I have just picked up the news that Revd Peter Grange, former Regional Minister of East Midlands Baptist Association, died this evening.

Peter was a very special person, and I for one am very grateful to have known him, albeit far too briefly.  He had a wonderful, mischievous sense of fun, incredible wisdom and endless patience.  He was a wonderful accompanier of newly accredited ministers, a skilled team leader and a good friend of my little church.  He will be much missed.

Prayers are with his widow Janet and his daughters at this sad time, and also with members of the church to which he belonged, especially Pastor Bob who has to balance his own sense of loss with pastoral responsibilities.

One lesser known aspect of Peter's ministerial story is that he was Senior Student at Northern in 1971, a time when the college, its principal and inevitably its students had an incredibly tough time from others in the Union.  As we compared notes, as two former Senior Students during times when there were tricky issues around (though the ones in my day were microscopic in comparison), I was struck both by the deep respect Peter had for Michael Taylor and the wisdom and grace that, even as a young man, marked his approach to a very difficult and painful situation.  I wonder how many in the other networks of which Peter was a part could have shown such profound grace and maturity.  Truly, in Peter we saw a 'man after the Lord's own heart.'

So, here I am, back home after the Ministers' Conference which was good fun on the whole, and also a privilege to be part of organising.

I enjoyed listening to two very different speakers, each of whom made me think about different things in very different ways and to different extents.  It was pleasure and privilege to take responsibility for the quiet room, which proved to be a haven for people who needed to hide away at various times; some left behind art work which expressed profound emotions and struggles, and the depth and breadth of theological understandings and spiritual yearnings which for them, made parts of the conference difficult or uncomfortable.  I am glad they felt safe enough to express and then to leave behind these items.  My task is not to agree or disagree with the sentiments expressed but to offer the creators needs to the Creator of us all.

We shared in some profound acts of worship, we shared some struggles and tensions of ministry, we laughed with each other and at some of the ridiculous aspects of church life.  There were 'moments' of course, because we are human and finite, we did not all agree on everything (as Baptists don't) but I do believe that for all our diversity, and all our struggles with come issues and some people, we all care about each other and long to serve Christ where we are located.  And for that I'm truly grateful.

A few things that made me smile...

• Someone mistaking my glass of apple & blueberry J2O for half a pint of red wine and being rather shocked (... as if; it'd have to be a pint (not))
• Someone commenting on the use of scripture to close down arguments and then alluding to comments on specks and logs with the words "I seem to recall Jesus saying something about that" (... albeit with a slight twinkle in his eye at the time)
• The very concept of mouth to mouth resuscitation on a frog!

There were a few deeply privileged moments too, moments when the nature of ministry is clearer and I am reminded that this is not what I do, it is who I am.