Saturday 28 February 2009

A Day of Firsts

Saturday 29th
Today was a busy day. I worked at my desk in the morning, in another vain effort to clear my in tray...

At noon I popped across to St Mary's Shenley where I watched Liz Baker take her first wedding. She did very well and managed to appear calm, relaxed and there for the couple - which is most of the work really...

It was useful to be there, simply to observe, but also to double check the legal bits... and I can confirm that her first wedding was fully legal - so that's the rest of the job done...

Well done Liz!

I popped home for a bite of lunch before heading off to Woughton for the Licensing of Cathi Williams. It was one of those events at which, having spent several hours negotiating, rearranging furniture and keeping people in touch with each other - there's not much for me to do on the day - which is the way it should be.

Archdeacon Karen preached a very appropriate sermon and Bishop Alan licensed her. Woughton now have a very capable new Team Vicar!

It was good to celebrate with Cathi. Best wishes to her, Howard and Seren - and all the people of Woughton as they begin a new phase of their journey!

...and so it was home again before my long night session behind my desk... got a few jobs done including the write-up of the Deanery Stratgey Meeting... and finally to sleep...

Thursday 26 February 2009

Thursday

It was supposed to be a day off moved from Friday - but it didn't quite work out that way...

Went for a quick run on the way back from school.
Dropped Isla off in Kingston while I went to St Mary's Woughton for a rehersal for Cathi's licensing on Saturday.
Back again for some lunch and an afternoon of Admin. Printed off some deanery papers...
First meeting of Deanery Strategy Group in the evening - we reviewed the previous Deanery Plan... lots to reflect on...

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Wednesday

Today's events included:
Time with Tim Clapton
The first "Worship on Wednesday" at Kilkenny House
Time with Peter Ballantine
Time with Karen Reeves
Christ the Sower Governors Meeting

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Cycles up and down

I attended the first half of team space at which we talked about the annual report.
I then attended the second day of the Master Class in Sustainable Development at which we continued to look at ways of developing models and indicators for sustainability - this time looking at how those indicators change over time.
Paul and I had to leave early, because we were also taking part in the Recession Day - which had been delayed from 5th Feb. We visited the CAB - where the big issue is the number of volunteers - the council - where we spoke to their economic advisor - and the Economic and Learning Partnership - where we learnt about the MK response - so far... It was a useful event and we probably learnt a great deal. We'll be meeting up again soon to discuss our follow up...
In the evening I was with Liz Baker for her first wedding rehersal.

Note about Recession Research (Taken from www.MKDeanery.org.uk)
On Tuesday 24th February we had a very interesting afternoon which we used to gather information about the likely effect of the recession on Milton Keynes. There were five of us in the end: Myself, Tim Clapton (our Development Chaplain), Stephen Norrish (who runs the Christian Foundation), Paul Desborough (from New Life West) and David Gregory from Loughton Baptist Church. This was a small ecumenical group but it was just the right size and make-up for the task.
Because the original day had been cancelled due to the snow we were only able to meet three key people, but we were able to interview:
Lynda Evans - Advice Services Manager of the CAB
Ephraidge Rinomhota - Senior Economic Researcher at Milton Keynes Council and
Liz Gifford - Associate Director of Milton Keynes Economy and Learning Partnership
These were all useful meetings and we gathered an enormous amount of information about the effect of the recession on Milton Keynes and the responses being planned by voluntary and civic organisations. We reflected on the cycle of debt which tends to move from employment to housing and finally to relationships. We all agreed that it would be good to keep in touch and work together on this issue over the coming months and years.
Our small group is meeting again in March to discuss our report and any action that we would recommend or attempt to coordinate. We have a number of ideas that we may build on and we are hopeful that something extremely valuable will emerge from this discussion.

Monday 23 February 2009

A Masterclass in Sustainable Development

Keith Straughan, the Dean of the University Centre Milton Keynes (UCMK), invited a few of us to a two day Master Class in Sustainable Development led by the Homes and Communities Academy. Paul Desborough (New Life West) and I went along - largely because of our interest in new areas and our concern for making connections with local communities. The first day of this course, however, proved to dirrectly relevant to our own church communities and our pursuit of sustainable, mission focussed congregations.

The workshop began with a session on Rich Pictures in which we attempted to model our communities using only visual representations of conflicts, problems, interests and actors. In my group we drew and owl to represent collective wisdom, a rainbow to represent life, a river of opportunities and a connecting circuit diagramme representing the explosive formula 1+1+1+1=100... and more besides... (If you're lucky I may be able to upload our diagramme with my owl and Keith's rainbow later...)

We then spent some time extracting tasks and issues which are crucial for the communities. This was quite tricky but we looked at leadership, communications, involvement, inclussion and so on...

The tricky bit was to formulate a series of indicators and proxy indicators which would help us understand how sustainable our communities might be. This can be quite tricky since it is hard to think of measurable quantities which indicate enabling leadership - but if that is crucial to the life of your community you need to know how to measure, or at least indicate it. The key concept here is that our results provide a map to focus conversations rather than real world data which can be used to assign resources.

The concept of a proxy indicator was particularly helpful to me in this. You may not be able to measure enabling leadership, but you could measure the number of people taking on new tasks - which might help indicate how enabling the leadership is...

Having established some indicators, the next, and even more difficult task, was to look at actual figures to indicate the ideal level of each indicator - and the upper and lower limit of sustainability. For instance, and island might need a number of hotels. There might be a lower limit which makes it difficult to support a tourist industry - but there will also be an upper limit after which it is impossible for tourism to take place because you have nothing but hotels - and nothing worth visiting...

In church terms this is a really interesting concept. A Christian community might have an upper and lower limit on its size - too small and it can't function - too big and it looses the intimacy and ability to engage with new people - or fit its venue, etc... A Christian community might also have an upper and lower limit in authorised ministry - too little and it can't function - too much and lay ministry is quashed... interesting....

The last stage of the day focussed on YouScope diagrammes which are amoeba-grams which can illustrate this visually - more on this tomorrow with any luck...

Sunday 22 February 2009

Milton Keynes Village

I went to Milton Keynes Village this morning and had a splendid time with the people of All Saints'.

There was some good news to report as well since not only do they now have a faculty for new toilets, they also have a £25,000 loan organised - to be repayed over five years. There was a great round of applause!

I preached about the Transfiguration and used my three disguised celebs as examples...

For those who were wondering (see Prep for Sunday) the celebs in question were: David Tennant, Duffy and Gordon Brown.

It took a few guesses (and a few removed articles of disguise) before people guessed David "Doctor Who" Tennant and Duffy "Three Brits", but Gordon Brown was spotted instantly - in spite of my attempt to make him look like Boris Johnson...

I won't repeat the whole sermon but it involved our human ability to recognise face - and by extension God at work in the world...

...and since this is the Sunday before Lent - I had to recommend that people practice their God recognition by attending a Lent course or two...

Saturday 21 February 2009

Baby Group - Tenth Anniversary

We had a great gathering this afternoon as a few members of the Slough baby group descended on us in Milton Keynes. Becky and Gareth came at 2:30 with Ben and Jo, and we had time for a walk to the play park before Elaine and Daren arrived with Charlie, Hattie and Bertie at 5:00.

It was good to see everyone again and we had a splendid time catching up. Must do it again sometime...

Zero Waste Place

Shenley Church End is a Zero Waste Place - which means there is a six month government sponsored campaign taking place in the parish to reduce rubbish and raise recycling levels. Paul H and I met the people organising this a few weeks ago, but today we had the high point of the whole programme - a community day.

There was a splendid day at the leisure centre with free soup, teas and coffees and more. The community shop organised a swop shop, there were various demonstrations, a craft table and an opportunity to go pond dipping. It was a strangely local event with even the First Crownhill Scouts roped in...

We popped down with the Solloways and met Nick, the Catherills and a few others down there. While it is true that there weren't that many people (out of 3000plus residents) actually there, it was a true community event and was well worth while.

It did make me wonder (again) if there might be scope for a "Shenley Festival" one day...

Prep for Sunday

I'm doing the family communion service at Milton Keynes Village. The theme is the Transfiguration - so I have transformed some figures - or rather disguised some celebs...
Here are my posters. Any guesses?

All will be revealed on Sunday...

Friday 20 February 2009

Home again

Back from Nottingham.
Prepare for Saturday and Sunday...

Thursday 19 February 2009

Hardwick House

Went to Hardwick House - will blog this when I've downloaded the photos...

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Splash Landings

- will blog this when I've downloaded the photos...

Monday 16 February 2009

Alton Towers

- will blog this when I've downloaded the photos...

Sunday 15 February 2009

Magic on a Sunday

John Rowcroft-James was preaching at All Saints' today and did a splendid job. I was particularly pleased with the way he held the congregation during the first half of his sermon. His confidence is growing and he is now beginning to show what he can do. Well done!

He was a bit unfortunate to have me sitting in the congregation - but I really didn't have a clip board at the ready!

He had also planned to do a magic trick - which is wonderfully ironic (or magical?) given Friday's post: No Magic on a Sunday! - and he had only read my blog that morning - magic or the Holy Spirit?

Going North

- will blog this when I've downloaded the photos...

Saturday 14 February 2009

CyberLent

I have decided to give an on-line Lent course a go and will be facilitating a CyberCell Lent Course using material produced by the ministry team, and more...
  • CyberCell is an on-line Cell Group. Cells are ways of "doing Church" in a small group which focus on four key elements: Welcome (getting to know each other), Worship (relating to God together), Word (engaging with the Bible together) and Witness (supporting one another in mission).
  • The members of the group all have access to a password protected web site which only they can see. The activity of the group takes place through the web site.
  • The group is intended to serve the needs of those who find traditional meetings difficult, e.g. commuters, those who work long or irregular hours or the housebound.
  • The group has a facilitator who has the responsibility for coordinating their activity. The facilitator will often be the one who posts discussion starters or questions on the forums - or arranges for other people to do so. The facilitator will also deal with issues concerned with the membership of the group.
  • New members need to apply to join and will be welcomed in with the agreement of all members of the existing group. A maximum of twelve members are allowed before the group should consider splitting. If this happens the two new groups will each be assigned a new facilitator.
  • Members commit to visit the site at least once a week and contribute to the discussions. There are no "observers". Home group meetings usually last two hours so it would be reasonable to expect CyberCell members to commit to spend two hours thinking, praying and commenting.
I'll be advertising the group over the next couple of weeks. Those who want to take part will need to drop me a line and I'll set them up with a password.

Gary and Naomi

We had a pretty "white" wedding at St Mary's this morning with snow on the ground and ice on the path. The only issue was the danger that Naomi's dress end get scraped though the sand and grit...

It was a great event and it was really super to celebrate with them. I forgot to bring my camera, but if anyone sends me a good photo, I'll post it later...

Friday 13 February 2009

No Magic on a Sunday

I was chatting to some people at school today and one of them told me a story about booking a children's party at a church (Anglican). Apparently all was fine until she mentioned that there would be a magician at the party. At this point the booking secretary paused and said that she would have to check this with the church council. In the end, it was decided that the party could take place on the condition that it wasn't on a Sunday - no magic allowed on a Sunday!

This raises all sorts of questions about magic, illussions and what we think goes on in Church. When is is "Magic!" (wow) ? - when is it magic? (spooky) - and when is it just an illussion? - or piece of helpful drama?

Had a good day today - the first Friday for a while without kids or work. We went to Wolverton Mill for lunch and had a relaxing afternoon - until it was time to pick them up from school... OFSTED have just reported on CtS - sounds like there is work to do...

Thursday 12 February 2009

The Long Clear-up

The snow is slowly being cleared from Milton Keynes and the rubbish is being collected - eventually. It is taking a long time to clear up the mess left by ice and snow...
A similar thing is happening with clergy deployment and two strands of this came together in a meeting this afternoon...
The first strand is the need to have legal, transparent and accountable structures for appointments and decision-making. This strand has been particularly prominent in the discussions about the Mission Partnership and its review. We need to make sure that everything in done properly so that decisions and appointments are valid and everything can run smoothly - in tough times as well as when everyone is happy.
In the Watling Valley (as in Stantonbury and Willen) this is being worked out (at least in part) through the lifting of suspensions, the appointment of Team Rectors and the re-drafting of team ministry schemes. It may feel like a load of legal nonsense, but it is important that everything is set up so that appointments are made according to the rules and that parishes/partnerships can function properly.
The tricky bit in this instance is that the LEPs were established in woolier times when a great deal of flexibility was encouraged in order to bring people closer together. Rules may not have been broken - but they were certainly stretched. This raised unrealistic expectations and may have led to unneccesary conflicts. As one colleague told me a while ago, "It's like being married for thirty years and finding out that the other person understood the relationship in a very different way to you!" Unfortunatley, that may have been a very accurate observation...
In Watling Valley we have to appoint a Team Rector who will have responsibility for certain Anglican legal business, including the signing of sharing agreements and other documents. There is no reason, however, why this person needs to be the Team Leader - or even fulfil a leadership function at all... It's just a question of being legal.
The scheme will also be ammended to include a representative of the Mission Partnership in all appointents - and Team Vicars/Rectors will also be able to interview prospective colleagues. These are changes that are now possible and it's well worth writing them in...
It is not however, possible at this time, to include all ministers on the interview panel - or use the appointment procedures of another denomination. This may be disapointing for some but there are limits to what we can legally do. The important thing is that decisions are made in a legal and transparent way - and that everyone is included in an appropriate way... which is quite possible.
The second strand is the discussion about deanery posts. In the past these were simply dropped into Milton Keynes with no overall plan - and the expectation that the denominations would just pay for them. In recent years it has become obvious that this is not a sensible approach and that some strategic thinking would be needed.
In 2007 we began a discussion about these posts and started to think about how we would use them, how they would be set up, and how many we could justify. A working group came up with the proposal that we have three half-time posts which would be rooted in half-time parish/local ministry:
  1. Strategy/Coordination - planning, organisation, communication, etc... The work traditionnally done by area deans in their "spare" time in addition to their parochial repsonsibilites. We've been fortunate that previous ADs have worked in small churches or large teams so they have had capacity, but the workload is increasing and the workforce is dimminishing...
  2. Mission/Empowerment - The work previously done by Tim Clapton and others, making links and discovering possibilities, helping churches to engage with the local community and wider world...
  3. Traning/Nurture - The work traditionally done by the Training Officer through the training commission, etc... Peter Ballantine has been looking at ways of making this more responsive to local needs and this movement could continue...

We put this idea forward and attempted to discuss it at Pastoral Committee level with help from outside. This was perhaps a too radical proposal for Spring 2008... In the end it was decided that the easiest way to move forward would be to set aside a "mothballed post" to release the Area Dean 3/4 time to work do the AD work - and move things forward so that an acceptable strategy could be negotiated...
For various reasons this discussion has dragged on and dragged on until we have lost our focus on why this discussion started in the first place! It seemed like a sensible (and non-controvertial) thing to start with the Area Dean - because no-one else would be particulalry affected... One year later and this whole thing has been through so many different phases that I'm beginning to loose track myself... It's time to finish this off and move on... and we need to do so for the sake of Watling Valley.
Looking back, I think I might have suggested leaving the Area Dean post until last - perhaps after I've gone...
Lesson to learn: sometimes it's easier to work harder rather than smarter...

Wednesday 11 February 2009

LSM Mini-Conference

The Local Shared Ministry Project Group has been meeting monthly to discuss LSM and how it might be implemented in Milton Keynes. Although the meetings have been good value and always filled with enagaging discussion, we have often felt that two hours was only enought to scratch the surface. We've also been conscious of the need to widen the conversation and involve more people. Tim Clapton therefore suggested that we hold an away day or mini-conference to give ourselves more time.
We were therefore joined by Brenda Mosedale (Methodist Superintenedent), David Tatum (URC - with four hats to wear - one real), Bev Hollins (Deanery Development Officer from Newport) and Wendy Carey (Associate Priest from Water Eaton).
It was a really helpful day which we all felt was well worth giving time to. We spent the morning reviewing the journey so far and Peter compared LSM to Paul's model of ministry in Thessalonians - which was helpful and will hopefully be recorded somewhere. In the afternoon we looked at our notes on the flip chart and discussed future action:
Future work will include:
  • Mapping existing collaborative ministry patterns in churches and partnerships - The LSM Project Group will determine a list of questions.
  • Denominational Possibilities - We will attempt to produce a spreadsheet/grid which identifies what is possible within the five denominations. The LSM Project Group will determine what categories will be included.
  • Theologies - We will also look at various theologies which define why we do things - from denominational and post-denominational perspectives
  • Recognition - We will discuss appropriate ways for denominations (and others) to recognise and approve LSM communities at various stages of their journey - this will include work on a potential "covenant service" to celebrate the launch of "a new ministry".
  • Companion - following our discussions today we have more material to help us in the creation of a job description for companions - Alison will follow this up.
  • Passing on the idea - There is still a great deal to do to look at how a community will continue its development with consistency and vision as individuals come and go...
  • Case Studies - We want to look at some real world examples and see what we can learn - we did play with a couple in the afternoon which helped identify potential issues...
  • The New Zealand Model - this is becoming a piece of unhelpful baggage which is blocking the ability of people to hear what we are saying. We need to make it clear that the MK "brand" is different from the model we initially explored...
  • Presidents - when we next report we will be presenting out "What is LSM?" document. We may need to request an opportinuity for a few of us to meet the presidents - particularly to discuss the approval/recognition issue...
There were many other issues that we discussed but these are a few concrete actions that will happen in the next phase of the project...
It was a good day - we must do it again sometime...

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Tuesday

It was suposed to be Team Space this morning but it kind of got cancelled. The messages were, however, a bit garbled, so I had a chat with Nick on my doorstep and ended up with an unplanned supervision session with Liz - which was useful because we were able to put in dates for the rest of the year.

A number of odd jobs then beckoned. I couldn't get my car out of the drive for Ministers West but someone snowplouged it before Isla came home. 

I spent most of the early evening working on posters for Mission Shaped Intro and Mission Shaped Ministry - which are nearly ready to go - minus some facts...

I do have a number of things I ought to write but I'm finding myself short of energy...

Monday 9 February 2009

Deanery Strategy Group

Meeting Dates Set for 2009:

Meeting One: 26 February - Review documents and discuss the progress of the current plan. Moving forward, is there any data which may help us in our discussions? How will we include other people in this discussion?

Deanery Pastoral and Standing Committee: 18 March 2009 - Report to DPC. Discussion.

Meeting Two: 23 April - Look at the Diocesan Strategy paper, Living Faith. Can this help us?

Report to Deanery Synod: 18 May 2009 - We should also ask for comments from the wider deanery and from our ecumenical partners

Meeting Three: 9 June - In the light of feedback from the deanery and our ecumenical partners can we produce the rough draft of a deanery plan? What issues will it deal with? What data should it include? This draft could be circulated to the DPC, DLT and DS members...

Deanery Pastoral and Standing Committee: 1 July 2009 - Rough draft plan presented to the DPC at which there is a discussion.

Meeting Four: 7 September 7 - In the light of any responses to our initial document, can we finalise our draft and make it ready for Deanery Synod?

Presentation to Deanery Synod: 23 September 2009 - Plan approved...

Getting back to normal...

The school was open today and Isla was able to get to college. I had a fairly complicated day, walking the kids to school and coming back home, driving the car to the garage in Bletchley and driving Isla's car home again. Trying to do some work before walking back to school to pick up the kids and the rushing home to see Roger Harwood to review clergy housing in Milton Keynes.

Achievement of the day: plotting all MK clergy housing on a google map that I could share with the archdeacon - a very satisfying use of IT.

Sunday 8 February 2009

Emergency Snow Plan

In some countries they have a rule (so I'm told) that on days like this when most people are snowed in that teachers go to their nearest school rather than travel. Not a bad idea in theory and would keep the schools open. Not sure if this is true or just a good idea, but it could be extended to sunday services - I had a brief replan in my mind this morning about who would go to which church  - it would have worked!

Since our car has been stuck in the garage since Wednesday I decided to walk to church this morning - All Saints' Loughton - 1.5 miles.

There was a brief moment when I didn't quite know where I was since the snow made everything look different - but I did get there in good time - followed after a few minutes by Isla and the girls with two Solloways...

I preached on perception, talking about the way we see things differently in the snow - how Rozi (and others) misread "Oat Crunchies" as "Cat Crunchies - and 

Saturday 7 February 2009

Another Snow Day...

Another Snow Day. Fresh Expressions Key Leader Vision Day cancelled. Girls did some maths. Went into my office and did some work.

Spent afternoon and evening at Solloway's. We played a massive game of Catan with two sets plus Knights and Seafarers... Duncan won.

Friday 6 February 2009

Another Snow Day...

Another "snow day". Can't take the car to the garage. Went for a walk in Shenley Wood...

Thursday 5 February 2009

I stayed up until three in the morning tackling jobs from the team meeting - so I would be free for the 'recession day' planned for Thursday. I finnally got to sleep sometime arround four but by the time I woke up, Milton Keynes was buried in snow. The school announced closure by 7am so the kids were off. I phoned Stephen Norrish and we agreed that this would not be a good day to visit various officers in CMK - who would all be struggling to get in at all...

So we have an official "snow day"...

What did we do in the morning? We built an igloo. We eventually had to abandon it due to tired children and dodgy walls - but it was heading in the right dirrection...

Wednesday 4 February 2009

Wednesday

Long day...

Morning:
  • Clear desk - discover jobs needing to be done...
  • Coffee with Chris Collinge - conversation about Baptisms...
  • Start car - more trouble - call AA...
Afternoon:
  • More admin - start work on Weddings powerpoint...
  • AA man comes and diagnoses problem with throttle - may be virtual...
  • Managed to insert video into powerpoint - hurrah!
Evening:
  • Team Meeting... a few new jobs to do...
Home:
  • Write "Growing" section for report...
  • Start thinking about Lent course...
  • Plan Sunday service...
  • Send out suggestions for wedding prep...
  • Bed? Sometime around 1:30am - I hope!

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Christ the Sower Interviews

Spent most of today in Christ the Sower interviewing prospective deputy heads...
Glad I don't have to go out to Winslow tonight and do a session on fresh expressions...

Monday 2 February 2009

There's probably no bus...

Have a go yourself at Bus Slogan Generator

The Snowman

The snow came down today and chaos is beginning in Milton Keynes. Fortunately I didn't have to go too far and spent the day working in the warm.

The girls went to school but came home early because the after school clubs were cancelled.

Isla went to college but it was closed at lunch time so she came home early too.

The girls went straight out into the garden and made a snowman before the sun went down. It's head fell off when they came in...

More Snow Pictures



Sunday 1 February 2009

A day of three services...

This was the second day of the Watling Valley's 'vision weekend' with the annual covenant service at Christ the Sower School. Nick and Sheila led the service which had a fairly reformed feel. The seats were arranged in a cross formation with 'stations' in each aisle for the distribution of communion. This meant that people could look at each other... It was good to gather and re-affirm our commitment even though the attendance was fairly low - only ninety people out of a possible three hundred turned up...
We cycled there and back which gave me very brief slot for a bowl of soup before I headed back out for the baptism service at All Saints'. There were four children lined up for baptism in some lovely warm water. They all smiled when we brought them to the font and enjoyed the attention of the crowds...

While I was out the girls had got going on a game of Catan. I changed places with Isla who seemed to be doing quite nicely. The girls proceeded to attack me mercilessly with development cards and steel my sheep. I managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by building four roads in my final round, thereby claiming the 'longest road' and the asociated two points. A close thing... When did my children get good enough to beat me at games? How long will it be before they need to let me win for a change?

We had a quick early dinner before I had to head out again, this time for evensong at Willen church where I had the privilage of inducting Paul Smith as Team Rector. Quorum were singing and a good number of people turned up - inspite of the snow. I struggled to preach a satisfactory sermon in the five minute slot I had left at the end but I did my best. Five minuters are quite hard when you don't know the people... or am I too self-critical... All in all a good evening - but a long day...

Back home before the snow started again. All three girls in bed - but not asleep. Back to the computer to tackle a few jobs that needed to get done this weekend. These included the All Saints' contribution to the Loughton Residents Magazine - which needed to be done yesterday and some work for SU that was due on Friday... still, I can always work tomorrow night too...

Conscious of various little jobs that I could do with takling but I'll get there when I get there...