The game of choice this year has been Pandemic, a cooperative board game where all players join together to defeat viruses outbreaks across the world. I don’t know what made us think of this, but there we are. Pandemic is a notoriously difficult cooperative game…
I am not fully decided whether it is the pandemic or the predicted economic and employment turmoil that I am most concerned about.
In Acts 9 we read of Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, and his sudden and unexpected experience of being rendered blind. Done to him, it plunged him into darkness and removed from him every confidence, certainty, and comfort that he was previously used to, and made him dependent upon others.
I remember press coverage of a “private” conversation between world leaders at a G8 summit a few years back where our (then) prime minister complained about the lack of thinking time and the relentless unceasing mill of meetings and decisions. There was no opportunity to pause or reflect or to gather evidence before setting events in motion, and as the leaders talked they each revealed a longing for space to reflect and consider.
If you’re starting to struggle, you’re not alone. I’ve been grappling this week with feeling sad at the ministries and gatherings that have dropped away because they can’t meet, and trying to summon up the energy to make some calls to colleagues. I suspect I’m not alone in wanting things to hurry up in a return to “normal”.
You may have noticed that the nights are drawing in, the temperatures have dropped and it’s beginning to look a lot like……. NO, please don’t mention it! Well, you’re right, it’s not Christmas yet and you don’t want to make the mistake to talk about it too early as I’m already boycotting the supermarkets where Christmas cards and mince pies have appeared. However, when you work on a church staff team it is important to think ahead and Christmas is looming at the end of this term.
We hate to remind you of the annual event that is coming, but now really is a good time to talk about our approach. Not the approach of the number of services, or how many visitors we will be looking after, but how our personal approach says a lot about our trust in God and what “efficiency” looks like.
We have a new interactive forum for posting questions and receiving responses, courtesy of a strategic shift across to a facebook group
At home, we’ve just secured planning for a small garden room extension on the back of the house. My husband is an architect and I’ve had the luxury of not having to get involved in the design work or the planning process, for which I’m VERY grateful. But now the preparation for foundation laying is underway I have no choice but to get involved! Suffice to say the house is a little fuller and messier downstairs and the garden looks like the beginnings of a building site (sigh)…
Content from the Cutting Edge conference has now been uploaded to the UCAN resources area. All members can now access the content once you’ve logged in to your account. Just follow the link to “Online Resources (dropbox)” and head for the Cutting Edge Conference folders. Your login also gives you Soundcloud streaming of all the keynote talks.
Designed for operational staff of larger churches, we tackled the difficulties of making the instruction to us all in Matthew 28 change from a vision to a reality.
Three key strands are focused on - looking at the healthy combination of systems, people and strategy that make it all possible. The UK church is in a pivotal period where tools and know-how are making things possible that have never been available to use before, but which mean that pastoral sensitivity and careful implementation are all the more important.
Workshops covered GDPR, volunteers, buildings for mission, and how to completely change the way your church finances may work.
Gillian Mannouch (St. John’s Wimborne) recently organised a day’s retreat for their local UCAN area group. She writes: “One new feature for our local group was a retreat.”
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