Category: church

little things

wonderfulexchange2 Comments

Encouraging news for Holy Trinity Dunoon tonight:

Someone* has purchased ten new cups and saucers for us since we keep running out after the service.

In the absence of reports of breakage or theft, I’m going to assume that’s a sign of growth.

*no prizes for guessing who. If you doubt the power of prayer, consider that this same person has, in the past fortnight, found in the local charity shops:

  • 10 cups, saucers & side plates
  • 2 iron candlesticks
  • 1 turned oak stand for a Pentecost fire bowl she happens to have, and
  • a siphon for emptying the font (sparing the rector much time with a ladle and spoon after the Eater baptism).

Oh, and when she wasn’t shopping, she found time to clean most of the visible surfaces in the church and to remove huge amounts of flaking paint. She even claims to enjoy dong it. Isn’t God good?

minor distractions

wonderfulexchange3 Comments

Today was set aside as ‘odds & ends and planning’. One of the things I needed to do was to put our charity numbers on church web pages.  And then I got a bit carried away.

Rothesay got a revamp, but no new content yet.

Dunoon is redressed & redefined: two new pages called ‘get involved’ and ‘photos’. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it has filled the afternoon.

And as I typed, I thought ‘what a busy little church we are.’  And when you multiply that by two, it makes me realise why I never quite catch up with all I intend to do.

No doubt I’ve forgotten things. No doubt I could say things differently. Suggestions welcome here or on the comment pages on the web site (though if there, they will probably be deleted once addressed…)

on blogging

wonderfulexchange5 Comments

There has been much discussion of late on the value (or otherwise) of blogs. So this is by way of reflection.

I was a reluctant blogger. Far too public a format for someone who is essentially ‘private’. But it’s a tool. A skill. A way of communicating beyond the bounds of church membership or geographic location. And thus a way to help build community and to engage in mission.

Mission? But surely only churchy types read this. That is mostly true, but all of us who blog have had other contacts, conversations that wouldn’t have happened without blogging: someone wanting a way into the church; someone tempted to walk out but looking for a last thread to hold onto.

All that I expected. What I didn’t expect was that I would enjoy it so much. And this is why:

    1. blogs connect me with people. those I wouldn’t otherwise meet, those who are geographically far away, those who have become friends: noticing when I’m ill, offering support, sharing their lives.
    2. blogs make me laugh. There is banter and chat, sharing of stories, and a willingness to take risks (and thus to get things wrong as well as right) publicly.
    3. blogs make me think. I become aware of things I might have missed otherwise, as people share topics that concern them. There’s space for sharing of expertise, time to ‘play’ with complex ideas. (my all time favourite conversation can be found here.)
    4. blogs give me hope for the church. There are a lot of passionate, intelligent people out there thinking about God. OK, sometimes they are cross. There’s plenty to be cross about in the church. But they are there, trying to make it work. Looking for new ways forward. Building relationship that show we are all in this together.

      Thanks to all of you who offer me so much through this peculiar public-private, open-intimate world.