Grass boards, boats and lawnmowers

One of the advantages of having a teenager staying is that you do things you wouldn't normally do. We had my niece staying with us and so for the first time in my life I've been grass boarding. Yes, all that safety equipment IS necessary. My ribs are starting to recover!

We also went to the brine baths at Droitwich. It is as salt as the Dead Sea, and is supposed to be very good for bruising and muscle strain. A good place to go after my escapades on the grass board.

We had a motor boat on the Avon from Evesham. Working the locks was a challenge with painful ribs.

We also had an afternoon when the Young Farmers when they were lawn mower racing. They were very competitive and how they kept some of the machines going showed great engineering skills.

Flower pots or concrete bollards?

I've just been for a week's holiday in Budapest enjoying the sunshine, the spas, the F1 grand prix, the restaurants...
I was struck by the similarity of the Hungarian Parliament building with the OK's parliament. Both are grand historic buildings. Both are on the edge of a river. Both have come to symbolise something of their nation.
But there's a subtle difference. Round the UK parliament there are defensive concrete bollards to prevent terrorist attacks. Round th Hungarian parliament there are wooden tubs with flowers growing in them.
It raises questions about what it is that we in the UK have done to make terrorism a threat.

Radical hospitality?

One of the "buzz" phrases at last weeks assembly (see sorry no photos) was "radical hospitality." The discussion group I was in asked what was wrong with ordinary hospitality.
The hospitality shown to the summer outing of the Agricultural & Rural Chaplaincy Committee (and friends) was first rate, be it "radical" or ordinary.
We had a tour round Croome Landscape Park and something of Capability Brown's work was explained to us. We were privileged to have a visit into Croome Court. Then the Baxter family entertained us to a wonderful supper.
It was all hospitality of the highest order.

Sorry no photos

I forgot to take any photos, so just text on this post.

This weekend just gone was the Diocesan Assembly, a get together of around 400 people from the Diocese of Worcester - some clergy, others not and a mixture of ages, though there were probably more grey heads than any other colour!

The weekend was a coming together to think about what makes a healthy church. The key theme that seemed to be highlighted was about inclusion. How inclusive is our church? One of the speakers talked about a time when she lived as a homeless person. The welcome she got in the churches she visited that way was very different from the welcome she got when she visited in her usual role. She's the churches' bishop!!!

For me, inclusion raises questions about transformation. If someone (whether a homeless person or a bishop) is "included" in a church then who needs to change? The person? The Church? Both? What causes the change? Are there limits to the change? Can the person become unrecognizable from who they were before? Or can the church become unrecognizable? Can a church become so changed that it is no longer a church?

So unanswerable questions, but the real joys of the weekend was meeting people - building relationships with people I'd met before and meeting new people, and some of the worship - particularly the calmness of morning prayer.

But the real highlight is the story told by a colleague of separating two dogs that were fighting, but that's not appropriate for publication.

The Good, the Great and the spineless

Sunday just gone I was at Peterborough Cathedral. A friend from when I had been in Northamptonshire was being ordained deacon along with 15 others. Those being priested had been done the day before, and just as well because it was crowded as it was. Strange that stories of full cathedrals don't get into the media! Every reason to rejoice at all these good people taking this step in ministry

The Friday before I'd been given tickets to the Royal Show. It was a shame but understandable that livestock numbers were down because of bluetongue. To our surprise in among the crowd and with surprisingly little security was Prince Charles.

If the newly ordained are the good, & Charles is reckoned to be among the great, who is the spineless? Well it's got to be Hilary Benn and his pathetic announcement that he is doing nothing effective to prevent the needless slaughter of 40,000 cattle and all the stress that brings to farmers.

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!