Happy New Year

I have clearly developed into a grumpy old man as this year - more than ever - I wonder what all the fuss is about over just another tick of the clock!  We went to bed early from where we could hear all the fireworks and hear the drunken swearing from the street below.  It all seems strangely ridiculous and stupidly trivial in a world where thousands have been rendered homeless through flooding in Australia, others have been blown up as they left their church service, the people of Cote d'Ivoire wonder when their ex-president will accept that fact and let them get on, and people struggle to come to terms after the murder of a young woman in Bristol.

Of course, if it has been a special year then celebrating its end makes some sense.  Enthusiastically welcoming in a year that promises to be bad news for a large number of people in my own country seems a strange thing to do.  And these days I need to make "new day" resolutions so the New Year is just one more day in the line!

For me 2011 will bring special challenges.  Here are a few that I already know about.  From February I will start the MPhil research degree programme and that will mean a serious review of how I use my time.  Some things that I currently enjoy doing will have to be laid aside.  The programme will also mean a structured and disciplined work schedule.

Finding people who will take up and carry on some of my responsibilities is another challenge.  Since 1982 I have looked after the Rural Evangelism Network, having helped to bring it into being.  I hit 65 at the end of January and so I must start passing the baton on to others.  The trouble is that most of those in the Network are already busy and there seem to be fewer people coming forward into mission who have the broader view of ministry this position requires.

My pastoral commitment at Yelvertoft will continue for the immediate future but we urgently need to engage with children and families if the work of this church is to have a future.  That currently looks impossible if it depends on our own resources.  Here it is a matter of tying up some loose ends to get something started that could then be passed on to another in a year or two.

Another challenge for the year is being able to pour a lifetime's experience and knowledge as I have sought to be obedient to God's call to rural evangelism into material accessible from the Internet and in a series of smaller written publications.

All in all I expect this to be a very busy and challenging year - and therefore one in which I will continue to value those friends who pray for me and Doreen on a regular basis.  While on that point I am still praying for someone who will do an editing job on these postings so that those who cannot access the blog can also read an abbreviated form through a hard copy posted to them.

Finally, this would be a good time to review what "rural evangelism" in the UK is all about.  So much has changed since I started out in the 1960s.  At that time villages were more insular and parochial.  There were as many non-conformist churches as Anglican churches.  Christianity had a stronger influence within rural communities.  People in rural areas were in many ways the Cinderella of society.  Today, most of the wealthy people in the UK live in our villages and the fewest of the poor live there.  Many villages have developed into satellites of towns and cities.  The future of rural non-conformity seems set to decline further even after the closure of thousands of country chapels.  Rural churches face a major mission challenge with limited resources, and operate in a culture in which Scripture has a far less significant place.

But since I started this posting but acknowledging that I have turned into a grumpy old man (at least as some things are concerned) I want to state that it is not through such eyes that I review the changing and challenging scene in rural Britain.  I merely suggest that we need to review who we are seeking to evangelise if the calling is to go to the villages.  I seriously think 2011 would be a good year to stop and think prayerfully about this task.  To carry on as if nothing had changed within rural areas would be foolish.  So for this task too I need your prayers.

I close by wishing you a happy New Year.  I pray that the simple tick of a clock might be accompanied by a renewed commitment of heart and mind in your desire to follow Jesus and share in his mission for his world in 2011.  God bless you.

Barry