The past three weeks have felt something like a roller coaster. It started with the itinerary in Ireland, followed the next week by an itinerary in Cornwall and Devon. Then this past week has been very full once again. In between I have tried to set aside time to spend with Doreen and to rest. Roller coasters are not necessarily uncomfortable but they present the impression - which indeed is real - that someone other than the passenger is in control. While that might be scary, it can also be very assuring when you know that the one in control is omnipotent, omniscient and utterly loving.
Last Sunday I was grateful that John Harris was taking the meeting at Yelvertoft. It was good to sit under his ministry in the morning. In the evening I shared in the meeting at Market Harborough Congregational Church which was led by members of one of the home groups. My role was to bring ministry from God's word. It was good to see the confidence and competence of those who spoke, and we felt the Lord's blessing.
On Monday around 80 people attended the service of thanksgiving for the life of Millie Couling. It was an occasion full of praise for the goodness of God that had touched and transformed Millie's life. It was an enormous privilege to conduct the service. As it began I was reminded that I had failed to turn off my mobile phone as it began to ring. I quickly silenced it and used it to remind others to do the same. The irony was that the call, which I took later that day, was from someone else in the village asking if I could conduct another funeral service!
So it was that after taking the village school assembly the following day (Tuesday) I called on Sue and Ian to talk about a service for their friend who had just died. Incidentally, school assemblies at both Yelvertoft and Lubenham are wonderful times of ministry. It's a great privilege to take these occasions. The response of children and teachers never fails to encourage me. By 12.30 I had a reasonable idea about David, and regretted that I had not got to know him before he had gone into care with dementia. Doreen had got a light lunch ready and I had just ten minutes before I was off once again - this time for my weekly activities at Gartree Prison.
This time I had an hour for a meal and a break before setting off for Narborough, near Leicester. There I joined two other Congregational ministers to conduct two more interviews for the post of Children and Families Worker for the East Midlands. All four candidates have much to give and ours is not an easy task as we seek the right person. It is so important to pray that we get it right for the sake of all four we have interviewed and, of course, for the churches the successful applicant will serve. (see below)
Our final interviewee was delayed because of major traffic problems so we worked late and it was around 11.15 pm when I finally got home. I had then to send off a report to the Director of Youth and Children's Work so it was early Wednesday by the time I hit bed. Wednesday was spent on administration catch-up and preparation for Thursday's ministry at the William Booth College in London. I had booked a room at the college for Wednesday night to avoid an early start from home on Thursday (and the risk of delay).
The working day started at 9.00 and the opening prayers were led by Major David Botting. David was part of the team that I had the privilege of joining to write Time for Action back around 2001. This book remains a significant authority on matters relating to the care and support of those who have suffered sexual abuse. Part way through the production of this book (it was a report prepared for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland), David was appointed to a new position and his place within the Salvation Army Child Protection Unit taken by Dean Juster. Dean quickly became a good friend and we seem to work together well. There were 24, a mixture of Salvation Army officers, social work staff and others, on the three day course at which I was speaking through the morning and afternoon. It was 8.30 pm when I walked in the front door of home.
Somewhere in the course of the past week I managed to produce a conference brochure for the International Congregational Fellowship, which will be held at the end of July 2013. I also tweaked the website (www.intercong.org) to bring it up to date. Another task was conducting a survey of members of the Rural Evangelism Network as we plan a 24 hour conference in 2013. I was finally able to write and print off the newsletter this morning and with Doreen's help managed to catch the morning collection from our local post office. The next task was preparing for Sunday, and David's funeral service.
Some of the afternoon was spent reviewing computer tablets (i.e. small but powerful hand-held computers). As I have indicated two weeks ago I had concluded that obtaining a tablet would be beneficial to the ministry. I have received an unexpected donation specifically towards this purchase but I have been struggling to determine which of three possible tablets I should acquire. The Nexus 10 is the cheapest of the three. The ipad has been dominating the market and works very well. But it is the most expensive. The Surface is a new Microsoft tablet and comes with all the main software I use pre-loaded. Funds are limited and it's important to spend the money wisely.
So we come to another week. At present it looks far less busy than the week just past. This Sunday I take the morning meeting at Yelvertoft and then can rest through the afternoon before meeting with colleagues in the evening to pray about the appointment of the Children and Families Worker. On Monday morning I take part in a telephone conference planning the ICF 2013 conference. On Tuesday morning I will conduct the service for David and then go to Gartree Prison for my regular ministry. On Thursday morning we continue our Bible Discussion group in the village. The remainder of the time will be taken up with pastoral ministry and administration. There's a lot of work to follow up the two itineraries.
Doreen is coping well but gets tired more easily. That's not surprising as she keeps very busy. We still wait for results from the scan and assume that if anything serious had been found we would have heard by now. Apart from being a little tired I am OK and will get more rest through this week. Of course Christmas is coming and I am not prepared. I received an invitation today to record a thought for the day and do a small interview for a local radio station. What a wonderful privilege it is to share the story of Jesus. Let's all try to do that effectively over the coming weeks. After all it's not our good news; it's God's and it is there's who need to hear it.
I pray that the Lord will super abundantly bless you this week. Please drop us a line.
Barry
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| A scene from the Cornwall Rural Mission Consultation |
On Monday around 80 people attended the service of thanksgiving for the life of Millie Couling. It was an occasion full of praise for the goodness of God that had touched and transformed Millie's life. It was an enormous privilege to conduct the service. As it began I was reminded that I had failed to turn off my mobile phone as it began to ring. I quickly silenced it and used it to remind others to do the same. The irony was that the call, which I took later that day, was from someone else in the village asking if I could conduct another funeral service!
So it was that after taking the village school assembly the following day (Tuesday) I called on Sue and Ian to talk about a service for their friend who had just died. Incidentally, school assemblies at both Yelvertoft and Lubenham are wonderful times of ministry. It's a great privilege to take these occasions. The response of children and teachers never fails to encourage me. By 12.30 I had a reasonable idea about David, and regretted that I had not got to know him before he had gone into care with dementia. Doreen had got a light lunch ready and I had just ten minutes before I was off once again - this time for my weekly activities at Gartree Prison.
This time I had an hour for a meal and a break before setting off for Narborough, near Leicester. There I joined two other Congregational ministers to conduct two more interviews for the post of Children and Families Worker for the East Midlands. All four candidates have much to give and ours is not an easy task as we seek the right person. It is so important to pray that we get it right for the sake of all four we have interviewed and, of course, for the churches the successful applicant will serve. (see below)
Our final interviewee was delayed because of major traffic problems so we worked late and it was around 11.15 pm when I finally got home. I had then to send off a report to the Director of Youth and Children's Work so it was early Wednesday by the time I hit bed. Wednesday was spent on administration catch-up and preparation for Thursday's ministry at the William Booth College in London. I had booked a room at the college for Wednesday night to avoid an early start from home on Thursday (and the risk of delay).
The working day started at 9.00 and the opening prayers were led by Major David Botting. David was part of the team that I had the privilege of joining to write Time for Action back around 2001. This book remains a significant authority on matters relating to the care and support of those who have suffered sexual abuse. Part way through the production of this book (it was a report prepared for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland), David was appointed to a new position and his place within the Salvation Army Child Protection Unit taken by Dean Juster. Dean quickly became a good friend and we seem to work together well. There were 24, a mixture of Salvation Army officers, social work staff and others, on the three day course at which I was speaking through the morning and afternoon. It was 8.30 pm when I walked in the front door of home.
Somewhere in the course of the past week I managed to produce a conference brochure for the International Congregational Fellowship, which will be held at the end of July 2013. I also tweaked the website (www.intercong.org) to bring it up to date. Another task was conducting a survey of members of the Rural Evangelism Network as we plan a 24 hour conference in 2013. I was finally able to write and print off the newsletter this morning and with Doreen's help managed to catch the morning collection from our local post office. The next task was preparing for Sunday, and David's funeral service.
Some of the afternoon was spent reviewing computer tablets (i.e. small but powerful hand-held computers). As I have indicated two weeks ago I had concluded that obtaining a tablet would be beneficial to the ministry. I have received an unexpected donation specifically towards this purchase but I have been struggling to determine which of three possible tablets I should acquire. The Nexus 10 is the cheapest of the three. The ipad has been dominating the market and works very well. But it is the most expensive. The Surface is a new Microsoft tablet and comes with all the main software I use pre-loaded. Funds are limited and it's important to spend the money wisely.
So we come to another week. At present it looks far less busy than the week just past. This Sunday I take the morning meeting at Yelvertoft and then can rest through the afternoon before meeting with colleagues in the evening to pray about the appointment of the Children and Families Worker. On Monday morning I take part in a telephone conference planning the ICF 2013 conference. On Tuesday morning I will conduct the service for David and then go to Gartree Prison for my regular ministry. On Thursday morning we continue our Bible Discussion group in the village. The remainder of the time will be taken up with pastoral ministry and administration. There's a lot of work to follow up the two itineraries.
Doreen is coping well but gets tired more easily. That's not surprising as she keeps very busy. We still wait for results from the scan and assume that if anything serious had been found we would have heard by now. Apart from being a little tired I am OK and will get more rest through this week. Of course Christmas is coming and I am not prepared. I received an invitation today to record a thought for the day and do a small interview for a local radio station. What a wonderful privilege it is to share the story of Jesus. Let's all try to do that effectively over the coming weeks. After all it's not our good news; it's God's and it is there's who need to hear it.
I pray that the Lord will super abundantly bless you this week. Please drop us a line.
Barry
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