New Kid on the Blog

No, this never made it to our TV screens, it's a first edit 'grab tape' which was possibly going to turn into a reality TV series, but I left the UK before it went anywhere... It may resurrect in another form... No copyright infringement intended. I will remove if I am not meant to share this!

I realise that over the last few blog entries I have had a few polemical moments and thought it was about time for a more mellow and positive entry - particularly as this is the 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'! Even though its my day off (not really happening today as harvest festival for school, will try to take tomorrow instead) I want to say something about ministry and to get rid of the last less than cheerful heading for my blog :-) A funeral, a wedding rehearsal, village eucharists, schools services and various visits and events in this last few days have served to remind me just what a privilege this ministry is! Likewise a conversation with a gentleman who is congregational member, deep thinker, and deeply committed to the life of both the parish Church and community in where I live has helped me to see again just how fortunate (or blessed if you prefer) I am to be in this place, with these people, doing what I do. And grateful for dedicated members of our...

On return from holiday I had lots to deal with, a pile of mail that was nearly as tall as me, various calls to respond to, and an update on all that had been going on in my absence. All good, or rather everything went well, though it had been extremely busy and very well covered by my colleagues. In the week since I've got back though I have had a number of conversations where people have expressed disappointment that 'The Vicar' didn't do X or Y, or that Clergy haven't visited certain folk - despite the fact that I know I have extremely competent colleagues and very good lay pastoral visitors from all of the Churches who have handled things as well, if not better, than I ever could. It boils down to the erroneous belief that things are somehow more 'kosher' if a man (preferably a man in many cases, but that's another issue which I am not going to rant about today) with a 'dog collar' does it, be it opening fetes, visiting people or services in...

I have never seen roads as damaged, broken and messed up as some of the lanes around here. It has got to the point that lovely wife and I decided we might need to invest in a bigger vehicle - so we have bought a Land Rover Discovery. Some Land Rovers have something of a reputation as 'Chelsea Tractors' - ie 4x4's driven by people in towns and cities who will never need such a vehicle - but around here the large wheels and 4 wheel drive capability is proving to be a necessity - our Discovery is a thirteen year old slightly bashed workhorse that is designed to be driven through stubborn terrain! And the 'little thing' mentioned in the title is that it is fun to drive! You need to actually drive it, unlike our other cars which despite being 'manual transmission' are simple and easy this one needs thinking about, and is great fun! The 'big thing' is the car itself - it is huge, another reason why you need to be aware of what's going on and carefu...

It has been pretty full on recently - as previous posts have probably intimated, this pub project is taking up a fair amount of energy, mental and physical. On Friday I trained as a licensee and will hopefully find out in the next day or so if I passed my exam, will then get a certificate and have to sign up for my personal license with the local council - this gives me authority to 'sell or authorise the sale of alcohol by retail' and is (rightly many would say) tightly regulated. I was interested to find out that there are very strict guidelines with regards to what a licensee can and can't do. We can't sell alcohol to anyone who is obviously drunk, and a close eye is to be kept on the possibility that alcohol might be sold to children (ie someone sharing their drink with under 18s). We have had to learn the four 'Licensing Objectives' - the reasons that alcohol is licensed: Prevention of Crime and Disorder Prevention of Public Nuisance Public Safety Protec...

A few random thoughts, feeling tired after a few busy days so they might not be completely together! After an afternoon tinged with disappointment (only because no samples were brought for tasting) we are considering who should supply the Community Pub at Yarcombe with drinks. We are discovering some tensions because the TV company backing, or driving, the project of having a community pub are under constraints of their own regarding shooting schedules which don't fit in with the lives of those of us who work full time, and don't necessarily fit in with the timescale of getting people up and running for the pub's grand re-opening next Thursday. Someone put it well, we are all trying to use each other (not meant to be a derogatory term, simply what's going on). The TV company are wanting to film a show, the village wants a pub and TV company are helping with that, the suppliers are wanting trade, in the end we all need to get what we can and give what we can for/to/wit...

My day started with a motorbike ride (waheey) to Church (waheey) for Morning Prayer. Obviously this happened after all the waking up, cup of tea, shower, dressing stuff but as you all know that this is part of the weft and warp of daily life I won't share too many details... As always there were a few to say Morning Prayer together, it never ceases to amaze me that people will turn out on a weekday morning to pray together - not that praying is something that people don't do, but actually coming out of their homes and making time to be together so frequently is not something I am used to! My experience in a suburb was that people would come to midweek Communion, but in the centre of London it was not the case that people would drop in for the Daily Mass or for Morning Prayer, and in Cambridgeshire it was almost impossible to get anyone together during the day any day because people were so busy, or so absent due to working commitments. Here, though, people take time out to p...

As you may know, I think each village should have two buildings at their heart. A Church (well, obviously) and a pub. I know that my mentions of the pub can freak out some of my readers from outside of the UK, as bars are often associated with drunkenness, licentiousness and lots of other ness-es which are not too healthy - but in the UK the pub has traditionally been a community building, a place for conversations, arguments, meetings, plans being made and generally somewhere to get to know each other. Yes there are drinks available, and some drink to excess but on the whole a couple of pints or whatever is considered enough for most and it is as much the company as the alcohol that is the draw. My own preference is for a proper ale, Real Ale, enjoyed with some good conversation and the occasional nip out to the garden for (ahem) a breath of fresh air. Pubs are under threat, though. In city centres and towns many of them do exist as drinking factories, where people go to binge dr...

....since I last posted! It has been something of a rollercoaster over the past few weeks, a very very busy time which I wish I'd had time to blog about, but it seems one thing after another has cropped up and, as I have said before, when I've had energy I've not had time to blog, and when I've had time I've not had the energy. Anyway, after the marvellous George did his technomagery on my PC things I thought I would have lots of time (all those hours wasted watching little hourglasses on my screen, for instance) to blog and write, as well as catch up on some visiting and put my house, or rather study, in order. Unfortunately life has flooded in to fill the gap left by the hours of time saved, and a huge amount has been going on. There have been some marvellous events in these parishes, including a couple of weddings, and some rather difficult meetings/decisions/complaints/grumbles to deal with too. We also had a very big and moving funeral following the death of...

For those who have been following my twitters (tweets!) and facebook updates you will know that I have been grumbling about the lack of snow here - when all around the villages and towns seem to have been inundated - that means it is very difficult to get about, but we haven't even had the chance to build a snowman in the Vicarage garden! Three miles West of us, as you crest the hill into the Otter Valley, there was some wonderful snow covering the fields, just north on what is called 'the Seven Mile Straight' there was some impressive drifting by the road, and some very exciting driving trying to get into a village called Stockland, about three miles East - on the other side of our valley - there was enough snow to close the road. But here its just been slush, freezing, ikky gloop. No fun at all. Not that any of this is without its problems, whether snow or sleet or ice it is impossibly difficult to get around these parishes. If you do it is often worth the effort! As...

First of all - my letter to the parishes this month: The only thing that seems to stay the same these days is change! Everything changes! Even in these past few years so much as changed, from the Internet and Digital TV to Computer games, cars, shopping, even pubs! And change is often threatening, or disturbing, or challenging, so we seem to live in very challenging times. And there’s a concern about change in our Churches too, a certain expectation that (for better or worse) a new Vicar means changes, and that as we learn to work together as these five parishes that make up the ‘Five Alive Mission Community’ this will lead to certain developments, different services and different events. Well, some of that is true – the reality is that some things need to change. But I am not someone who believes in change for the sake of change – in fact I take to heart St Paul’s words from the letter to the Romans 12v9 ...”hold fast to that which is good”. As we seek together...

Some of the Parishes in the Mission Community have decided to stick with the very traditional (and very long) nine lessons and carols, though two have decided to go for a shorter version of the service with a talk included (still about 20/30 mins less than other version so a sermon in the trad version is probably too much and I will forgo a talk!). Here's the talk I did last night, I may use it again tomorrow at the other church which has gone for a pruned down version of the lessons and carols! Christmas Carols 2008 Turn away from the lights Many of you will know that i am a biker. I do like motorbikes, and take the opportunity to ride whenever i can – and I’m not one of these fairweather bikers, oh no, I will ride wherever and whenever, whatever the weather. And today I got to ride my bike for a couple of hours, which has topped me up, fix wise, for a few days, though you will all, I am sure, be pleased to know that I am riding extra carefully due to the slippery roads at the m...