Saw that Steve Croft has been appointed as the new Bishop of Sheffield. That is a great appointment for Sheffield. I was at a meeting with Steve recently, organised by Christian Selvaratnam, which was a gathering of those of us involved in Pioneer ministry. He is a really inspiring person to spend time with as he has a real understanding of the church and also a real vision for enabling new expr
Its Sunday and we are having a lazy morning… Matt is playing Toontown and Joel is playing Donkey Kong on the Wii. Beth is watching Cbeebies whilst Uncle Dan snores on the sofa next to her. Pip is just about to go for a run and I am listening to the new Kings of Leon album whilst writing this. The house needs tidying, but it can wait for a few more minutes……
Last week we had an inspection at school. We did well and have come through it with a good report. The problem now will be how to maintain momentum for the rest of the term, it feels as though we should be on holiday now! Its harvest next week and then it won’t be long before we start thinking about Christmas…good grief!
The kids are growing up (it happens). Joel is loving football now – he goes every Saturday to training in his Hull City strip (Matthew has one now as well). Its funny to see Joel so into it now as he wasn’t at all interested when he was younger. We’re looking forward to today’s game against Spurs – could be a London double 
Matt is enjoying school – he was ‘Star of the Week’ last week and his certificate is blu tacked in pride of place in the kitchen. Bethany continues to enjoy nursery. She loves our new hamster called Snowy and insists on saying good night to her every bedtime. This routine finishes with her hugging the cage and blowing Snowy a kiss.
I have started back on my course. It is no longer called NOC, it is now the Yorkshire Ministry Course or YMC. They have just appointed a new principal, Christine Gore, she seems really good and I am optimistic about the next two years on the course. I’ve got to sort out another placement pretty soon and am looking at spending time with a few examples of Pioneering Church (new expressions of church for those that don’t fit into the traditional model of doing church). I particularly like the look of what Ben Norton is doing out in Bridlington, with his group that meets in the pub to discuss current issues in the context of the Christian faith. He calls it ‘Man church for unchurched men’. It has been receiving some good publicity recently and is worth checking out.
Well – need to get dressed – will post again soon…..
I have emerged from the caravan clutching the final draft! Don’t tell anyone, but I actually enjoyed writing it in the end
I am currently sitting in our caravan on our driveway. It is my ‘hideaway’ where I go to avoid children so I can do some work. I broke up for the summer last week (I know I know….part timer, ****** private system etc etc…….just deal with it ok?) I haven’t let myself get into holiday mode yet as I still have a 4000 word essay to write and I know I will never get it done if I start hanging around in my pyjamas and watching daytime tv. Apart from this essay, I have now completed the first year of my 3 year theology degree. It has gone very quickly and I’m sure that the other 2 will be just the same. It has also made me think a lot more about what I will be doing at the end of the 3 years. Ideally I will do vicaring stuff for 2-3 days a week and continue to teach part time for the rest of the week. I’m not sure what the vicaring stuff will look like though. There are a few opportunities but it is difficult to know what to persue. What I do know is that I need to hold on to the reason I originally felt it was right to put forward for ordination which was to be involved in pioneering new forms of church, the same message but expressed differently to the standard Anglican way. I always remember back to ‘Village 87′ which was a Rob Frost mission that I went on back in 1987 (surprisingly). I remember sitting at the kitchen table listening to the rest of the team talk about their faith and about God and realising that I had never experienced what they had and also that I loved the fact that this conversation could happen in such an informal way… around a kitchen table. It may seem obvious now but it was quite revelation to me at the time having been brought up in ‘regular’ church. Since then I have always wanted to help create environments like this; informal places where people can relax and hear about God without all the unnecessary stuff that we often tend to add in churches. I need to say at this point that this doesn’t mean I am against tradition and ritual and all that stuff, I just think we need to look again at the reasons why we do it and ask whether it helps people to hear about God or hinders them from hearing about him. In the church that I help to lead at the moment, G2, we try to create an informal environment in which people can relax and engage at the level they are comfortable with. Of course we don’t always hit the mark, but the intention is there and we have seen it grow over the few years it has been going. Its exciting to be a part of because it is helping people to engage with the message of God which they so often never get to in our churches because all the politics and ‘churchy’ stuff gets to them first. Anyway, I realise that I always need to come back to this original desire to help enable church that is like this.
I went to my friend Christian’s ordination yesterday at York Minster.
It was a long service but I found it really moving, probably because I am thinking a lot at the moment about all this sort of stuff. It was great to see Christian ‘get done’ – he even made wearing robes look good, which is saying something
 Anyway, I can’t put off starting my essay any longer -I still have loads to blog about but it will have to come later……
I’m on half term at the moment. Just spent a couple of days with Pip’s parents. They came up to us and it was a really good time. We went for a walk at the White Horse near Kilburn and the next day we went to Lotherton Hall. The latter was packed – a bit of good weather and the half term brought everyone out in force.
I’ve received back marks for my first essays – I’m doing ok. I now have to start thinking about a 4500 word essay on Liturgy that has to be handed in in 4 weeks time…hmmm. I have less enthusiasm about this one. I’m enjoying my placement at the minster though. I meet up with Jeremy Fletcher who is a great guy to chat to when I am trying to make sense of everything that I am seeing and hearing. I went to Transcendence which is a service at the minster run by Visions and the minster. It was great – fantastic use of the space in the minster and a really good mix of traditions. The next one is March 2nd, I would recommend trying it out. Well time to get on with preparing the meal I am going to ccok for Pip tonight. She has bought some cocktail making ingredients so should be fun!
No this is not a conference discussing the merits of circular bread in which to put burgers…. it stands for Bishop’s Advisory Panel which is the thing I went to in Ely just over a week ago. Anyway I got a call today to say that I have been recommended for training. That means that I now probably have 3 years of part time training to do after which if all goes well I will be ordained as a vicar. I told Joel today and his words were , “but dad you’ll look like a geek”. Always look to your children for encouragement……..
Well I survived and had a great time in the process. The weather was scorching and the kids were all in all a great bunch to take away. I was also pleased to see that as well as the previously mentioned hardware that they all seem to have these days, they also brought out packs of Top Trumps. Some things endure don’t they…..
Pippa and I went to a charity ball last night – a chance to shake out the old DJ once more. It was in aid of the Georgina Grace Trust which raises money for charities that support families with disabled children. It was something that Pip’s practice had bought into so it was really a ‘work do’ but for a good cause at the same time. It was at York Race Course which is a great venue as the views from the suite are great. Apparantly it was a celebrity ball but neither of us knew any of the 4 celebrities that were there. We had a a good time though.
Pip has now gone down to her Mum’s with the kids leaving me home alone for a couple of days so that I can prepare for my selection conference which is this half term. It is in Ely from Tuesday to Thursday and will be when I get interviewed as I continue to explore the possibility of ordination in the Church of England. It’s seems to have suddenly come upon me, but I’m relieved because it has been a long process. I am still very positive about testing the sense of calling , but am not very clear about what any future ministry might look like. Time will tell………
I was well chuffed to find out that 2 of my favourite bands have reformed. Crowded House and James are back in business. The world is a good place………..
Last Thursday I had the privilege of meeting with The Archbishop of York as part of my ongoing exploration of ordination (becoming a vicar). He was very tired as he had just returned from Tanzania where he had been meeting with Anglican leaders around the world, but despite this he made time to see me, spending about 40 minutes with me to chat about my future. He made me feel very at ease and I enjoyed greatly my time with him. I have heard that he is happy to sponsor me to go to a selection panel in May………
