A year ago, someone suggested that we could do a Community Litter Pick one Sunday... it took a year, but today we did just that and it was AMAZING!

We worked with the Railway Town Clean Team who meet regularly to litter pick on various places.  Around 15 of their folk (in green hi viz) and around 20 of ours (in yellow) plus a few curious neighbours, walked the streets and green areas near the church and filled a good forty or so bags with litter.. this area never looks that bad to me - today it practically gleamed! 

Another twenty to thirty folk stayed at church reflecting on Psalm 8, creating beautiful prayer posters and enjoying fellowship over a brew.

We were able to bless an asylum seeker with a bag of instant food (and a mug to make it in)... we were able to share some of the tomatoes from our community garden... we were treated to chocolate cake by a family who come annually to celebrate their daughters' birthdays... we sang 'All things Bright and Beautiful' from memory, a capella (with awesome harmonies!)... we were black and white and olive skinned, from many parts of Africa, from the Caribbean, from the USA, from Central and Eastern Europe, and from across the UK... young and old and everywhere in between.

Just occasionally church feels like a foretaste of heaven - and today was such a day. 

This poster on the door of the Sunday School cupboard sums it up perfectly...

I have become far too sedentary over the last two years, partly because on the days I work on Manchester I spend around four hours travelling, and partly because the days I work from home I get stuck to my desk.  So, when something landed in my inbox today suggesting I take on an exercise challenge for the charity Refugee Action, I was motivated enough to set myself the challenge to walk 250 miles in September - an average of a little over 8 miles a day  I am looking forward to making this happen - and have ideas for early starts on the days I work from home (as I did when doing a walking challenge in Glasgow during semi-lock-down) as well as getting in more walking the days I am in Manchester (when I currently average around 4 miles).

I am very fortunate, I get to choose whether or not to walk, where to walk, when to walk... other people have no choice but to walk, carrying their most precious possessions, fleeing danger or disaster and hoping that they will find someone, somewhere to take them in.

So, I have set myself the challenge to walk 250 miles and raise £250 during September.  Should you read this, and feel so inclined, you can sponsor me here.  And if you aren't able to sponsor, your kind thoughts are also valued.

Roughly every eight weeks, I meet with my Pastoral Supervisor to reflect on my practice using a broad scheme of 'soul, role and context'.  I travel by train, and, as the trains don't quite align to the meeting times, sometimes there's time for coffee in the cafe in the tiny shopping precinct.

This year, summer has been more than a smidgen bonkers for 'reasons' as the saying goes.  All is well with both roles but a lot of 'stuff' disrupted my plans for a chilled break.

As always, it was good to slow down for an hour, to unpick some of what's what and to realign or re-centre my mind, heart, soul for the weeks ahead. And today there was time for a skinny latte and a scone before catching the train homewards.

Hard to believe that, technically come Sunday, I have done two years in these new roles - but good to pause and think back at all that's been achieved in that time.

I've always firmly believed that nothing is wasted, and that my fifteen years in industry, mostly associated with assessing risk for hazardous industries, were part of God's equipping for ministry.

So far this week, I've done a risk assessment for a Community Litter Pick (using an excellent template from Keep Britain Tidy) and a risk assessment for an educational visit to a Cemetery using online guidance and examples of good practice.

It's been fun (cos I am just a tad weird) and I am pleased to be able to use these skills in these contexts.

Have I gathered up the equivalent of twelve baskets of leftovers in the last quarter of a century?  I don't know, but I think I have contributed in some small way to risk management along the way.    

For almost twenty years, I joked that I could only serve churches with the initials HBC, those being the shared initials of Dibley and The Gathering Place.  Neither of my current roles fits those initials, which usually doesn't matter, but it did mean that, today, I had to do a mini transformation challenge on the hi viz vest I had personalised when my last role required me to do premises checks on a closed building (hard hat, hi viz, steel toe caps).

This coming Sunday, Railway Town Baptists are holding a Community Litter Pick-nic (litter pick followed by picnic) and, per the risk assessment (excellent one available to download from Keep Britain Tidy) need a hi viz vest.  So, rather than buy a new one, I bought some reflective tape and set about modifying the existing one.

It's not the finest sewing ever, but I rather like that the sewing machine is on permanent loan from a former overseas missionary nurse, who had taken it with her to India many long years ago, and that the thread (a super match for the tape) was from a big bag full of spools gifted to me by someone I only know online.  I don't think Patrick and Esme can quite match that combination!

Anyway, the end result is now ready for Sunday, and I have lots of tape left to modify other things, should l so wish!