... for a few days as, along with countless other ministers and students of theology, I am off to a conference.  This week I have a friend learning Greek from scratch in Nottingham, most of my Manchester peers are at a summer school in Bristol and I am heading to Prague to give a conference paper which has given me more headaches than enough!  I'm trying to work out why it was never this hard work preparing to deliver to a load of engineers and scientists!  (I have some thoughts on that one but they are too dull to share) Anyway, I'm sure it'll be fun with some interesting people to meet and/or catch up with - and a little quieter in blogworld.

This afternoon I went out to dismantle the sign outside our defunct building - afterall if it sells this Friday (please...) then this needs to happen.  I'd had a look, noted the rusted state of the nuts and their varying shapes and sizes (typical chapel bodge job) so got out a nice big adjustable wrench, a hammer to whack it with, and psyched myself up for some fun.

Adjusting my trusty wrench to fit the first nut, I decided to check how hard it was going to be to loosen it - and it was barely hand tight!  In under five minutes, with no hammering needed, I had the job done and simply had to 'walk' the offending article (which was too heavy for me to lift) along the side of the building where I abandoned it behind locked gates.  I'm glad the job proved feasible, but I'd have like the sign to put up just a little bit of resistance!  Why is it 5 minutes jobs takes several hours and those that ought to be a good challenge are trivial?

I'm not sorry the sign is down - the weeds next door as as tall as, if not taller than, I am - not quite the image we want to give of the church...

When I was a teenager, my brothers used to delight in telling me that I wouldn't get double points for going to church twice on the same day.  They may well have been right, but I used to enjoy the very different feel of morning and evening services.  Today I went three times, to three different churches, so I'm not sure what kind of point collector that must make me!  It was an interesting experience, to be with three very different congregations with very different 'feels', and each one in its own way special.

The morning was at GB church (D+2) and was family worship.  It is a very informal fellowship with lots of bits of drama and interaction with the congregation.  There is a worship band, a wide age range and typically a congregation of around 50-60. It is a light and bright place to be and it's usually fun.

The afternoon was my own folk and a very different feel.  The format was unusual for us, with sung chants without the words available and, as one person commented, the first time he'd ever sat down all through a service. A few people really engaged with the theme, and the atmosphere was quite good, though the familiar grumblers grumbled in familiar fashion!  As it was the first weekend of the school holidays I began with 18 chairs so that people would sit together - and eventually got up to 30 by the time we began!

Then the evening with the Penties in town who I love because they are a very authentic group of people, who can share the highs and lows of life with one another.  The endless 'ay-mens' don't quite do it for me, and some of the shouted exclamations are not my thing, it is a fairly comfortable place to worship.  I find it odd, in this day and age, to have people take notes during my sermon, but they are always gracious and appreciative of what I offer them.

As I left the evening service I spoke to a couple of Anglicans who were visiting (from nearby) who commented that they like to go there occasionally for something a bit different from their routine.  Going "visiting" does (at least) two things for me:

It reminds of  incredible diversity of Christian worship

It helps to remind me of what I value in my own little church

 

But today, I have to give extra points to the Penties who closed by singing 'Immortal, Invisible' a hymn that brought back powerful, and positive, memories of some of my earliest experiences of leading worship as a 15 year-old when the older members of the GB and BB were sent to take services at the local old people's home (as they were called in those days).  When it was GB's turn, two of us would go along, with my friend's boyfriend who played the piano for us, whilst she chose the Bible reading and I did the prayers!  James' repetoire seemed to consist almost solely of 'Immortal, Invisible' and 'The Day Thou Gavest' and whenever I sing them I am transported back to that place and time when I wasn't earning points for extra attendance but I was learning skills I'd later need!

All in all, points or no points, a positive day.

I've enoyed watching the first two episodes of 'Last Choir Standing' which have felt altogether more gentle and more affirming than so much of what we see by way of talent competitions.  Whilst we see the judges making some stern remarks, there is none of the outright aggression (even if it is allegedly pantomime) seen in other competitions.

There are some truly amazing choirs - notably a couple of the larger all-male choirs - some who are quirky and there are some that appeal to that British love of the underdog.  But what really shines through is that these are groups of people who do more than just sing for an hour once a week - they are intentional-communities, united by their love of music and engaged, to some level, with each other's lives.  It has been telling how many of the older singers told of joining choirs after life-partners had died and how many others speak of the life line in times of crisis (though of course we don't hear from the ones whose lives go relatively smoothly).  I'm not completely niave though - I know that choirs, like churches, have their share of awkward so-and-sos and can be places of dischord rather than harmony, but it is refreshing to hear uplifting stories.

It will be interesting to see how the competition pans out.  I hope that the seeming underdogs aren't being set up to fail alongside the giants, I hope the judges don't turn mean (though I doubt they will) and I hope above all that something of the inherent good of humanity can be celebrated.

It is sometimes really good to step back and reflect on the distance we have come as a congregation here in deepest, darkest Dibley.  When we moved out of our building almost four years ago we opted for an afternoon service time as a compromise to offend everyone equally and maximise the number who would continued to attend.  yes, we've lost about 6 folk as a result but we've also gained two regulars and has a few who were 'in transit.'  Despite everything, it has worked.

However, recently there has much grumbling among the 50-somethings who feel it takes too big a chunk out of their day, argue (without evidence) that it hampers mission and would like it reviewed.  At the same time, being more charitable, we have become a far more frail group of people and somehow a little more open to each others needs as well as out preferences.  Against this background, we've just entered out first service time review for about 18 months! When we left the building they were initially every 6, and before that of course about once every new building...

I had some very mixed feelings about how the discussion would go, because I knew there were strong views and that a few folk could dominate if given half a chance.  So, I split people in to groups of 3 or 4 to discuss pros and cons of different sections of that day 'morning' 'afternoon' and 'evening' and then in a plenary got them to share what was good and bad about each.  Some did not get the idea straightaway, in response to 'what is good about option x' telling me why they didn't like it, but we got there, with people telling each other why it might actually be good to have services at different times and why their own favoured times might not be so good.

Next I invited anyone to share any ideas, however daft they might be, of ways forward and one person suggested we could meet at different times on different weeks - on a planned basis - suggesting two weeks morning and two weeks afternoon (winter) or evening (summer).  She did a great job, was really positive in describing her idea, and as one of the more traditional folk had more credibility than I'd have had making that suggestion.  I'd like to say everyone was delighted and saw all the potential but they didn't.  In local fashion, every possible pitfall and problem was quickly identified and voiced BUT - and this is the good bit - the idea was not dismissed out of court.  Although most people present said they'd prefer a morning service every week, they recognised that they were not entirely representative of the full membership and that it would be good to canvass everyone who worship with us on their views before progressing too much further.

What really delighted me was the draft letter/poll prepared for circulation tomorrow by the person whose idea it was. Titled 'How Bold Are We As A Church?' it then goes on to ask 'As a church are we prepared to try something innovative and different?'  WOW!  I am fairly sure that five years ago no one would have ever said something like that in a church circular and now it arising quite naturally 'from the floor.'

Recently I commented to a friend that we've change from, when I arrived, being a church 'where don't do that' through being one where people asked me 'is it alright if...' to one where now people are starting to say, in an open but confident way 'it's alright if I do this isn't it?'

I'm not going to pretend everything in the garden is roses or that I never wish I could find that missing page from Leviticus that gives the appointed leader the mandate to knock heads together every now and then, but in terms of measuring something of the distance we've run, I reckon it's not half bad!

As for the service time review - I won't be surprised if it sticks at 3pm weekly for a good while yet!  (Notwithstanding that we can't change anything before January due to existing commitments....)