Last night was our 'spring term' cluster meeting.  Whilst it is great that our cluster functions - at least for four of our churches - they are always slightly odd affairs.  Once we have reviewed the diary - one year a joint cluster service, next a cluster pulpit swap - we move onto sharing and praying for each other.  This is good, it is, honestly.  It is just also (a) very predictable and (b) that weird combination of funny and infuriating.

Here is the cream of last night's little gems...

Church No 1 proudly reported the new decoration of "the minister's vestry, school room and toilets" which do indeed look very attractive now they've been refurbished.  Just a shame that the floor in the school room is rotten and the walls are riddled with damp.  With a slightly more pastoral hat on, I guess it is always easier to do the things we feel we can manage, that lift our spirits, than to face the slog of largely unseen foundational work.  It just reminds me of how shocked my own folk were when our building - which had on the whole been kept well decorated - had to be closed because behind the paint was a century of neglect.

Church No 2 spoke of their interregnum and even said thay had appointed a moderator because they didn't have a minister.... oops, didn't have a full time minister.  I felt a moment of anger on behalf of their half-time, specialist Associate Minister who was sitting in the meeting being somewhat denigrated by the remark.  To appoint a moderator to relieve her of the additional burden of overseeing the calling of the person who will effectively become her superior is fine, to say thay don't have a minister isn't.   They then spoke of the process, and how it was exciting to think that somewhere was a minister sensing this and saying to his wife "do you know what, darling, I think the Lord is calling us to move."  At this point I had to bite my tongue hard, though did say 'or she.'  In our little cluster female ministers are it at the moment - there are three of us, all 'four year olds', and all working hard.  So why do our folk still think ministers are automatically married men? Grrrr.

There is a lot of good stuff happening in our area - lots of mission in many modes.  There is also a lot of change afoot - from an LEP review to an interregnum to looking at the long term future.  Of the four churches, three of us are dealing with big pastoral issues affecting our younger members and wondering how to resource the work to which are committed.  And this is where our cluster becomes so good - it is when eight or nine women (there were no men, ministers or otherwise at the meeting) share, listen and pray together that the dream of Assocation begins to come true, and where two or three (churches) gather the Shekina is present.