Six Miles

I went for a three mile run at 7:30 this morning. Isla then wanted me to run home with her. I have now done 6.5 miles today. (Not fast)

The Substance of Church

I went to see the Cramps this morning for home communion - I know I'm not supposed to be working but they couldn't give me time last week. The number of jobs still hanging over from pre-sabbatical work is slowly diminishing...

I had a very interesting conversation today with John Punshon (Quaker historian and conveener of the MK Theology Forum). He wanted to discuss the remit of the Theology Forum in relation to its work on Local Shared Ministry. 

The issue that they are wrestling with is how we can develop Local Shared Ministry in an ecumenical context. Each denomination has a different approach to ministry which is both functional and theological. This makes it extremely difficult to develop coherent and radical local practice. It's easier to go for a lowest common denominator approach - what must you do, rather than what can you do.

John's suggestion was that the Theology Forum look at the way different traditions express the same basic features of church in their own way. By doing so, it may be possible to give LSM Ministry Units a bit more clarity about how they relate to the wider church and how they exercise their own ministry... Some simple guidelines may be produced.

I look forward to seeing how this work progresses...

After coffee with John, I went to the gym and rowed another 5k and ran for another 20 minutes. Home to do some SU work until it was time for bed.

Getting Fresh

This is the first proper day of my "study leave" but was fairly familiar.

I started the day with a three mile run, then tackled the emails piling up in my computer. I had a long conversation on the phone with Mary Coates about churches, and then attended a meeting in Oxford.

Although this sounds like an ordinary working day, there were some important differences:

1. I had time to get to Oxford in plenty of time, so was able to raid a useful library. I came away with four interesting books which will be very helpful...

2. The meeting was the Fresh Expressions Oversight Group (technically part of my sabbatical programme). We discussed a rather useful list of questions to be considered when looking at Pioneer Ministry  - not "guidelines" as such, but ways of making sure that those involved connect with the right people and groups. I thought this was a very useful meeting and could become really significant for future conversations in MK and beyond...

3. When I got home at half past five I didn't have to do any more work! Alleluia! I have forgotten the joy of evenings. I mowed the grass, watched and episode of Monk and went to bed. Very nice.

May Day

Bank Holiday Monday: We went for a walk at Stowe, with picnic and a long sit in the sun... lovely...

Party for me!

My first Sunday on sabbatical!

I had the choice that most of our members/attenders have every week. Do I go to church or do something with the family. I chose family. 

We had a great party with the Solloways and Catherills (who had also skipped church) organised by Jane to celebrate my sabbatical. We had a great time with lots of good food.

Saturday

This is the first full day when I'm officially on sabbatical - hooray!

In fact it was like any other quiet Saturday without a wedding or special event.

We did music centre and Iona had a birthday party. I cut the grass.

In the morning I had my first proper visit to the local gym. I ran for 20 minutes and rowed 5k.

The big difference was that I didn't feel the need to check emails and deal with a dozen minor items of admin - the normal process of sneaking work in around family life... An I didn't feel the faintest bit guilty - well, not much anyway...

We took Izzy in to see the Colectomania stalls. She was excited to see anything to do with Star Wars. I bought the Trivial Pursuit Star Wars set for £5 and we played it with Iona in the afternoon. We nearly finished the game before Doctor Who started. It was the second part of a Sontaran story. I've been looking forward to seeing Sontarans since the new run of Doctor Who started. They were my monster as a child. The first Doctor Who monster I remember and the one I hid behind the sofa to avoid. Great fun!

Ken Moore

It was the first official day of my sabbatical today. We went for a run on the way back from school and then popped into town.
The main event of the day was Ken's funeral which was quite an event.
Chris Purdue's funeral also took place today.

Time to go

Went for a three mile run this morning - my first since we went to France and I got a cold. Still not feeling great and my running reflected this - not quick.

Met Chirs Batten from the Methodist Circuit this morning for "wide-ranging talks" as they say on TV... It was good to catch up and think together about the next stage of our shared history in Milton Keynes...

This afternoon we had a good Local Shared Ministry Project Group Meeting. We tidied up our proposal for the Exec next week - a new remit for the group which will make it a more active project in MK - very exciting!
I am involved in no-less than four major proposals that will all be put forward while I'm away: LSM, Miniterial Support in LEPs, Strategic Planning in the Deanery, and the creation of a part-time Area Dean post - all big and interesting projects... I hope people remember to let me know what happens.... This evening was my farewell service - combined with Ascension Day festivities. Jesus went on sabbatical on the first Ascension Day - after all, he did promise to come back! Mins will only be three months and I'm not going anywhere...
We celebrated with Bucks Fiz and non-alcoholic drink served by an ecclesiastical barman (above). Time to go...

Standing in

Today I had to go to Cumnor near Oxford to learn how to be a surragate. No, it's got nothing to do with giving birth! It's about standing in for the Archdeacon, etc... so that couple's can swear at you - that they are free to mary. It's all about common licences and legal stuff...
There were eight of us there. A couple were friends of mine. We looked at each other and wondered why we were there:
a) we didn't say "no"
b) we've been around for a while
c) we've not blotted our copy book too badly - yet
All very interesting. I learnt a lot about the other people's wedding registers...

In the evening we had our first joint church council of the new year - St Mary's Church Council and All Saints' Servant Leadership Team. A laid back evening.
It's interesting to watch All Saints' construct a leadership team. It would be good to compare notes between the churches doing similar things - e.g. Water Eaton. There may be some lessons to learn...

(One day to go...)

Last full day

This was one of those days when meeting followed meeting. I literally had to chase the Minstry Team out the door as the Deanery Leadership Team were arriving... Four hours of meetings were followed by a supervision session with Liz Baker at which we discussed her plans for years 2 and 3...
In the early evening we had a friendly gathering at Becky's house as Alison Dew passed through MK. This was another one of those bizarre gatherings: Becky, Alison and Isla all grew up together in East Malling. Becky now lives just a mile from us, round the corner from the school - so they had this strange opportunity to gather together with their own children... It's a small world... Kent meets MK again...
I had a wedding interview in the evening as Isla finished off her 5000 word essay on the connections between dyslexia and dyspraxia... We celebrated with a bottle of wine and an espisode of Monk.
(two days to go...)

Getting on with it...

Jessie's interment was this morning.
The diggers were began to arive as we waited for everyone to arrive. Work seems to be starting on the drains!
This was a day for getting on with all the jobs that need to be done before the sabbatical starts. I made good progress, but probably not enough...
Alastair Wood's support group this evening...
(Three days left!)

Exit Strategy

This afternoon I popped out to to see Jean Potter (Chair of Governors at Christ the Sower School). She was doing much better and seemed very chirpy after her emergency operation.
We had our quarterly Service Planning Meeting at which we planned Christmas Services, and then it was time for the AGM.
We did a tribute to Ken Moore at the start. I had been struggling to find a good photo for this, but hadn't got very far. I have a great video of Ken flapping his ears, but this didn't seem very appropriate. At last minute Steve Nelsey came in with a memory stick which contained the following picture. It was only after I'd inserted it into the presentation that we all noticed Jessie, tucked away in the background... This was the perfect image of them both... (Note the Marmalade) This AGM was, of course, a day I have been planning for the last five years - since I (unlike Mr Bush) have always had an "exit strategy" in mind. It always seemed to me that finishing well as Team Leader was the most important thing I could do. From the beginning I wanted to have a properly organised handover to someone who would have a clear job to do.
At this point in our history, the Watling Valley is healthy, functional and working well. The members of the Ministry Team are getting on with one another. As a Partenrhip there is a good sense of vision, direction and hope... This is the right time to hand over to someone else...
And so tonight I passed the (soon to be traditional) Team Leader's Bible to Mike - who will have a really good time as Team Leader. The next few years could be really exciting and I wish him and the rest of the Watling Valley well!
Of course, I'd never really thought beyond April 2008 - so it's probably a good time to go on sabbatical and think things through. What am I going to do next?
(Four days to go...)

Whaddon Way

I did the eight O'clock communion this morning - my last Sunday service in Watling Valley for a while... Roger did his duty as church warden and sent me on my way... I preached about Paul in Athens, comparing his experience with that of Izzy in the Greek zone at Parc Asterix.

Then it was off to Whaddon Way church for a pulpit swap with Alan Bird. The theme of the service was taken from the Sermon on the Mount and involved murder, hate, adultery and lust - hard to pick any good hymns on this theme! It was good to be there and see some old friends.

The Birthday of the Watling Valley

Emails were in circulation this morning about our Joint Council. It's one of those issues that has been circulating for a while so I decided (on my last full day as Team Leader) to sort it out. So off I trotted to Holy Cross where I descovered the Sharing Agreement, which tells me who should be on a Joint Council - job done. All I need to do now is twist some arms and we'll have one by tomorrow evening.
While I was delving into the files I found a copy of the Service of Inauguration for the Watling Valley Ecumenical Partnership. I now know that the Watling Valley began on Sunday 21st April 1985 at 10:30am at St Mary's in Shenley Church End. I also have a copy of the words used by our people to declare their unity. This means that the 25th anniversary of the Watling Valley will be in April 2010. We are officially 23.

Beginning and End

Today the web is filled with messages about Zimbabwe. Bishop Alan has blogged - and emailed - about Zimbabwe and reminded us of the need to pray for this country at a very significant time of both hope and fear. The statistics and information about Zimbabwe are deeply concerning and it seems to me this is a time to pray for all the people of that nation.
Ironically, I was called upon to be more celebratory today with a wedding at All Saints' for a couple of African origin. Zimbabwe was mentioned. It was a time of joy with great ululations accompanying every amen.
Tears and laughter can often sit closely together and they do for Zimababwe. As we pray for them we must also find a way to rejoice with them. It is important that they are honoured as people and not treated as vistims. We will pray. We must also hope.

After the wedding I had to join the sons of Ken Moore to plan the service on Friday. They are discovering marmalade everywhere! The latest plan seems to be to dish out marmalade to all those who attend the funeral - a fitting memorial I suspect.
Once again, sorrow and joy are intertwined - there often seems to be an overlap. How can you mourn when God has given so much? How can you laugh when someone you love is taken away?
In the end we laughed because the hope of Christ does make a difference...

Please pray for Zimbabwe this weekend and for all those who live with hope and fear; conflict and peace; beginning and end.

Farewell to the Fish

When I was a child, growing up in Milton Keynes (between the ages of six and thirteen) I remember the city centre being a wide open space with miles and miles of empty car parks. They're not so empty these days. Often when we went into the town centre we would park by the fish at the garden centre. It was all free in those days. This was a great treat and we would often stop to peer into the murky depths. I'm not sure if I ever took myown children to see the fish, but in recent years there have been more bottles and junk in the fish ponds than anything else.
The fish are now gone and the garden centre is a brown field. My past is being demolished to make way for something new. Is this how people in the villages felt when their hedges began to disapear?

Clergy Stress

I've been thinking a bit about clergy stress over the past few days; partly because I've had conversations with or about ministers who have reached the end of their teather - if not crossed it. It seems to me that we are still imposing incredible pressures on some of our people, often for no more reason than habit. It's like the training incumbent who treats (bullies) the curate in the same way that his incumbent treated him - and every so often I hear a fresh tale of behaviour that is frankly unbelievable and I really can't quote such stories in a blog like this...
Some people might say that I complain too much but it upsets me to think of the top quality ministry that is simply squandered because of the way we treat one another and the stresses we accept as normal. I find it difficult to say "that's just the way it is" - it just shouldn't!
I picked up a book in one of our churches this evening while I was waiting for a wedding couple, "Pressure Points: How to Survive with the World and the Church on your back" by Peter Meadows. The wedding couple were very late so I had quite a thorough skim. It's a good book about stress - fairly familiar to anyone who's looked at these things before, but well written.
I noticed that the sticker in the front identified it as belonging to one of my predecesors - who did leave after life went a bit pear-shaped. It was interesting to think of him reading these words and to ponder how helpful they may have been in his time of crisis.
Of course, I then started thinking about my own stress. I'm responsible for the same church that he was - plus two more - with a number of other responsibilities besides... What's different? Why am I still standing? Am I still standing?
One difference, of course, is that we are more aware of the symptoms and effects of stress these days, so I'm sure we are able to manage it better. I suspect we have also benefited locally from eight years of development in shared ministry - this is not the same place that my predecesor served in. We are not the same people and don't have the same expectations...
And yet we still have a long way to go. There are some big lessons still to learn about letting go and finding a more peace-filled model of ministry - for all of us, ordained and lay alike. As I head towards my sabbatical I am hoping that this time will give me space to reimagine a ministry that is life giving rather than life draining - and I hope that when I return I will remember to live it too - for all our sakes...
(One week left to go...)

Welcome to Anytown

Julian Baggini, journalist and philospher, decided to spend six months in the most "normal" place in Britain as part of a quest to discover more about the English mind. This turned out to be a postcode area in Rotherham - S66 - and the book tells the story of his time there and his reflections afterwards.
It's a great book, particularly when Baggini (who reminds me all too much of people I knew at University) encounters average working class Brits in the places they like to use - pubs, working men's clubs, shopping centres and holiday resourts. He somehow managed to be himself while getting to know ordinary people with genuine emapathy and understanding. You get the feeling he really likes the people he meets. This book can sometimes be a bit like Louis Therou with philosophy.
He concludes that British people like "fair play" but that this doesn't mean playing by the rules. It means getting your due - which may be technically illegal. He thinks that we are "conservative communitarians" who believe that rights are not universal but dependent on our commitment and membership of English society. In other words, we have no real problem with removing those rights for those considered "outsiders". He finds himself liking popular culture and argues that good art does not become good art because you need several degrees to understand it. He thinks we consider food to be fuel and sex to be dirty, and we are too busy thinking about how much we can get - or how little we should be allowed - that we don't really enjoy either. He's stunned by how inflexible gender roles have turned out to be, and he thinks we like to gamble because we like to think the universe is talking to us... The "good life" for the English is defined by comfort, familiarity and niceness. Julian Baggini suprises himself with the observation that this is not neccessarily a bad thing!
The word "heft" is one he finds very helpful. Hefted sheep don't need to be herded or penned, they know where they belong. We are all, he says, "hefted holidaymakers who believe in finding what we like and sticking to it" - and he recognises something of himself in this...
It's a great book and does have a great deal to say about the English mind. Having read Jeremy Paxman's effort, I have to say, I prefer this... but...
Baggini is at his best when he's talking about his own experiences and his own thoughts. The chapter on food is powerfully familiar. I could see myself somewhere in there. He was also at his best when talking about the people he met, the places he visited and the effect this had on his own journey. Occassionally, however, he slips into a more bookish mode. The chapter on sex was little more than a list of facts, and the chapter on gender differences read like a post-feminist essay. I was particulalry disapointed with the chapter on gambling and religion - which actually had a great title "Gambling on Reality". He quickly slipped into accademic philosophy and restated what sounded like a pre-set position. There was a great chapter to be written here about the English approach to faith - but this wasn't it. The title was right and I think there is a great deal of truth in what he says, but it wasn't personal and therefore missed the mark somewhere...
All in all, a great book and well work picking up if you want to find out more about the people who inhabit this place some of us call home.
It's only by accident I publish this on St George's Day - but there you go, perhaps the Universe is talking to me too...

End of an Era

Jessie Dundas was one of the first people I met when I arrived in Milton Keynes eight years ago. She was a small scottish lady who for came to our 11 o'clock family service. I wondered to start off with why she came, until I saw her huge grin. I think she liked coming to that service because it was fun - plus she'd never really acclimatised to this strange English habit of weekly communion...
Jessie had come down with her husband Don, just after the war to make a new life in the village of Loughton. Don's brother Robert had married a local girl, Olive, and the four of them soon became part of village life - although, like many ex-pat scotts, they seemed to bring a bit of Scotland with them. Jessie would often try me out on a Scottish word or phrase that she thought I should know - and luckliy I often did!
Through Jessie I came to meet Don (who was better known in the pubs than the churches) and when I moved to Loughton I got to know Olive and finally Robert (often known locally as Jock) who eventually chose to give up the pub on occassion to share communion with Olve and myself in their flat.
These four people lived through a massive era of change; moving from Scottish mining towns, to agricultural England; finnaly watching that English countryside transformed into a twentieth century city. They held on to the things that were valuable from their past, but also became part of the future. There is now a huge familly who can trace their beginnings back to those brave poineers... (And I've come to know many of them too.)
During the past few years, I've had the strange privilege of celebrating the end of their journies. One by one I have said goodbye to each of them; first Olive, then Robert, last year Don and five months later, Jessie - who clearly didn't want to go on without him... They were all different, but all much loved. Jessie, who we morn this week, has been called one of the "nicest" people you could know - and that word is appropriate on this occassion. I will remember her smile.
It is the end of an era - but it has been a good one. Farewell and God's speed to them all.

A New Day

And so the normal term began...
I popped into school this morning and then dropped a memory stick off at the printers. Voices is ready to go!
This was a day for hard work and I powered through the emails, phone messages and small jobs that were sitting on my desk. I had some very intriguing messages, which may lead in interesting directions... One example is a message from Trish who I prepared for marriage in Tasmania in February. I've just had a message from her to say that the man who set up a Local Shared Ministry Project where her mum is a local priest is now living in the UK and she gave me his email address. I dropped him a line right away.
In the afternoon Paul and I went to Oxford for a meeting about one of our churches. This seemed to go very well, and then we drove back again. It was good to chat in the car and catch up. We both felt very positive about where things are going in MK at the moment. It feels like things are beginning to change...
I got home and had a quick bite to eat before the All Saints' Worship Team meeting. We reviewed Easter and discussed preaching.
I'm coming down with a cold...