Love, Grace and Gratitude
30 30 December 2018 Filed in: General
I have just finished serving 14 years in a most wonderful set of parishes collectively known as the Benefice of Ross with Walford and Brampton Abbotts in the Diocese of Hereford. Ross-on-Wye is a market town of over 10,000 people whilst Walford and Brampton Abbotts are farming villages. The three parishes were very different in church and beyond church and this diversity added to the beauty of the post I held.
I could easily have stayed but I think that leaders can sometimes stay too long in one post. Even if you are doing good things and there is a good fit between you and your post, sometimes it's right to move on. As the saying goes, there's rarely a good time to move on but there can be a bad time to stay. Sometimes the parish or the organisation needs the impetus that a new leader will bring. The good things that you have set up will still carry on and the new person may well do some things which you have been unable to do.
My new parish is The City Parish of St John The Baptist in Cardiff. It is right in the heart of the city and presents a new set of opportunities and challenges for me. Wealth, business, commerce and rough sleepers, mental illness and desperation are all around us in the parish. I am looking forward to engaging with all these communities and issues in the year ahead.
One of the beautiful things about my move was that my previous parishes sent me off with so much love and the my parish of St John's received me with such warmth and generosity and openness. I was gently handed over from one set of sisters and brothers to my new sisters and brothers. It could not have been a more grace-filled process.
I have found that Cardiff people are incredibly welcoming and caring. There have been a couple of times in shops where the assistant gave such outstanding help that family members with me were quite amazed. As I walk in to church each day I pass a number of people who sleep on the streets in cardboard boxes or tents. In the morning commuters often leave drinks or fruit or food carefully and quietly beside the tents and boxes for those souls on the street. Cardiff has a kind heart.
I am so thankful for the gracious handover between my previous parishes and my new one. I was valued and loved and passed gently on between them. I am aware that the souls on the street may be moved between agencies and places with far less compassion and love.
I hope that in 2019 I can try to offer some of the love that I have been shown to the most vulnerable in our city.
I could easily have stayed but I think that leaders can sometimes stay too long in one post. Even if you are doing good things and there is a good fit between you and your post, sometimes it's right to move on. As the saying goes, there's rarely a good time to move on but there can be a bad time to stay. Sometimes the parish or the organisation needs the impetus that a new leader will bring. The good things that you have set up will still carry on and the new person may well do some things which you have been unable to do.
My new parish is The City Parish of St John The Baptist in Cardiff. It is right in the heart of the city and presents a new set of opportunities and challenges for me. Wealth, business, commerce and rough sleepers, mental illness and desperation are all around us in the parish. I am looking forward to engaging with all these communities and issues in the year ahead.
One of the beautiful things about my move was that my previous parishes sent me off with so much love and the my parish of St John's received me with such warmth and generosity and openness. I was gently handed over from one set of sisters and brothers to my new sisters and brothers. It could not have been a more grace-filled process.
I have found that Cardiff people are incredibly welcoming and caring. There have been a couple of times in shops where the assistant gave such outstanding help that family members with me were quite amazed. As I walk in to church each day I pass a number of people who sleep on the streets in cardboard boxes or tents. In the morning commuters often leave drinks or fruit or food carefully and quietly beside the tents and boxes for those souls on the street. Cardiff has a kind heart.
I am so thankful for the gracious handover between my previous parishes and my new one. I was valued and loved and passed gently on between them. I am aware that the souls on the street may be moved between agencies and places with far less compassion and love.
I hope that in 2019 I can try to offer some of the love that I have been shown to the most vulnerable in our city.
Hello World!
10 10 June 2018 Filed in: General
When times get tough; the tough get going. . . to a community music night.
I am busy. Too busy. Often too busy to rest, sometimes too busy to eat. There is far too much to do. I don't go looking for the work. I don't suffer from the desire to work too hard and I don't think that by working just that bit more I can save the world. In truth I don't think that that by working just that little bit more I can even tidy my house. But still the work comes.
After a while it robs me of my sense of fun. I lose the desire to do the things which nourish me. I'd much prefer to stay in on my own than go out.
Last Friday, several of my friends and a member of our family were taking part in the monthly village music night. I could have stayed in but I wanted to go and support them. I was not the life and soul of the party and the introvert side of me was slightly the dominant part but I had the most marvellous evening. People played and sang. A much valued colleague and his wife danced. They danced! And someone recognised me having seen me play somewhere. Hurrah!
It's time-honoured good advice. When things are too busy or they are tricky make sure you have time to relax and enjoy the things you like. It's good advice but it is easy to forget. I hope I'll read this blog entry the next time I am too tired to enjoy something.
And if you are a little weary dear reader. . . reach for the internet or the phone and find a place to go with people you care about. It will most likely do you good.
I am busy. Too busy. Often too busy to rest, sometimes too busy to eat. There is far too much to do. I don't go looking for the work. I don't suffer from the desire to work too hard and I don't think that by working just that bit more I can save the world. In truth I don't think that that by working just that little bit more I can even tidy my house. But still the work comes.
After a while it robs me of my sense of fun. I lose the desire to do the things which nourish me. I'd much prefer to stay in on my own than go out.
Last Friday, several of my friends and a member of our family were taking part in the monthly village music night. I could have stayed in but I wanted to go and support them. I was not the life and soul of the party and the introvert side of me was slightly the dominant part but I had the most marvellous evening. People played and sang. A much valued colleague and his wife danced. They danced! And someone recognised me having seen me play somewhere. Hurrah!
It's time-honoured good advice. When things are too busy or they are tricky make sure you have time to relax and enjoy the things you like. It's good advice but it is easy to forget. I hope I'll read this blog entry the next time I am too tired to enjoy something.
And if you are a little weary dear reader. . . reach for the internet or the phone and find a place to go with people you care about. It will most likely do you good.