serving the people of West Oxfordshire.”

“I think being the superintendent of the whole circuit has been one of the highlights of my time in Oxfordshire – working at that level.

"I have come to know the Bishop of Dorchester and many of the other Church of England clergy as a result.”

But the role has also involved plenty of work behind the scenes and some difficult decisions about the future of a number of churches.

Mr Weir said: “A lot of people don’t realise how much administration comes with the role. It’s an ongoing challenge.

"We have quite a lot of small chapels in the Methodist Church and trying to keep them all afloat is an impossible task really, as much as we would like to do it.

“I’ve had to be part of closing Freeland Methodist Church, which shut just after Easter, and I’m in the process of closing North Leigh Church, which is sad, because we would like to keep these places going.

"But with a shortage of ministers and fewer people going to church, that’s not going to happen.

“Predominantly it’s needing people to come and support the churches. It’s not all about finance.”

However he refuses to let the challenges get him down: “I don’t get too depressed, because there’s a sense where, if you have a belief in God, there is a greater plan.

"There are changes happening which are very interesting and you don’t know what the outcome will be.”

Mr Weir will be succeeded by the Revd Rose Westwood, who is moving to Oxfordshire from Sussex.

A welcome service for her will be held on Sunday, August 27, at the High Street Methodist Church in Witney, at 10.30am.