Ministers Letter

Have just written the letter for the February edition of Towers and Town (the church magazine) was a hard one to write and feel quite exhausted now, it can really take it out of you... will post it on here when the magazine is out.

What you say really matters...

At the moment the church is in the middle of changing its broadband provider, there was a message on the church answerphone this morning from our outgoing provider saying "We can confirm the cancellation, thank you for choosing (the company)". It did make me smile as we obviously had not chosen the company as we were leaving, I think I knew what he meant, but sometimes, really… think what you are saying.

Hard Work

So when you are with the deacons at the beginning of the service and we all pray that God will speak to people in many diifferent ways, what I didn't bank on was God speaking through a DVD that did not work and through a whistling sound that after 10 minutes of people at the back trying to work out what was causing it, was found to be the organ (all this while the service was on). So I will be careful and more specific when I next pray "God speak to people in whatever way they need to hear", I may even give a list of ways I think would be more appropriate!

Joseph (Night 3)

What a great audience, they clapped and sang along at the end, was great fun doing Joseph, am going to miss it, but time to turn attention to other things now. Annual Report needs colating soon as well as a new members directory, lots of ideas buzzing around that need grounding as well.

Joseph (Night 2)

Was a good evening and quite a crowd in the audience. Was slightly more nervous though as I knew quite a few people and in the first half found it hard to hit a note cleanly! Last night tonight and I parked in the multi storey, so no problems getting out... talking of problems though, Sunday morning could be fun as the weather may cause disruption to people getting there and people who are involved getting there, its going to be fun, trying to fill in all the gaps :)

Joseph (Night 1)

It went well, although the Clarinetist and I were laughing at the bits we missed (not that anyone would know). The biggest nightmare was trying to get out the sloped parking space, thanks to those who helped push me out to get back on my way (and I did then in turn help others get out) may try the multi storey car park tonight! Arounf 180 people are coming tonight...depending on weather of course

Joseph, Snow and Books

This week I am playing the Trumpet for the musical Joseph, being done at one of the local churches. Got to say that I am really impressed with it, the cast are good, costumes good and the stage is great. Been an interesting week for me though, I had forgotten how much I love being in something like this and it got me thinking. I suppose music was one of the things that I ‘sacrificed’ when I believed God had called me into ministry, I had opportunities to set up a business and teach electronic organ with a local music chain, opportunities to think about doing things professionally and getting known in the area, studying music at a higher level. I suppose there is a bit of sadness there, I think I am half ok on the Trumpet and am capable of playing the Joseph music (might want to revise that after the performances!), with relatively little problems and this is after not playing regularly for about 6 years (about once or twice a year!). It does make me think how good I could have been if I had continued to practice hours a day and pushed myself a little bit more. However all that is in context of me believing that God called me to this ministry, and that within it my musical abilities have been used. And I have had time to think about this as I have been trapped in the house thanks to the snow! Which I hope will not disrupt the first performance of Joseph tonight, although the sun is coming out now. Just finished reading a book on worship by Chris Ellis called ‘Approaching God’, really good book and very useful, have written a book review on it for my continued study for being a newly accredited minister. Now about to read ‘Jesus and the Eyewitnesses’ by Richard Bauckham, this is not my choice, but the college’s as I still need to do some studying! It is daunting to look at as it is over 500 pages, big book, small print and needs to be read by May….here goes….

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. So the 2010 is here, as we celebrated we wondered (as we do every year) where the last year has gone, so much has happened. What will we be looking back on in the turn to 2011 with the memories of 2010. I hope it will be exciting and that we will look back with creating space finished or near an end; a deeper sense of God's love and growth in the fellowship. So much we have to go through to get there though, hard work, pain and joy but I hope we will look back and see it was worth it all. So here's to 2010 I hope it brings joy, peace and a greater sense of how special you all are and how much God loves you.