Celebrating Christmas

During the last few days we've been to Kent and Nottingham. This included twelve hours of motorway driving(!) a couple of Christmas meals and a pantomime - with 3D goggles...

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to you all. I'm taking a break from the blog until New Year. Have a good Christmas. See you soon...

Happy Christmas

Christmas proper began with midnight mass at St Giles. This was Liz's first midnight sermon, and I'm afraid I missed most of it. A lady fainted soon after Liz started. We took her outside and I returned as the sermon was ending. Apparently it was very good... Well done Liz!

Christmas Eve

This was a fairly full Christmas Eve.

I had a funeral this morning - which is unusual for Christmas Eve - although I wasn't the only vicar at the crem this morning...

On the way to the crem I dropped off the six giant crackers at All Saints'. I was suprised to find two white vans, a pair of ladders and a dozen men on the roof. I nearly phoned the police (assuming I had interupted the gang of desperate lead theives) - it turned out to be a team off roof repairers who were doing some work for us...

The 2:30pm service was busy and a bit wild, but the band were great! Best yet! The girls decided to be stars this year...

Giving up Power

This week, two stories caught my eye.
The first was the letter the Castro sent to the Cuban people announcing that he was thinking of stepping down. Whatever you think about Castro, it's clearly a big thing for someone in his position to lay down power...
The second was the sale of one of the seventeen surviving copies of the Magna Carta - for 19 million dollars! The Magna Carta is the first legal document that limited the power of kings...
The issue of power is one of the central ones in our society. Some are trying to hold on to it - others are trying to get it. It is useful because it enables us to get things done - but it has a tendency to currupt...
The Christmas story has a lot to say about power. It's about God choosing not to be powerful, but to be powerless. Not to stop being God, but to be a different kind of God from the one we expect. It's about the lifting up of the humble and the pulling down of the mighty. It's about God with us - and our response.
We all have power - even if it is only power to effect the lives of those who love us. In relationships you loose if you try to win...
Love is only worth anything if we give it away. So is power...

Church for the Facebook Generation

At the recent meeting of Area Deans and Lay Chairs, Bishop John possed a serious of questions. One of the last was about the internet. He mentioned the existing diocesan site and asked how we engage with the Facebook Generation....
Facebook is an interesting phenomena. A product of web 2.0 as the internet becomes more interactive and less static; Facebook is only one of many social networking sites, but it's become enormously popular - largley, I suspect, because of the huge number of silly widgets and aps that you can play with.
There's a group of people at All Saints' who've been using it over the last few months. It's become an interesting extension of the church community as people have poked, bombed, raided and quized each other.
One of the most interesting element of this has been the status reports - "Tim is awake". On occassion these have started conversations and created a sense of continuing community. Facebook has created the possibility of a 24/7 church community which would otherwise be impossible in twenty first century MK...
Which is not to say it's totally wonderful. I have to say I'm logging on less frequently and the gadgets are less appealing as time goes by... The Money Programme did a super special on Facebook last night which raised the thorny issue of advertising and misuse of personal information. Perhaps Facebook will fade away and be replaced by something else...
The interesting thing is to observe how the internet is generating new methods of creating community. Perhaps it would be good for us to be a bit more proactive and theologically reflective - positively using and developing social networking...
Perhaps this should be on our agenda for 2008: Facebook, ichurch, Google Groups, etc...

Nearly Christmas

Iona and Izzy discuss presents with a man in a red suit...

Firday

The last friday before Christmas...
"The Great Christmas Get - away begins" - apparently you'ld be mad to travel at 3:00pm this afternoon....

Quiet Thursday

Have finished six giant crackers - now sleeping in our spare room - they fill a double bed!

Planning Christmas Eve

Big tasks of today:
Planning the Nativities for Wigglies
and a Christmas Eve Funeral...

So far I've made one giant cracker - five to go...
Still feeling a bit under the weather, so may give the prison carol service a skip...
Iona has another Vocalis concert this evening...
(They didn't get back till quarter to 11! - but apparently it was great)

Two Funerals and a Wedding

This evening we had a rehersal for Esther and Jason's wedding which will take place after Christmas. As a pair of teachers they're too busy with the last week of term to concentrate on the wedding yet... not long to go...

I also had two bookings for funerals today - one for Christmas Eve... so much for the quiet week... Took kids into town after school to buy shoes. They had a go on the carolsel.

A Sore Head

I was awake half the night with a sore head, a bit of a feaver and a severely congested head - not pleasant...
Of course, this is the kind of job that you can't really take a day off from. I still need to get the kids to school and I can't really cancel my appointments for the day...
In the past, I have taken a funeral between bouts of dioreah... and a wedding while waiting to hurl... There are just some things you can't get out of... (Although I'm sure this comes under the category of too much information...)
Fortunately, my 11am appointment has just cancelled (because he has a cold) so I can take things reasonably easily this morning. I've got a reference to write and some papers to finish...
Finished Scripture Union themes for December 2008! So now I know what the reading will be next Christmas...
Another Christ the Sower Carol Service this afternoon... Year five and six...

Happy Birthday Bloggers

Monday was the tenth anniversary of the first use of the word "blog" created on the 17th December 1997 by Jorn Barger to describe what he was doing with his pioneering Robot Wisdom web page.
So happy birthday to the bolgosphere!

Christ the Sower Carols

I usually spend Monday mornings working on admin - if I can. I've been working on a memo about a potential archdeaconry post this morning, and a couple of letters that need to be written.

Today is also the day of the Christ the Sower Carol Service at St Mary's Church. They sang very well! Today is the turn of years three and four. Tomorrow it's years five and six. Iona is in the Singing Club, so she'll be there both afternoons.

The man was suposed to come and do the floor in the vestries today. No sign of him when I was there. Perhaps he'll come tomorrow...

To blog or not to blog?

I have kept blogs in the past - largely for my own benefit. During 2006 I kept one up for a number of months, largley as a record of running times, but with some occassional reflections thrown in...
I set this one up in June with a view to recording what I'm doing as a minister in Milton Keynes. It struck me it might be useful to keep a record of what I do so that the various people I work with get some idea of what I get up to these days - life being a bit more complicated than it used to be...
Adding photos has been an interesting thing to do. I tell people I'm doing it for the blog - and they go and have look... A picture tells a thousand words...
This blog is therefore serving a number of purposes:
1. It gives me a chance to record my thoughts when I have a spare five minutes... this is good for my own mental processing...
2. It's a public record of what I'm getting up to - which must be a good thing in a mutually accountable church... I feel much better knowing that other people know what I'm doing...
3. It's a way of communicating with people in the churches that doesn't require physical presence on a Sunday morning - which isn't always possible...
At the moment it doesn't feel like a waste of time, so I'll probably keep it up...

Third Sunday of Advent

Doing Nothing to Save Christmas
I preached roughly the same sermon at both All Saints' and St Mary's this morning. Those who have been following the blog over the past week will have recognised some of the references I made to Christmas Stress...
I retold the story of rats on amphetimines and spoke about "Party Friday" and the predicted rise in domestic violence during the Christmas period... This provided an opportunity to talk about the need to create space during the business of Christmas to connect with eternity - particularly for those who will be visiting our churches during the next week or so...
At All Saints' Rozi bravely decided to follow the sermon by dropping her planned intercessions and inviting us to keep five minutes of silence. It worked incredibly well - top quality silence!
It is really interesting how significant this felt, although it's hard to put it into words. The challenge is to create a similar sense of stillness for visitors. Can we find ways of allowing the "still small voice of God" to be felt in the bustle of Christmas services?....

Candlit Carol Services
My plan was to visit all three of our candlit carol services this afternoon. I failed - largely because I misread our own leaflet! - St Giles' had their service at 4:00pm not 6:30!
Although I didn't actually manage to sing carols in all three buildings, I did visit each of them in the course of an hour; starting at All Saints' passing by St Giles and finishing at St Mary's.
The music/singing group were on fine form at All Saints' with some well chosen readings and well rehersed songs... St Giles was shut - obviously... and St Mary's felt warm and welcoming - although the organ is still to be connected...
The best thing about this afternoon was the confidence of our local leaders. They are in charge, they're confident, they're creative, they're mission focussed and they're extremely good! A few years ago we limited the number of seasonal services according to the number of "ministers" we had. That's no longer the limiting factor... If we keep this up, the future will be extremely interesting...

Psalm 146

Tune: Aurelia 76 76 D

1. O praise the Lord, O praise him!

As long as I shall live

I will declare God’s praises

for blessings he shall give.

Do not rely on princes,

for humans cannot save;

for when their breath is ended,

their plans go to the grave.

2. Blessèd are those whose future

is found in Jacob's Lord,

Creator God is with them

and justice their reward.

He’s with them in oppression

and sets the pris’ner free.

God gives food to the hungry

and makes the blind ones see.

3. God lifts the poor in spirit

and those who are alone,

the broken and forgotten,

God calls them all his own.

Your God shall reign forever.

Rejoice, Jerusalem!

And let all generations

proclaim the great Amen!

(c) Tim Norwood. This text can be reproduced without charge but may not be printed comercially without the permission of the author.

More Christmas Stress

Apparently there was an experiment in the 1960s which looked at the effect of amphetemines on rats...
A rat was given increasingly large doses until it dropped dead.
A group of rats were then given similar doses in a confined area. Remarkably it required a dose twenty times smaller to finish these rats off - "they went off like firecrackers".
I wonder if the average Christmas shopping trip has the same effect on us human rats?

Cards and Candles

Went to St Mary's this morning to see how they were getting on with the pre-Christmas clean-up. The new rooms are looking great, although there's still a lot to do. The floor's not down yet and the loo won't be connected until next year, but in general it is all nearly there!

They were busy decorating the church with candles for the first carols services tomorrow. All the older buildings have carols services tomorrow - I am contemplating a grand tour of all three... I took one of the remaining packs of leaflets - in the hope that I'll deliver them before the carol services start...


Spent most of the day working on Christmas cards. I'm going to give a big card to each of our five churches, and individual cards to ministers and team members in Milton Keynes. I've also decided to remember secretaries, administrators and PAs - since they do some much work - for so little thanks...
This afternoon the family were fairly sleepy, so I worked on SU Light for the Lectionary themes for October to December 2008 - talk about bilocation...

Local Shared Ministry Theology

Here's the note I sent to James Cassidy to explain my theology in relation to Local Share Ministry:

Local Shared Ministry
One Possible Underlying Theology of Church and Ministry

Ministry is the collective human expression of God’s Mission to the World, within which all God’s people contribute through individual gifts, responsibilities and callings that originate from God. Local Ministry is particularly significant because it is the means by which God serves a particular local community, using the gifts he has already given to that community. The wider Church has responsibility for the oversight of local Christian “ministry units” in terms of management, support, training and mediation.

1. Ministry is the Human Expression of God’s Mission: God is the originator, initiator, mover and end of the Missio Dei – “the Sending of God”. The Church is called to participate in God’s mission and does so by serving him in creation, both within the Church and in the World. In its broadest sense, Ministry is the service offered to fulfill this calling.(See Karl Hartenstein, Van Sanders, Jurgen Moltmann and David J. Bosch)
2. The Church is the Continuing Expression of Christ’s Body: The Church is also called to embody Christ in the World. This is both a calling to “be” Christ to those who need to experience him, and to act on behalf of Christ in a World which still needs his love. This calling is collective and requires the whole body to function in unity, with each member playing a unique and necessary part.
3. The Holy Spirit empowers God’s People for Service: The Spirit is given so that the Church can be empowered to serve God in the World and also be transformed into the likeness of Christ. Although “gifts” are given through individuals, they are always given for the good of the whole body and to enable the church collectively to participate in God’s mission through acts of service.
4. Leadership is a Gift of God: Leadership is an expression of Christ’s Lordship and a gift to the church which enables the collective ministry of God’s people. Leadership could be defined using various terms including administration, influence, vision, organisation, coordination, teaching, wisdom, guidance, inspiration or management. Because the Spirit is active in each member of Christ’s Body, God could speak or lead through any individual at any time. One of the tasks of “stewards” or “administrators” is therefore to help members of the Church listen to one another, so that the authentic voice of God can be heard. A Local Shared Ministry Unit usually has “circular” or “collective” leadership to encourage mutuality and to discourage the tendency to focus on an individual multi-functional “leader”. Wes Frensdorf spoke of a church as a ministering community rather than a community gathered around a minister.
5. Eucharistic Presidency is one Expression of Leadership: Those who preside at the Eucharist are called to lead God’s people in a particular way; by helping the whole congregation to celebrate Holy Communion. Eucharistic presidency need not be associated with over-all leadership, and it would be quite appropriate for more than one individual to be set aside for this task in any one community. Local Shared Ministry Units function best if there are a number of “sacramental ministers” who are part of the leadership or ministry team. The provision of such ministry must come through a denominationally appropriate route.
6. The Local Church is Uniquely Equipped for Local Ministry: Local Christians are able to relate best to the communities within which they are set. Many would also affirm the belief that each church is given all the resources and gifts needed to fulfil the call that God places upon them. The Church is called to draw out the gifts given to local Christians and nurture them as disciples and ministers to those around them. This is why Local Shared Ministry emphasises local vision, discernment, training and authorisation. (See Roland Allen, Andrew Bowden, Stewart C Zabrinskie, etc…)
7. The Local Church needs Relational Oversight: Local Shared Ministry is not a congregational model; it is a recognition that the Wider Church is called to enable each Local Church to function and flourish. This calling is best expressed through the terms “Oversight” or “Supervision”. One possible model of supervision speaks about Management, Support, Training and Mediation – or Stewardship, Shepherding, Teaching and Priesthood. These roles are best fulfilled through human relationships and require clearly identified people to act as links between each Local Church and the wider networks within which that church is set. This is why it is so important to have a “Ministry Enabler” or some other individual who can exercise “supervision” on behalf of the Wider Church. (See Alan Wilson, Andrew Bowden, etc…)

This is only a brief statement of theology from one individual. The development of an ecumenical theology of Local Shared Ministry in Milton Keynes will require more thought-out language and more careful consideration of wider theological issues – beyond my capability – particularly in relation to the different ecclesiologies represented by different denominations.