Sshh sshh wooo woo!!

Four sessions of Kingdom Train Holiday Club last week - some thoughts and reflections - in no particular order.

Preparation or the week had been done by the time I 'got on board' - after talking with various folk, it seems it was a well used format although the material was new. Organisers had a lot of teaching background - retired teachers - this showed in that whilst it was well organised perhaps some of it was a little formal in structure.
The children were mainly grandchildren of the helpers/organisers, had been to previous holiday clubs, or went to Pilots. It appears that there is an issue regarding publicity and inviting 'new' children - something to look into before next year.
The craft work was a 'big make' which I wasn't used to from previous experiences with Holiday Clubs - it worked well with the older group but in my humble opinion, the younger group would have benefited from more guidance. I wasn't terribly impressed with the quality of 'craft materials' available, some of which seemed to be 'past their sell by date' in a manner of speaking (e.g. flat boxes which smelled musty)
On a positive note, the children were all keen to join in and listened well when adults were talking so they must have been engaged even if I thought it was formal!
On a personal note it was a good time to build up relationships with both the children and adults which I hope will stand me in good stead in the coming months and years.
It was particularly good to be working with my colleague and discover we had very similar views on a number of issues.

Who are we?

Went to morning worship at W/S yesterday morning - got introduced to more people - Mary, Myra & Walter; Hazel, Edna and Gwen, Doreen and possible Julia! So many new names - and I have such a poor memory for names! I'm sure that next week they will all expect me to remember them and I'll fail!! Hopefully they'll be understanding.
A good service led by a retired minister - extolling us to dance and praise God and David did - both in church and in 'the world' (how I hate that term!)
The setting up of church 'walls' - either actual or metaphorical means that we restrict ourselves from working with God in his world, in his creation and with his all his people. The 'us' and 'them' mentality is responsible for creating a perceived 'elite' which has degenerated into a ghetto mentality for the established church, which is seen as irrelevant to those who have no contact with it.
The big question is - are we prepared to tear down the walls and if we do, are we sure enough of the gospel to not get engulfed by the secular society in which we live?

Books to read

Just got John Bell's new book - 10 things they never told me about Jesus.
http://www.ionabooks.com/Front-Page/9781905010608-Ten-Things-They-Never-Told-Me-About-Jesus.html

Have read two chapters so far - brilliant - John Bell just sees things from such an 'honest' perspective - the Jesus he describes is one that people would want to follow.

Also bought 'Hit the ground kneeling' - recommended to me by another minister. Need to put JB down and pick this up I'm thinking!!
http://www.chpublishing.co.uk/feature.asp?id=2394577

'Go West'!

It's Friday of my first week in West Suffolk - to be fair I only started 'work' on Monday, and had a day off on Tuesday, but this is it - not ordained so don't 'feel' like a minister (however that feels) - but have met with my colleague and attended my first Elders meeting, first Wednesday prayers, first coffee morning and done first pastoral visit! So many people, so many names, and so many unknown roads to drive along!
There's also been a lot of 'Admin' stuff to sort out - including setting up a new mobile phone solely for church use - my private number shall remain that! Also finding out best deals for land line and broadband; trying to arrange things for ordination service and have actually been and ordered a cassock.
I have mixed feelings about that - had thought I wouldn't wear one, but after chatting with others have decided it may be a good thing to have for those occasions when it is the best option - e.g. funerals and weddings.
Now have the dilemma about a preaching scarf - what to get and where from!

More importantly is the sense that 'this is it' - I'm very nearly a minister, and as one of the ladies I met on Wednesday said, 'In my opinion, you either are or are not - there's no in between.' It's both scary and exciting though and once I've got to know more people and have led worship (not till 2nd August) I'm sure I'll begin to feel that I'm a minister.

On the subject of leading worship - I'm still waiting to hear from the other churches in the group to get dates in my diary for Sept, Oct, Nov & Dec. But there's time still - it's only the first week!

Better stop this and get on with the study sort out!