The Advent Conspiracy is, so far as I can ascertain, a US initiative, but the message of this video works as well in a UK context...

One rather crazy SHEPHERDESS attired in SHEEPDOG collar along with the first of our knitted sheep, a ewe called Glynis.  Shortly I will be off out in search of adoptive homes for our (not yet knitted) FLOCK ready for our Messy Nativity Sheep trail in the first two weeks of December.  As children are wont to say 'I can't wait'.  So cold calling on a dozen retail outlets in my 'Barbie gets Religion' clerical shirt... but who could resist those eyes and that lovely black face...?

 UPDATE - five stores already visited, and some lessons in marketing learned (so back to the ranch SHEEPFOLD to produce more detailed info sheets).  One said yes immediately, three others have staff eagerly waiting to tell their managers/marketing departments all about it, and one practically begged me to contact head office who they "are sure will say yes"... 

The looks on the faces of the people as I showed them Glynis were a joy to behold!

Time for lunch now!!

FURTHER UPDATE

All twelve 'first pass' retailers visited.

Two signed up straight away - both part of national chains with some local autonomy.  Interesting.

One blank refusal - "company policy; no charity stuff".  Shook the dust from my feet and moved on.

Eight info packs handed to staff, seven really enthusiastic, the other willing to pass info to the manager later on when he arrives.

One head office contacted - awaiting reply.

Really interesting to see who "got" it and who didn't - let's hope the replies come back soon.

Next steps... identify a second batch of outlets/attractions; plan follow up visits/contact to the nine interested outlets.

A good job jobbed, methinks.

Today has been busy and enjoyable, and quite diverse, from finishing the service for Sunday, to preparing the Bible study for Monday, to handling some admin, to some pastoral work, to an enjoyable evening concert by a local male voice choir. 

Tomorrow I'm off up north-er to give a paper to a group of Baptists interested in history, then on Sunday it's two services and a meeting.

Quite a lot happening one way and another in the coming week, and working patterns a bit topsy turvy, but it's all good as the saying goes.  However, it may mean a bit blog light, so panic not!

One way of reading the 'turn the other cheek' mandate, is that it subverts the action of the perpetrator, and shows them for what they really are...  This seems to do just that.

It struck me recently that I must have written well over 500 sermons since I began preaching (it may be nearer a thousand but I haven't the inclination to check!).  A small number of those were general purpose ones, designed to be touted around various churches as part of my 'College Sundays' responsibilities, but most are one-offs, written, delivered and (usually) kept on the computer 'just in case' I want to use them again.  Occasionally I do.  And occasionally I look at past ones to see if I am merely repeating the same thing as last time this congregation landed that topic.  Now and then I will be tapping away and into my head pops a picture of me saying almost the same words to such-and-such a congregation.

Usually, my approach to preparing my sermons is pretty much the same - read the passage(s), note my initial reactions, probably undertake some exegesis, read some commentaries, read the guidance notes in the syllabus we are following, gather my ideas, look for a shape, mix in a bit of prayer (that ought to be taken as read but it seems ministers are obliged to tell everyone they pray, which always feels a bit street corner hypocrite to me, but tyg) and then sit at my computer to start typing.

I'm never quite sure what kind of preacher I am - kind of expository meets tentative I think.  I don't do funny stories or emarrassing anecdotes, I don't do a gazillion Biblical cross references (that was drummed out of me very early on!), I don't usually do political or topical, though what's in the news is always on my thought horizon.  Usually it is pretty straght forward, linear, scientific, porgession of ideas.

Every now and then, I do something different.  Using a loosely Ignatian approach, I have retold stories from the imagined perspective of one of the characters.  Very occasionally, I have employed discussion approaches.  And just once or twice I have eschewed comment, and instead read BIG chunks of Bible with space to let it speak for itself.

So why I am writing this?  Partly because nearly ten years in from leaving 'vicar school' I am tired.  Sometimes I do all the work, all the mulling, all the holy stuff, and still when I sit down at my computer the words refuse to come.  Partly because I wonder if I have, maybe, allowed myself to get into a rut of almost always delivering stuff in broadly the same style.  Partly because I think it does no harm to reflect on my own processes of preparation.

Yesterday evening, I met with two of my folk to prepare some props for Sunday.  We chatted about all sorts of stuff, ate together and we had some fun.  I jokingly proposed a scary moral tale to tell the children (which will not be used).  In passing we mentioned the service and some of the tensions it creates.  That was sermon prep.

This morning, I sat at home, with my laptop, preparing the PowerPoint presentation that will accompany aspects of our service.  I surfed the net finding images, ripped a CD, adjusted layouts, checked timings.  That was sermon prep.

I'm not daft enough to call everything sermon prep.  This morning I have printed documents for this afternoon's Bible study, transferred files from laptop to 'cloud' which need to be printed off at church;   I read the Baptist Times news sweep, checked emails, made coffee and finally wrote a blogpost.  These are clearly not sermon prep, and I'm not going to pretend they are.  But as I did them, somewhere deep inside me, the ideas have mulled away and hopefully, when I sit down to pick up where I left off yesterday, with a half-formed sermon, the ideas will flow, and a sermon will emerge once more.