O for a thousand tongues?

No, not a bit of wishful thinking, or a discussion of the hymnody of Charles Wesley....

This last week has seen me joining the ranks of those who freely offer their voices for the sort of project that the Internet can be brilliant for. It's called Librivox, and I'll explain a little about it.

Imagine all the literature that has been produced over the centuries since we started writing stuff down. Now imagine a group of people who are trying to turn as much as possible of it into Audio Books. Now imagine that they are doing this for no money, not charging anything to download them, and not placing any restrictions whatsoever on what they can be used for. That, in a nutshell, is what Librivox is trying to do.

The nuts and bolts of it is that volunteers find works that aren't under copyright any more (Public Domain is the term) and record them, either in groups or individually, then upload them to a site which provides a place to store and catalogue them. The Public Domain part means that you're not going to find the works of JK Rowling, Terry Pratchett or Adrian Plass in there, but it's astonishing how much can be used. Currently they have a bit over a year's worth of audio available to anyone with an internet connection.

I discovered Librivox a while ago now, and have listened to most of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Moby Dick, The Invisible Man by HG Wells, The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, Edgar Rice Burrough's "Barsoom" novels, some PG Wodehouse, The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson, and several others; meanwhile, The South Pole by Roald Amundsen, A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle and one or two others are waiting for me to have time to listen.

Having listened to so much, I thought it was about time I started contributing myself. So I have so far recorded three poems for their weekly and fortnightly poetry efforts where as many people as possible read the same poem and they will in due course appear in the catalogue.

I love listening to audiobooks, and while sometimes the readers can be not quite to your taste I have found much to enjoy. The fact that it is free makes it even better!

What's the best thing I've listened to? I'd have to go for Love among the Chickens by PG Wodehouse - well-recorded by someone who has done some professional stuff, and wonderfully funny!

If you like listening to spoken word audio, Librivox is a fantastic resource. It's also a fantastic example of people giving some time to something with no prospect of reward - who says altruism is dead?

A tale of two services

Monday and Tuesday saw me taking part in two Lunchtime Services in places that could hardly be more different!

The Monday Service was in some ways a blast from the past for me. I was invited to go back to the Pilkington Technology Centre, a place I had worked on and off for several years during my time with Pilkington, to preach at the on-site Christian Union's Carol Service. This is held in the historic Lathom Chapel which dates back to 1500. This is an annual event (they also hold a service at Easter) which I had been to (and even particiapted in) several times.

After 13 years as an employee it was strange to have to sign in and get a visitor's badge. The site has changed too - a large part of what was the Head Office in St. Helens had literally just moved in, so I got to see some bits that were still a construction site when I was there last.

The idea of change and journey had been incorporated into the service to reflect this, and I spoke a little about that in my few minutes; but also tried to put forward a message that God's priorities are different to ours, and encouraged people to try and give time to those they care about not just at Christmas but throughout the year. (This is something that I am constantly realising myself - sometimes when you prepare for a service you find things that challenge you at least as much as the congregation!)

From an ancient chapel in a rural setting on Monday, my destination on Tuesday was the Methodist Centre which is quite literally in the centre of Manchester - near Piccadilly Gardens in fact. They have a regular service on a Tuesday Lunchtime, and in December the Circuit Staff come together to lead the worship. Reduced by illness and other things, there were five of us who met up to prepare and then lead worship. My contribution was to take part in a sketch about the Three Kings (who are trying the patience of the producer of the nativity play by referring to Los Angeles because it's the City of David... and Victoria... and Brooklyn... and Romeo.... and other such alterations), and lead the congregation in saying the Magnificat (Mary's song of praise to God when she visits Elizabeth to tell her what is happening). There was no sermon as such; we tried instead to let the words of the Christmas Story do the talking.

Both seem to have been well-received, or at least no-one has told me otherwise. Now, I need to prepare for this Sunday Evening!

Baptisms and Technology

Up until about this time last week, I thought I was participating in a Baptism on Sunday. Then my supervisor asked me if I'd like to actually do the part with the water, and I was rather taken aback!

While I can't preside at Communion yet, presiding at a Baptism isn't a problem - as a Local Preacher for almost ten years, I could in theory have been doing baptisms for some time. However, when it's your first time quite literally holding the baby, saying the words, and sprinkling the water it's a little daunting.

In some ways this is where the technology enters the picture. No, this was not "RoboPreach", the Mechanical Minister. With a large number of people who aren't regulars, and not enough copies of the current Service Book to go round, we had gone for the hi-tech approach of having a Laptop with the service on it, a projector, and a screen. This is where the fun starts. Having not used a screen at the church before, we had a bit of a time of it working out where to put it, where to put the projector, and how to get it all up and running. The actual techy bits at this point were fine - it was more about having to bring in a table, a small stool and several old hymn books to prop up the projector with that was the problem!

Of course all of this time the clock is ticking, and so it was a very short time indeed before the service that I was finally in the vestry; the Baptism itself was early on, and I didn't have too much time to think and get worried about doing it all correctly before we began....

As a result it went OK, with one minor technical hitch due to one slide being in the wrong order. And when I have to do it again at the end of January, I will at least know a bit better the practicalities of what I'm doing - such as trying to make sure the water is warm, in order to avoid howls of protest...

Another thing that I'll know how to do is how to make booklets more easily. As the parents and Godparents would be facing the wrong way to simply read off the screen, I produced some A5 copies of what they needed to see. This took some time, as I tried to get the pages in the right order, printed the right way round etc. Only now have I discovered that I could have saved myself a lot of effort. I've been using OpenOffice - a free and legal alternative to Microsoft Office if you don't have the money - and had I done a quick Google search on Saturday Night I'd have found the easy way to do it. For anyone else struggling with the same thing - set the page size to A5 Portrait, and when you come to print it out make sure the printer is set to A4 Landscape, then go onto the "Options" button on the Print Dialogue. There's an option there to print Brochure. If your printer does double-sided by itself then select both right and left pages, if not just select the right pages, then reload the printed pages into the printer and repeat with just the left pages.

It's so much easier when you actually go and look for help - something I need to bear in mind for the future!

Advent Conspiracy

The video below comes courtesy of the Advent Conspiracy website, and gives some food for thought as we plunge relentlessly once again towards Christmas....




It's far too easy to get caught up in the consumerism that surrounds Christmas, whether you're a Christian or not; that may change a little this year with the Credit Crunch squeezing people's pockets, but every shop and every TV Advert still wants to get us to spend as much as possible. It's very hard to avoid, too. This sort of message reminds us that there's far more to what we're about than providing a place for people to come and sing some jolly carols and maybe put a few pounds in the collection plate - we're about something that is a challenge to what often seems to be the way of the world, a different way not just of doing, but of being.

What do you say to a closing church?

Yesterday saw me preaching at a church in the circuit for the first time - nothing unusual there - but also for what will be the last time. The church in question has decided that it is no longer able to continue meeting, and so they are ceasing to worship with the final service actually being next Sunday (30th November). So I am one of the last people to have preached in the building.

This had the potential to be a difficult service, and I had been wondering quite what to say. Should I "just" do a normal Sunday Service, on the grounds that the final service is the following week? It's somewhat outside my experience too; I have not been a member of a church that has closed down, the nearest thing being when I was asked to officially be part of a Church Council that was doing that a few years ago but lacked the numbers to make it official - even then, the decision had been effectively already been made and it was rubber-stamping what was going to happen.

The Lectionary however was my friend. Last Sunday's Old Testament reading was from Ezekiel 34 and spoke about how God would gather together the scattered sheep of Judah, which had been invaded by Babylon, and bring them together under a new shepherd - "David", usually taken to mean a descendant of King David. For a church about to close, with a congregation including several who had been part of another church closure a few years back, I tried to use these words from Ezekiel to bring a message of hope: that they had not been forgotten by God, that they were OK to wonder where God was in their situation, but that God was still there and that they were part of a larger flock.

I don't know how helpful it was to everyone, but I know that at least a couple of people appreciated what was said.

What has happened to this church in some ways raises questions. It's well known as a place that offers much to the local community; many groups come in and use the premises, and in fact they are looking to keep the building going for several months to allow the groups time to find alternate places. It's a building that is obviously appreciated. However that appreciation hasn't extended enough to actually coming along, and the gradually dwindling congregation has been pressed harder and harder to keep everything going. So how do we engage with the people that come in to use the building for secular purposes? How do we encourage people to see that we're about far more than being a sort of community centre? I don't have any answers, but these and other questions certainly need to be asked.....

College Retreat

Last weekend was the Hartley Victoria College Retreat, at Parcevall Hall in Wharfedale. Off I went into what seems the middle of nowhere, for a chance to recharge the batteries a bit.

When I say the middle of nowhere - there's no mobile coverage (or very slight maybe), and it's so far into the countryside that you have a torch by your bed to use in case of a fire alarm or power cut! However it's also a beautiful setting, and with terrific food as well it's a good place to go for a retreat.

Probably the thing that I liked best though was the opportunity to do something creative for the worship on the Sunday Morning. I'd taken the camera, and took a number of photos in and around Parcevall Hall; several of us came together to arrange these into a slideshow and then speak some reflective words over the top. The result should be visible below - sorry about the lack of volume!



I can't take any credit for choosing the words - that goes to Bob, Jacqui and Jan. In order that they appear, they are:

1) A meditation by Alistair Maclean. It can be found in the Northumbria Community's Celtic Daily Prayer as one of the day of the month meditations.

2) A poem from Spoken Worship by Gerard Kelly.

3) A couple of sentences from The Cry of the Deer by David Adam.

4) A meditation from Times and Seasons, also by David Adam.

5) A passage from God at Eventide, an adaption of God Calling by Two Listeners, edited by AJ Russell.

In some ways, the fact that this was the part that I liked best is a bit of a challenge: how often do I include opportunities to create and contribute in worship? And is there anything I can do about that?

It's all over the front page....

...you give me Road Rage" as Cerys Matthews once sang. Right now I'm calming down after a day or two of the sort of trouble that makes you wonder why it is that we devote so much time, money and effort to the automobile.

It started on Friday really, with the discovery that I had actually been driving without an MOT for a month - my own fault of course. So the car stayed on the drive while I booked it in for the test on Monday.

Come Monday Morning, and it's Houston, we have a problem. The battery is flat, and it's only after we've got into position to try a jump start that we realise that actually the battery in the other car is in the wrong place to do this. Cue much aggravation (and like the Hulk, you won't like me when I'm angry), attempts to push the car back up the drive, and phone calls. I remove the battery and stick it on to charge; late in the afternoon I put it back and it starts fine. No problem, it's having a full service as well as an MOT so it should be fine.

When the garage rings back the news is not great, with an extra bill in the hundreds which we can ill afford - but I need the car, so....

With me due to be at College for the evening we let someone else do the cooking, so on the way back home I stop off at our local Chinese (very good by the way). I climb back into the car, and will it start? Will it heck!

On the plus side, our Breakdown Recovery (with GEM) proved to be well worth it, with a nice man on a motor bike appearing to not only get me started, but pinpoint the problem as being almost certainly the battery. On the minus side, the fact that the battery leads had been so loosely put back on by the garage that they could easily be pulled off by hand, and that the garage neglected to actually check the battery anyway (despite publicising free checks on them) does not fill me with joy. I won't name them as such, but suffice to say you expect better of a major national chain. I don't intend to let this go without having words with them, and if they think that just because it says "Student Minister" on my card that I won't have a go, they have another thing coming. I don't believe God calls anyone to be a doormat!

Somtimes it's great being a Methodist....

Listening to the Radio the other day on the way home from a meeting, I heard an interesting tale... it seems that the British Humanist Association have decided to run an advertising campaign on London Buses with the message "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The person speaking seemed to think that this was probably the first Atheist Advertising Campaign, although she was rather hazy on whether this had been tried before - at one point there was some muttering that it hadn't been allowed before, which the interviewer picked up on and got her to admit that she didn't know whether it had ever been tried.

The article on the BBC Site includes a response from the Methodist Church in the person of Rev. Jenny Ellis, Spirituality and Discipleship Officer that is in many ways quite masterful: after thanking Richard Dawkins (yes, he's helped provide some of the funding) for encouraging a "continued interest in God", she is quoted as saying "This campaign will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life... Christianity is for people who aren't afraid to think about life and meaning."

I'm one happy Methodist after reading that! It's the sort of response I would have liked to have given myself. No doubt it will be ignored or dismissed by the more zealous atheists, but in some ways it shows that despite the best efforts of the atheist community to paint religion (not just Christianity) as being outmoded, outdated, irrelevant and even dangerous, we haven't gone away. We may not have as many followers, but we're still here. And, strange as it may seem, we haven't all left our brains in the box, or passed our decision-making to an institution and it's idea of morality. There are probably more thinking, questioning Christians around than ever before - many of us who have even read Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and are not convinced by the rhetoric within it, and some of us who can even appreciate what looks to be the satire of Dawkins proving that God is at best highly unlikely, echoing the claims of the Intelligent Design movement when it argues that certain biological structures are so unlikely to occur that they "must" have been designed....

Once in a Lifetime...

I wasn't exactly feeling too great about things yesterday. Not anything about the work in particular, more a combination of several things making life a bit annoying - not having hot water (possibly it now seems because we didn't know how to set it right on the system), trying to make the money in and the money out match up a bit better, that sort of thing. This on a day when I had written "Retreat and Reflect" in the diary as an opportunity to take some time out to reflect on what has happened so far and recharge my batteries! With the weather also conspiring against my original plan of going for a walk in the Peak District, I set off in a somewhat distracted way for my Plan B - Dunham Massey.

I'd been to Dunham once before, but a while ago; and these days, going round a house like this is often so stressful (due to the way toddlers tend to want to grab and sit on priceless artifacts) that it tends to be something we avoid. It was fairly quiet - one school party, and then what seemed to be just a handful of us wandering around the house.

It was quite fascinating to talk to some of the Room Stewards, who were happy to tell you about what you were looking at and volunteer information. I hadn't realised for example that the family were actually that of Lady Jane Grey - often known as the Nine Days Queen - and that the eldest daughter of each generation of the family was also named Jane. Then there was the connection with the Civil War, with a facsimilie of Charles I's Death Warrant. I spent a bit of time examining this, as I looked for names from a book called "A Conspiracy of Violence" by Susanna Gregory - a Historical Mystery set at the time of the Restoration, in which the names of several of the signatories are mentioned. Sure enough, the names of Challoner, Ingotsby and Barkstead are inscribed upon it.

A couple of hours later I was feeling a bit more chilled out, and I set out for home with some music playing from the iPod, a random selection. About ten minutes away from home, the song "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads started playing, and I found myself going back to the start to listen to the lyrics again....

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself; Well...How did I get here?

Croxteth may not be a Shotgun Shack, but we're in a different part of the world; I was driving my car; the Manse is certainly a big step up, and of course I think the description of my wife fits... Well - how DID I get here?

By the time the song had finished playing, life seemed back on the level again and whatever problems we face didn't seem so big. A moment of grace?

Looking back....

It's been just over a month since I officially started in circuit, so this is probably a good time to reflect a bit on the ups, downs and occasional sideways bits of how I am finding things.

It's been interesting to see how people respond to me, or in some cases don't respond (more of that in a minute) as a Student Presbyter. In general, there is a difference to my time as a Local Preacher. It's not respect (or not as such) - that was there in any case - but something that's maybe a little more tenuous; I am "The Minister" and as such there are different expectations of what I am there to do. Of course, this is also partly because I am seeing people in different settings (and vice versa) - whether it's being at meetings, visiting people at home or coming along to the Coffee Morning, my role has changed and I'm becoming aware that this means that the response has changed too.

The "not responding" thing is something that at times can be quite entertaining. As I am not even a Probationer yet, I don't wear a Clerical Collar, and this means people sometimes don't realise who or what I am. On one or two occasions it's been quite funny, but there is also again something about perception there. If I put on a collar, suddenly people will know what I am, or who I am - and it can act almost as a badge of identity. For example if I am doing Pastoral Visits, a collar may be seen as making me somehow legitimate; lacking one, questions are more likely to be asked. (Put it this way, I now have some proper Business Cards partly to help with this.) Does the collar really change that much? I am the same person whether or not I am dressed in walking trousers and a polo shirt or in smart trousers and a clerical shirt with a collar; but that may not be how others see me. It will be interesting to see if this changes as and when I become a Probationer and start wearing a collar....

There's been plenty of support for me from my colleagues, and as well plenty of opportunity to find out about the sort of things that God is doing in Manchester - and some of the things are exciting to say the least!

In some ways one of the bigger annoyances concerns Church Notice Boards. Specifically, the ones outside the churches that I have mostly not been to yet, but which still have my phone number on them because I have taken over the manse of the person that looked after them. It's slightly disconcerting to find yourself having a conversation with someone who was expecting to speak to someone else, and once or twice someone has left a message, and then rung back to hear my message on the phone as they obviously realise something is amiss when they don't hear the name they were expecting....

Overall though I feel good about how things are going. The question is, will I still feel like this in another month? Or two? Stay tuned....

Feed my Sheep - a meditation on Peter

(This was inspired by my Daily Devotions this morning, which included John 21:16)

"Feed my Sheep." That's what he told me. My life has been devoted to that command ever since.

I was hurt. I was confused. I was getting angry. There he was, the Master, the one who I had followed faithfully through, well, almost everything. As we sat there on the beach, he asked me if I loved him. How could I not? How could he not tell? Hadn't I been with him all through the good times and the bad?

Then I realised. That dreadful night when they arrested him; my attempt to mingle with the crowd; my denial of him. At that dark time I hadn't been with him; I had been trying to save my own skin by pretending I wasn't one of his followers. He had good reason to question me. I have never forgotten since how I failed him, that night in the courtyard when all looked lost.

So I have tried to feed his sheep. I have tried to help others understand what I saw - that Jesus was indeed the Christ, that he did die, and that he rose again. It's not been easy; even those with us at the time disagree on what they saw, what was said, what happened after. I haven't always got it right either - more than a few times I've had to be put back on the right track.

"Feed my sheep." I have tried, and some might say I have succeeded - after all, there's a lot more of us now. More to feed, but also more to do the feeding. Sometimes I wonder if they realise what an important task they have taken on. It's been hard enough for me, and I learnt from Jesus first hand - how much harder it is for those who never met him!

"Feed my sheep." I have tried Master, weak though I am. Now help me to keep on going, to keep on feeding, and to not lose sight of your command....

First Service

My first service at Clayton was last Sunday Morning, and from the reaction afterwards it seems to have gone OK, maybe even quite well. I was a little more nervous than normal, but then again this was my first appointment in the Circuit where I should be for the next five years.

Every church does things slightly differently, and so there were a few things to remember for the future: when the notices are for example, when any young people leave, that sort of thing.

While preparing, I realised in part what a difference my ongoing theological education is making. Once upon a time I would have looked at the readings, had a look at the Desperate Preachers site to see what others thought, and then had a think and pray. This time, being able to do this as part of my work and not just in a couple of evenings, I took down the Commentary that has been sporadically used over the last ten years and had a look... only to discover that I wasn't entirely satisfied with it. It didn't feel like there was enough depth, enough discussion of viewpoints other than that of the authors, or things to follow up on. This isn't to say that the commentary was useless - more that, after a couple of Biblical Studies modules as part of my course, a single volume covering the whole Bible isn't capable of providing the depth I am used to.

I have some academic commentaries already, but high on the priority list in terms of buying books will be making sure that I can at least cover the Gospels, major Epistles and some of the more used Old Testament books. The Luther King House Library may be just down the road at the moment, but it won't be that way forever!

A little project

"Have you got a Cross for your study?" The question came from someone from my old church, and it took me aback a little. I haven't, and hadn't really considered whether there should be. Given though that it's going to be somewhere I'm spending significant amounts of time working on sermons, assignments and other parts of my work on reflection I decided I should.

Rather than buy one though, I thought I'd try and get a bit creative. So on a short break in North Wales I did a bit of beach-combing and came back with some bits of driftwood and a small bit of slate. It is my intention to turn these into something for the study.

The Cross is of course central to the Christian Message, and when you look around you see plenty of them - whether worn as jewelry, hanging on the side of a church illuminated for all to see, or even in a study somewhere. Mine will not exactly win awards for design, but maybe it will capture something else: the discarded and unwanted pieces of detritus, combined and put together with care, becoming a symbol of the love of Christ.

All I've got to do now is make it.....

What's a Presbyter?

Another thing from the Welcome Service: overheard behind me, somewhere in the congregation, "What's a Presbyter?" This was because it was announced that there were two student ministers, myself (a Presbyter) and someone else (a Deacon).

In some ways this highlights some of the issues with ministry. I am a Student Minister. I am also a Student Presbyter. The Presbyter part indicates that I am going to be one of the Ministers that will preach the Gospel, declare God's forgiveness to the penitent, baptize, confirm, preside at Communion, lead God's people in worship, prayer and service, minister Christ's Love and compassion, and serve others. At least, that's what it says in the Ordination Service, and in the Methodist Church report "What is a Presbyter".

To some, the confusion may start here. Isn't that what a Minister is? Historically yes, but this isn't the only form of ordained ministry in Methodism; we also have Deacons. Deacons have a somewhat different focus and set of responsibilities; they are also part of a Religious Order. This page from the Order's own website explains better than I can what a Deacon means; or at least in the Methodist Church. (That's another problem by the way; virtually all denominations have their own definition of what a Deacon is, should they have them at all!)

So both Presbyters and Deacons are Ordained Ministers. This is important to remember; something that frequently irks Deacons (or occasionally people like me who know Deacons and Student Deacons) is when someone refers to "Ministers and Deacons" - it somehow implies that they aren't actually ministers, when in fact they have a different type of ministry. The page from the Diaconal Order mentions the confusion, and in some ways it's not surprising when even the Methodist Church Website seems to list "Ministers" and "Deacons" in seperate sections - look at this page!

Ah well, back to work....

Welcome Home?

Last Sunday night saw the Welcome Service for all of us starting in the Manchester Circuit this year - I am one of four people, including another Student Minister who have taken post. The Preacher started off by talking about his own experiences of moving to a new Manse, in particular a tale of a cooker that he was assured was in terrific condition despite having been in storage for several years; his appetite for using it though took a nosedive when two (cooked!) slices of Bacon were found to be still in the grill pan....

There haven't been any horror stories of that variety in our own move, for which plenty of credit has to go to people in Manchester; but of course there have been some interesting moments.

This was in a way our first major move. Previously we'd mostly been moving somewhere close by, with an overlap allowing us to ferry things back and forth; this time, we had to pack everything ready to be loaded into a lorry and then unpack at the other end. Suffice to say that, three weeks later, there are still boxes waiting to be unpacked and a few things that seem to have disappeared.

Then there were the wardrobes. We had a couple of self-assembled wardrobes that looked like they would fit nicely into the Manse; however, as it turned out we'd put them together a little too well, and unless we removed the banisters then they weren't leaving the house. In fact, at the moment I should really be assembling the new one that's just arrived....

Then there was the fact that we had to clean and fix up the other house as we've had to rent it out. With a few shenanigans on that front (having to replace a baluster broken during the move, and laying some new lino in the bathroom having torn what was there before by accident for example) it hardly seemed we had time to even start getting organised.

There's been plenty to be thankful for however. Friends from our old church have come and helped unpack, put furniture together and the like; people that are already on the way to becoming friends have made sure the Manse was clean and decorated before we arrived, and even provided the means to have a cup of tea on arrival! We are gradually emerging from the chaos, and gradually turning this into our home. It's been stressful and still is to be honest, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and a lovely new home too.

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

It's sometimes said that one of the things that marks out Methodists is our meetings - specifically the number of them. Given that tonight I will be going to my third meeting in two days - and that one of those was an all-dayer - there may be some truth to that. However, it's not necessarily as bad as it may sound.

Back in the world of IT, meetings were simply part of the job. It did depend on my role, but certainly for management it seemed that whole days spent attending or preparing for meetings were just what it was all about. "Lonely? Bored? Don't know what to do? Hold a meeting!" said one ironic poster I saw a few years ago, and believe me there were times that it seemed to be just that. Meanwhile the meetings I have had so far have been useful, have allowed me to meet my colleagues, have provided plenty of useful information and food for thought.... there's nothing wrong with meetings so long as they are useful, and that they're not allowed to get out of control or last too long.

There's now a plan of action for the next couple of weeks, and plenty of people to contact as part of that - there's a few things to work out too, but for the moment I feel I at least I know where to start!

Welcome to the Blog

Well, I suppose it was about time I had my own Blog, so here goes....

First of all, a bit about myself. I'm Rob, and I'm currently training to be a Methodist Minister in Manchester, UK. I'm in my mid 30s, married, and have two young children. Until recently I was in IT Support for a major multinational in the North-West, but now I have the opportunity to train part time and work as a Minister part time - so we've moved lock stock and barrel to Manchester!

I've decided to blog about my experiences partly in case anyone finds it interesting, and partly to provide myself with something I can go back to. I have never been someone to keep a diary, so how long this will last is anybodies guess. My aim is however to include my own observations and reflections on what goes on, as much as is OK to make public anyway, and also include any bits of meditation or creative writing from time to time. You will also be subjected to my own particular brand of humour, so be warned!

1st September is the start of the Methodist Year, so today has officially been my first day. In fact, we moved about two weeks ago (more about that later possibly) and have spent some time trying to get organised. Trying is the operative word here - I am not exactly a model of efficiency and if it wasn't for my other half I suspect I would still have been surrounded by boxes with just the computer unpacked.... I have learnt a few things already however.

1) When examining the contents of Filing Cabinets left by your predecessor, do not pile said contents on top of the cabinet. Once you have emptied a couple of drawers-worth out, it has a tendency to cascade down on your head.

2) When surrounded by paperwork that has just cascaded down around you, do not look for sympathy from you partner, who once assured that serious injury has not resulted will be helpless with laughter.

3) A house is not your home until you have what is important to you the way you want it. This may be in terms of furniture, pictures, ornaments, or having a working Dishwasher - but it matters. Seriously.

4) People will invariably offer advice. Listen to it, consider it, and then decide what parts of it you wish to accept. Bear in mind that all advice is well-meant, and is often from people who have experience of where you may be - but that at the same time your situation is not the same as anyone else.

5) Always be prepared to turn down requests if you have good reasons - just make sure your reasons are good ones!