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  • Joyfully Messy...

    Today's Messy Sunday School saw our biggest numbers yet - nine children aged 3 to 10 - and it was joyful, messy, fun and full of hope.

    Whilst we were making a colourful coat collage, hearing the story of Joseph from the OT, making and sharing sandwiches, finger painting and thinking about how families come in all shapes and sizes, the adults were having something of a Roger Jones fest, with hymns and songs from his musicals.

    When I arrived here almost two years ago, Sunday School was weekly with one or two children, and congregations were in the mid-twenties.  Now we are anywhere up to ten children, with Sunday School being monthly, and congregations regularly well in to the forties.  It's certainly messy... and complicated (have to remember which week we are on!)... and it's joyful, colourful and is a reminder that God isn't finished with us yet!

      

  • Summer Suns are Glowing...

    ... and today I effectively 'break up' from my College job until mid-August, having staggered my two sets of leave so that I get two half and three full weeks of rest, relaxation and refreshment.

    It's really hard to believe I have now completed two academic years, and almost two calendar years in my bi-vocational ministry, and only now do I have any sense of starting to get the hang of it!  As I look back, I reckon I've done okay... I spent yesterday and today doing a lot of emails and admin tasks, along with a little bit of planning/organising into next academic year for my Vicar School job, and found myself thinking, yeah, I really am contributing something of worth here (I'm an ISTJ and an Enneagram 1, so being hard on myself is a 'go to', this is me being positive about what I've done!).

    Another week of churchy stuff before my break, and some similar reflections there - yup, I and we are doing okay, lots of good stuff, lots to be thankful for.

    Not going 'away away' this year, but lots of little things to look forward to including an overnight in London, a day trip to Bute (only me!), an exhibition at Manchester museum, and a day on the edge of the Peak District.   Just some space to slow down, rest, reflect, and be re-created feels like a 'good thing'... and whether or not the sun continues to glow, I am pretty sure that it will be good.