End of Sabbatical

Well, that's it then. End of sabbatical. Back to work tomorrow for 3 months, and then off to Cumbria. Still can't quite get used to it: certainly not what I intended at the beginning of November. I've managed to catch up with a bit of study over the past few days, but there's also been some stuff to do with the move e.g. setting up the licensing service. (5pm, Sunday 17 May if you want to come. Tea from 3.30pm, so those travelling can be refreshed on arrival and get away fairly handy afterwards.) Today, after church with Chris & Debbie (rocking baby Chloe to sleep during the sermon!) I've been tidying the study in readiness and begun the task of emptying my shelves of books. I'm aiming to reduce by 50% by the time we move!

I've particularly enjoyed reading a new document published for General Synod next month, called 'Growing the Rural Church.'  Where I'm going is not entirely rural - Cockermouth is a small town - but the difference in scale between here and there is pretty enormous. This parish has a population of 23,000 whereas the entire population of Cockermouth is only 8,000! And the population of the villages which also form part of the Team is only about 1000 each. One of the things I think I will have to get used to -as the document makes clear - is that the church is often more 'enculturated' (sorry about the jargon!) within the life of the local community than it is in the suburbs. So you tend to find the same people active in both church and community, and the major festivals of the year have a greater significance. In other ways, as the report suggests, the challenges are the same: helping people to be the church, rather than go to church, being much more collaborative both within churches and across denominational lines, and - for clergy - learning to be 'episcopal', encouraging and promoting the ministries of lay people rather than being the minister.

At my interview, I was asked if I was good at delegating. I said I think I am, in the sense that there are certain things I am not good at and others do better. But I went on to say that maybe the question implied that ministry belongs to the ordained person who shares his or her ministry with others. Not so: ministry belongs to the church (well, actually to Jesus!) not the vicar. As I sometimes say, 'it's not the job of lay people to help the vicar run the church; it's the task of the vicar to help lay people change the world!'

It's not all been serious stuff while I've been off duty. There was the holiday in Antigua, Jude's building project, and several family events, including a triple birthday party yesterday. I've enjoyed finishing work earlier in the evening than usual and watching more TV. Silent Witness is a favourite of mine, and I'm specially enjoying Wolf Hall on a Wednesday night. The lighting is so good that it not only makes the production seem more authentic but it also helps to give that sense of foreboding around the court of Henry VIII.

I've also read a fair bit of fiction. I enjoy a good crime thriller, and have been working my way through the Swedish Millennium trilogy (not in Swedish, I hasten to add!): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Who Played with Fire/Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. The author, Stieg Larsson died sadly at the age of only 50, by which time the 3 manuscripts were with his publisher. Lisbeth Salander is a kind of anti-hero, subjected to terrible abuse as a child, a damaged person as a result, but with phenomenal intelligence, great physical strength, a strong moral compass and immense courage. It's one of those stories - of intrigue, corruption, crime, political cover-up - which makes a great story but you can't help wondering whether it's rather too close to reality. Larsson has a particular concern for the abuse of women and the power of good journalism. It's well written, and the violent and sexual narratives are neither gratuitous nor indulgent. Not sure I'd want to see the films though!