"In Journeyings often"

Many years ago the title of this post appealed for a while as a possible title for a biographical account for the itinerant aspects of the ministries in which I have been engaged.  It is a quote from 2Corinthians 11:26 (KJV) where the apostle Paul is recounting his experiences in ministry.  It will certainly never be borrowed for a biographical work since comparing my experiences to Paul's would be like comparing a marble to the size of the world.  I only refer to it as I ended the past week feeling unusually exhausted.  But there was also, perhaps, a prompt from the sense of companionship on journeys over preceding days of the week.

Wednesday evening brought a telephone call from Marshall Munro in Scotland to say that his grandfather, Willie, had passed into the presence of the Lord earlier that day.  Just a few weeks before this Willie, Doreen and I had spent several happy days in his home while the snow fell heavily outside.  Inside there was sunshine in our souls as Willie and I recorded at least 21 gospel songs with me singing as he accompanied me on his Clavinova (hi-tech electronic piano).  Some of you will have heard his musical gift on the CD I recently released.  Orders for this are coming in so his ministry for the Lord will; carry on for many years.

Willie and I also had some parallel experiences both in business and in church life.  Both of us know what it is to pass through times of deep disappointment and heartache where one would have naturally expected joy and blessing.  We had found the words of David true, "Your rod and your staff comfort me".  But now my good companion along life's road has gone ahead and I must journey on without him.  I already feel the loss of one so precious.

On Thursday I journeyed to Uxbridge in west London.  I was there to help with the planning for the International Congregational Fellowship's Conference in 2011.  As the ICF Communications and Publicity Officer there was much to note.  We met at Brunel University which will be the venue for this event that will bring Christians together from around the world whose expression of church life seeks to mirror the principles of the kingdom of God as Jesus taught and lived them.  The team was drawn from England, Wales, Greece and USA.  It was good companionship on the journey - something I needed after the sad news the day before.

On Friday morning we were back at the University completing our work before I set off mid-morning for Methodist Church House in central London.  Here I met with eleven others to put the finishing touches to a piece of work entitled "Responding Well".  This is a report for the Church of England on the pastoral care of those who have experienced sexual abuse, whether in the context of church or in other contexts.  We have been working on this for around two years and there was a sense of sadness as we drew the meeting to a close.  The report has already been seen by the bishops of the Church of England and drew a comment from the Archbishop that it had struck just the right note.

Concluding any piece of work as a team - bringing to an end a shared journey - is always likely to bring a sense of sadness.  But several of the team are survivors of sexual abuse within a church or other Christian context, and others are those who have provided empathetic support for such folk.  This deep sense of fellowship made the end of this part of the journey even more sad.

Today (Saturday) I will rest as much as possible.  Doreen and I will be at Yelvertoft tomorrow but someone else (Dr Gordon Temple) will lead the meeting, so I have nothing to prepare.  In the evening I will be speaking at Theddingworth.  By then I should have "caught my breath" and be ready to journey on.  The week ahead is fairly "normal" with a mix of administrative work, pastoral ministry, my weekly visit to the prison choir, and preparation for ministry at the weekend.

The title of this post, "In journeyings often" is translated in the NIV  2Corinthians 11:26 as "Always on the move".  That, of course, should describe our spiritual lives, but not in the up and down sense.  Our  relationship with God should be an ever onward journey with fresh discoveries and a growing sense of his presence and development of understanding of his purposes for our lives.  Good travelling!