Catriona
26 October 2007
I have had this blog for as near as makes no odds two years, so it's about time I wrote a new biography thingy.
The bare bones - I'm a forty-something female Baptist minister who used to be an engineer, so I have to assume God has a strange sense of fun. I am a very 'risk averse' person among whose fears are electrocution and drowning - so why was I an engineer in electricity generation and now a minister in a tradition that dunks people? Hmm. I also don't like edges, literal or metaphorical, being afraid of falling off. Bit of a coward really...
So, given the above, it demonstrates God's humour that I am serving a small, older congregation who were forced to close an old high maintenance building nearly three years ago, and have since been worshipping in a school hall. Once a month we gather anything up to 70 older folk in a garden centre cafe for lunch, an intiative we began two years ago. This year we also started a monthly pub-based intitiative and one of my boasts is that I am probably the only TT minister of a pub-congregation. Since moving out of our building we have become much more mission minded and host community events at Pentecost and Christmas - attracting anything from 100 to 300 people
The church has changed dramatically since I arrived. Our worship retains the strengths of traditional patterns but has a much more contemporary feel. We sing hymns and songs from diverse sources, usually with a short 'praise block' near the start of the service. We have a rota of Bible readers and folk to lead our intercessory prayer, which we see as very important, and I am trying to encourage our lay preachers to employ their skills now and then in our own services. Mostly we still have a traditional sermon, but sometimes we have reflections and even activities to get involved with. Usually we sit in rows but we have tried meeting in the round or around tables, cafe style. We haven't yet got to the 'expect the unexpected' stage but no one panics any more. Recently I was told that my services can be 'strange' but are never 'boring' - I think that's a compliment!
If I had to sum up what I'm about as a minister in one sentence it'd probably be that "faith without deeds is dead" (James 2: 26b) requires a lived response as 'mission in many modes' (David Bosch).
When I'm not being a minister or blogging, I am kept busy with other interests... a part time doctorate in Practical Theology, being a Girls' Brigade leader, walking long distance footpaths with a friend, reading, listening to music (and occasionally playing it too), eating chocolate (which I try to avoid doing too often) and drinking lattes and tea.
So there you have it! Hope you enjoy my blog, but don't take it too seriously.
PS If you are wondering about the title of my blog - I enjoy the odd fairtrade latte, and the skinny milk is meant to help control my expanding waistline. Food courts everywhere are pretty similar (a Post Modern phenomenon apparently) but are also great places to pause a while, watch the world go by and spend a bit of time thinking about all manner of stuff before rushing on with life. Some of my best undergraduate essays started life as notes written on paper serviettes whilst I supped my weekly latte - it seemed only fitting that this oversized virtual paper serviette should be named to reflect a very happy and formative period in my life.