New Kid on the Blog

Hmm, before I say anything else I should say that I might not be typical of most Clergy in what I do with my day off... It's been an interesting day, for some reason I didn't sleep at all well last night and I was kindly left alone for a lie in until 9am! My little girl had a long sleep too as she has been in the local Pantomime, and is staying up considerably later than she is used too. But more of that in a moment. When I did get up I did the usual breakfast/shower/make myself beautiful routine followed by writing a 'Thought for the Week' to be published next week. On reading some headlines about 'The Church' I was struck again how Church only seems to be news when there's a division or a mistake or a disagreement that can be highlighted. So I did a thought about the local church and where the true face of the Church can be seen. I have nearly caught up with 'thought for the week' column on this blog so I may well publish that one on time next...

It has been a good day. Having been ill for a couple of days this week (just a bug or something I ate) I was concerned that getting the last minute planning done for our special service this morning might not be achievable - but it was, the music group did well, the readers read well, the children leading prayers was good, the Puppets were fantastic - even my short thought (rather than sermon) was well received. It was a very unusual service in some ways. We had a visit from the 'Chuppets' - the local Community Church Puppet group who retold (in a very engaging and entertaining way) the story of Jesus stilling the storm. Because this was an unusual visit we had a 'Mission Community Service' which was the only morning service (except for an early Holy Communion) for the five parishes of this group. It meant that we used the format for what is called 'A Service Of The Word' and this allowed us to have a different feel and shape to our Sunday by Sunday worship...

I must admit to a fair amount of heartache on moving away from Bourn a few weeks back. To see the house that had been our home for the past four years empty and set off to a place which the family didn't know was quite a daunting experience. After the frustration of our ISP shutting down my account a day early (and then completely cancelling it rather than transferring as requested so it ended up taking six weeks to get back online and to have our phone service up and working - as both are tied in together) I was annoyed at not being able to send out changes of address to my online contacts or to tie up the last few ends I planned to. Our moving weekend was split - packed on the Thursday and Friday, then we stayed with the lovely wife's sister for a couple of nights and went to a friend's wedding which was a great way to distract us from all that was going on. The wedding was a great day, with a Priest who looked like Father Jack from Father Ted! Then a reception at an a...

I found a cracking new blog today , written by a buddy of mine in Milton Keynes, another Anglican Priest and all round good chap - he's written some very good reflections from his time on sabbatical over the past few months and I highly recommend a visit. I must now put his blog on my sidebar, and had I known he would have been one of the magnificent seven yesterday... Though I'm not sure who I wouldn't have had from the list! find Tim's blog here

Sank has responded to my comment about his groovy guitar playing with a post of a song called 'The Cape' .... Enjoy

Actually, the only place I have been inactive is in the blogsphere, things have been busy for the past few weeks. I have had lots to do, have caught up on LOADS of admin stuff, done a number of visits, prayed a fair amount, read stuff, gone to meetings, tried to help some folks out with some wedding applications, dealt with some outstanding issues to do with marriage registers, married some people, been to a wedding in York and spent time with family and friends. In lots of ways its been a good few weeks, though I have spent much of those weeks tired and lacking inspiration to blog or to read too many blogs. I particularly enjoyed my weekend, not only was it a chance to be with the family for a couple of days, but I went (as previously mentioned) to the beautiful city of York to attend the wedding of my closest friend Jem to the lovely Louise. I got to be a bit Vicar-ly on Friday evening when I was invited to take a part in the communion service put together by Visions , in York - ...

I've not been here... Went away to York (beautiful city) for a very sedate, but extremely enjoyable Stag weekend. Got back this evening in time to put kids to bed (boy, did I miss them), tell wife I loved her (boy, did I miss her) and put on a clerical shirt (ie Dog Collar) in time to get to some of the Parish 'Barn Dance' in one of my villages. Good to be away, glad to be back. More about time away, and a sermon for this week (just finished) when i have more time and energy in the morning, or perhaps in the afternoon after services. ta ta for now