Whoo, an email to say my thesis hardcopies have been received in Manchester and are now winging their way to the examiners.... Better start revising then, as that means the final examination by viva looms large!

Occasionally my friends in Dibley refer to themselves as the Midlands branch of the Gathering Place as the two churches share the same initials.  Whether that makes us Dibley Caledonian Thistle or them Gathering Place Albion Rose I'm not sure.  What I do know is that having served there, they are indelibly part of me.

The last couple of years have been hard for them, and today came news that one of them, my nearest neighbour when I lived there, had died in the night.  I had been in regular contact with this couple and over the weekend had the privilege to speak briefly to him on the phone, a memory I will treasure.

For now I weep with those who weep... and then being a good minister person pull myself together to care for those God has given me to love here.

If one part suffers the whole body suffers...

RIP D, may God uphold you B.

Now there's a blog title guaranteed to turn off half the readers before they even look at it!  But having just sent of my cheque for £53 to receive this denominational newspaper for another twelve months, it seemed apposite to ponder why it is that, so far, each year for around a dozen, I have made the choice to send such a payment.

Way back in 1998, and in the early stages of exploring my call to ordained ministry, I was advised by my then minister to take the BT as a way of learning more about how the denomination feels.  He was honest that he did not think it was that great a read, but it was useful to keep up to date with people and places.  Back then I think the BT had the feel of a church magazine writ large, lots of stories from local churches, a predictable letters page, twee poems or songs and, the dread of all ministers, a weekly column where randomly selected ministers were phoned to be asked their view on some current topic (so glad I wasn't a minister then!).

Since then the BT has steadily transformed itself to be a more interesting, more wide-ranging and more provoking read.  The predictable letters still appear from time to time from the predictable writers (do some people write in every week I wonder?) and some of the same old topics recur (like women in leadership or ministry, yawn) but overall I think the BT has improved dramatically.

A couple of things have proved especially helpful for me as a minister this year in responding to queries from church folk.

The first was last autumn, when the assisted suicide bill was being debated and some of my folk wondered where they could find resources to help them think it through.  The BT article and subsequent long-running correspondence provided a creative way of approaching the topic (supported by some Christian books for and against).

More recently, the proposals to allow places of worship in England to conduct same sex ceremonies provoked questions among some of my folk, and the BT articles and letters again proved useful in helping them think about this complex topic.

It is inevitable, but a shame, that the BT is essentially an 'England plus a bit of Wales' newspaper, reflecting the fact that it is an output of BUGB (sometimes referred to, affectionately, up here as the Baptist Union of England!).  A shame because my church (like two others up here) belongs to BUGB as well as BUS; a shame because I think BUS and BUW have voices worth hearing and ears capable of hearing with.

That the BT has changed, become a little more radical, a little more edgy, a little more broad in the last decade is, I believe a great thing.  I still like reading stories from local churches (and have submitted plenty of my own), seeing who has moved or been ordained or died; I still like the letters page, even if it sometimes drives me nuts; I like the Association based pull outs (how about one for the un-Associated churches sometimes?) and even if the Alpha One Paper doesn't do it for me it's good that it's there for those it serves.

For £53, just over a pound a week, I reckon the BT is worth buying - I mean where else could I get all the useful goss, I mean prayer pointers, at that price?!

Someone asked me a fortnight ago if I was on a staged or phased return to work.  I nearly laughed aloud - ministry doesn't work like that.  I replied that I was back full time but that I was free to determine the shape of that.

Me and my big mouth!  This week suddenly everything has gone manic.  Good job I like my work and am generally fit and well I guess.

Not working the kind of hours I once did, but still life is busy, busy, busy.

And I love it, even the tough bits which give me nightmares!

Oh yes, and I posted that flippin' thesis today.  Hurrah!  (The gold letters look very impressive)

Well, it was tea actually, but it doesn't make for such a snappy title!

Today the mysterious 'A' and I met in the real world for the first time.  Alice and her husband are up in Scotland visiting relies and looking at possible houses ahead of their move up here for her to train at SBC with BUGB.

We met at a place called Cup which is near the Gathering Place and is a great 'treat' place as they sell a vast range of cupcakes (though the gingerbread one which I really want to try seems always to be 'off').

It was good to hear something of her story, good to find another female engineer (and in her case pilot) who was called to ordained ministry and great that God is bringing more 'girls' this way...

Alice is also a blogger, but of a different kind - she has a photo blog here which is worth a look see.

HT to Sue for linking us up after she and Alice met at Baptist Assembly.