I looked up and realised I had spent about four hours checking, correcting, printing, folding and collating stuff for the vicar school retreat. Very grateful to Sasha for your quality checks!

Looking forward to some time spent away from computers and phones (at least mostly) and taking time simply to be rather than to do... at least as much as my job allows anyway!

Today I spent a little bit of time searching back through blog archives to find this photo (from May 2011) as it is me in my original 'Offensive'(TM) tee-shirt. (I know the photo is blurred as it's overstretched by the web platform; I have yet to track down the original from my files archive)

I am pondering putting together a proposal for a short submission to a symposium for which it'll be a useful image... alongside one from 2024 of the equivalent purple tee-shirt.

Watch this space!

As the academic year (at least term time) draws to is end, I am starting to reflect on how my 'normal' working patterns have panned out... 

Fair to say, it  hasn't been easy as both roles need flexibility in order to fit around the diverse needs of church and college.  It is even meaning that this year I'll be taking a major whack of my annual leave all on one month - not ideal on so many levels, but there we go.

Today is pretending to be Thursday (with a few Monday interruptions) and Thursday will pretend to be Monday... or something like that anyway.

I'm enjoying the challenge of working bi-vocationally (and wondering how on earth anyone manages a portfolio ministry)... I just need to get better at booking my downtime, which I think should be easier next academic year once I have a better sense of how academic and liturgical calendars mesh (or don't!).

I guess this possibly means that August is going to be a month of (non-preaching) Sundays?   

Many years ago, I heard a speaker at a Scottish Baptist Assembly use the phrase 'outrageous generosity' to describe something of the character of God.  I loved it, then, I love it now.

Today, re-reading a bit of Moltmann, I came across the phrase (used pejoratively against his thinking back in the 1970s) of an 'obstreperous theology of hope'.  I love that phrase too, and will be using it in some prayers I'm leading tomorrow.

Put them together and it's yet more wonderful... an obstreperous theology of hope in the God who is outrageously generous... I think I like that as concept to ponder for some time to come.

It's a fairly small part of my book case, but it's a significant one - Jurgen Moltmann, whose death at the age of 98 is being reported on social media, was - is - a significant and thoughtful theologian.  I remember reading both 'The Crucified God' and 'The Church in the Power of the Spirit' for undergrad essays.  I can't recall what either book said or what I wrote, but I do know that it mattered and made a difference to my thinking/understanding/theologising.

Moltmann's words will long outlast him, as they continue to challenge, inspire and educate new generations of theologians and ministers.