Today it's 22 years since my ordination as a Baptist minister.  As is my usually custom around this time of year, I am taking time to pause and reflect... on the call, so powerful and clear, six years earlier on 5 December1997... on the ordination service itself, full of hope and energy, excitement and certainty... on the ministry since then with all the highs and low, twists and turns that has brought... 

Looking back there are recurrent themes, themes that show me how God has woven, and is weaving, together the gifts and skills, personality and spirituality that I have been given with the unique yet strangely similar contexts in which that ministry has been, and is being, exercised.

2 Timothy 4: 1 - 9... the verses that I heard as God's call to me, in my mid thirties, to leave behind the security of a successful career in industry and start over as a Baptist minister... the verses in which I saw myself as the 'Timothy' to whom they were addressed.  The last time I revisited the verses, I realised that I am no longer Timothy but Paul, the older minister, who is approaching the end of their ministry (well, in about four years from now when I reach state pension age!) and the shift in role from learner to teacher, encourager, empowerer, enabler...

The best bits of ministry continue to be so much better than I ever think they could be, and the bad bits so very much worse... I still make mistakes, still learn, still find myself challenged and changed, and, as the inevitability of advancing years means less energy, less desire to innovate or experiment, I still rejoice in the call of the God  who is faithful and in whom all that is good is being renewed daily.

Photo is a screenshot from last Sunday when I was leading worship and then teaching reflective practice on Zoom .

At this time of year, I get up in the dark, even on WFH days, go out and come back in the dark, and risk never seeing the daylight.  So it was important this morning when glancing up from my computer I glimpsed a glorious sunrise to stop work and savour its beauty, because in a few minutes it would have gone.

I even went outside, feeling the chill air on my face, and the frost beneath my feet, to see it from another angle...

As the poet once wrote, 'what i this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare...'

This morning I am grateful for the wonder of the sunrise over a small town in the north of England.

The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem by Bridget Supple was recommended to me a friend who was once a Baptist Minister and is now a Midwife (some readers may deduce/guess who that is) and I absolutely loved it!

For sure, I could take issue with the anachronism of twenty-first century concepts projected back into a first century context.  I could cringe that the little Lord Jesus made no crying.  I could  get all antsy any how the author tackles the elision of of the Matthean and Lukan narratives.

Or, I could savour the rich story telling and the careful research into traditional childbirth, reclamation of women's voices and celebration of women's bodies.

I chose the latter, and it drew me into the familiar story in a different and interesting way, shining new light on both the gospel stories and the mystery of childbirth.

Well worth a read this Advent season, at least imo.     

Today I was teaching classes, on pastoral care and reflective practice, on Zoom , which meant I couldn't be at church, where wreath-making formed the centrepiece of the service.  The person leading the service left this beautiful one on my doorstep... pastoral care as inclusive gift-giving.

During the morning session, one of the participants asked if a specific - and important - topic would be covered in the class (which was material written by someone else).  When I checked, it wasn't so I spent my lunch break quickly finding good resources and preparing to facilitate some exploration around that topic.  At the end of the class someone commented that this was pastoral care...  and they were correct... the gift of time, knowledge (or at least where to find it!) and flexibility.

I always learn when I teach/train/facilitate and today was no exception.