just the rev

well long time no word from just the rev. apologies people. i have been signed off work for the second time this year to give the antibiotics a chance to work.

i was standing in the garden on Friday talking to my mate Mark B on the phone when some young people (goodness the yoof of today!) threw a soggy pink bra over the wall which landed at my feet. Have yet to work out the significance of this!

yesterday my mate got remarried. was a great occasion and instead of a disco we had a pub quiz in the evening.

Have been thinking that if churches could serve booze then more people might come. people might sit through a Sunday morning service if they knew they could get a sherry or a pint at the end (or even during the service!). We could issue beer tokens for those who bought the parish mag. There have been discussions over the years about whether communion has to be bread and wine - some youth leaders have suggested coke and crisps. perhaps if communion is more about an open invitation to the lost than we have made it and perhaps if we are going to reach the men of gloucester with the good news then there is a place for remembering Jesus dying for us whilst scoffing pasties and downing some decent beer.

well the funeral went fine and I managed to get through it despite the heat and feeling a bit grim. talking of grim, was not over impressed with the performance of the England team. Good old (or not so old) Rooney! Oh for a few more Rooneys in the Church and oh for the 'managers' who will be ready to play them.
Sermon on Sunday starts as follows:
Those who believe they believe in God, but without passion in the heart, without anguish of the mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God and not in God himself.

Have just started week 3 of antibiotics and am feeling a bit useless. Feeling a bit lacking in motivation and the work is piling up. Last night's meeting with the boys to plan the next fountain went well. Can't give you any clues or hints you just need to be there. Am off soon to take a funeral. Haven't got very far with planning my own but regularly coming across stuff that i know don't want!

so my prediction was wrong. nobody that I know of predicted the nightmare finish to England's opener against the French.
meeting tonight to plan the next fountain on 18 July so that'll help lift my spirits!

So the big match is about to happen. Have rigged up the big screen in our living room and await the fountain people and their beer. Prediction.....1-1 (Rooney and Henry to score).

really enjoying my new book....here's another snippet -

"it always seemed to me that people who'd discovered religion had both lost and gained something. Outwardly they'd gained calmness, confidence and a look of purpose, but what they'd lost was a certain unwillingness to connect with unconverted souls....they'd be alive and breathing, but they wouldn't be a hundred percent there anymore. They'd left the day-to-day world and joined the realm of eternal time."

Church fete is tomorrow. was hoping to turn the pulpit into a gunge tank and then on Sundays we could give the congregation a buzzer to press if the sermon got really tedious. Gunging the preacher would be a good fund raiser. I never want to leave the day-to-day world - I want to be a 100% there. Talking of sermons how about one called "How to re-connect with the day-to-day world'?

have just started reading Douglas Coupland's "hey Nostradamus!". so far so good. in it a girl called Cheryl describes her husband's family.

"his family - churchier than thou -looked down on girls who worked. If I was ever going to get a job, it would only be to annoy them, his parents - his dad mostly. He was a mean, dried out fart who defied charity, and who used religion as a` foil to justify his undesirable character traits. His cheapness became thrift; his lack of curiousity about the world and his contempt for new ideas were called being traditional."

Wondering for how many the term traditionalist is just one big cop out?

EINSTEIN said "Imagination and creativity are more important than knowledge."

CREATIVITY MAKES KNOWLEDGE ACCESSIBLE AND IT HELPS PEOPLE EXPERIENCE TRUTH.

this more than anything makes we want to preach and preach again on the issue of creativity. for the marvellous life-changing good news is still out of people’s grasp because our evangelism and mission is totally inaccessible. in today’s culture people place enormous value on experience. They want to know that the good news we talk of and try to live can be experienced. Creativity is a key bridge. One we must build and one we must walk over.

oh yes the wedding. You'd think that everyone knew all things bright and beautiful, wouldn't you?! well if the congregation knew it then for some other reason they were determined not to sing it. other than that all went well for my second attempt at a wedding. shania went down a storm with everyone except the organist!

in his article in the diocesan newsletter about mission shaped church the archdeacon of gloucester says the next steps will include "Some resources needing to be released from inherited church to emerging church." Things are looking up! The C of E is looking to resource stuff that works for a change!

off to do a wedding in a while. will have to endure all things bright and beautiful but at least we get to listen to Shania (on cd of course!) during the signing of the registers. for most of the people it will be a case of never been in church b4 except for a baptism or a wedding. What would make them want to come back?

discovered the Bish's sermon on the diocesan website. here's a snippet:

There is a need to look again at what kind of Church we need to be to serve God’s world and to share God’s mission in that world. The conventional wisdom is that we need a “both . . and Church”. In other words we need to have confidence in our heritage, to use all the traditional tools at our disposal, have a sense of history and continuity and not sever links with the society around us. And we need to do things new things also, to be imaginative, creative and bold - “fresh ways of being Church,” as the current phrase goes. Much of this “and” will be untidy, provisional, uncomfortable for some of us. But it will be worth taking the risk, living with untidiness, pushing at the boundaries of church order, flourishing on dilemma. Think about that phrase - a Church that flourishes on dilemma.

i like the bit that talks about 'pushing at the boundaries of church order"!

summer in the fountain!
The fountain is an alternative worship gathering.
We meet monthly to explore faith in a relaxed and contemporary format and to have a drink. There is no charge however we do put out a giving basket as it costs at least £30 per evening. We encourage people to stay for a drink afterwards and to chat about the evening, life and the universe!

Our next gathering is at Justin and Lucy’s house, 35 St. Mary’s Square on June 13th. It is a footie night and we will be watching England v France (euro 2004) on a big screen. Arrive for 7.15 and please bring a bottle or two. Match starts at 7.45

On July 18th we invite to join us as we explore the theme - “in the image of God” in the long room at the Fountain Inn, Westgate St Gloucester. We meet in the bar from 8pm and then in the long room from around 8.30, aiming to finish by 9.30.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANY INDIVIDUALS YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN COMING ALONG

THE FOUNTAIN DOES NOT MEET IN AUGUST BUT RETURNS 0N SEPTEMBER 26th/ OCTOBER 24th/
NOVEMBER 28th and DECEMBER 12th (Chrimble gathering with live music)

Please let us know if you no longer want to be on the mailing list.

For more details on the fountain speak to Mark (01452 713080) or Justin (01452 529985)
or Simon (01452 532167)

well I expect you are wondering whether I survived the enthronement or not.... I think the answer is just. It was a close call but I made it! the new bish spoke of repairing the church, there was a lot of processing, there was a lot of singing from the choir, there was a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and some other stuff. Not sure about our job being to repair the church. Is the church broken? And does brokenness have to be a bad thing? Is it not in our brokenness that we meet the only One who can fix us? A bit disappointed I guess that the message was not more about revival (a work of the Holy Spirit). Oh well lots of good stuff to look forward to I'm sure as the new bish gets settled in.