Ledbury's Baptist minister Simon Minshull said farewell to the Mums and Toddlers Group in the church hall on Friday.
Mr Minshull said that he and his wife Susanne had mixed emotions about leaving for a new life in Sweden.
He said: "I keep saying to people, you know the good you are leaving behind and the friends you have, but you don't know the good that lies before you.
"We do have mixed feelings about this but feel sure that good, in the form of new friends we have yet to meet, awaits our family in Sweden."
Mrs Minshull is Swedish and their move will give the Minshull children the experience of living in both cultures.
Mr Minshull has already promised that the family will return from time to time, to stay in touch with the friends they have made in Ledbury.
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