Four weeks into this ministry business now and let me tell you has the learning curve been steep. It's not that the work is hard or unenjoyable, in fact I am loving every minute of it. One of the things that college never quite prepares you for is the "hitting the ground running" part of Methodist Ministry.
The welcoming circuit always does their best to give the in coming minister all the information that they think they will need but they cannot do everything, and nor should they. There is part of ministry therefore which is about finding ones way and discovering things for oneself.
In many ways you have to be part minister and part detective. Since arriving in Eastbourne I have had to discover many things for myself, through asking the right questions and just knocking on a few doors. The most interesting thing for me though is the things that I have not been told, the things that people sidestep around telling you. Not to mention the fact that what you hear from one person about a situation is often radically different from that which you hear from another. It turns out you cannot simply connect the dots, instead it is more a case of painting by numbers, you need to get hold of all the colours before you can see the picture as it actually is rather than how a certain person sees it.
And eventually, with a bit of luck, some hard work and a lot of prayer you discover that...............................................................................................................................................the butler did it!
In other news I have made a bit more progress in the work in the Sovereign harbour area. I had a fantastic meeting with the head teacher of The Haven school in which we discussed how I can work with both the Church and the school to bring the two closer together to the point that hopefully we will stop thinking in terms of The Haven Church and The Haven School and just think of The Haven. The other big move I made recently was to take a stroll around the Harbour in my Navy Blue Clerical wear, the idea being to show the face of the Church in the harbour in a way which none Church goers could see. And while I was out and about I popped in to the Harvester Pub for my lunch and had a nice chat with the manager who said she could see no problem with us holding a Beer and Bible study group. Next thing is my first service to take at The Haven this Sunday.
I'll keep you posted.
The welcoming circuit always does their best to give the in coming minister all the information that they think they will need but they cannot do everything, and nor should they. There is part of ministry therefore which is about finding ones way and discovering things for oneself.
In many ways you have to be part minister and part detective. Since arriving in Eastbourne I have had to discover many things for myself, through asking the right questions and just knocking on a few doors. The most interesting thing for me though is the things that I have not been told, the things that people sidestep around telling you. Not to mention the fact that what you hear from one person about a situation is often radically different from that which you hear from another. It turns out you cannot simply connect the dots, instead it is more a case of painting by numbers, you need to get hold of all the colours before you can see the picture as it actually is rather than how a certain person sees it.
And eventually, with a bit of luck, some hard work and a lot of prayer you discover that...............................................................................................................................................the butler did it!
In other news I have made a bit more progress in the work in the Sovereign harbour area. I had a fantastic meeting with the head teacher of The Haven school in which we discussed how I can work with both the Church and the school to bring the two closer together to the point that hopefully we will stop thinking in terms of The Haven Church and The Haven School and just think of The Haven. The other big move I made recently was to take a stroll around the Harbour in my Navy Blue Clerical wear, the idea being to show the face of the Church in the harbour in a way which none Church goers could see. And while I was out and about I popped in to the Harvester Pub for my lunch and had a nice chat with the manager who said she could see no problem with us holding a Beer and Bible study group. Next thing is my first service to take at The Haven this Sunday.
I'll keep you posted.
Comments
Post a Comment