Easter Eggs And Buses

For the second year we, at St Mark’s, went out into the streets again after the main Easter service and handed out Easter Eggs.  Nearly 150 eggs were handed out including some on a bus which was waiting at the nearby bus stop – the driver promised not to move off again until we got back off, he was killing time obviously running early.

It certainly looks as if a tradition has been born as the enthusiasm for the enterprise was high although maybe next year we will do it before the service inviting people to come and join us.

Okay I Admit It

Yesterday another group started on 4 studies and a party.  This time I had decided that we would meet over a soup and sandwich lunch for two reasons.  Firstly I thought food might tempt some more people along, secondly although there has been all day sessions, and evening sessions, there hasn’t been day time sessions for those who might prefer that.  Lastly, and this is what I am admitting to, I had a sneaky plan to try and develop it into a longer term soup and sandwich lunch that would become an outreach activity in itself. 

For most of the time I have been at St Mark’s there have been people talking about having a soup and sandwich lunch for the local community.  Initially our buildings weren’t suitable and the kitchen was condemned (at one point we were told we shouldn’t even be making tea and coffee in it).  Of course now we have a lovely warm hall, a welcoming entrance, and a kitchen up to standard.  However due to problems we have had with the heating and flooring I have been reluctant to start any new projects up that might then have to stop at a critical time to allow workmen back into the halls.  All that is now behind us so I had it in my mind that this would be the time to give that particular seed a touch of water and care. 

I wasn’t planning to play my card till the final session, best laid plans of mice and men or women and all that! I was well and truly beaten to the punch yesterday when half way through the first session it was suggested that seeing we now had the facilities we should be having a soup and sandwich lunch for the local community as a tool of outreach.  Maybe I shouldn’t try and be so sneaky about it in future!

Come As You Are

You should be hearing a lot more of that phrase over the next 8 months, it is the slogan for this year’s Back to Church Sunday, a national initiative that has in previous years managed to generate a degree of publicity.  The basic idea is that on the last Sunday in September all those people that go to church each invite one other person who doesn’t go to church to come along.

Today Jill and I along others toddled off to Renfield St Stephen Church in Glasgow to hear more about it, it turns out it fits in quite nicely with the Leading Your Church Into Growth conference both Jill and I went to last year, and as we were told about the concept ideas were sown and some of them started to shoot as I chatted to others over lunch.

September might seem a long way off, but with Lent, Easter and the Summer between now and then the groundwork needs to be started, and by the time I had driven home the bones of a tentative plan had been formed.  Back to Church Sunday I had come to realise begins with the existing congregation, before others can be invited to come (back) to church as they are then the congregation itself needs to be Sharing their Stories and Facing up to their Fears, they need to remember what it is that draws them back to church week in week out, and be given the confidence and encouragement to issue those invitations.

Facing Fears

There is no doubt about it that the idea of asking someone from outside the Church to come to church strikes fear into many a regular church goers heart, why is that?   How can Jesus’ words ‘Do not be afraid’, be heard afresh so that fear is dissipated?

Sharing Stories

Why does the good story that got us to return or start attending church turn into a less encouraging story about the things that we find fault with in the church?  Nothing in this world is perfect, and the church certainly isn’t, but neither is it all bad, while we are far from being perfect that doesn’t mean we have nothing to offer.  Churches might be less full than they once were, but they aren’t empty either.  God is relevant in today’s world as much as ever we have stories of hope, joy and encouragement to share, and we need to share those good stories.

That’s the bones, some of it is fleshed out a bit more – for example I plan to start the sharing of stories by instead of preaching a sermon on Sunday sharing the story about Fiona someone who was instrumental in my return to church – but much of it is still just bones, so if you have any ideas or suggestions they will be more than welcome.

The Art Of Captaincy – Mike Brearley

Tags

Books, Mike Brearley

Those of you who know me will be astounded that I have been reading a book about cricket!  I am not a great sports fan, and when it comes to watching sport cricket would be bottom of the list along with golf.  However this book was recommended at the ‘Leading Your Church Into Growth’ Conference and I decided that as I had grown to respect the leaders of the conference I would put aside my loathing of the sport and give it a whirl.

Okay so there was a lot of names that were unfamiliar, and terms which slightly bamboozled me at times, and there were anecdotes that the humour probably passed me by on, but on the whole what a great book about leadership.  There was a fascinating insight into how captains are chosen much of which I believe could be said for the church as well, and on more than that occasion I could see direct correlations with leadership in the church.   Right at the very front of the book there is a wonderful story.

A French general was once asked; after a famous victory, if it hadn’t really been won by his second-in-command.  His reply was “Maybe so, but one thing is certain: if the battle had been lost I would have lost it.”

A good leader should be prepared to take the flack when it flies, and also be prepared to let others shine and take the glory when praise is being passed out.  Charisma; Brearly, later goes on to point out, is no substitute for ability and vica-versa, having energy, optimism and enthusiasm in what you are doing are often the best tools for encouraging the best from others.  It would appear there are a lot of similarities between the captain of a cricket team and a parish priest, maybe this book should be added to theological colleges book lists.

Right Or Left?

Doctor Who on Saturday got me to thinking, in fact it got me to thinking so much that Sunday’s sermon was abandoned in favour of one following a Doctor Who theme.

For those of you who didn’t see it the whole story pivoted around Donna changing a decision she made and turned right instead of left while driving her car this seemingly minor incident meant that she ended up not meeting the Doctor, with massive consequences.

Now the cynic out there, might say a simple change like that doesn’t change much and certainly wouldn’t have the effect on the whole world that Donna’s change did.  We don’t know if choices we have made have made big differences, small differences or no difference at all.  However the choices we have made, have made us the people we are today, and they do shape the world around us.  There are of course also certain choices that we make that we know will and do have an impact on others, choosing fair trade being just one example.

Donna’s change meant that southern England was wiped out by a nuclear explosion, that vast numbers of Americans were turned into blocks of lard, and that the Doctor died to name but three.  Surely our choices don’t have such a massive impact, or do they?

At St Mark’s we have been embarking on ‘Leading Your Church Into Growth’, which shows in commonsense straightforward ways how evangelism can be easily done, on some level or another, by everyone.  The choice is do we do something or don’t we; do we turn right or left; do we spread the Good News or not; do we or don’t we make that seemingly insignificant turn in our lives that will make a significant impact on someones life?

Away Day

Saturday say the vestries of St Mark’s and St Paul’s & St John’s Monklands, take a trip down the coast to Holy Trinity, Ayr for a joint away day to explore a shortened version of the Leading Your Church Into Growth, 4 Studies and a Party, it was a day of little awakenings and a major revelation.  The little awakenings I had discovered for myself at the Leading Your Church Into Growth conference and had also witnessed in others as St Mark’s Wednesday evening group had gone through the material.  They are the realisations of the things that we have always known but were now being asked to think about with new eyes, those moments which we all have in life when we suddenly think – ‘well of course I know that but why didn’t I think of it!’  What has impressed me most about Leading Your Church into Growth from the very start is how much of it is common sense and yet again the flames were fanned.  There is additional work now that the vestries will need to take on themselves but the process is well under way, one of the realisations is that growth takes time, the clock however has started to tick and in the months and years to come the process will continue and the results of the labour will be evident.  We adjourned for a lovely lunch and then headed back to the hall for the afternoon session only to discover that we had been given the wrong key and where locked out.  This is were church notice boards come into play, and soon the treasurer was on his way down to let us back in again.  During the final session I could sense a rising excitement amongst those gathered, and apprehensions which the day might have begun with had left, or at least faded deep into the background, as the last pieces, for the day, where put into place.

It proved a very worth while way of doing the material and I would recommend it to any of you out there who haven’t yet taken that next step.

What about the revelation?  Well it was that the collected vestries didn’t know what the motto of the SEC was – Evangelical Truth and Apostolic Order.  Part of one of the sessions is getting people to choose a word which best describes their feelings towards the word ‘evangelism’.  For some if not most the word has developed negative connotations, and one person in particular struggled with us using the word at all and was shocked at the revelation.  Evangelism is the spreading of the Good News and that is something that we are all called to do, of course there are different ways in which that can be done and it was some of those more publicised ways which were making people wary of the word in general.  Of course that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing it ourselves, just that that those ways aren’t the ways for us and by the end of the day there was a consensus that we most certainly should be doing it the way that best suits who we are.

Two Sides

Life has been extremely busy of late, I have hardly had time to procrastinate never mind blog but there is light and a bit of space coming onto focus on the horizon.  So what you may be wondering has been keeping me busy.  Well it has on the whole been a times of the good and the bad.

Daughter finally managed to find a new flat and move in, had only just got used to her being around again and now have to go through the whole missing her being around again.  The travelling to work and university was just too much so I suppose in the bigger picture the good outweighs the bad.

The 12 months snagging list has been drawn out for the re-development, yes it has really been over a year since the build was completed and handed over, however there are still things that have never been completed and still other things that haven’t been completed satisfactory.  The good is that the list is slowly getting shorter, the bad is two fold, firstly that I don’t see any chance of the list being completed by the end of June as promised as secondly every time they fix something they either discover or create another thing to add to the list.  I have long been waiting to post a picture of our lovely new glass doors, however they still haven’t completed the surrounding area so I am afraid if you want to see them then you will have to just come along – this Sunday services at 10:30am and 6:30pm.

I have also been spending a lot of time hanging around waiting for deliveries which should be good; not the hanging around but the actual item being delivered; only to discover that the wrong thing as yet again been sent.

Of course no run down of the last fortnight or so would be complete without mention of the F1 at Monaco.  Lewis did well especially as it has since emerged that he had a puncture for the final two laps, the race for the drivers championship is wide open.  I felt for Sutil would have loved to see him on the podium, hopefully his performance will mark more good races for him to come and a chance of a seat in one of the major teams in the future.  The weather produced what, for me at least, as to be the race of the season so far.

Thursday evening of this week saw the annual trip over to St Ninian’s Polloksheilds for the pre-synod meeting.  I used to know the congregation reasonably well as I started my ordained life in a next door parish, as soon as I stepped into the building I was taken by how light the sanctuary area now was, it has been cleaned to great effect recently, the walls were painted some time ago and the building is no longer a gloomy place to go into.  The meeting however gave a glimpse that General Synod itself might get gloomy, there are several items which people hold varying views on, and it will be up to the person in the chair to stop Synod getting too gloomy.  Kelvin on his blog has a run down on the items.

The Wednesday evening group have come to the end of their 4 Studies and a Party and I am happy to report that that has proved nothing but good, good, good.  I did have apprehensions at the start but they were quickly proved to be unfounded and in a single voice those who attended the studies have been singing their praises and eager to take the next step.  The next step however is the joint vestry day with St Paul and St John, Monklands, next Saturday, only after that can the two groups, the Wednesday group and St Mark’s Vestry, get together and cover the final items, identifying our Mission Field and deciding on an event to launch into it.  This is not something that will happen over night, and it is hoped that before the blue touch paper is lit at least one other group will have travelled through the joys of 4 Studies and a Party.  After all the stuff to do with the re-development which while necessary was not what I went forward for ordination for, it is good to finally be getting on with something that I was, of course the first thing we would have discovered had the work not been done was that we needed to do the work!

We did manage to get away for the Bank Holiday down to sunny Dumfrieshire, were according to at least one of the local hotels St John’s is the local English Episcopal Church!  Photos will follow next week of two castles and an abbey once I have downloaded them, for now we are heading off to Edinburgh and the Taste of Festival, which we missed last year as I had just come out of hospital after my op, but BB and ‘K’ enjoyed in our place, so no doubt I you will hear about that at some point next week too.

4 Studies And A Party

It has been a while now since we went off to Paisley for Leading Your Church Into Growth and came back full of renewed energy and excitement.  Last night a group from the church started working through 4 Studies and A Party.  I was a touch apprehensive, would this shortened version have the same kind of impact of those gathered as the full Leading Your Church into Growth had on those of us who attended?  It turned out I needn’t have been almost straight away people were enthusing about it, and by the end of the evening they were looking forward to next week and were already seeing mission in a new and more realistic light.

Of course there is tougher stuff to come in the future studies and then the hard work and perseverance to see through any goals, but the first hurdle is over with no refusals, and no fallers.  In early June the Vestry along with the Vestry at St Paul’s and St John’s Monklands will also be going through the material in a joint Vestry day, after that there are plans to run another group at St Mark’s.  These things never happen overnight, but before the leaves start to turn from green back to browns, oranges and reds I hope that over half the congregation will have been on the course and goals and plans will be in place for the next chapter in the life of St Mark’s congregation.

Conversations

I always seem to have the most interesting conversations in the local hospital car park. 

This morning it was with a gentleman who was off for his monthly check-up, as usually the conversation started around my ‘Baby’ (she has turned out to be a great tool for ministry).  Turned out he had ridden in the Isle of Man TT races back in the early days and seeing my car brought it all back to him.  We had a very pleasant talk about his life, his health, his wife (who is in a wheelchair) and his family; it ended with him saying: “Thanks for talking to me even though I am not one of yours.”  I simply replied; “Doesn’t make a difference to me you are one of Gods’.”  He smiled and asked me to remember him and his wife in prayer. 

Now back home and seeing the LYCIG folder lying in the ‘not urgent but look again at pile’, I am wondering if I should just go up there once a week and just be there for those who wish to talk, regardless of whether there is a parishioner to visit or not, I am also wondering if I need to move the folder into a different pile!

Smiles All Round

While on the Leading Your Church Into Growth conference, opsss sorry course, Tim told us of something which had been happening in the Peterbourgh Diocese for some time, and what this year got some degree of column news inches.  Shining passers-bys shoes as a modern day equivalent of washing feet.  I pondered for a moment thinking there is something in that, the more I pondered it the more I realised that it wasn’t the right thing for St Mark’s and for East Kilbride.  As the course went on and it was mentioned again in passing and then alluded to a couple of times more I knew there was something in the concept trying to grab my attention but it wasn’t to do with shoe shining, the seed had been firmly planted.  It wasn’t until a back home again a couple of days later that it suddenly started germinate and sprout.  Which brings me onto Easter Sunday.

After we had sung Alleluia’s, peeked in the empty tomb, the children had gone hunting for their eggs, and smell of lilies had totally filled our nostrils.  A group of people prayed in the church while another group of the congregation head outside to spread the Good News, the plan was simple hand out Easter Eggs saying ‘Happy Easter, Christ has risen!’ to those passing by the church.  But as is the way with simple plans they sometimes don’t work as anticipated.  There is usually a steady stream of people passing the church, but not yesterday, yesterday it was but a trickle.  So as we are only 5 minutes walk from one of the shopping centre car parks we thought, Jesus would have gone were the people were, so off we headed light snow fluttering around us.  We were greeted with smiles, Happy Easter’s, surprise and a few questions, those who went out were invigorated and discovered that mission isn’t that scary after all, the congregation as a whole was buzzing with the fact that we were spreading the Good News, not only that Christ was alive but that St Mark’s was too. 

There are a few lessons to learn for next year, firstly start off in the car park, secondly get some of the people to wear St Mark’s t-shirts so that people know were we are from, and thirdly buy a lot more eggs!!!

Leading Your Church Into Growth

Come along to a conference the letter read.  The thought of being caged in a hotel with 59 other church people for 3 days to attend a conference for which there was very little information didn’t greatly inspire me.  I was assured the material was sound and the speakers good, but no other information was forthcoming no matter how many times I asked.  With a degree of reservation I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained and signed up.

We arrived to find we weren’t at a conference but on a course, alarm bells tinkled quietly as I found a seat beside a big green folder full of the course material, my heart began to sink.  ‘J’ from the congregation who was also there expressed in words what I was feeling and the words that came out of my mouth in reply; saying we are here now we shall see how it all goes were as much to myself as to her.

Straight into the introduction which meant I was able to find out for myself that the speakers were more than good, they were excellent, straight away I warmed to them, however I was still slightly hesitate about it all, and still didn’t really know what I had let myself in for.  At least they both have a sense of humour I thought.  As the rest of the first day began to unfold I found myself relaxing more and more, this stuff is good I was now not only thinking but saying to the others gathered around the table, and the rest of the three days continued in a similar vein.  We learnt much through sharing the joys and disappointments of those who had gathered, there was much laughter and yes I cried, the vulnerable side of me just won’t stay hidden, and through it all my enthusiasm levels started to soar.  I have to admit, and happily do so, that it wasn’t the nightmare I was fearing but probably one of the best three days I have spent doing church stuff in a long long time.  Yes there was the odd occasion when it felt a bit rushed – they were after all fitting five days into three, but session after session produced new challenges, inspiration, encouragement, reassurance and sound theology about Church growth, not only in connection with drawing in new members but also in encouraging exsiting members further on their journeys.

The two speakers, Tim and Damien, graciously shared their own stories and experience in an open non threatening way, not laying down some master plan that should be stuck to at all costs but rather showing us a framework and flinging a variety of items into the treasure chest so that we could pick up the bits that were going to be of greatest value to us.  I could go on, like someone who shall remain nameless did, about how good my room was, and about the great food and the cost of the drinks at the bar, but actually those things didn’t really matter, the one bit I had been dreading most turned out to be by far the best bit and the bit that I will be talking about and sharing with anyone who wants to hear about it, and probably those who couldn’t care less for some time to come.  But first I need to digest it all a bit, and that dear reader will not happen until after Easter – is it really Holy Week next week already? – but it most certainly will happen, I also need to order a shelf load of books from Amazon.  For now I have only two further things to say, if you get the chance to attend a LYCIG course I would urge you not to let it pass you by and, for those who were wondering about our Swedish friends, Johan has been safely delivered to the security gate at Glasgow airport.