What can we learn from the army?

That's the army as in military not the army as in Church Army or Salvation Army.

A couple of days ago I was at a training event and one of the participants before he'd been ordained had served in the army. I found it interesting discussing patterns and styles of leadership with him and the insights that he brought from serving in the army. I also found it interesting to contrast his approach with the approach of a colleague I had known some years ago who also before ordination had served in the army, though several years earlier.

That earlier colleague ran his villages (he was vicar of about five different villages) as he would have run a military operation. The vicarage he referred to as HQ. He issued orders to the troops (the laity) and the expected those orders to be carried out. He was quite clear that he was in charge and that what he expected to be done would be done. His was the authority. He gave the orders. If he had too much to do, he delegated to others but it remained his task.

I found that an interesting contrast with the approach of the person who had served in the military more recently. The soldiers he worked with and was in command of were expected to use their initiative and training for whatever task they collectively were dealing with. They knew what had to be achieved and it was up to each of them to get on and do it without having every step was spelled out to them. They were expected to know what others within the platoon were doing and to do whatever was necessary to complement their colleagues work.

I find it interesting to see the change in the way that the army exercises leadership. In the church we pay lipservice to the idea that all called into ministry by virtue of their baptism but all too often we seem to act as though orders have to be given from HQ and nothing can be done by the laity unless and until that told to by someone with a dog collar.

The army has changed its way of exercising leadership. Can the church?

Do what you feel like

That was the advice given to me by my doctor. He confirms that I have pneumonia, but a "crackly" chest could have been much more serious. If I take things easy I should just get better over the next four to six weeks.
So what do I feel like doing?????

What's been happining

Somehow things have been slightly chaotic since my last posting.

I had a fascinating day in Stonesfield learning how a Community Land Trust had been able to play a part in ensuring that villages vitality by making housing available to local people at affordable rents. By keeping the decision making local they have been able to ensure housing that met the architectural & community needs and have been able to be versatile in allocating the housing.

I was, as usual, very impressed by the Young Farmers County rally. When young people are caricatured as being a "problem" it is good to see all that YF do and the positive contribution that young people make.

I've been a little off colour last week & my GP has signed me off work

sheep and stones

Two Sundays ago the readings were about Jesus as a shepherd. At Cotheridge and Wilden we thought about first century Palestinian shepherds who didn't have the the advantages of hedges and walls & who had to lead their sheep from pasture to pasture. It was a very much closer relationship & the role of the shepherd was very tough. One commentator recently said it's bad enough the many modern western Christians have cuddly images of sheep. It's even worse that they have cuddly images of shepherds. Jesus & cuddly don't go together!

Last week was a certain amount of reviewing where I am - a meeting with my spiritual director, another with my line manager. The week also included meetings about the Three Counties Show, celebrating different ethnic groups, preparing bids for funding from the English Rural Development Plan and being after dinner speaker at Tenbury NFU annual dinner.

This Sunday I was at Bishampton and Knightwick and we focussed on the reading in 1Peter where he talks about being built together as living stones. It always strikes me as a wonderful image of both individuality (& that we're all different) and community (that we belong together) having different complementary roles.

walking with

The gospel reading for last Sunday was the disciples on the road to Emmaus discovering that in their confusion it had been Jesus walking with them. This is the philosophy of Farm Crisis Network, and formed the basis of my sermons at Knightwick chapel and at Catshill.
Ironically I have had occasion to phone PC World rather a lot recently. They tell me my motherboard has failed & have sold me a new computer. So far I am distinctly underwhelmed by Vista!
PC World's automated impersonal phone message greets you with "PC World, with you every step of the way..." before inviting you to press button 1, 2, 3.... and eventually speaking to a human being who refers you to a website or another helpline.
I'm sure Jesus, being with the disciples every step of the way, was much more help!

more bits and pieces

Sunday I was taking a baptism service in Dudley. That was fine in theory, but

• we we're out for a meal with friends on Saturday night making us later than we might otherwise have been
  
• we got home to find that one of the dogs had got a dose of the trots & the floor needed cleaning. He had us up 3 more times in the night.
  
• The clocks changed and we lost an hour.
• Dudley is an hour away
• I hadn't seen the order of service I was using
• The heating in the church wasn't working...

In the event it all worked out well. For the sermon I talked with the baptism families about what they wanted their children to grow into. A part from the inevitable "rich" and the rather obscure "a biker" it was things like healthy, happy, lovable, content... This, I suggested was all about wholeness and what the risen Jesus in the morning's gospel reading was offering to the disciples was "shalom", wholeness and so much more than the rather ineffectual word used in most translations of "peace". That is what the risen Jesus still offers.

The rest of the week was supposed to be a bit quieter.

Monday I had a meeting with colleagues in the local churches. That evening we had friends visit. She's been off work with what her GP would like to call OFSTEDitis. The number of people in education I meet who have been badly damaged by successive governments' rather pathetic attempts to raise classroom standards is frightening. I wish someone would do some detailed research into how many teachers have significant problems with stress.

Tuesday we celebrated the feast of St Joseph - normally 19 March it was moved this year because of the date of Easter. April Fool's day is appropriate. What Mary had to tell Joseph, "An angel told me I'm going to have a baby and the Father is God," is significantly less plausible than many April Fools. Yesterday evening there was an NFU meeting

Today I caught up with some correspondence, went to the livestock market and had a meeting about delivering mental health support to people in rural areas.

The good news is that the dog's digestion has improved.
The bad news is the cough/cold that I struggled with over Easter and thought I was rid of has come back.

taken by surprise

The numbers of people who came to "Countrytastic" was more than I think anyone anticipated. Expecting around 1,000 for this first year there must have been about two and half times that number - and it seems that all of them wanted to do some of the activities we had arranged.
We, or rather they, ground barley into flour and made barley bread. They decorated eggs - about 400. They iced hot cross buns - another 400. They made haroset - working with children a recipe that is supposed to end up looking like mud has to be a winner. They made mince pies - the original shape of mince pies was manger shaped. They saw eggs hatching pout.
The day was exhausting, as one volunteer said, "I was waiting for lull, but they just kept coming."
The place was simply full with children. The day was part of the Year of Food and Farming and this was an excellent way to help make links with food and faith.




This photo isn't out of focus - it's blurred to protect the children's identity on the net! But you can still see how busy it was.

clergy clapping out????

Wednesday the local clergy chapter had a quiet day at Glasshampton Monastery. It probably says something about clergy work load that mid afternoon , most of us were have a snooze - or perhaps a "power nap".
That same issue of busyness was part of Bishop David's sermon at the Maundy Thursday Communion. There is a screen saver that says "Jesus is coming............ Look Busy!"
That's a mistake. Jesus is coming.... Look loved, look freed, look whole.
He's absolutely right of course, but easier said than done. Coming home from the quiet day, I discovered that one of the dogs had collapsed & needed a trip to the vet. Thursday after the Communion service I discovered that the flour mill I had arranged to pick up wasn't where it ought to have been & so there was a 100 mile round trip to collect it.
And now I'm arguing with a cold.

Perhaps if I were more organised

I would write this up more regularly! Since the last post activities included

• a meeting of Diocesan Synod. Believe it or not this was useful and enjoyable! We've inched closer to having a Diocesan environmental strategy. We're moving towards being a fairtrade diocese. This was Bishop John's first time at a Worcester Diocesan Synod and his presidential address outlined a vision for the church that resonated with me.
  
• the following day (morning) telling punters in the pew what had happened at synod and (evening) talking about farmers as those who care for the earth. They fulfill the mandate give to Adam in the Genesis 2 creation narrative
• a meeting trying to shape the way that European money is spent in Worcestershire
• a training session at the market for potential chaplaincy team members. Fascinating conversation with the auctioneer. What I hadn't realised is that when last year lamb and cattle prices had collapsed, prices for cull ewes (older sheep selling as mutton) had remained firmer. The reason being that cull ewes sell through halal slaughter houses. The supermarkets are not involved and there is genuine competition.
• held the Chaplaincy AGM
• been on a conference ab0out rural life and church. The item for concern is that we're talking about the same issues now as we were ten years ago - affordable housing, low paid agricultural jobs, withdrawal of services.... It makes you wonder what we've actually achieved in that period
• been to the market where people were actually quite cheerful!
• had a Sunday off from leading worship and went to the cathedral
  

Oh, and some silly beggar in an articulated lorry didn't read the weight restriction signs at the bottom of the road!

meanwhile back at the livestock market

prices are much better! Lamb at around 137p per kilo is nearly twice what it was before Christmas when things were really bad. Still much concern about the impact of TB and the Government's reluctance to grasp the nettle & allow a badger cull. Bluetongue movement restrictions still cause problems and worry about how that disease is likely to spread as the midges become more active.