Harvest

As I take services I will post anything which I think might be useful...Last Sunday I took the Harvest service. We did the parable of the sower in the morning (of course) and what the soil meant in the evening.

The morning was a family service so I used a 'magic bag' and a puppet of a bird. I told the parable of the sower using a story bag (you can get this via the story bag link via http://www.decadeministries.co.uk/). This bag has the story of the soil, birds eating the seed, the sun, thorns and harvest. As you tell each bit, you turn the bag inside out and miraculously you get a different picture so telling the story in an interesting way. The kids seemed quite unimpressed but it created a lot of interest amongst the adults.

In the story, I skipped over the birds but mentioned that in the hymn we had just sung, 'we plough the fields and scatter' it mentions that God looks after the birds and that God looks after the sparrows (Lk 12:6-7). Then as I was talking, Hazel made a bird puppet come up over the pulpit behind me and throw seed across the front row. We had a discussion about birds and that it was not the birds' fault for eating the seed, but people's hard hearts were the real problem.

It went well - puppets usually do!

Preaching twice

I have heard people talk about the difficulty of preaching twice on a Sunday. I have never thought this was a problem - eventful, yes; problematic, no. But I am beginning to change my mind. It's not the preaching or taking three services on a Sunday (I did this recently) but how do I relate what I preach to people I don't yet know? Whenever I preach it's always from deep within me. It comes from deep down and can take two weeks to develop from an idea into a beautifully formed work of art. I no longer have this privilege. On one particular Sunday I took two communion services at different churches. On both occasions as soon as I arrived, I realised that what I had prepared was inappropriate for the congregation. Do I carry on regardless or do I change it 'on the hoof ' ? What do you think? Well, I changed both services as I went along. Did anyone see the join? I don't think so, but it totally drained me as I tried to adapt what I had prepared for the people in front of me. 'Didn't God give you the services?' I hear you cry. Well, it's not what one gives, it's how one presents it - same message, but different delivery. I can see Sundays are going to be 'eventful' for some time.

The Collar

When I was a policeman, a collar was something quite different. Being a young policeman meant the more collars you had, the better you were and I was quite good at getting them. However, arresting people soon lost its appeal and I got promoted. I felt very proud walking down the street looking at the stripes on my arm in the reflection of Tesco's window. So you can see that wearing a uniform is not new to me. Armed with my 20 years experience of uniform wearing, I went into Holmfirth this week - complete with traditional black shirt and dog collar. Hmm. 'Something not quite right here' I thought; it's like they know I was a policeman. People didn't want to catch my eye. They looked the other way in the shops and even stepped into the road and one woman seemed to try to walk on the white lines in the middle so that I could pass on the pavement unhindered. 'Hmm' I thought again, 'must be an armed robber behind me'. Nope, just me on the pavement and a woman behaving as if I was an anthrax carrier. If I have made the move from him who locks you up to him who helps to set you free, why don't people know? So, do I persevere with this collar or do I bow to public opinion?

A New Start

Hi, what follows will be my journal which will record the highs and lows of being a new Methodist minister. I've just finished the first part of my pre-ordination training and I've been placed in the Holmfirth Circuit in W Yorkshire. My hope is to record as accurately as possible (bearing in mind people's feelings) what it has been like to have pastoral charge of three churches and how together we manage mission. Coming from London (via North Derbyshire) I'll also be reflecting on the cultural differences - there have been many already! I hope you enjoy reading it. Please feel free to contact me about anything I mention and let me know what you think. Right now, my hope is that Jesus bursts out of the pages on our Bibles and we start to see him for who he really is - missional; incarnational and loving. Time will tell.