A Busy Week

How do these ministers who blog daily manage it? I can’t say I know how. Ian McKenzie recommends scheduling a regular time, daily or weekly. That doesn’t work for me. This week has been mad. We’ve had knock-on effects from my wife’s car being hit a week ago, some urgent personal financial advice, delayed pastoral visits to rearrange (most of the people I visited last week weren’t in – how inconsiderate!), numerous meetings because no-one wants to meet next week (it’s half-term).

We have also had Internet problems. Our ISP has had technical problems, and we have had an ongoing broadband problem ever since moving here: the connection keeps dropping. It now appears that there is slightly too much ‘noise’ on our phone line for the speed of connection. It could be that our modem is too sensitive to this. I’ve just borrowed a church member’s spare modem, but it refuses even to install properly! Or it could be our phone line. Or – worst case scenario – BT might reduce our broadband speed or even discontinue supplying it. In which case we would have to move phone and Internet connection to cable – with all sorts of implications. Yuck! (as our daughter would say).

But some interesting stuff has come up: I’ve been invited to join the Board of the journal Ministry Today. I don’t know whether I’ll accept: it appeals, but I only want to do it for the right motive. I’m meeting the Chairman, Paul Beasley-Murray, next Wednesday, to discuss this further. And I’ve become Methodism’s advocate in Essex for Fresh Expressions. Exactly what that involves may need some further teasing out: initially it will just be to log Methodist experiments in new ways of doing church in the county – something of which I have had experience in every circuit where I have served. And there was good news on Monday night, when my Church Council at Broomfield agreed both to affiliate to the Family Friendly Churches Trust and to alter our Sunday morning pattern over the next twelve months to something that will include breakfast together (we’re already doing that), Christian learning for all ages, and worship that includes contemporary, all-age and traditional. It’s a big undertaking, and that’s why we’re going to take it in a series of small steps rather than a big bang.

So if I’ve been rather quiet on the blog this week, now you know why. It’s been for good reasons.

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