Goodhand in Banbury

Having recently attended a conference in Coventry about 'being missional today', it seemed appropriate to reflect upon my experience of how the Methodist church in the UK re grouped for mission. I do so through the prism of one circuit, or should I say the eight which became one. It will have been a very different experience for others in various parts of the country. When Methodism undertook a programme to regroup its resources, there was for me a sense of excitement, at last we were taking seriously getting our act together. To become an outward looking church. All over the country many circuits moved quickly to amalgamate, with a number of church closures to stream line the work, though not enough!!. This was undertaken I believe in the hope it would free up precious resources of people, property and money.  Following on from this was the hope we might  reinvest in sharing the message of Christ Jesus in ways yet to be discovered. But what did really happen?  Caught up ...

It's just over three years since we moved into Banbury and retirement from active ministry. I can write honestly saying there has not been a single moment or thought that I made a mistake in retiring early. Neither do I miss for a moment regularly leading services let alone all those meetings. What I have experienced is the challenge for anyone seeking to find a church and sticking with it, and of course  the knowledge that there is no such thing as the perfect church.  That begs the question does it  mean all you can hope for is one which ticks enough boxes to enable you to stay part of it? One of our daughters, husband and children have been trying to find a church after their own got messed up by the arrival of a new priest some years ago. Lots of people began to leave the church, and after trying very hard to stick with it, they decided to move on and find another. They have been to a number of churches, and if you have children that can be really hard. While the prea...

  In a world that is increasingly polarised,  and the challenge to discern what is true  becomes ever more difficult,  we come before the God of truth  to lay our prayers offered in hope and love. God of community we pray first of all for ourselves   that in living out our discipleship we might express a faith   that does not say we have all the answers but rather we can point to the one who   shows the way of living that is required by being true disciples revealing Love, kindness, peace   in the manner of Jesus. Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer Today especially we pray for Sue who once again has taken up the   responsibility of being our church warden give then to her discernment in leadership, a joy in her role and the wisdom not to do too much. Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer We pray that as your church in this community and the church universal   that we might find a way of living   in the difficult space   and d...

Being Missional Today: Disruption, Liminality and Reconciliation  Now that is a mouthful of a title for a gathering, and almost enough to put you off going. However I attended the conference run by "Reconciliation Initiatives" which was co-sponsored by the Iona Community which is how I came to hear about it. I may be retired but my brain is not and I still want to learn. The conference was held at Coventry Cathedral, a great setting, on 10th June. Well over 150 people had gathered from around the country and I was surprised to spot one or two familiar faces.  The day kicked off with a conversation between Bishop Guli-Dehqani (Bishop of Chelmsford) and Al Barrett Vicar of Hodge Hill in east Birmingham.  They spoke about their own contexts, the need for openness, about power and privilege and the need to allow others in.  Al touched on the fragility of our world, Gaza the USA etc and how people are feeling anxious.  The Bishop touched upon how so many conversation...

 If you are in need of a good read then get yourself a copy of John Bell's excellent "And Then She Said True stories without morals" It is the kind of book you can read from start to finish or just dip in where ever you want to. They are all short stories of people John has met. He has the knack of telling the story and leaving you the reader to make of it what you will. My overwhelming take away is just how amazing people are, and how important is to meet people where they are, and try not to carry too much baggage of your own when you do so.  They are deceptively insightful stories that make you laugh, cry and in places you find your self angry with how people are treated.

Feeling very smug to be able to get our grey water into the water butt i.e. our bath water.  The garden is very dry and having had no real rainfall now, our previous two water butts are empty. So keeping our pots moist let alone our greenhouse and raised beds watered is a real challenge.   So what do you do?  Well you rig up a hose pipe to another water butt and get your bath water into it. Amazingly, though worryingly, the bath almost fills the water butt. It does mean not turning on the tap to water the flowers etc. This is more than wanting to save water or saving money on the water meter, though its helpful. It is because the reality with the ever changing climate we are all going to have to use water more wisely.   You would think that with a planet whose surface is 71% covered by water this should not be an issue. But we are talking about freshwater availability. Most freshwater 2.5% is locked up in ice and the ground so it means only 1% of freshwater water is ...