tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post3737779347954817621..comments2023-10-14T16:42:53.597+01:00Comments on New Kid on the Blog: The Vicar is dead.....Long live the Vicar!Alastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00117533964126439556noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-63388144331998296332010-10-22T17:09:40.521+01:002010-10-22T17:09:40.521+01:00It is a long time since I read anything which led ...It is a long time since I read anything which led me to reply "I agree with every word", but, "I agree with every word"! Well done. This is precisely the message I've been trying to get across. I recently had to cope with an 80-year old retired Lay Reader writing to the Bishop to complain that I was allowing a lay person (shock horror) to engage in pastoral visiting. The Bishop replied by pointing out that the lay person concerned is commissioned as a pastoral visitor!!! I recently had another young man in my congregation commissioned as a lay Toddlers' Pastor, as he has great skills with pre-school age kids. It's great, but there are complaints from some because - wait for it - the Rector should do the church things.<br /><br />I try to be patient, but (reference Nick, commenting just before me) my Secretary has less patience, and simply says "I wish this generation would die out, so that we can take the Kingdom forward". To be fair, much as I disagree and try to follow a different model, my Secretary has a good point.<br /><br />Until "Every Member Ministry" is a univeral catchphrase of the Church of England, it is all going to be an uphill struggle.Timothy Titushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14168193587098165401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-74862805519036656062010-09-04T18:07:46.119+01:002010-09-04T18:07:46.119+01:00I read this one after the most recent post. I have...I read this one after the most recent post. I have to confess that there is a small part of me that is quietly waiting for an entire generation to die... because in my rural area it is largely those folk who are holding the doors firmly shut.<br /><br />It's wrong and I know it is... but I just find it so selfish that there is no negotiation on how the church can evolve because certain people want to maintain a near extinct overly romanticised status quo.<br /><br />I am with perhaps two or three exceptions, now the youngest regular worshipper at my church. Yet there is an insistence that services are put on at a family unfriendly time, and that a rigid structure must be adhered to. There must be two modern and two ancient songs (unless those of us who are more open concede to having older songs because they are more in keeping with the theme of the service), and we can never depart from a set worship pattern.<br /><br />That said when I'm preaching, I do always try and urge the service leader to move a song into place just after my talky bit. I hate the idea of having the creed straight after a talk (which is how the service is usually structured), I really do believe there's a need to provide reflection either through music, song or prayer after a sermon. I believe God uses the residual heat in the silence that follows, to help finish off the cooking.Nick Paynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05330676077919368541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-21434730548700990762010-09-03T19:25:02.438+01:002010-09-03T19:25:02.438+01:00I think the church I am with now does a really goo...I think the church I am with now does a really good job of this. If home visits are a critical care issue (likely to be on-going) the Pastor makes the first call and takes with him one or two ministry volunteers, whom he explains will be his representatives when he isn't free to visit in person. The volunteers are specially trained. They keep notes on their visits which they turn in to the pastor. Pastor has a monthly meeting with this volunteer staff to go over questions & concerns and share updates, progress, etc. <br /><br />Our pastor doesn't have quite as many people to minister as you do, but he has a vast amount of territory and since we live in an archipelago, weather, travel time and travel venues are also an issue so the folks in this church have been doing this for around 150 years (we just had a birthday bash) and people are just used to it.quillyhttp://quilldancer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-37271127637074687522010-09-03T13:41:00.693+01:002010-09-03T13:41:00.693+01:00I'd love to contribute more. I'm settling ...I'd love to contribute more. I'm settling into a role as organist, and it isn't only that other people won't grant me the authority to minister in other ways (or indeed recognise the role I do have; I am, of course, "just the organist" and must therefore make musical decisions that keep the entire congregation happy all the time ;) especially any non-musician, non-theologians) but that I lack the confidence. <br /><br />I don't really feel my understanding of theology is sufficient even for my current duties, but all the part-time training I can find clashes with my other work and is in any case more than I can afford.Song in my Hearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13108400300327113931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-74321140146490627822010-09-02T17:34:53.850+01:002010-09-02T17:34:53.850+01:00And sadly, it is far from a new issue - it has alw...And sadly, it is far from a new issue - it has always been the case that "the church didn't visit me" means the vicar didn't, even if half the congregation had been!<br /><br />And, even more sadly, some vicars buy into this model and insist on micro-managing the life of the church, which is very far from good for the health of the congregation and of the parish in general.Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-48757057281146743942010-09-02T17:08:33.360+01:002010-09-02T17:08:33.360+01:00Thank you Alastair...a great snapshot of the issue...Thank you Alastair...a great snapshot of the issues & of the way forward. Now to try and model it...Kathrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com