Change

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There is a lot of change going around our family at the moment as there normally is at this time of the year with many families.

Sarah starts with a new class of reception children over the next few days with home visiting and stuff.
Tom will be starting Sixth Form.
Beth will be moving to Year 10 and starting GCSE’s in earnest.
Joe will be starting his first day at secondary school – a pretty major change for him.

It seems pretty much that I am the only one returning to ‘work’ this week who will be continuing with the same sort of stuff. It does, however, feel different. After nearly 3 weeks off to rest and reflect I feel things are ‘the same but different’. Relationship are continually evolving, the gathering may be gaining momentum and people certainly seem keen and excited abou pub theology ….. I could not have said any of that a few months ago.

In addition over these next few weeks I really have to get to grips with producing a portfolio of my two years work (2 years! where did that time go???) As I put that in to some form that is both understandable and markable by others I will remember more about the travel I have journeyed thus far.

So … here’s to change …. bring it on!

(the change seen in the pics are from our garden, by the way, courtesy of some great work by Read Garden Services. Jason, a good friend, has recently started this business … and I can fully recommend him if you need some work doing: 07905770628 or ready22@blueyonder.co.uk)

Welcome back!

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I have missed ASBO Jesus
welcome back Jon
(yep we are back from holiday as well and so I guess I will start writing blogging again soon)

letting go and being carried away

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But whenever you set out to do something extraordinary, there comes a point where, like Erickson on the horse, you have to choose between trying to control everything – or letting go and getting carried away by something bigger and more powerful than yourself.


I stumbled on a new blog, Lateral Action, today from a post on Wishful Thinking which I have been following for a while. I hope to get to a workshop run by Mark in the next 12 months … I have failed as they have clashed with other things in the past.


As I have been pondering the questions of my earlier post this week I have been both encouraged and challenged by Mark’s post on Lateral Action called the Benefits of Losing Control. Mark talks of allowing the unconscious mind to have more control and concludes his article with the quote i opened this post with. For me, the unconscious self is that part of me that is most guided by God’s Spirit …. so here’s to ‘letting go and being carried away by something bigger and more powerful!’

Pub theology pt 2

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Last nights second Pub Theology get together happened. I really enjoyed the time. There were 10 of us on and off throughout the evening with people joining and leaving as their circumstances allowed. This worked well as during the time we tend to discuss a number of topics. The start time of 7pm is only there so we can ensure we grab a couple of tables; the format allows people to join later quite easily.

The topics were once again varied and unpredictable – although in some interesting way linked. Sharon got us started by asking about healing. This progressed to thinking about why bad things happen to good people which took in thinking about the Christian response to people that have committed what the majority of people would consider to be horrific crimes such as pedophilia. We spoke a bit about forgiveness before then ended by considering ‘eternal life’ and what that was all about. As I said – the conversation was pretty diverse, but you can see how the topics were linked.

Looking back over that gives the impression that the evening was pretty intense but it was not. The conversations flowed quite naturally, after the inevitable awkward silence at the start of anything new, and were interspersed with social chat as the group also got to know each other a little bit and share about themselves. There seem to be an air of freedom – with some wanting to speak a lot while others wanted to listen and ponder – just like any other group of people. I hope no one felt pressurised one way or the other.

I enjoyed the evening, which drew to a close at about 10pm. For me, just getting together with other people to thrash such topics around and learn from each other is not just fun – but really quite an important thing to do. I can’t think of any other format or opportunity for people to discuss such issues in such a natural and real way. So – good to meet you people, and I hope we meet up again next month.

pub theology

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Our second pub theology happens tonight

details here

or for those of you who don’t do Facebook, you can find out more  here

silence, questions and directions

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The blog has been silent for a while – this is due to taking time out during August for a variety of things like holidays, but also using the traditionally quieter time to think through and reflect on stuff and read and listen a lot more rather than write.

This week the house is virtually silent for me. Sarah and the children are at Detling. I could have gone but I decided to stay home and work this week in Rochester.  I don’t really have anything against big christian conferences (lots of people seem to get things out of them, although I might question if these events actually help people in their faith journeys or not) … but after 3 years of training at SEITE and now 2 years into KCME with it’s variable quality of lectures and another year of that left – the simple thought of spending time in marquees or meetings listening to yet more lectures just fills me with dread. maybe in the future, when I have a life that is clear of compulsory lectures that things may change.

So the blog may be quiet over the next few weeks as I take time to reflect and think on certain areas of what I am doing and how I am doing it. I think in many ways I am at a crossroads – and maybe even all the roads are good …. but whether they are or not, decisions still need to be made. If decisions are not made …. well then I stay at the crossing!

Various questions I am thinking through are:

Am I called to share Jesus with people or be Jesus, and is their a difference or are they one and the same?
Is relationship building enough?
Is there ever a right time to introduce Jesus into a conversation?
Is looking, waiting and searching for what God is doing enough?
What is the next stage with the gathering?
Why is pub theology so interesting to people? (more people have spoken to be about pub theology in the last 4 weeks than about anything else I have been involved in over the past 2 years!)
Out of all the possible ways forward that look good … which way should I go?

Photo Friday: Best Friend

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My photo this week can be found here.

the queen and the nuns

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I clawed back a day off yesterday and went to London as a family. We went especially to watch Sister Act which was simply amazing – and a surprise for our children. Many will know that at Christmas we and Andrew and Sarah buy each other 5 tickets for the same show as a Christmas present … this year we have been a bit slow but my Sarah got a good family deal 2 weeks ago and the dates worked.

We were in row D which was brilliant. I have never been so close to the stage before and being able to see, close up, the facial expressions as well as the voices gave a whole new experience to our families. Sheila Hancock played a fantastic role as we expected and hoped she would. The show was great and I wondered about talking to Scott, our Director of Music, about stealing some ideas for our Eucharist service on a Sunday …. who knows what might happen!

Before the show we, as a family, visited Buckingham Palace – another first for us. The day before Sarah booked tickets after wondering what we could do with the children during the day as it seemed a shame to miss out on a day in London and just go up for the show.

I must admit I was not that impressed with the idea. Being a good socialist who really is not a fan of the Royal Family the last thing I wanted to do was wander around the palace and rub shoulders with lots of Royal Family fans! I was, however, very impressed. The hand held guides give loads of information in an incredibly accessible way and the rooms were simply stunning! I guess we all know they must be … but to see them was quite breath taking.

I guess, for me, the most interesting thing, and stressed a fair bit by the guide, was that this is a ‘working palace’ and that there are very few of them around in the world. Beautifully crafted items that would be museum pieces elsewhere are in everyday use in this setting which is pretty impressive – even to me as an anti-royalist! I did wonder about the many churches that could learn from this philosophy – of making sure we use the things that are precious to do us, rather than just lock them away. There is something that enhances the beauty of an object when that object continues to be used for the purpose it was designed for. When it becomes a ‘show piece’ it seems to lose dignity. But … I digress!

Walking around the state rooms was a pretty good experience – even for someone like me! So I guess I am saying it’s worth a visit!

inception reality?

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Saw Inception last night which was a pretty cool film. It had elements of Matrix while exploring mind control through dreams and traveling through different layers of ‘reality’. Yes the film poses that old question of ‘what is reality’ and leaves you guessing …. and it does it well.

I like to grab or collect quotes from films which make me sit up. The sit up quote last night was … ‘you know what you know, but what do you believe?’ The film explores that fragile dimension between knowledge and belief which is something I am pretty interested in. There are other quotes around the need to dream bigger along with our reluctance, or fear, to do so.

The imagery is uses for our different levels of consciousness are quite interesting – but it would spoil the movie for you if I gave them away here. I suspect this imagery is more powerful than I realised and I’m guessing the film needs a second viewing to fully take the imagery in.

The film does have quite a sinister edge to it that I like … it leave you wondering but also leaves you concerned that others are able to manipulate the thoughts of others …. and how the sowing of little seeds of ideas can have pretty major consequences.

This is probably the action movie of the summer!

words and pictures

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In my blog catch up over the weekend I have come across two great posts today.

The first I came across is a picture from Naked Pastor of the woman caught in adultery. It’s an image which will cause the viewer to pause and think and ask what is happening. I love the way that the stern-ness of the condemners is contrasted with the vulnerability of the woman – go have a look!

The second is a great confession, using some pretty challenging but refreshing language, over on Digging a Lot. The language is thought provoking which I think is quite important in confession liturgy; one such line being:

When we live as driven people and excuse our lack of peace, when we snap with anger because we did not attend to the body’s need for sleep, when we forget that our bodies are temples and not dumping grounds for waste,
forgive us, O God, and have mercy.