Christmas

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a Happy New year! I hope 2010 brings you peace, happiness and an awareness of God's love for all of you.

Snow and Stealing

So Father Tim Jones has told people that stealing from large companies is now a valid way of existence. The thing is, you can see what he is getting at, that there are so many people on the breadline, that maybe stealing tins of food is the lesser of two evils. I am not agreeing with him, because stealing is stealing and it is wrong, but maybe the focus needs to be increased on those people who live so close to the breadline, they can all too easily be left in the background of the festive season. However, it was to these that the greatest gift of all was given, so how can we balance the message of good news with the poverty that people find themselves in. It is maybe too simplistic to draw parallels with our African brothers and sisters, who compared to us are considerably poorer, yet it could be argued considerably richer in many ways. We, however, live in a country where richness and comfort is plentiful and almost seen as a right for people, and when people, for many different reasons, cannot achieve that, is it then their right to steal? What response does the church make? I have had a bit of time to think about this today as I have been cut off! The roads around Nailsea are still quite icy and it snowed earlier this morning so I thought it best not to risk the 8 mile journey to get in.

See the full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8425420.stm

Carols

Carols by Candlelight went well, there was a good atmosphere and the children stole the evening once again, but I hope that the deeper meaning got through as well. For me, this service is always the one where I sit at the back worrying about every little detail and what might go wrong or what is likely to cause the most issue and thought, and whether I forgot to give someone a reading or an order of service, very strange. So today was meant to be a slower day, but it has turned into another hectic one and there seems to be still so much to do before I can relax for Christmas (including taking the service on the 27th). It was lovely to see the snow this morning, but alas that even turned into taking up more time as I scrapped the snow (or ice as it had turned into) from the car. As I drove around the place looking around the beauty of the snowy scenery I suppose reminded me of the deeper beauty of the season, something to hold onto in all the madness.

Christmas

Christmas means tha usual mutli-tasking that a minister needs. Over this festive season I would have visited people; given home communion to people; written the service for the 25th and 27th; played Trumpet in another churches carol service; prepared the way for next years annual report with the letter being written and planning who needs to recieve it; redone the Pastoral Watchers list; put all the services on the projector for the 20th, 25th, 27th and 3rd; get frustrated by a candle background for the carol service that does not seem to fit; general day to day stuff like responding to emails and phone messages; and then prepare a thought for the carol service about how Christmas is busy and we need to stop...... oh the irony!

Normal Service resumed

Sorry it has been a while since I last blogged, holidays and moving church around and then having no internet or phones at church has been a real pain.
But anyway, we are back on track now, builders have moved in, new office location sorted and up and running and Christmas on the horizon, I am sure there is going to be plenty to blog about over these next weeks!