2010 Thoughts from Nick
You say goodbye, and I say hello!’
Little Luke’s gran decided to take him for a walk in the countryside. Fields and woodland stretched away from them for as far as the eye could see, the sun shone in a blue sky punctuated by white fluffy clouds, like airborne polar bears.
His gran remarked, "Doesn't it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God painted this just for you?"
Luke said, "Yes, God did it and he did it left handed."
This confused gran a bit, so she asked "What makes you say God did this with his left hand?"
"Well," said Luke "we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus
went up to heaven and is sitting on God's right hand!"
We have just celebrated the Ascension of Jesus. Like little Luke the imagery religious language can conjure up may leave us a little puzzled, even sceptical about elements in the story. The fact that even the same author gave us two factually irreconcilable accounts of it, while the other Gospel writers vary on key facts should suggest that we are to be more interested in the inner meaning than in the aerodynamics.
Jesus was leaving his disciples and things would never be the same again. But crucially, there were no longer to be mere onlookers to his glory. As witnesses to his Baptism and ministry, his death, resurrection and Glorious Ascension they were now fully in the picture. Jesus’ glory is for us – something we share.
It seems that my comment in the May magazine unintentionally gave some the impression I am planning to leave. For the sake of clarity let me say I have no such intention at present. Of course, inevitably one day I shall no longer be rector, and it was in that context that I found myself thinking out loud about my [eventual] successor. Life is a matter of change and the potential to grow, and while ‘goodbye’ may often signal growing pains, remember it is a prayer ‘God be with you’. God being with each of us means we are never alone or even truly apart from one another.
May 2010 - Life in the Fast Aisle - concluding episode
I’ve had more comments from this short series of articles than about any other I have written over the years for the Parish News. I’m glad to have opened a window onto the working life of a country priest in the 21st Century. When I began I was shocked to discover I couldn’t squeeze it into one normal length article!
After a morning catching up with emails the weekly Cottesmore Confirmation Group is mid morning. This is only the second time I have prepared a group from the school. Bishop David, a retired bishop, is coming up from Eastbourne in June to confirm the candidates. He is a personal friend, and the only bishop in Sussex prepared to ordain women priests, so has had an active retirement.
It so happens today there is a funeral. I often find these occasions draining of emotional energy, but such an immense privilege in ministering to people at these most fragile and revealing moments in life. The majority of such services I take are for people I have known, whether churchgoers or not and this helps me bring some personal warmth to the service which I know is some comfort to those who mourn.
Most Friday evenings, secretarial help and specifically computer skills I do not have arrive in the form of Sarah who comes for a couple of hours. As in almost every walk of life increasing administration takes up so much time. My fees for funerals and weddings which are paid to the diocese, statistics, permission for gravestones, updating parish records, responding to family tree enquiries, typing up notes, preparing the three reading rotas and much more are dealt with in these sessions, which have been an incalculable improvement to my working routines.
Dressed in casual attire, picking up the weekend paper can easily take an hour! Especially in a village one is never completely off duty. It is great to feel a part of village life and to know that most people find me approachable. As well as the strong sense of community there are the casual encounters that are so much part of parish ministry. A chance meeting in church or churchyard ‘My great great grandfather lived here. Can I find his grave?’ I can’t resist getting involved in listening to ancestral searches or more recent reminiscences. There are stories to tell and share ‘We’re visiting from Lincolnshire - why does your church have a window of St Hugh of Lincoln?’ ‘Funny you should ask…’
2010 has been the busiest year for weddings since 1996. When there isn’t a wedding, or even more than one at one church or the other we strive to make some all important family time. It requires some adjustment, not having the kind of weekend many assume is the norm. I usually get the pew sheet or service sheet photocopied. One or two roughly fashioned sermons may require some fairly urgent polishing at this point, but with an early start I really must be in bed by 10.
I think my successor will need some extra hours in the day. They will almost certainly have a full time diocesan post as well as looking after at least one thriving village.
APRIL 2010 - Life in the Fast Aisle
Despite the pagan origin of their English names Christians have attached spiritual significance to each of the days of the week, seeing in them signs of God’s timing in our experience of time. The underlying mysteries of Holy Week and Easter can be encountered in ordinary hours, days and weeks with an attitude of faith.
After the usual high visibility start to the day I may work at desk or computer. As well as ongoing messages there are few weeks when I do not have at least one sermon, two as a general rule, and maybe a magazine article to prepare as well. Sometimes I resent the time spent in the study, preferring to be out in the village. It is a privilege to exchange friendly banter in the shop, and even when I’m in the car I try to offer up a silent prayer for the parishioners I see go by or whose houses I pass. I’m a member of the Diocesan Church & Countryside Group and this may mean a meeting in Hove, which can take a large slice of the day, and more articles to prepare. In the particular week I am reflecting on there was also a lengthy meeting with the architect and the wardens who give so much of their time. Regular meetings with the wardens of both parishes have been replaced with separate Rusper and Colgate meetings as and when the need arises. I also facilitate a preaching skills group for clergy and other ministers in a neighbouring parish, which I find very rewarding, as I do acting as a tutor to two Readers in training. The parishes reap the benefit when they come and preach. On this particular day I head over to the monastery at Crawley Down to pick up a new Paschal candle made by Brother Martin to be blessed at our Easter Sunday service.
The 10am service on a Wednesday is a spiritual must for me, kept going when there has been only one in the congregation, but this has grown dramatically in recent months. Once a month toddlers and babies arrive with their Mums after this sedate service for the ensuing organised chaos that is ‘Rise+Shine’ Wednesday is typically the day I take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick and housebound, at home or in nursing homes. Once a month I have a service at Wayside. Also on a monthly basis I try to support the meetings of the local clergy of our deanery, including Horsham and outlying parishes, as well as the Society of Catholic Priests, of which I am a member. The group exists to maintain a liberal balance in presenting Christian faith which is we feel in danger of being obscured by a lack of openness in our changing society. In particular we stand for affirming the ministry of women at every level in the ministry.
After the Little Angels choir practice with Gerald and Margery, there is time to revisit the desk. During a typical afternoon, like most family homes there is competition for turns on the computer. With Sarah working late I may plod on past 10pm on a typical day. PCC looms, and it is not infrequent that both Church Council meetings fall within the same 7 day period, so I sometimes have to remember which village I am in!
MARCH 2010 - Life in the Fast Aisle - Day 2 Monday
Just as Christmas passes into Epiphany the season which celebrates the universal spread of the Christian faith, so the start of the working week leads clergy out of their Sunday church duties into the ordinary, sometimes messy, always surprising world of a fresh new week, whether it be in parishes, urban or rural, hospitals, prisons or other areas of specialized ministry.
The playground offers me a chance to be visible to the more scattered flock. Interesting conversations often take place and sometimes I reflect whether I am seen as more approachable as a Dad and on those other occasions when I am not ‘in uniform.’ On my way back the church beckons for a quiet moment of morning prayer, before I return to deal with ‘phone messages and email. Then I visit both primary schools for their morning assembly. The afternoon may present an opportunity for casual visiting, assuming there are no more pressing calls to make on the housebound, sick or those with the funeral of a loved one to arrange and the accompanying bereavement to share with a sympathetic listener. Every few weeks I meet with a house group for some discussion. It is especially refreshing on the occasions when I am not leading, and it means I have a proper lunch! Hospital visits can be quite lengthy, especially when involving a drive to Redhill and back, but I expect to return in time for a wedding couple, either to meet with them for the first time or to rehearse the big day with them in church. Locking the church is an occasion for a quiet prayerful close to the day. Can I resist the temptation to check my email again – probably not!
Lent is approaching. Perhaps many of us would benefit from the discipline of rationing our time spent in front of the computer screen?
FEBRUARY 2010 - Not afraid to learn from his mistakes Bishop Lindsay would squirm whenever I teased him about his advice that I move to a country benefice for ‘rest and reflection’ and I think it fair, if a little pointed to venture that the sum total of rural parish experience between senior clergy in our diocese suggests a reason for this blind spot! What is life really like for modern clergy in our ‘sleepy’ slow paced villages? I decided to do a diary of a normal week while reflecting on the seasons of the Church Year. The proposed article soon took on the life of a mini series. So here it is...
Life in the Fast Aisle - Day 1 Sunday
Advent is the church’s annual time of waiting, reflected for me at the start of every Sunday, the start of every week. Advent resonates at many levels; excitement, mystery, preparation. I like to begin the week early before the house wakes up and at this time of the year that means it is dark when I creep into the study to start the Lord’s Day in contemplative mood. I don’t know how I would get through a busy Sunday without a couple of hours’ stillness. I get to church half an hour before the first service begins. There is a palpable sense of warm togetherness at the 8am service that is a strong spiritual foundation to the day. Having waved people off and grabbed a quick breakfast I jump into the car and am off to the 9.30am service, praying that the cyclists will not be out in force, which as you all know is quite a Summer phenomenon round the villages. The four or five miles from the 9.30am to the 11am service is often a journey through time from Cranmer’s Prayer Book and traditional chants to an altogether less predictable style of service. From delivering a measured conventional sermon I have to switch to a different style of informal delivery with an ‘off the cuff ‘feel. Arriving only 15 minutes or even less time before a service begins I don’t personally find conducive to worship, particularly when there are questions, information or anything unforeseen to assimilate. Anyone who has suffered the frustration of giving me a notice 5 minutes before the service only to watch me forget has shared that frustration!
Lunch is usually a hasty sandwich, especially when there is a Christening, and again the turnaround seems short as I make sure I am prepared before heading back again and to the farthest reaches of Colgate again for an evening service at Cottesmore School Chapel. I usually manage to be back for a meal before 9pm and am more than ready to unwind, once I have given at least some thought, if not actual preparation to school assembly.
