New Kid on the Blog

One of the reasons i have been so terrible at blogging for this past week or so is because i have been ripping all of my cds onto my PC hard drive for easy access, and it has meant that i have been listening to some of the music i've not heard for a very long time and loving it. It's great to rediscover your roots! I am amazed by some of the stuff i used to listen to constantly, as looking back it all seems a bit naff, but at the same time i still love it! Most of it was heavy rock - whitesnake, van halen, dave lee roth, king's x but some prog rock stood out and has stood the test of time, yes (preferred trevor rabin era, but like most of it) and marillion particularly. In fact in the past few days some of my old marillion stuff has been played again and again, both with fish and steve hogarth in lead vocal position. I loved the poetry of fish's lyrics, and the way he tackled tough subjects with depth and some beautiful words. I also remembered how excited i was w...

Thanks for the encouraging comments to my last post - it seems that time out is something of a luxury for many of us! There's an ancient Christian tradition of 'slowing' which is referred to by John Ortberg in his book 'The life you've always wanted' (naff self help type title, good book - I've probably said this before) - it is something that i have sought to undertake, as a kind of spiritual discipline, something that i do consciously to remind me of God's call and sway on my life. It involves simple stuff, not always rushing to get to places, weeding out the diary so there is plenty of time to travel, driving in the slow lane, deliberately choosing the longest queue at the supermarket and that kind of thing - not exactly rocket science, but when it becomes part of the fabric of life it creates a whole new mindset. Of course i am my own worst enemy when it comest to this, as recent posts would attest, but when i do follow this course i find my attit...

After the madness of the past few weeks (months? years?) i have a few days off, well kind of, i'm just going to a meeting now and one this evening which i set before trying to take the remainder of my annual leave this week. Anyway, a lazy monday, with wife and children away at the seaside followed by yesterday and today looking after the little ones with Jo at work has seen a sudden return of my 'not feeling quite so frazzled' vibe. I have loved just playing with the kids, laughing a lot and relaxing in the evenings. It's also given me a chance to read some enjoyable books (still getting through Alistair Cooke's Letter from America collection and have started Terry Pratchett's excellent Thud) and watch some TV (NCIS is a favourite at the moment, like CSI without all that faffing about in the labs and more chases!) I've also tried to rationalise my MP3 collection - having burnt gazillions of my cds onto disk for easy accesss i never really catalogued any...

Whilst surfing for a few points in the traffic exchange system (traffic pods, team hits etc) I am constantly amazed by the number of schemes that promise me untold riches if only i will sign up for this or that free scheme, or for a minimal outlay. I am happy to be proved wrong, but it strikes me that if any of them worked then the world would be awash with very rich people indeed. Or am i missing something? Naive, i know, but i make it a point to be naive as often as possible in the hope that i will be surprised by the goodness of my fellow human beings....

...unless we go a little crazy. Enough said, thanks Seal!

This weekend gone is notable for two of the services which i had the privilege and joy to be the officiant at. The first was the aformentioned wedding that took place on Saturday of the two publicans/hoteliers that was possibly the most relaxed and enjoyable wedding i have ever taken part in. It was possibly also the most scatty service i have ever had a part in... It was a ridiculously busy week ending up with a ridiculously busy Saturday. I started by leaving the house at about 8.30am to help at a worship leader training day - not sure how much use i was as i felt i had to busk the session, because my preparation didn't seem to fit the feeling of the day... Fortunately being relatively well read about the subject of worship history and liturgy i don't think i made a complete hash of things... Anyway, leaving that early around midday i dashed back to the Rectory to get my stuff together for my first wedding of the day which took place here - a very enjoyable event with a c...

When i say around here, i mean on the blog - that's because it has been anything but quiet in the real world in these parts. It's been a good week and there is lots i could say about it, and will do so as i process all the information through my internal spam filters... so i'm not filling your brains up with lots of junk (or at least no more than usual) Spent lots of the week feeling really tired and wishing i had been able to take a couple of days out to recover from this heavy cold rather than just feeling grotty for ages. Things have been very busy though, and this week has seen a clergy 'vision' day as we discussed the next move for our team of thirteen parishes, a couple of sessions of 'wedding preparation' which had to be fitted in around a school governors meeting, team council meeting, two wedding rehearsals, two PCC meetings, two weddings, my final Harvest Supper of the year, visiting and a variety of 'one to one' meetings with churchwarde...

I spent the evening today in two meetings of 'Parochial Church Councils' (PCCs) which govern the running and maintainance of Churches in the C of E. This may sound vaguely pergatorial to most people (and note, i have never used the word pergartorial before, and besides the Anglican Church doesn't official subscribe to any doctrine of pergatory) but actually they were two good meetings, the first chaired by my friend, mentor and 'senior partner' in the Team, the Team Rector, and the second by myself. Now in these meetings there is usually a heavy emphasis on the buildings which the Parishes are responsible for, and in these rural parishes that is often a large, stone built, ancient (minimum 500 years old) building. For many ministers this obsession with 'plant' drives them mad, but i felt this evening' s discussions were very positive. We talked of our Church buildings not just as 'built heritage', which is an important but not exclusive aspect...

Yes, I am still in my office and still trying to get all my tidying and admin done before going out visiting later this afternoon! So, the obvious bit in the title is about me continuing with the avoidance tactics and adding another blog post. Was amazed by the speed and depth of the response from melodrameric to my slightly flippant post about novel writing, now that is a good idea! Not sure i have the chutzpah to pull something like that off, though, i was thinking in terms of the riotous adventures of a hairy biker clergyman - perhaps too autobiographical? Well, it wouldn't be that autobiographical as i don't tend to have riotous adventures. Except of course that life itself is the greatest adventure, or some other greetings card schmaltz like that :-) Now melodrameric has really got me thinking....

NaNoWriMo is looming and having signed up i am experiecing my first ever case of writer's block. So any ideas for a theme, plot, characters gratefully recieved. We could write a shared novel, with me getting the credit, obviously! Ummm, there's probably something in the rules about that.... So, that's me, how are you today?

I have had the chance during my last few days of feeling not-so-great to get on with some thinkificating (as George W might say). Yet when i sit down to write something (as i'm doing now in order that i can escape clearing up my office for ten minutes) i don't seem to have anything to say - not that this has stopped me from blogging before! On Sunday evening, when i was actually feeling tired and generally urghhhh (it's a word). I led our informal worship & teaching service which was, in a certain ironic twist, based around the theme of 'Jesus and Healing'. It was a very good service, my cold remained all the way through but i didn't drip on my guitar 0r lose my voice. The bit that stood out, though, was the talk from our curate Alexandra - as she talked about healing she didn't go through any of the hackneyed stuff about what might have happened and how Jesus might have been able to heal through this method or consider whether the Gospel records of ...

Still not entirely up to spec, but no longer feel as if my brain has been removed and replaced with cotton wool. So here i am again! I've been amazed at the number of folk who've not just breezed through with the traffic programmes i've signed up with (Traffic Pods - yes I am a pod person - bionic hits, team hits and blogexplosion) but who've stayed, looked around a bit and left comments. Thanks. As I guess is obvious, there's a whole load of things that seem to be going around my mind at the moment and this blog is the place where some of my thoughts are uttered out loud. I will be back to talking about some of the issues which are particularly exercising my mental muscles sometime later, but for now i just wanted to say 'hi' and 'thanks'. Catch you later!

No, really. A quick moment at the PC is all i get today as i have felt wretched all day with a heavy cold AKA Man flu! I have to say that my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton wool and i am even less coherent than usual. I feel sorry for the group i attempted to lead at breakfast this morning, they certainly didn't get me at my best! Anyway, all sympathy gratefully recieved, though what i would really appreciate is a day off, but tomorrow being Sunday i'm pretty sure there isn't much chance of that. Will post again when brain decides functioning is a preferred option...

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have so much to do that you don't actually do anything? Well this afternoon is starting to feel like that. I've got admin, visits, preparation for tonight's worship leading course, preparation for a Bible Study tomorrow and various other bits to do and i really don't want to get started. But i will, just as soon as i've said something about it... That's not to say my day so far has been unproductive, prayers with colleagues to start the morning, followed by a trip to our largest local hospital in Cambridge to visit someone from one of my parishes. The nice thing was that he didn't expect a visitor - being a parishioner but not a member of the congregation - but was glad of the company. That took up my morning with the travel in and out, have had an hour off for lunch and now back to slaving over a hot keyboard. Admin needs doing first, because it is the thing that, given a choice, i would igno...

I don't often review blogs on my site, though the list at the side under 'blogroll' seems to get longer and longer and i am reluctant to take any off. I check the blogs in my blogroll usually every few days and i know a couple haven't been updated for a while, i just live in hope that they will be sometime as i liked what they wrote (though i may not agree with it all) and trust that sometime they will post again with equally stimulating thoughts. Anyway, a thank you to Dr John who made my site 'link of the day' as part of his blogmarathon (an experience he doesn't seem keen to repeat - the marathon that is, not my link). His blog is gentle, funny, thoughtful and has a variety of theological and personal reflections on it that make it a good read. It's also a very personal and warm blog, and should be treated with respect (as most blogs should), I like it, go visit sometime. Also, previously mentioned, check out the sidebar blogroll, i keep an eye on...

November is NaNoWriMo - national novel writing month - and i thought i would sign up, not that i have any ideas, plans or perhaps ability to actually get a novel written, but the website was so enthusiastic i couldn't resist. So here goes... Well, actually, here goes in November, but i should start thinking about it now, i guess.

Am taking a few minutes out of my Sunday to blog, normally this is family time, but i have a shed load of expenses to sort out - now have realised that my regular overdraft is pretty much what i am owed due to not having submitted an expenses claim for three months. In an effort to delay the inevitable facts and figures sorting I'm here to share a few reflections on my Sunday experience. Was interested this morning when i arrived to take my second service of the morning when one of the congregation asked if one my colleagues was coming back soon or whether she was on maternity leave. I did explain that her due date wasn't until February and that she only occasionally visited that particular parish and asked why he was so concerned. He responded 'her sermons are very erudite..' Of course i took the bait and asked 'so what are mine?' to which he responded (with some enthusiasm) 'yours are very practical and laid back and straightforward' to which i mu...

I did mention a recipe! Chocolatey Coconut Cookies Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter (melted and at room temp) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips 1 cup flaked or shredded coconut Bakeware: Cookie sheet Directions: Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars using a mixer until they are smooth and creamy (about 1 min.) Add the egg, then the vanilla, mixing until combined. Add your dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until combined. Fold in your mini chocolate chips and the coconut, cover your bowl with plastic wrap, then chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Using a teaspoon scoop the dough into little balls and place them on your cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to...

I did say i would talk a bit more about music, so here is a bit about Martyn Joseph . I have been following Martyn for a very long time, and love his songwriting and the passion of his convictions, which are many and varied but spring from a deeply Christian faith-filled approach to life. I was there when he moved from being a somewhat bland artist on the Christian mainstream in the UK to an impassioned singer-songwriter who wanted to communicate often uncomfortable truths within and without the church. He has been described as the 'welsh woody guthrie'..and lots more besides, but if you like guitar based, thoughtful music then check out, in no particular order... Check out his website for samples, including bits from his new DVD. This is not a sales pitch (despite the links) but hopefully an opportunity for anyone who wants to to discover some new music.

Best quote yet... "...I think if you are trying to be postmodern, you aren't postmodern. Be yourself. Do what you think is right and leave the results up to God, or whatever you want to call the intelligence behind the Cosmos." Snipped from real live preacher.... Not that you'll expect me to leave it there, I'm sure, some thoughts on this to follow when i've really thought about what a good quote this is.

...is that people might actually read what you say and think about it, which opens up a whole load of possibilities, like they may not agree with you, or may have a better grasp of something than you, or might be rude, or, well the list goes on... Still open to comments, though. Be kind to me ;-)

This thought is really in response to what Jeff said in a comment on yesterday's post, i was going to respond in a comment of my own but decided to post this instead as the comment was getting longer and longer... In saying that we need to be creative and relate to people's experience I'm not trying to put sermons and liturgy against worship, but to remember that they are a part of worship not the whole of it. I agree totally with what Jeff writes in his comment, that worship is not just about what happens in Church, and I believe that worship is about a pattern of life in which all that we do gives glory to God. I think, though, that the Church is making itself less and less relevant by continuing to buy into a word bound culture that is a product of post enlightenment thinking. People were astounded by Jesus teaching but were, it seems to me, drawn into faith by the way he lived, died and rose again as well as what he taught. It was the whole package. Likewise Jesus d...

...not a lot of writing going on at the moment, that's because i have been out again all day doing things that clergy do - prayers to start the day, visiting a colleague, visiting parishoners and finally the meeting i have just got back from, our worship leader training course run by Ely Diocese. Now there's not much i could (or rather should) write about the day itself, but the evening was refreshing, entertaining, thought provoking as we met for the first time this year to begin this training course for those who want to be more involved in the worshipping life of the church. It's exciting and positive that the Church at large is resourcing and supporting people in exploring the wider vocation to Christian ministry rather than narrowing it down to getting people ordained in order to do stuff in the Christian Community. One reflection to come out of the discussions tonight was how affective worship is. The main focus of the evening was to talk about experiences of wor...

For those hoping for a blueprint for a pm church, I am going to have to disappoint you! Or for solutions to the malaise of the 'modern church' you will have to look elsewhere. I have recently been challenged and inspired by the book 'the out of bounds church' by Steve Taylor, which looks at the potential for creating living Christian communities in a changing world. Also, in a variety of reading over the last few years i have been equally inspired by the opportunities that societal change makes possible, and whilst not wanting to dump wholesale the 'old' ways of being church, i long to explore new ways of being Christ's followers in a pm age. My inspirations: church is relational, not rational - in fact that is the best way to think of Christian faith, it is not about accepting the right doctrines (though i believe doctrine is the anchor that holds faith secure - but i've warbled on about that before) but about knowing God through Jesus Christ and in ...

...no deep thoughts today, at least none to blog about. It's been a bit of a fragmented day, really, with lots to do. A symptom of our postmodern age, probably (see below). Anyway, tired and satisfied with what i have done today i retire to bed early (before 1am is early...) More thinking on the pm church tomorrow, possibly...

Much to my surprise, this does seem to be me - well, apart from the attractive warmth and optimism, smoothness, wit, charm and cleverness. Not sure about being fun to be with or generous either, but other than that it is spot on :-) ESFP - "Entertainer". Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population. Free Jung Word Test (similar to Myers-Briggs) personality tests by similarminds.com

The audio adventures of a couple of bearded pseudo-theologians continues - still in trial phase so please do let me know if you would like to check out the website (too complicated to just post a link, you will need the password & identity) and give us some feedback. fracme[at]yahoo.co.uk

Of course, there is no one 'postmodern philosophy' or movement which people subscribe to. In fact the defining factor of our age is exactly that, we live in a society which contains a patchwork of belief, practice, understanding. When we consider what it is to say we live in a 'postmodern' (from now on i will say pm instead of typing 'postmodern' frequently!) world we are simply trying to examine the cultural situation, reflect on a changing world and put some shape to the results of that process. In 'who's afraid of postmodernism' there is a very good broad summary of the main thrusts of pm thinking as (to paraphrase the subtitle) - Foucalt, Derrida and Lyotard are taken to church (!). The three aspects are: suspicion of power & rejection of any attempt to proclaim one single unifying truth (metanarrative), examination of langauge and its power to oppress and imprison and an assertion that meaning and truth are relative and fragmented - there...