Category Archives: ministry

variety

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It’s been an interesting few days with a fairly big variety of things.
Wednesday morning I returned to St Stephens to preside at the the 10 am Eucharist. It was good to see some familiar faces.

Wednesday evening I led evening pryer in the crypt. 3 minutes before starting our ‘normal’ group of 3 or 4 was suddenly swelled to over 40 with a massive influx of visiting Dutch teachers who decided to join us for Evening Prayer, which made things a lot more interesting when we were praying for the unity of the church.

Thursday morning saw me visiting a local prison. chatting to the chaplain and walking around meeting some of the staff.  This was a very powerful and humbling experience which got me thinking on what freedom actually is.

Thursday afternoon I led the leavers service for a local girls grammar school.  This was a good service planned by the Head Girls and was creative in places. It was, actually, a real joy to be involved. The irony of coming from a prison where people were locked up partly as a result of lack of opportunity while overseeing a service developed with creative young people who have great opportunity ahed of them was particularly apparent.

Thursday evening I went to my normal film club and watched quite a harrowing film which I’m glad I went to see … but to say I enjoyed it would not be correct! I currently feel as if my day has gone full circle …from being trapped by lack of opportunity passing through great opportunity to returning to being trapped again.

The variety continues tomorrow as I meet up with my wetherspoons friends and then get ready for the Sweeps Festival. If you are a pray-er, please pray for us over tis weekend … thanks!

day 24

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The placement seems to be flying by and I am now at the mid-way point. I’ve met new people and look forward to working with them on some creative stuff, especially for the evening of Palm Sunday where we have a fairly open remit to produce a eucharist service including a reading of the passion gospel. I’m looking forward to working with some creative people on this.

In the community I have visited residential homes and presided at eucharists in a hospice – which I found to be both an incredibly moving and humbling experience. I remember thinking that I hope my faith and hope in God would be as gentle and gracious as it was in the people I served should I be in the same life situation.

During the week I also attended a eucharist that regularly happens in someones home on one of the local estates. The setting of a table in someones front room with Alan robed to preside at communion felt quite strange … but right! This service is held for people on the estate who can’t get to church on a Sunday. They want a short traditional communion service (with a sermon!) and this is what the church gives. Responding to local need and opportunity is something that St Stephens seems to be pretty good at.

Someone asked me what I am learning … I’m not sure that is the right question! I am rediscovering gifts (such as being creative for Sunday services) that I have simply put on hold for a little while as there has been no obvious lace for them in a cathedral setting.

One observation I do have of parish life is that there is little time to breathe, think and engage with the community in thinking ahead and wondering what next! It is a battle (personal battle not a battle with anyone) to keep oversight of the gathering and maintain relationships in the community that have sprung up in Rohester over the last few years and do the parish stuff. The parish is busy and there are parish things to do most of the time. I am managing to still be in places but it is not as often …. so that side of my ministry is suffering in some way. That, in my opinion, is why the church decided to train priests for a different role which is not parish based. They call this pioneer ministry although I have grown to dislike the term as I don’t think it’s understood that well.

So I guess I have learnt (if that is the correct term) that this experience is confirming quite majorly in my mind that I am called to work with those outside the church … whether that is pioneer or based somewhere or whatever …. my calling, where I feel God wants me, is to serve those in the community, to be good news in the community and supporting and helping in whatever way that means.

day 13 new experiences

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Yesterday I visited a residential care home – this is a first for me. I visited with some people from St Stephens who run a short service for the people living here every week. I have not experienced ministry in a residential care home before and I have great admiration for those that clearly love this ministry.

I was really impressed by the quality of the care and the home itself. It was a really lovely place to live. I was struck also by the compassion I observed from the church team to both the residents and the staff which was very much a two way thing. The staff and the residents were clerly pleased to see us. This group of Christians really were good news to everyone they met in that building.

It’s interesting to compare this with my level of engagement. I guess I felt pretty much disabled as, if I am honest, I had no idea on what level to engage in such an environment. I had been well briefed but when there I struggled to respond in any meaningful way.

I felt this way in the first few months of my visits to the pub, but in that location I was able and ready to respond appropriately when needed. I felt at ease and ready to respond. Today, I felt something different; I felt unable to respond or engage as if I had to fight to remain open. I did not feel at ease or able to see how to respond. I could see the excellent people I was with leading the way … but for the first time in a very long time I felt myself holding back. If I am honest I think there was a personal reluctance to engage. I am not sure if it was simply being a totally new environment or whether its simply that this setting is just not for me … I guess that question will only be answered in time a I visit more homes.

10 to 12 .. watching from the sidelines

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Days 10 to 12 of the placement have been pretty quiet i guess. I mixture of morning prayer, visiting, listening, planning, preaching and presiding alongside maintaining contact with my new friends and people in Rochester.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of preaching and presiding at the church plant on the Davis estate in Chatham. The informality of this service, while still following ‘the rules’ is something more towards what I believe lots of people are looking for. The real privilege yesterday, though, was a conversation with an older lady who had just visited the Davis estate church 3 times. This was the first time she had taken communion for nearly 30 years. When I asked her how it felt she said, ‘it was special, like coming home.’ To have been able to play a small and insignificant step in helping this lady reconnect with her God was really the highlight of the week. I believe this experience happened because God was calling this woman back … and on this occasion I was able to stand on the sidelines and watch what was happening.

It’s experiences like these that make ministry so so exciting! It’s seeing peoples lives being changed or encounters occurring – not because of anything I or we do, but because there is a God in the world who is always acting in peoples lives. I guess a lot of the time we simply don’t notice … if I had not had the opportunity to speak with that lady after the service I would be none the wiser! As it stands, this one chance encounter reminds me that this is why I was ordained!

 

days 7,8,9 …. rooted in the community

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I guess I am getting into the swing of things at St. Stephens and learning names and understanding how they do things. Yesterday I presided at a mid week Eucharist which surprised me with an attendance of 10 people, which is quite a lot more than I see when I preside at the mid week eucharists in the cathedral. I compare only because I find it interesting to observe and learn what draws people to such a service at 10am on a Wednesday morning.

Most of the people there yesterday were retired in some capacity and the service is clearly important to them. Some were moving next to visiting some homes in the parish with the magazine so our closing words of ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’ were said with immediate practical application.

Yesterday ended with atending the Lent course. The Chatham churches are getting together every Wednesday evening over Lent and have managed to get a different bishop each night to talk on a topic. Last night Bishop James spoke to the title, ‘Empowering Mission relevant to our society and culture’. I was encouraged by what I heard.

Bishop James spoke widely around the term ‘empowering mission‘. What empowers mission was an early question and ‘the Holy Spirit’ was an early answer. He then turned the term around and asked how does mission empower people because he believed mission, if it is mission, is about transforming lives and not just saving souls as Jesus makes pretty clear in John 10:10. I wanted to shout a loud front row Pentecostal yes to that … but you will be glad to know I kept my Anglican calm dignity in the back row by nodding slowly but surely!

Bishop James ended his talk by referring to Jeremiah chapter 29 and these word which were written to exiles that, I presume, wanted to escape their exile:
build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters – that you may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in it’s peace, you will have peace. (vv5-8)

Sometimes we can feel as exiles where we are; but our role and calling is not to moan but to settle and to be a blessing. As Bishop James said, we need to be rooted in the places we are, listening to the heartbeat of our communities and responding appropriately.

I love that statement and I agree with it wholeheartedly. That is what I am attempting to do in the St Stephen’s parish but it takes a lot longer than 6 weeks to tune in. To be rooted in a place takes time and sometimes it does not happen at all …. but when it does relationships flourish and people of a place become very special. After 20 years of living and working in a variety of ways in the community of Medway I feel like roots are developing and growing well. I can sense and hear the heartbeat and, in my case, pioneering is about the responding appropriately. It takes that long to establish roots in a place which is why I am fighting to stay locally in my next role.

People ask am I moving, can I move and will I move … I could, there are opportunities both in this diocese and others …. but I don’t think I can as I, well we as a family,  passionately feel called to serve the people of Medway, to seek the welfare of the people of Medway, to pray for peace for the people of Medway. When I first came here from Weymouth in 1987 I hated Medway with a passion and could not wait to return to the West Country …. we worked for Holy Trinity Nailsea for 4 years but we came back, believing God called us back here. I can say I have built my house here, I am planting my garden (remember my allotment!) … and I’ve even ‘taken’ (not my word!) a wife and beget sons and a daughter here. As I consider this passage what other response can I make?

I will seek the peace of this city … and in that peace I hope that I will fine mine.

day 3 …. life stories

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Today has been a day of hearing stories of people. This morning, the daily office was led by one of the lay readers and she shared her story with me … and it was fascinating and I love hearing stories of people. Later in the morning I wandered to Wetherspoons and caught up with 2 or 3 people, again hearing more of their stories. This afternoon I visited the family of someone who recently died and whose funeral service I will conduct. I had  a fascinating and special time hearing their story and the story of their mum. I genuinely left their home wishing I had met the person in real life.

Today, on reflection, I would not say I have learned anything new or necessarily acquired new skills … but I have learned new things about new people … and that is a real privilege of my work.

giving up the cathedral for Lent

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I’m giving up the cathedral for Lent!
I find that the cathedral takes up an enormous amount of my time. I have found myself visiting and wandering through it, on average, around 6 times a day. Quite often I loiter and chat with people instead of simply passing through and and can often be seen sitting with someone in one of the side chapels  and listening to what they have to share. I’ve even taken to blessing crosses and babies when asked my concerned parents and people buying crosses from our gift shop.

It’s clear that the cathedral is taking up a massive amount of my time … far more time than facebook or twitter accounts do. On some days I have even worked out that I have spent more time actually in the cathedral listening to others than I have listening to my own family. I think if it was any other activity then people would be saying this was not ‘helpful’.

So …. I am giving up the cathedral for Lent. The last time I set foot in the building was yesterday, and the next time will be April 16th (which schedules in a post Easter break in Cornwll!)

On a more serious note …. today I start a 6 week parish placement at St. Stephen’s Chatham as a formal part of my training. I’m going to be involved in ‘parish stuff’ rather than cathedral ‘stuff’ and balance that with my ‘pioneering stuff’. So although I will be staying away from the cathedral it will business pretty much as normal with Wetherspoons, Deaf Cat and the gathering. I expect to learn some stuff which will help me in the future … whatever that may look like.

If you are the praying kind … please pray that I have the grace to be open to learning and gain and give all that I can … as I will be honest and say I really wanted to spend my last Easter at the cathedral with my cathedral family … and I admit to feeling a great sense of loss being away from that what would have been my last major festival with those I have grown to love over the last few years.  I am required to be at St. Stephens which, in effect, cuts the period of saying bye and I sense some pain in that. But … that sense of loss and pain can be quite a healthy attitude for me to be starting the Lenten journey with.

So … Lent …. and I’m off to St. Stephens for the 10am Ash Wednesday service.

(Oh yeah …. as an aside … if you thought my giving up the cathedral ‘ditty’ was a dig at those giving up facebook for Lent … well spotted!     I mean … come on … if Facebook and Twitter  have really taken over your lives so much that you feel they are getting in the way and you need to give up for Lent … shouldn’t that be a concern for you for the other 46 weeks in the year … just saying!?)

 

‘failure’

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Woody Allen said ‘If you don’t fail now and again, it’s a sign you are playing it safe’.

I remember a while back when working with YFC that Roy Crowne, the then National Director, said something like, ‘If you are not failing 15% of the time then you are playing it too safe’

I believe if you want to succeed, then you must also be willing to fail … and then try again.

I meet in a mentoring type role with a local youth worker. We met recently and spoke about things not working out properly in a youth session and this person used the term ‘failure’ in a negative way. None of us like to fail, this is true, but to fail does not mean you are a failure and it does not mean you were wrong.

If we are going to push the boundaries in our ministries, jobs, roles (whatever language does it for us) and be creative then I believe we can only really be pushing if we experience failure. We are really not that excellent that all our great ideas will work amazingly. That just does not happen.

But …. and this is a massive but! I am noticing more and more, although I suspect this has always been the case, that people are stifled and constrained in their dreams and realities. They don’t push boundaries because they are afraid of failure and, in particular, how others will view them post-failure.

But … if we are going to create, to meaningfully engage, to make a difference that matters, to be involved in God’s transformative work then, as we push to the edges of our comfort zone and what we understand we will fail. That’s only natural. If we don’t fail we are not pushing hard enough. I

f all we experience is success we are playing too safe.

 

sea of sameness

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I love the sea.
I grew up by the sea.
My parents might even say I grew up IN the sea.
My whole teenage life was contained within the sea: fishing, sailing, swimming, canoeing …
If I could choose any holiday destination it would always be by the sea.
When I am struggling I love to sit in front of the sea.
When I am chilling I just love looking at the sea.
The sea can be my greatest time-waster.

There is something about the vastness of the sea which holds my attention, which draws me and which ‘holds’ me.
There is something about the immenseness of the sea set against my fragility that is chilling. 

I have noticed that I am really drawn into the sea when I find her at her most beautiful.
I think the sea is most beautiful when she is calm and flat, particularly on a bright sunny day or at sunset.

I seem to find the sea at her most beautiful when she is at her least interesting,
flat … calm … boring …
everyday …
but vast, and captivating, and alluring, and inviting
and did I mention vast
and attention holding yet …
very samey!
No waves, no ripples even …. just a flat calm sea which looks the same for miles ahead.

In my Lent thinking this week I have been struck by how I am called to work in a sea of sameness –
the same people I talk to each day,
the same places I visit,
the same roads I walk,
the same seats I sit in
…. and yet ….
in this vast sea of sameness that is my life there is amazing beauty.
My sea of sameness is teeming in life with
beautiful incidents,
beautiful people,
beautiful happenings,
beautiful encounters.

In the sea of sameness there is an abundance of beauty to see.

Cyril’s selling!

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Another great saint celebrated today – Saint Cyril of Jerusalem.
Another saint that has made an impression on me today as I have reflected upon his actions.

At a time of famine, St. Cyril sold precious robes and communion ornaments and utensils and used the money to buy food for those that were hungry. This wasn’t because he had a low view of the sacrament – the very opposite as he instructed those receiving communion to ‘make your left hand a throne for the right – for you are to receive a king’.

Seem,s St Cyril did not only have a deep view of the sacrement, but also had a deep understanding of what consuming and becoming the body of Christ meant in reality.

It’s not only what you believe … it’s how you believe!