Eight years ago this weekend, I was inducted as minister of the Gathering Place.  At the first Sunday service, we planted some hyacinth bulbs and I spoke about new beginnings (like you do!).  Since then we have shared in all sorts of adventures, joys and sorrows, disappointments and delights, experiments and innovations.  For me, it has been a great eight years, and I look forward to many more to come (were anyone in any doubt, my plans for redecorating and adding more fitted furniture to the manse hopefully demonstrate that)

Twenty years ago, I was baptised as a believer in Warrington Baptist Church, a fellowship that has had its fair share of challenges and tragedies, as well as moments of joy and wonder.  It was a very special day, and I cherish the memories of the people who were there and the love we shared.  Within a few weeks I'd experienced an incredibly profound sense of calling to ordained ministry, and two years later moved to Manchester to start training.

Both my previous church, at Dibley, and the Gathering Place have their church anniversaries (no longer marked) at the start of October.  Gathering Place is 134 years old, Dibley 262... That's a lot of Sundays, a lot of sermons and prayers, a lot of Church Meetings, a lot of laughter and tears, frustration, deliberation, innovation, congregation... And I am proud and privileged to be part of the story of these two church who, in life, share the same initials.

Happy birthday, churches... and happy dunkiversary to me!

This morning we had a service without a sermon - quite deliberately - and it seemed to work quite well.  The logic was that we had a church meeting to follow the service and the timing was important.

We had all the essentials - call to worship, sung praise, prayers of approach and confession, scripture readings, intercessions and communion itself.  By careful (I was going to say skillful but that sounds self-congratulatory) choice of hymns and crafting of the liturgy, we were enabled to reflect privately on the theme, which had been tailored to fit with the main agenda item of the meeting.

It all seemed to go well - both service and meeting - with a nice 'warm' atmosphere.  Lots of exciting little green shoots emerging... definite signs of God's activity.

It's lovely to see people posting their favourite poems on blogs and social media today - a veritable feast for anyone who enjoys poetry.  I'm not sure that I have a favourite, rather there are many that I treasure, as much as anything, for the associations they hold.  Even so, in the general spirit of the day, I'm going to share this, which is one of my favourite Christmas poems, and a short reflection of why it is so...

BC:AD

by U A Fanthorpe

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.
 
This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.
 
This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.
 
And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect.
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.
  

I guess part of the reason I love this poem is my own experience of a BC:AD paradigm shift (Before Cancer: After Diagnosis) amidst the mundane ordinariness of life when everyione else just got on with doing what they were doing.  I love it, too, for sense of serendipity as the farm workers and the Persians (three? Probably not!) haphazardly wander into the Kingdom of Heaven... this seems to reflect my own experience that, often, it's not the planned or overtly spiritual times and places where I encounter God, but the unexpected 'hmmm' moments when something resonates, or several ideas coalesce and I glimpse again the mystery of the faith that shapes my life.

Well, sort of, yes, at least in so far as I've just sent a whole van load of stuff to a charity from my home - and they seem genuinely thrilled with what I've given them.

I still have some books to go to Oxfam and some bric-a-brac to go to Cats Protection, but the bulk of the stuff has gone to Tomorrow's People, a charity that seeks to help young people into employment who might otherwise find it very difficult.  They have a large 'furniture and more' shop near where I live, and it's good to know that my spare stuff will bring hope and joy to others.

I look forward to my less clutttered home, and a more 'grown up' life style once I've got properly straight again.  It's all good.

Today I have a wonderfully accommodating electrician working really hard to install a new isolator ready for the arrival of my new induction hob next week.

In theory, it was a straight forward job - cut a hole, route through a heavy duty cable, add an isolator.  But, like Topsy, these things just grow and become more complex.

'Interesting' design features of the flat mean that he has had to create a new pathway for the cabling between the ceiling and the structure above it... but the gap is tiny and here and there are strange obstacles to be overcome.

He has remained good humoured and really is working his socks off to get it done, even going so far as to recommend someone to make good the plaster work where he's had to cut through.  So far, I am very impressed... and looking forward to my kitchen once it's all complete.

Note to self, though, nothing is ever as simple or straight forward as it seems!