It’s my day off, and I did some long overdue tidying up of the blogroll this morning. I’ve dropped the news and technology feeds (although I do look at them), and made the general blogroll focus more specifically on the Christian and ministry blogs I read. I’ve also arranged them in alphabetical order. Do click on some of those you don’t recognise. I’ve by no means included everything I look at in Google Reader, the list is mostly the current favourites.
You can tell it’s my day off, though – my brain is more switched off than ever. This morning, Debbie and I forgot two vital things, but were reminded of them both in time. Firstly, we forgot we were going to start attending a numeracy class at our daughter’s primary school. Not that we’re innumerate: here speaks one who would have read Computer Science or Maths first, had he not injured his neck aged 18, and my wife is professionally an auditor. No, the school is showing parents how Maths (note the extra ‘s’, American friends!) is taught today, so we can support our kids. Fortunately, another mum reminded us!
Then, as we were walking back, Debbie suddenly remembered that today was the day we had tickets for after school to take the kids and see some CBeebies characters at a theatre in Southend. A great time was had by all, and a good fun presentation of the virtues of recycling formed the narrative. It was our son’s third visit to the theatre, and our daughter’s fifth or sixth. It is wonderful that these high quality children’s shows exist, so that we can introduce them to the joys of this cultural delight.
Now it’s just a case of preparing for tomorrow. It brings probably the most pointless requirement in a Methodist minister’s diary: District Synod. Only useful for meeting old friends, the business is usually rubber-stamped or dominated by those few who like the sound of their own voices and think everybody else loves their vocal cords as much. I have often taken a magazine or a good book with me. I cannot understand the devotion to Synod shown by lay representatives and older ministers. It is a fundamentally inefficient way to conduct church business. Theological debates, when they occur, are sterile, because they simply break down along predictable divisions. I could be doing something worthwhile. Usually, the weather is good, and you are stuck inside (although tomorrow’s forecast isn’t good). Worse, tomorrow our circuit is hosting. Must arrive early, not out of enthusiasm, but to bag an inconspicuous seat at the back.
Technorati Tags: blogroll, GoogleReader, Cbeebies, theatre, Southend, Methodist, Synod
Big Circumstance 
dominated by those few who like the sound of their own voices and think everybody else loves their vocal cords as much.
Ha! Just off to Synod now too. Our business items are limited to two minutes for each speaker and speakers *do* get cut off, so a precedent has been set.
I think that it’s necessary to ‘do business’ face to face. The problem with the way the church does business is that we don’t have that daily, personal interaction that you get in an office. I don’t think that there is any viable solution, really, although I take your points!
Happy meeting!
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Yes, business is best done face to face, and the lack of daily interaction makes it all the more impersonal. But I have to question whether we need such a complex constitution that requires these levels of business half the time. Sometimes our districts take on an importance of their own and gain a self-importance that needs deconstructing. I hardly think the districts as we now have them function as servants for the mission of the local church. It is not without cause that friends of mine in other denominations who have served as ‘R & R’ or ‘AM’ ministers in the Methodist Church regard us as the most bureaucratic of all denominations in the UK.
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