I was Associate Minister at St Paul's Leamington Spa. I am now Associate Vicar in the Nailsea Local Ministry Group. Now this is meaningless mumbo-jumbo to many but since publishing it is simply a matter of cutting and pasting there is very little reason to get it wrong.
I think the problem comes when people try to understand the words and rephrase them in language they think will help others. Then that translation gets translated back into ecclesiastispeak and soon it is all a load of small spherical fleshy dangly bits.
I have ignored one or two minor errors, although I know it upsets the people of the other churches in the Local Minstry Group to see me described only as Associate Vicar at Holy Trinity. Rightly so too. But the prize for the most wrong so far is the description of my former post as 'Honorary Curate' allied to the error about only being at Holy Trinity.
And the publication which made the error? The Grapevine - Official Newspaper of the Bath and Wells Diocese. This may take some time.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Risk
What risks do you take? Driving? Dodgy. Crossing the road? Hazardous. Opening cupboard doors? The leading cause of accidents in one CYFA Venture Holiday season a few years back.
What causes accidents in the home? Slippers and tea-cosies. They're the killers according to the accident and emergency unit of a hospital in the Midlands.
A vehicle screamed round the bend on Sunday at far too high a speed for a quiet residential area and as I moved back from the edge of the pavement was barely reassured by the 'baby on board' notice in the rear window. Is that why some people don't let their children walk to school but take them surfing/climbing/river walking.
You are, in fact, more likely to be knocked over on the way to buying your lottery ticket than to win the jackpot.
Fishing leads to more drownings than swimming, most years.
What necessary and unnecessary risks do we take on board? Caving or parachuting, as I asked a few days back. I am carefully taking up mushrooming, using reference books, advice and common sense. At the same time, when decorating, I am a little careless leaning over the edge of ladders, trusting my own agility perhaps more than I should.
Getting up in the morning is a risky business.
What causes accidents in the home? Slippers and tea-cosies. They're the killers according to the accident and emergency unit of a hospital in the Midlands.
A vehicle screamed round the bend on Sunday at far too high a speed for a quiet residential area and as I moved back from the edge of the pavement was barely reassured by the 'baby on board' notice in the rear window. Is that why some people don't let their children walk to school but take them surfing/climbing/river walking.
You are, in fact, more likely to be knocked over on the way to buying your lottery ticket than to win the jackpot.
Fishing leads to more drownings than swimming, most years.
What necessary and unnecessary risks do we take on board? Caving or parachuting, as I asked a few days back. I am carefully taking up mushrooming, using reference books, advice and common sense. At the same time, when decorating, I am a little careless leaning over the edge of ladders, trusting my own agility perhaps more than I should.
Getting up in the morning is a risky business.
Monday, October 30, 2006
New to the Diocese
Where do we stand on socks people? In a rather tedious moment of a reasonably illuminating introduction to the Diocese, including the first time I have ever had lunch in a Palace by invitation, I noticed that almost half the male participants had failed to give any attention to the colour of their socks in relation to the hue of either their shoes or their trousers. Or, worryingly, had given it attention and I was observing the results.
Does this matter? Well I think it does and so does Father Ted and if he and I agree about something then it has to be right.
Quote of the day. 'If you try something and it doesn't work, pick yourself up and we will help you, dust you down and defend you. If you're a complete ass it makes it more difficult for us' (Archdeacon of Taunton). It's a slightly up-tempo version of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'If one has failed only where others have not had the courage or will to try, there is a consolation...' from An Artist of the Floating World. This idea of dignified failure has been a theme of my life for the last twenty years. Lovely to be in a diocese that salutes that.
Had to get up early to go to Wells for this training day so thanks very much for the concern. No mushroom problems.
Does this matter? Well I think it does and so does Father Ted and if he and I agree about something then it has to be right.
Quote of the day. 'If you try something and it doesn't work, pick yourself up and we will help you, dust you down and defend you. If you're a complete ass it makes it more difficult for us' (Archdeacon of Taunton). It's a slightly up-tempo version of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'If one has failed only where others have not had the courage or will to try, there is a consolation...' from An Artist of the Floating World. This idea of dignified failure has been a theme of my life for the last twenty years. Lovely to be in a diocese that salutes that.
Had to get up early to go to Wells for this training day so thanks very much for the concern. No mushroom problems.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Mycology
I mentioned a few weeks back that I wanted to start taking advantage of free food and lo, a huge crop of mushrooms has reared its head in the back lawn. Now most mushrooms are edible but the majority of that most taste horrid and one or two really can do you harm so it is worth being sure you can identify what you are about to eat.
Visiting the Forest of Dean last Friday I mentioned this to my friend who gave me a book on fungi identification and suggested I took it down his garden, picked the crop under the tree at the bottom of the drive and looked them up. Nothing makes you more careful in your research than the prospect of eating the results if you think they are safe.
Well we were pretty sure we had identified a tricholoma columbetta. The picture fitted. The description fitted and the geography and chronology fitted (they grew there at that time of year). We then double checked by looking at all the pictures of ones like it and seeing if any of them killed you. One did but it was supposed to have a sickly smell and ours didn't. It was also smaller. So we chopped one up and cooked it in some garlic and butter and then, not wanting to watch the other one die horribly, both ate at the same time. It tasted horrid but we lived.
On the way home I stopped my car and put another specimen in the boot, just in case they needed an example at the hospital. That was Friday (symptoms of mushroom poisoning take 8-24 hours to show sometimes).
Today I had a go at identifying the three types that are showing through my lawn. Can't be certain about two of them but one is definitely a shaggy ink cap or lawyer's wig. It is now in tonight's mushroom soup, although the bulk of the ingredients came from Riverford Organic Vegetables, the sister company to River Nene who we used to use.
I may blog again tomorrow. Who knows?
Visiting the Forest of Dean last Friday I mentioned this to my friend who gave me a book on fungi identification and suggested I took it down his garden, picked the crop under the tree at the bottom of the drive and looked them up. Nothing makes you more careful in your research than the prospect of eating the results if you think they are safe.
Well we were pretty sure we had identified a tricholoma columbetta. The picture fitted. The description fitted and the geography and chronology fitted (they grew there at that time of year). We then double checked by looking at all the pictures of ones like it and seeing if any of them killed you. One did but it was supposed to have a sickly smell and ours didn't. It was also smaller. So we chopped one up and cooked it in some garlic and butter and then, not wanting to watch the other one die horribly, both ate at the same time. It tasted horrid but we lived.
On the way home I stopped my car and put another specimen in the boot, just in case they needed an example at the hospital. That was Friday (symptoms of mushroom poisoning take 8-24 hours to show sometimes).
Today I had a go at identifying the three types that are showing through my lawn. Can't be certain about two of them but one is definitely a shaggy ink cap or lawyer's wig. It is now in tonight's mushroom soup, although the bulk of the ingredients came from Riverford Organic Vegetables, the sister company to River Nene who we used to use.
I may blog again tomorrow. Who knows?
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Limerick
Also found this Limerick:
There was an old feller called God
Who found it exceedingly odd
That each generation
Of every nation
Should tread - where they shouldn't have trod.
So seeing as how he was the boss
He thought he would deal with this loss;
He sent his son Jesus
To try and appease us
But we nailed him onto a cross.
If you're God do you go back to bed?
Leaving those who don't want to be led?
No you open the grave -
Jesus, give us a wave -
Saying, 'Hello, I used to be dead.'
I don't think I'll be giving up my day job this time.
There was an old feller called God
Who found it exceedingly odd
That each generation
Of every nation
Should tread - where they shouldn't have trod.
So seeing as how he was the boss
He thought he would deal with this loss;
He sent his son Jesus
To try and appease us
But we nailed him onto a cross.
If you're God do you go back to bed?
Leaving those who don't want to be led?
No you open the grave -
Jesus, give us a wave -
Saying, 'Hello, I used to be dead.'
I don't think I'll be giving up my day job this time.
Notes
I've been getting to grips with my desk. In particular the pile of papers and notes that were once destined to become stories, articles, examples, illustrations and jokes.
Back in April I noted that a telephone number printed on a sign at the bottom of Parade, Leamington Spa was an 'Urban mixed priority emergency helpline.' Led me to retire as a humorist due to unfair competition from real life.
Another note suggests, 'A conversation with the author's sexuality,' which may or may not be fun but I never did it and probably won't.
A question. 'Would the world be a better place if it contained more people like you?' A very good question as it happens but I never got round to asking it. Maybe you'd like to think about it.
If any of these ideas makes you a million shall we say 10%?
Back in April I noted that a telephone number printed on a sign at the bottom of Parade, Leamington Spa was an 'Urban mixed priority emergency helpline.' Led me to retire as a humorist due to unfair competition from real life.
Another note suggests, 'A conversation with the author's sexuality,' which may or may not be fun but I never did it and probably won't.
A question. 'Would the world be a better place if it contained more people like you?' A very good question as it happens but I never got round to asking it. Maybe you'd like to think about it.
If any of these ideas makes you a million shall we say 10%?
Coathangers
It's my favourite metaphor of complexity. Always has been. No that's stupid. Stoopid. It has been for a while, but not for ever.
Engaging with life, if you have any sense of normality about you, is like trying to remove a single coat-hanger from a large box of coat-hangers. If you pull on one you will be very fortunate if only one comes out.
I love it when life is so simple and straightforward, one thing at a time, that there is no box of coat-hangers around, but rarely is that the case. It is why, as a busy minister, I tried to learn the skill of relaxing whenever the opportunity came along rather than at the end of the day. It seemed to me the antidote to high-blood pressure and mental illness. If I only get to relax when the coat hanger box is sorted I never will. The pile of sorted coat-hangers will have mysteriously linked back together again, unless you keep each one in a separate box and that way lies obsessive, compulsive disorder.
I remember a day at CPAS about five years ago. The organisation was in the middle of a crisis and after a three day session to try and feel our way foward in the company of an outside consultant there was a single, one-day, follow up session. I thought I had a few moments of clarity and spoke more than I usually spoke at those meetings. I could see a single coat-hanger that would come out. There was something I thought we could do that wouldn't have any knock-on effect and didn't need cross-organisation approval.
To tell the truth the idea wasn't well received and I retreated into my inner world and wrote a sketch.
Some weeks later my colleague was on holiday and asked me to keep an eye on his email in-box and sort out the wheat from the chaff chaff chaff chaff chaff. Sitting at his desk I saw, sitting in his in-box from before his holiday (so none of my business), an email from another colleague with my name in the subject box. Now I shouldn't have, but on the other hand I put it to you that there are few of you out there who wouldn't have. So I did. I read it.
It included the line, 'I think that is why Steve Tilley was so obnoxious the other day.' Ever since then I have tried to work out how I manage, occasionally (and I know from talking to others that I do), to pass through the secret door between passionate and obnoxious.
One of my heroes is Michael Stipe, vocalist and lyricist of REM. He said once that he has such a creative mind (in that he always sees the creative possibilities) that he often retreats into an inner world and works on an idea whenever it strikes him and then expects people to be excited about it when it emerges, again whatever the situation. 'This' he said, 'has made me very prolific but lousy company at dinner parties.' Whilst claiming no other connection with his Stipeness apart from being lousy company at dinner parties from time to time I recognise the symptoms.
So there's this box of coat-hangers see. The best advice I ever had about the coat-hanger problem was to have a permanent list in the files of any problem you were trying to sort headed, 'Who else should I tell?'
Life is much more than coat-hangers but it is, as the late, great Douglas Adams's character Dirk Gently (holistic detection) said, all to do with the basic inter-connectedness of things. Which is why, on a busy day, I am now going off to the gym to ponder and keep fit, before I tackle anything else.
Engaging with life, if you have any sense of normality about you, is like trying to remove a single coat-hanger from a large box of coat-hangers. If you pull on one you will be very fortunate if only one comes out.
I love it when life is so simple and straightforward, one thing at a time, that there is no box of coat-hangers around, but rarely is that the case. It is why, as a busy minister, I tried to learn the skill of relaxing whenever the opportunity came along rather than at the end of the day. It seemed to me the antidote to high-blood pressure and mental illness. If I only get to relax when the coat hanger box is sorted I never will. The pile of sorted coat-hangers will have mysteriously linked back together again, unless you keep each one in a separate box and that way lies obsessive, compulsive disorder.
I remember a day at CPAS about five years ago. The organisation was in the middle of a crisis and after a three day session to try and feel our way foward in the company of an outside consultant there was a single, one-day, follow up session. I thought I had a few moments of clarity and spoke more than I usually spoke at those meetings. I could see a single coat-hanger that would come out. There was something I thought we could do that wouldn't have any knock-on effect and didn't need cross-organisation approval.
To tell the truth the idea wasn't well received and I retreated into my inner world and wrote a sketch.
Some weeks later my colleague was on holiday and asked me to keep an eye on his email in-box and sort out the wheat from the chaff chaff chaff chaff chaff. Sitting at his desk I saw, sitting in his in-box from before his holiday (so none of my business), an email from another colleague with my name in the subject box. Now I shouldn't have, but on the other hand I put it to you that there are few of you out there who wouldn't have. So I did. I read it.
It included the line, 'I think that is why Steve Tilley was so obnoxious the other day.' Ever since then I have tried to work out how I manage, occasionally (and I know from talking to others that I do), to pass through the secret door between passionate and obnoxious.
One of my heroes is Michael Stipe, vocalist and lyricist of REM. He said once that he has such a creative mind (in that he always sees the creative possibilities) that he often retreats into an inner world and works on an idea whenever it strikes him and then expects people to be excited about it when it emerges, again whatever the situation. 'This' he said, 'has made me very prolific but lousy company at dinner parties.' Whilst claiming no other connection with his Stipeness apart from being lousy company at dinner parties from time to time I recognise the symptoms.
So there's this box of coat-hangers see. The best advice I ever had about the coat-hanger problem was to have a permanent list in the files of any problem you were trying to sort headed, 'Who else should I tell?'
Life is much more than coat-hangers but it is, as the late, great Douglas Adams's character Dirk Gently (holistic detection) said, all to do with the basic inter-connectedness of things. Which is why, on a busy day, I am now going off to the gym to ponder and keep fit, before I tackle anything else.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The God Delusion
I have heard a lot of talk and read a lot of reviews about this book recently so I thought I'd better buy myself a copy. I got it at Waterstones and discovered in doing so that they now issue loyalty points and quite generously too - I think 4p per pound spent which will mount up. You can, as ever, buy it cheaper from Amazon. Click here if you want to.I think it might help to record my thoughts chapter by chapter. I don't want to read the book too quickly but to stop and think as I work through it.
Dealing with the philosophy of the day has always been essential work for followers of Jesus. The beginning of John's Gospel, 'In the beginning was the logos and the logos became flesh' moves on from Judaism to tackle Greek ways of thinking. Paul in Athens in Acts 17 does likewise, admiring idols and tributes to unknown Gods in the company of people who like talking about the latest thing and saying 'I see that in every way you are very religious.' It has always been the duty of Christian apologists everywhere to get to grips with the latest thing.
Dawkin's aim is unashamedly anti-evangelistic. He wants people who read it to let go of religion, whatever style they have chosen or had inflicted upon them, and come out as atheists. He writes well and has a lively style that is easy to read and follow.
In the opening chapter Dawkins argues that people should not get exceptions from the law by appealing to their religion. He says that if hate can prove it is religious it no longer counts as hate and religion is disproportionately priviliged. He has some sympathy for an appeal to freedom of speech if you want to wear an 'All abortionists must die' T-shirt but not an appeal to religious exceptions from the due process of law. He chastises journalists for moral cowardice in being more willing to tackle dodgy Christianity than dodgy Islam, accusing them of wanting to save their windows more than further the truth. Told you it was lively. I'm with him so far.
Opening sentence of chapter 2 announces, 'The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.' Ignoring the obvious truth that there is at least some history in the Old Testament does him no favours. I'm about to read on.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Domestic Appliance Report
1. Purchased new iron. No power trip. Ironing done. Old iron will be returned to Leamington Spa where it made gurgling noises without blowing fuses.
2. DAB aerial just about working but reception here seems poor generally. Stations however are now permanently tuned in.
3. Someone has locked the TV tuning system and we have no manual for this TV so video, as yet, untuned to TV.
4. New fridge freezer decided to go on the blink necessitating emptying it and cooking a lot of things (pea soup, stewed apple, bread with everything). Only freezer is affected. Fridge fine. Problem persisted all weekend as the Siemens service centre is strictly 9-5 Monday to Friday. Problem righted itself once I'd phoned this morning at 9.30 and arranged for an engineer to call.
4. New BT handset says it is January 5th. Followed instructions to change time and date and the menu replied 'not available.'
I think we have accidentally moved into an area of RVAF (Random Variable Appliance Fatigue) turbulance.
2. DAB aerial just about working but reception here seems poor generally. Stations however are now permanently tuned in.
3. Someone has locked the TV tuning system and we have no manual for this TV so video, as yet, untuned to TV.
4. New fridge freezer decided to go on the blink necessitating emptying it and cooking a lot of things (pea soup, stewed apple, bread with everything). Only freezer is affected. Fridge fine. Problem persisted all weekend as the Siemens service centre is strictly 9-5 Monday to Friday. Problem righted itself once I'd phoned this morning at 9.30 and arranged for an engineer to call.
4. New BT handset says it is January 5th. Followed instructions to change time and date and the menu replied 'not available.'
I think we have accidentally moved into an area of RVAF (Random Variable Appliance Fatigue) turbulance.
Autumn
I can't remember an autumn like this one. It is mild. Few leaves are hungry for the wind and most are hanging onto their branches as if they are trapeze artists for whom letting go would be life and death. The bright red berries make suburban pyracantha look like steroid bulked body-builders.
In researching the spelling of pyracantha I discovered that the berries are edible; recipe suggestions here. I'd love to make more jams and jellies (and puds and cakes) but it seems to me that anything you add over a kilo of sugar to is not going to do much for your life expectancy. It is just about the only thing I could do with my crab apples next year though. This year we arrived too late and had to compost the lot.
I have now learned that the weather here is unpredictable, even by the BBC local web-site. If the rainy symbol appears there I now go to the animated map and watch how far away the rain clouds are and how fast they are travelling. This method meant that today, a predicted rainy day when I would normally have kept washing inside, has seen it blowing in the garden breeze until now (3.30 pm).
I'm enjoying living so close to rural even if I am in suburbia. Next piece of research needs to be mushrooms and truffles. Free food. Bit of a theme.
In researching the spelling of pyracantha I discovered that the berries are edible; recipe suggestions here. I'd love to make more jams and jellies (and puds and cakes) but it seems to me that anything you add over a kilo of sugar to is not going to do much for your life expectancy. It is just about the only thing I could do with my crab apples next year though. This year we arrived too late and had to compost the lot.
I have now learned that the weather here is unpredictable, even by the BBC local web-site. If the rainy symbol appears there I now go to the animated map and watch how far away the rain clouds are and how fast they are travelling. This method meant that today, a predicted rainy day when I would normally have kept washing inside, has seen it blowing in the garden breeze until now (3.30 pm).
I'm enjoying living so close to rural even if I am in suburbia. Next piece of research needs to be mushrooms and truffles. Free food. Bit of a theme.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Wee Mee
I visited WeeWorld and I've made an avatar. I know this is the sort of thing 13 year olds do and so some of the choices make me look just a tad younger than I am, but I think it represents what I insistently call my style accurately enough.
Veils and Crosses
A lot has been written and spoken on this subject over the last few weeks. This article has helped me to make sense of it more than most.
Seth Lakeman
Just listening to an excellent album Freedom Fields by Seth Lakeman. Have you come across him? He was Mercury nominated. Sort of semi-funky country with socially aware lyrics. Heard him on the Cambridge Folk Festival TV highlights programme singing and playing fiddle at the same time. He also plays something called a 'tenor guitar' which is new to me. The word 'haunting' is over-used in music reviews but I think it fits here.
Follow the link in the header to listen to samples.
Follow the link in the header to listen to samples.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Questionnaire Analysis
Well eleven of you bothered so here's the results
1. (a) Chocolate or (b) vanilla ice cream?
Badly worded question. Ignore
2. Red (5) or white wine (6)?
3. Run (5) or swim (6)?
4. Six day creation (1) or evolution (12)?
5. Alone (4) or accompanied (7)?
6. Rugby (4) or association football (6)?
One person chose to die rather than decide.
7. Walk (6) or cycle (5)?
8. Fly (5) or sail (6)?
9. Too hot (3) or too cold (8)?
10. BBC (11) or ITV (0)?
11. Sun (5) or Mirror (5)?
Again one person chose death.
12. Tea (5) or coffee (6)?
Thanks to Mel for saying please.
13. Cinema (6) or theatre (5)?
14. Lecture (3) or seminar (8)?
15. Who (9) or what (1)?
One person omitted because they couldn't understand the question. I'll take the blame for that and they may live.
16. Light (9) or dark (2)?
17. Noise (2) or silence (9)?
18. Keyboard (8) or pen (3)?
19. Write (9) or draw (2)?
20. Picture (2) or story (9)?
21. Driver (7) or passenger (4)?
22. Text (6) or phone (5)?
23. Caving (4) or parachuting (5)?
Two people felt these were sufficiently dangerous to go straight for the instant death option.
24. Audience (4) or on-stage (7)?
25. Comedy (9) or tragedy (2)?
So thank you all very much. You are a well-balanced readership. Except, the BBC is safe in your hands, the world will keep laughing in the face of everything, even literal creationists, and the windows will remain open. And I've learned a bit about wording questionnaires.
1. (a) Chocolate or (b) vanilla ice cream?
Badly worded question. Ignore
2. Red (5) or white wine (6)?
3. Run (5) or swim (6)?
4. Six day creation (1) or evolution (12)?
5. Alone (4) or accompanied (7)?
6. Rugby (4) or association football (6)?
One person chose to die rather than decide.
7. Walk (6) or cycle (5)?
8. Fly (5) or sail (6)?
9. Too hot (3) or too cold (8)?
10. BBC (11) or ITV (0)?
11. Sun (5) or Mirror (5)?
Again one person chose death.
12. Tea (5) or coffee (6)?
Thanks to Mel for saying please.
13. Cinema (6) or theatre (5)?
14. Lecture (3) or seminar (8)?
15. Who (9) or what (1)?
One person omitted because they couldn't understand the question. I'll take the blame for that and they may live.
16. Light (9) or dark (2)?
17. Noise (2) or silence (9)?
18. Keyboard (8) or pen (3)?
19. Write (9) or draw (2)?
20. Picture (2) or story (9)?
21. Driver (7) or passenger (4)?
22. Text (6) or phone (5)?
23. Caving (4) or parachuting (5)?
Two people felt these were sufficiently dangerous to go straight for the instant death option.
24. Audience (4) or on-stage (7)?
25. Comedy (9) or tragedy (2)?
So thank you all very much. You are a well-balanced readership. Except, the BBC is safe in your hands, the world will keep laughing in the face of everything, even literal creationists, and the windows will remain open. And I've learned a bit about wording questionnaires.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Walking
After ten years on the road with CPAS I didn't want to drive another mile (for a bit anyway). The four years walking around Leamington and working the confined area of St Paul's parish and surround were very good for me personally. It was all I needed to get my back right because backs are designed to move and we don't move them enough.
So my company car went back to Soans and having the use of Liz's company car at weekends and in the evenings for social, domestic and pleasure was fine. We had hated owning two company cars.
I knew I'd have to start car-owning again once I got here. The Diocesan centre, in Wells, has no railway and a 9.15 a.m. start there a week on Monday looks challenging for a public transport user.
Thing is, this town is so car-dependent that I feel walking everywhere is a bit of a statement. Outside schools-in and schools-out times you hardly ever meet people on the highways and byways, apart from the town-centre. There is a fellowship amongst dog-walkers (labradors and retrievers in abundance here) but I think my dog-keeping days are over as they make me sneeze too much.
Yesterday I topped the five mile barrier having walked from home to Christ Church and back, home to Wraxall and half way back (after a lift) and home to Holy Trinity and back. Kind people did offer to run me home but I stubbornly refused. Slept like a policeman.
So my company car went back to Soans and having the use of Liz's company car at weekends and in the evenings for social, domestic and pleasure was fine. We had hated owning two company cars.
I knew I'd have to start car-owning again once I got here. The Diocesan centre, in Wells, has no railway and a 9.15 a.m. start there a week on Monday looks challenging for a public transport user.
Thing is, this town is so car-dependent that I feel walking everywhere is a bit of a statement. Outside schools-in and schools-out times you hardly ever meet people on the highways and byways, apart from the town-centre. There is a fellowship amongst dog-walkers (labradors and retrievers in abundance here) but I think my dog-keeping days are over as they make me sneeze too much.
Yesterday I topped the five mile barrier having walked from home to Christ Church and back, home to Wraxall and half way back (after a lift) and home to Holy Trinity and back. Kind people did offer to run me home but I stubbornly refused. Slept like a policeman.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
One day in History (17/10/06)
I published the following to the 'History Matters' web-site. Follow the link above to do likewise.
I woke at 7.45 a.m., roused by my alarm. This is unusual as I am normally roused by my wife, who gets up at 6.00 a.m. but she is away for a few days.
After breakfast of grapefruit and orange followed by a bowl of muesli and some coffee I walked across Nailsea to Holy Trinity Tithe Barn where I helped some people pack boxes for the 'Harvest for the Hungry' project.
I then spent three hours in a church staff meeting, reviewing the past fortnight and planning the days ahead.
I took a parcel to the Post Office and shopped for food (a small pizza for lunch, a steak and some strawberries for dinner). It began to rain during this walk and I arrived home soaked at 2pm.
After eating the pizza with a cup of tea I spent an hour or so at my desk preparing, replying to emails and doing admin.
A man who had taken a conservatory blind away for repair returned with it at 4pm and fitted it. I live in a tied house (it belongs to the Diocese of Bath and Wells) so although I had to pay him £42 for this I can claim it back.
After he had left (I made him a black coffee and had another tea myself) I returned to my desk and worked again, interrupting my flow to read a few comments which had been posted to my blog (http://stevetilley.blogspot.com/). One comment took more time than most to ponder because I seem to have upset someone after only a few days in a new job by something I said, which concerns and hurts me.
Took a break for food. My wife doesn't eat meat so I rarely do either, for ease of catering. Enjoyed inventing a red wine, mustard and pepper sauce for my steak, which was delicious. Had it with a salad followed by some Scottish strawberries. Wife Liz called and we chatted.
Read the papers for a few minutes and then went out to meet someone. Spent a happy two hours getting to know this new acquaintance in a friendly local pub called The Sawyers Arms which will, I'm sure, become a favourite haunt.
Got home at 10.15 (called Liz again on the way home to tell her how nice the pub was) and read the papers in front of the TV, and then in bed. Lights out at midnight, much later than usual.
I woke at 7.45 a.m., roused by my alarm. This is unusual as I am normally roused by my wife, who gets up at 6.00 a.m. but she is away for a few days.
After breakfast of grapefruit and orange followed by a bowl of muesli and some coffee I walked across Nailsea to Holy Trinity Tithe Barn where I helped some people pack boxes for the 'Harvest for the Hungry' project.
I then spent three hours in a church staff meeting, reviewing the past fortnight and planning the days ahead.
I took a parcel to the Post Office and shopped for food (a small pizza for lunch, a steak and some strawberries for dinner). It began to rain during this walk and I arrived home soaked at 2pm.
After eating the pizza with a cup of tea I spent an hour or so at my desk preparing, replying to emails and doing admin.
A man who had taken a conservatory blind away for repair returned with it at 4pm and fitted it. I live in a tied house (it belongs to the Diocese of Bath and Wells) so although I had to pay him £42 for this I can claim it back.
After he had left (I made him a black coffee and had another tea myself) I returned to my desk and worked again, interrupting my flow to read a few comments which had been posted to my blog (http://stevetilley.blogspot.com/). One comment took more time than most to ponder because I seem to have upset someone after only a few days in a new job by something I said, which concerns and hurts me.
Took a break for food. My wife doesn't eat meat so I rarely do either, for ease of catering. Enjoyed inventing a red wine, mustard and pepper sauce for my steak, which was delicious. Had it with a salad followed by some Scottish strawberries. Wife Liz called and we chatted.
Read the papers for a few minutes and then went out to meet someone. Spent a happy two hours getting to know this new acquaintance in a friendly local pub called The Sawyers Arms which will, I'm sure, become a favourite haunt.
Got home at 10.15 (called Liz again on the way home to tell her how nice the pub was) and read the papers in front of the TV, and then in bed. Lights out at midnight, much later than usual.
Address
Received a letter yesterday from a good friend addressed to:
Reverend Stephen Tilley (and Liz)
Nailsea on Sea
Near Bristol
It was followed by the correct postcode. The mail sorters had writen 2-38 on the envelope, which presumably is the range of houses covered by that postcode and the postwoman had written 'try 29' next to it. Respect.
Same day I received two pieces of post for number 27 and number 31 took in a parcel for me. It's a lottery out there.
Reverend Stephen Tilley (and Liz)
Nailsea on Sea
Near Bristol
It was followed by the correct postcode. The mail sorters had writen 2-38 on the envelope, which presumably is the range of houses covered by that postcode and the postwoman had written 'try 29' next to it. Respect.
Same day I received two pieces of post for number 27 and number 31 took in a parcel for me. It's a lottery out there.
Busy
Whilst I have had plenty to do in meeting, preparing, setting up, praying and getting to know the area, today I actually have four appointments in my diary. I know that in ministry this is less than normal and some very full days come along, but whereas I used to wish busy days were less full I am looking forward to today.
Ever since the labour government of 1997 did more in their first two months than the next five years I have tried to learn the importance of hitting the ground ambling. If you fill your diary too early you will have no space to do the things you feel need doing after meeting people.
Ever since the labour government of 1997 did more in their first two months than the next five years I have tried to learn the importance of hitting the ground ambling. If you fill your diary too early you will have no space to do the things you feel need doing after meeting people.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Choices
Die if you don't choose, with grateful thanks to the questioners from Trendlewood's bring and share lunch for starting me off:
1. (a) Chocolate or (b) vanilla ice cream?
2. Red or white wine?
3. Run or swim?
4. Six day creation or evolution?
5. Alone or accompanied?
6. Rugby or association football?
7. Walk or cycle?
8. Fly or sail?
9. Too hot or too cold?
10. BBC or ITV?
11. Sun or Mirror?
12. Tea or coffee?
13. Cinema or theatre?
14. Lecture or seminar?
15. Who or what?
16. Light or dark
17. Noise or silence?
18. Keyboard or pen?
19. Write or draw?
20. Picture or story?
21. Driver or passenger?
22. Text or phone?
23. Caving or parachuting?
24. Audience or on-stage?
25. Comedy or tragedy?
More than ten sets of responses and I'll analyse them for you.Monday, October 16, 2006
Badges
One of the things Holy Trinity and Trendlewood do differently to any church I've ever been to is to wear badges. I'm not fully conversant with the system but it seems as if every regular member of the church goes to a badge case and takes out their own badge, returning it after the service.
As I told folks at my first Trendlewood service yesterday, I'm not too sure how I feel about it yet.
On the plus side, you can easily check out the name of someone you feel you ought to know by now, which in my case is everyone. There is none of the embarrassment of forgetting names, although I manage to conjure up enough embarrassment letting my eyes wander across people's chests trying to find out their names, especially when their chests are ... well you get me. Sorry madam; do you have a badge in there somewhere?
On the negative side, a friend of mine visiting the church recently (I sent spies) was greeted not with 'Hello, I don't recognise you, are you a visitor?' but 'Have you got a badge?' It also brings back memories (showing my age now) of the old Scripture Union soundstrip, The Stranger, where Jesus rides into a western town and tells people to take their badges off. Includes the immortal line something like, 'My wife's a D6; that's pretty good for a woman.' Anyway they lynch him. 'There's nothing like a good lynching to get people together again.'
I used to enjoy the occasional amnesty times we had at St Paul's when St Paul's night collided with Alpha and so we had everyone badged up for one night only. Not sure about all the time though. I used to wander into town with my badge still accidentally on regularly enough to look like an escapee from somewhere secure.
How do you feel dear readers? Would you like to go to a church where badges are worn at all times?
I'm trying to talk the idea of everything we do, everything, being accessible to a newcomer or outsider. Remember, where there are no pole vault pits, there will be no pole vaulters.
As I told folks at my first Trendlewood service yesterday, I'm not too sure how I feel about it yet.
On the plus side, you can easily check out the name of someone you feel you ought to know by now, which in my case is everyone. There is none of the embarrassment of forgetting names, although I manage to conjure up enough embarrassment letting my eyes wander across people's chests trying to find out their names, especially when their chests are ... well you get me. Sorry madam; do you have a badge in there somewhere?
On the negative side, a friend of mine visiting the church recently (I sent spies) was greeted not with 'Hello, I don't recognise you, are you a visitor?' but 'Have you got a badge?' It also brings back memories (showing my age now) of the old Scripture Union soundstrip, The Stranger, where Jesus rides into a western town and tells people to take their badges off. Includes the immortal line something like, 'My wife's a D6; that's pretty good for a woman.' Anyway they lynch him. 'There's nothing like a good lynching to get people together again.'
I used to enjoy the occasional amnesty times we had at St Paul's when St Paul's night collided with Alpha and so we had everyone badged up for one night only. Not sure about all the time though. I used to wander into town with my badge still accidentally on regularly enough to look like an escapee from somewhere secure.
How do you feel dear readers? Would you like to go to a church where badges are worn at all times?
I'm trying to talk the idea of everything we do, everything, being accessible to a newcomer or outsider. Remember, where there are no pole vault pits, there will be no pole vaulters.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Things that still need solving
1. Walking to St Francis School without getting lost in a quarry.
2. Tuning the Telewest set-top box to work through the VCR (help please).
3. Where has all my anti-spyware software disappeared to?
4. Why do we have so many power cuts, especially when I'm ironing.
5. Where exactly is the Blue Flame, the only Nailsea pub in the Good Pub Guide?
6. Losing all my DAB radio presets when there is a power cut.
7. Putting the DAB aerial in a place where the signal is strong and I am not holding it.
But please note we have solved the problem of the locked filing cabinet, which has been locked since we moved. Embarrassed to say I specifically prayed about it and asked any lord and creator of the universe out there to fix it. It came open the same day, without the key having to turn or breaking into it. Have now asked same lord and creator of the universe to deal with Iraq.
2. Tuning the Telewest set-top box to work through the VCR (help please).
3. Where has all my anti-spyware software disappeared to?
4. Why do we have so many power cuts, especially when I'm ironing.
5. Where exactly is the Blue Flame, the only Nailsea pub in the Good Pub Guide?
6. Losing all my DAB radio presets when there is a power cut.
7. Putting the DAB aerial in a place where the signal is strong and I am not holding it.
But please note we have solved the problem of the locked filing cabinet, which has been locked since we moved. Embarrassed to say I specifically prayed about it and asked any lord and creator of the universe out there to fix it. It came open the same day, without the key having to turn or breaking into it. Have now asked same lord and creator of the universe to deal with Iraq.
Nailsea United 4 Paulton Rovers 2
We wandered along to this match in the Somerset Senior League Premier Division yesterday. Now pay attention because I know my lectures on the pyramid structure of the Football League can fall on deaf ears unless I'm buying the beer. If you don't want to listen click here for a full picture of the pyramid.
The Somerset Senior League, sometimes known as the Somerset County League, is in tier 11 of the national structure. That is, given money, skill and development, the club could be in the Premiership in 10 years after 10 succesive promotions. Whatever. It is parallel with the Midland Combination Division 1, so two tiers down from where Leamington FC are now in the Midland Alliance.
But I have to say that the Leamington I watched four years ago winning the Midland Combination Division 1 would have put 10 past the two sides I saw yesterday. Probably by half-time.
Used to paying to watch football at this level it was strange to wander in unchallenged. They took a collection at half-time. Really. Assistant referees were locals in tracksuits giving dodgy offside decisions in favour of their team.
Defences were disorganised, goals were scrappy and Nailsea rose to fourth with two games in hand. I may have to invest. At least they don't play in gold and black, although red isn't that much better.
Come on my lovers. Get your web-site updated.
The Somerset Senior League, sometimes known as the Somerset County League, is in tier 11 of the national structure. That is, given money, skill and development, the club could be in the Premiership in 10 years after 10 succesive promotions. Whatever. It is parallel with the Midland Combination Division 1, so two tiers down from where Leamington FC are now in the Midland Alliance.
But I have to say that the Leamington I watched four years ago winning the Midland Combination Division 1 would have put 10 past the two sides I saw yesterday. Probably by half-time.
Used to paying to watch football at this level it was strange to wander in unchallenged. They took a collection at half-time. Really. Assistant referees were locals in tracksuits giving dodgy offside decisions in favour of their team.
Defences were disorganised, goals were scrappy and Nailsea rose to fourth with two games in hand. I may have to invest. At least they don't play in gold and black, although red isn't that much better.
Come on my lovers. Get your web-site updated.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Nobel Prize
Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, as reported by the BBC here, have won the Nobel Peace Prize. They won it for their pioneering work in making micro-finance (small loans) available to poor people. I'm delighted. I researched this and wrote it up last year for World Vision's 2005 Harvest Pack. Since it is no longer on their archive, here is what I wrote:
World Vision's Harvest Pack this year seeks to assist Angolan farmers re-establish their livelihoods following the long civil war that engulfed them and their land. Many factors will impact their success. Steve Tilley explains what micro-finance development is and how it will help these farmers.
Prior to the war Angola was self-sufficient in agriculture. It retains the natural resources to be so again. Its varied climate zones make the production of many crops possible including cassava, yams, maize, bananas, beans, cotton, manioc, palm oil, potatoes, sunflowers, citrus and numerous vegetables. There is grazing land and Angola is also a large coffee producer – the world’s fourth largest exporter before the hostilities.
Here’s the problem. You have recently resettled in your homeland. You have experience in agriculture but during the war all your, admittedly basic but necessary, farming equipment has been wrecked. The war has been over for three years but your land may be littered with landmines and other ordnance. Clearing it is dangerous, time-consuming and costly.
So you are limited to working less than two hectares of cultivatable land. This level of production doesn't provide enough food to feed your family each year, let alone allow you to sell produce and generate money in the local markets.
You have no access to new seed varieties, fertiliser or animals. You haven’t worked for a while so you have no savings. Your family have no reserves so they can’t lend you money. Despite the small amount of start-up loan you’d need to start earning, the bank won’t lend you money as you have no income or collateral. You can’t even pawn something if you own nothing. What do you do?
Either of the words ‘micro’ or ‘finance’ tend to make our eyes glaze over before we even dare attempt using them in a row but to our poverty-trapped Angolan farmer they represent hope.
Agencies such as World Vision have been paving the way to make credit accessible to individuals who would otherwise be unable to break free from poverty.
Before we think about what micro-finance is lets eliminate something that it isn’t. Small loans at higher-than-average rates of interest are often part of a dangerous black-market. People in too much debt borrow more money at ridiculous rates of interest which they usually can’t repay. They incur further debt (and often threats of harm) in the process.
Micro-finance, on the contrary, is usually a one-off investment in individual creativity, provided specifically to kick-start people out of poverty. The interest rates are higher than conventional loans because small loans take as much administration as large loans, but they are kept to a manageable level. Often the loans only need to be for a short period as they enable income-generating work to start immediately.
World Vision Angola have brokered a new deal for rural micro-financing with Angola's largest bank. This represents a commitment by the Government to supporting sustainable rural development.
The agreement means smallholder farmers now have access to credit, allowing them to get what they need to improve their production. The funds will assist around 1,900 families and 75 farmers groups and associations initially, before growing into a large-scale initiative. World Vision will provide technical and business support services to the beneficiaries.
By providing credit, World Vision hopes to allow farmers to get the necessary resources to break out of the cycle of poverty and subsistence agriculture, and re-ignite the region's economy.
The idea of micro-finance as a survival strategy for the poor is relatively recent. Ela Bhatt established the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India in 1974, while in 1976 Mohammed Yunus founded the Grameen Bank project in Bangladash. Ela Bhatt's first loan was $1.50 to a woman who sold herbs, while Mohammed Yunus lent a total of $27 to forty-two poor people.
Studies of the impact of micro-finance in more than 24 countries have found dramatic improvements in household incomes. These improvements take place mainly through growth in the borrower's business. Access to micro-finance allows the recipient to reduce costs with lower interest rates and bulk purchasing of raw materials. Micro-financiers have found that women are a particularly good credit risk, invariably investing their money in the well-being of their family and generating wealth.
Micro-finance doesn’t, in itself, guarantee prosperity. Whilst cheaper than the black-market the interest rates do cause some difficulties. The global market is tough and there will always be a need for other social services and infrastructures. Micro-finance can help poor households reduce their vulnerability to economic shocks, but it does not eliminate them. It helps the poor to take advantage of economic opportunities, but it does not create them.
Some of us might, in the past, have tried to avoid borrowing money at all costs. This sort of borrowing saves lives. Time for a rethink?
2005 is the United Nations International Year of Microcredit.
World Vision's Harvest Pack this year seeks to assist Angolan farmers re-establish their livelihoods following the long civil war that engulfed them and their land. Many factors will impact their success. Steve Tilley explains what micro-finance development is and how it will help these farmers.
Prior to the war Angola was self-sufficient in agriculture. It retains the natural resources to be so again. Its varied climate zones make the production of many crops possible including cassava, yams, maize, bananas, beans, cotton, manioc, palm oil, potatoes, sunflowers, citrus and numerous vegetables. There is grazing land and Angola is also a large coffee producer – the world’s fourth largest exporter before the hostilities.
Here’s the problem. You have recently resettled in your homeland. You have experience in agriculture but during the war all your, admittedly basic but necessary, farming equipment has been wrecked. The war has been over for three years but your land may be littered with landmines and other ordnance. Clearing it is dangerous, time-consuming and costly.
So you are limited to working less than two hectares of cultivatable land. This level of production doesn't provide enough food to feed your family each year, let alone allow you to sell produce and generate money in the local markets.
You have no access to new seed varieties, fertiliser or animals. You haven’t worked for a while so you have no savings. Your family have no reserves so they can’t lend you money. Despite the small amount of start-up loan you’d need to start earning, the bank won’t lend you money as you have no income or collateral. You can’t even pawn something if you own nothing. What do you do?
Either of the words ‘micro’ or ‘finance’ tend to make our eyes glaze over before we even dare attempt using them in a row but to our poverty-trapped Angolan farmer they represent hope.
Agencies such as World Vision have been paving the way to make credit accessible to individuals who would otherwise be unable to break free from poverty.
Before we think about what micro-finance is lets eliminate something that it isn’t. Small loans at higher-than-average rates of interest are often part of a dangerous black-market. People in too much debt borrow more money at ridiculous rates of interest which they usually can’t repay. They incur further debt (and often threats of harm) in the process.
Micro-finance, on the contrary, is usually a one-off investment in individual creativity, provided specifically to kick-start people out of poverty. The interest rates are higher than conventional loans because small loans take as much administration as large loans, but they are kept to a manageable level. Often the loans only need to be for a short period as they enable income-generating work to start immediately.
World Vision Angola have brokered a new deal for rural micro-financing with Angola's largest bank. This represents a commitment by the Government to supporting sustainable rural development.
The agreement means smallholder farmers now have access to credit, allowing them to get what they need to improve their production. The funds will assist around 1,900 families and 75 farmers groups and associations initially, before growing into a large-scale initiative. World Vision will provide technical and business support services to the beneficiaries.
By providing credit, World Vision hopes to allow farmers to get the necessary resources to break out of the cycle of poverty and subsistence agriculture, and re-ignite the region's economy.
The idea of micro-finance as a survival strategy for the poor is relatively recent. Ela Bhatt established the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India in 1974, while in 1976 Mohammed Yunus founded the Grameen Bank project in Bangladash. Ela Bhatt's first loan was $1.50 to a woman who sold herbs, while Mohammed Yunus lent a total of $27 to forty-two poor people.
Studies of the impact of micro-finance in more than 24 countries have found dramatic improvements in household incomes. These improvements take place mainly through growth in the borrower's business. Access to micro-finance allows the recipient to reduce costs with lower interest rates and bulk purchasing of raw materials. Micro-financiers have found that women are a particularly good credit risk, invariably investing their money in the well-being of their family and generating wealth.
Micro-finance doesn’t, in itself, guarantee prosperity. Whilst cheaper than the black-market the interest rates do cause some difficulties. The global market is tough and there will always be a need for other social services and infrastructures. Micro-finance can help poor households reduce their vulnerability to economic shocks, but it does not eliminate them. It helps the poor to take advantage of economic opportunities, but it does not create them.
Some of us might, in the past, have tried to avoid borrowing money at all costs. This sort of borrowing saves lives. Time for a rethink?
2005 is the United Nations International Year of Microcredit.
Pretty Picture
Thanks to the BBC Bristol web-site here is me being licensed by Bishop Peter last Monday accompanied by Alastair (left), Ken and Rosey, the other three incumbents in the Local Ministry Group (sorry, should have given a jargon warning). Read the story here. They kindly give my age and get it exactly right, because it's really important everyone knows I'm 51.
However if you counted the chairs and subtracted the empty ones there were slightly fewer than 200 people there and if they are going to call me reverend they really ought to call the bishop right reverend and I've never worked in a parish in Warwick. Otherwise it's quite accurate.
The Cellar
This is a lovely little wine bar in Clevedon which serves fantastic, well-priced tapas. Popped in last night without booking and Liz had a lovely rioja (in a beautiful rioja glass) and I had a bottle of Butcombe Gold (no draughts).
We had a bowl of olives and two lots of bread as a starter, followed by:
Fish balls
Chilli stuffed red peppers
Stuffed vine leaves
Tuna stuffed sweet peppers
This cost £20.28. The tapas are £2.50 each.
The link at the top will give you the address, and phone but is only to do with the wine-selling part of the business.
They also sell some of the most attractive glasses, pitchers, bowls and flutes I have ever seen. Good range of magazines if you wish to pop in alone.
They are only open for off-sales after about 9pm and are closed on Sundays, although text in the menu suggests this is being challenged. Anyway we were only there for about an hour, which is perfect for a midweek evening when you want to go out for food but don't want to surrender the whole night.
As you pay at the bar I forgot to tip the efficient waitresses. Double next time.
Commended.
We had a bowl of olives and two lots of bread as a starter, followed by:
Fish balls
Chilli stuffed red peppers
Stuffed vine leaves
Tuna stuffed sweet peppers
This cost £20.28. The tapas are £2.50 each.
The link at the top will give you the address, and phone but is only to do with the wine-selling part of the business.
They also sell some of the most attractive glasses, pitchers, bowls and flutes I have ever seen. Good range of magazines if you wish to pop in alone.
They are only open for off-sales after about 9pm and are closed on Sundays, although text in the menu suggests this is being challenged. Anyway we were only there for about an hour, which is perfect for a midweek evening when you want to go out for food but don't want to surrender the whole night.
As you pay at the bar I forgot to tip the efficient waitresses. Double next time.
Commended.
I Live Here
It was a strange moment. I mean, I know I live here. I brought all my stuff with me. This is my computer I'm writing on, for instance, with my files on it.
But we often take holidays in cottages which are other people's houses. And although this has not been a holiday it has been two and a half weeks away from what I used to call home. A few times in the last two and a half weeks I have referred to Leamington as home and have been, rightly, picked up for it.
We have used the opportunity to buy some new furniture, I have a new monitor for my computer and we have new telephones. So some of the day-to-day ephemera of life has (or is it have? Help) changed. Which means that although I brought all my bits and pieces here it could still have been a holiday, albeit more like a working holiday than a doss.
But last night, just before Liz got home from work, as I gathered washing from the garden, tidied the kitchen and did some ironing listening to the radio, I suddenly realised I lived here. This is home. This is the new normal.
Then we had a power cut, the fifth since we got here and four of them have been whilst ironing so I had a new normal problem to deal with, including resetting the cooker off which all the dial markings have been cleaned, the microwave and, although I couldn't get round to it until today, working out why my new (another new) stereo system wipes all the DAB settings whenever there is a two second power cut.
I think I'll check the wiring in the iron first.
But we often take holidays in cottages which are other people's houses. And although this has not been a holiday it has been two and a half weeks away from what I used to call home. A few times in the last two and a half weeks I have referred to Leamington as home and have been, rightly, picked up for it.
We have used the opportunity to buy some new furniture, I have a new monitor for my computer and we have new telephones. So some of the day-to-day ephemera of life has (or is it have? Help) changed. Which means that although I brought all my bits and pieces here it could still have been a holiday, albeit more like a working holiday than a doss.
But last night, just before Liz got home from work, as I gathered washing from the garden, tidied the kitchen and did some ironing listening to the radio, I suddenly realised I lived here. This is home. This is the new normal.
Then we had a power cut, the fifth since we got here and four of them have been whilst ironing so I had a new normal problem to deal with, including resetting the cooker off which all the dial markings have been cleaned, the microwave and, although I couldn't get round to it until today, working out why my new (another new) stereo system wipes all the DAB settings whenever there is a two second power cut.
I think I'll check the wiring in the iron first.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Trendlewood Church
In three days time I will be unveiled at Trendlewood for the first time, to those who didn't make the licensing last Monday. By a quirk of rotas it is Communion and there is no-one else down to lead or pray so it will be rather more of me at once than I am comfortable with. It is hard to watch and learn and not change too much if the first time you turn up you are leading.
Trendlewood church was planted in 1989 (the records say in May but they also say Palm Sunday so I suspect a misprint for March) from Holy Trinity, Nailsea. It began gathering in a pub but within a year had moved to the school it now meets in because it had grown in size from 60/70 a week to 90/100. By September 1992 numbers had reached 150.
Some of this was due to fantastic ministry and some due to Nailsea growing rapidly. The population was 3,000 in 1953 and is now 18,500 give or take. A huge amount of building took place in the 70s and 80s.
It is interesting that the stability of numbers over the next few years coincided with stability of leadership - Phil Haines, a Church Army officer - was in post from April 1993 to August 1999.
Since then numbers have declined to about 60 or so. The two most recent ministers both did well but sadly one left after an inappropriate relationship and the most recent died after a few short months in post. I am told that many people who found Trendlewood church a nice environment for young families gravitated back to Holy Trinity when their children became older.
I guess this post is to tell you all where I am in terms of the next few weeks and also to ask any Trendlewood readers who have started reading this to share their expectations. I don't believe I am here primarily to meet people's expectations but to find the vision for the future of the church here, but it would be lovely to know them. Also please tell me about any errors of fact or judgement I have made here.
A vicar I know arrived at a church I know (and some of you will, but we'll leave him/her anonymous for the moment) and was asked at interview this...
'In the 60/70s our vicar was primarily an evangelist;
In the 70s/80s our vicar was primarily a teacher,
In the 80s/90s our vicar was primarily a pastor.
What are you?'
The answer, which I think was very well-crafted, was ' I believe in healthy churches. Healthy churches need all three.'
I cannot think of a better first question; how healthy is this church? Now where shall we stick the thermometer?
Trendlewood church was planted in 1989 (the records say in May but they also say Palm Sunday so I suspect a misprint for March) from Holy Trinity, Nailsea. It began gathering in a pub but within a year had moved to the school it now meets in because it had grown in size from 60/70 a week to 90/100. By September 1992 numbers had reached 150.
Some of this was due to fantastic ministry and some due to Nailsea growing rapidly. The population was 3,000 in 1953 and is now 18,500 give or take. A huge amount of building took place in the 70s and 80s.
It is interesting that the stability of numbers over the next few years coincided with stability of leadership - Phil Haines, a Church Army officer - was in post from April 1993 to August 1999.
Since then numbers have declined to about 60 or so. The two most recent ministers both did well but sadly one left after an inappropriate relationship and the most recent died after a few short months in post. I am told that many people who found Trendlewood church a nice environment for young families gravitated back to Holy Trinity when their children became older.
I guess this post is to tell you all where I am in terms of the next few weeks and also to ask any Trendlewood readers who have started reading this to share their expectations. I don't believe I am here primarily to meet people's expectations but to find the vision for the future of the church here, but it would be lovely to know them. Also please tell me about any errors of fact or judgement I have made here.
A vicar I know arrived at a church I know (and some of you will, but we'll leave him/her anonymous for the moment) and was asked at interview this...
'In the 60/70s our vicar was primarily an evangelist;
In the 70s/80s our vicar was primarily a teacher,
In the 80s/90s our vicar was primarily a pastor.
What are you?'
The answer, which I think was very well-crafted, was ' I believe in healthy churches. Healthy churches need all three.'
I cannot think of a better first question; how healthy is this church? Now where shall we stick the thermometer?
Autumn Watch
I was an avid devotee of BBC's Springwatch and so now try and watch Autumnwatch whenever I can. It's a brilliant programme but mainly for observation of John Ruskin's '...nature red in tooth and bloody in claw' than for the beauty of creation all around. It's a different type of beauty this. Take, the rut, for instance.
This time of year the stags start to round up the females and try and keep them on the 'rutting slopes' so that they are ready for that brief moment when they become 'in season.' (When the moment does come it is all over rather quickly).
Whilst waiting for this time the males wander around covering their antlers deliberately in grass, roaring (which is what the word rut means in latin) and having head to heads with challengers. I wonder if this is where the expression 'feeling horny' comes from?
These head to heads are vicious, ending with broken antlers and bloody faces. The losers look worse. All this ensures that only the fittest males get to mate.
Down on the beach the male seals have similar problems. Only they have no antlers so they compete by biting chunks out of each others necks. When the winners - the biggest, fattest, toughest, blubberiest males - get to mate it is once again time for neck-biting, which has to be sore by then.
And all this ensures that each species continues because only those deer and seals which can produce young with a top chance of survival get to bonk. Respect to one, particularly ugly stag with only one antler, who nipped in and tried to score while the tough guys weren't looking. It's a technique I was proud of in my teens.
'But why are people important to you?
Why do you take care of human beings?'
(Psalm 8:4 New Century Bible)
The psalmist asked great questions.
This time of year the stags start to round up the females and try and keep them on the 'rutting slopes' so that they are ready for that brief moment when they become 'in season.' (When the moment does come it is all over rather quickly).
Whilst waiting for this time the males wander around covering their antlers deliberately in grass, roaring (which is what the word rut means in latin) and having head to heads with challengers. I wonder if this is where the expression 'feeling horny' comes from?
These head to heads are vicious, ending with broken antlers and bloody faces. The losers look worse. All this ensures that only the fittest males get to mate.
Down on the beach the male seals have similar problems. Only they have no antlers so they compete by biting chunks out of each others necks. When the winners - the biggest, fattest, toughest, blubberiest males - get to mate it is once again time for neck-biting, which has to be sore by then.
And all this ensures that each species continues because only those deer and seals which can produce young with a top chance of survival get to bonk. Respect to one, particularly ugly stag with only one antler, who nipped in and tried to score while the tough guys weren't looking. It's a technique I was proud of in my teens.
'But why are people important to you?
Why do you take care of human beings?'
(Psalm 8:4 New Century Bible)
The psalmist asked great questions.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Thought for the Day
This one contributed by David Gatward:
'Anthea Turner is the best reason I’ve ever seen for a human-sized blender.'
'Anthea Turner is the best reason I’ve ever seen for a human-sized blender.'
Doesn't Take Long
What is it with these people? Do they read their own instructions? How long is long anyway?
I have just purchased a BT Synergy 3105 cordless telphone system, reduced by £50 from £69.99 to £19.99 because it is ex-display and people have obviously ruined it by looking at it.
Page 3 of the instructions:
You must first set up your phone before you can use it.
This doesn't take long and is easy to do...
Page 7 of the instructions:
Place the handset on the base to charge for at least 16 hours ... After 16 hours, plug one end of the telephone line cord into...
And I haven't even reached the 39 pages of 'Getting to know your phone.' I'll probably have to take it out for dinner and drive it home. I wonder if it'll text on a first date
I have just purchased a BT Synergy 3105 cordless telphone system, reduced by £50 from £69.99 to £19.99 because it is ex-display and people have obviously ruined it by looking at it.
Page 3 of the instructions:
You must first set up your phone before you can use it.
This doesn't take long and is easy to do...
Page 7 of the instructions:
Place the handset on the base to charge for at least 16 hours ... After 16 hours, plug one end of the telephone line cord into...
And I haven't even reached the 39 pages of 'Getting to know your phone.' I'll probably have to take it out for dinner and drive it home. I wonder if it'll text on a first date
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Licensing
If you were there, thanks for coming. If you did stuff towards it thanks for whatever you did. I almost enjoyed it in a kind of nerve-racking (what else can you rack apart from your nerves?), stapled-on-smile, don't-accidentally-sneeze-on-the-Bish sort of way.
So I thought you'd like to know what the license says:
WE PETER by Divine Permission Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells TO our beloved in Christ JAMES STEPHEN TILLEY Clerk Bachelor of Theology.
GREETING
WE do hereby grant you our Licence and authority to serve during our pleasure at a Stipend in accordance with the Diocesan scale for an incumbent as Assistant Curate (having the status) and title of Associate Vicar) of the Benefice of Nailsea Holy Trinity within our Diocese and Jurisdiction under the direction of the Reverend Kenneth John Boullier the Incumbent thereof and to perform all ecclesiastical duties belonging to that office with special responsibilities for the Trendlewood area AND ALSO Licence and Authority (so long as you are licensed to the said benefice) to minister in the Benefices of Nailsea Christ Church with Tickenham and Wraxhall with Failand within our Diocese and Jurisdiction to perform ecclesisatical duties in these benficies in co-operation with the Ministers in charge thereof
IN TESTIMONY whereof We have hereunto set our hand and caused our Episcopal Seal to be affixed this ninth day of October in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Six in the ninth year of our Consecration and of our translation the fifth
+Peter Bath & Wells
So there you have it (this is my words again now OK). Notwithstanding the deep suspicion engendered by anyone who insists upon talking in the first person plural and what Mr Parry would have called 'an alarming inconsistency in the use of the upper case' there are a number of questions I needed to help my mother with and they are these:
Clerk? It means cleric. I am a clerk in holy orders.
Assistant Curate? All parish clergy are assistant curates, not to be confused with training posts which are decribed, annoyingly, as curacies and the office holders as curates.
Why is it all so complex? It is a legal document and lawyers have to speak inaccesibly to continue to generate fee income. (This may not be the right answer.)
James? Not Mum's question (she knew) but you may not have done. First-born male Tilleys are all called James, which is confusing.
Confusion. Bit of a theme really.
So I thought you'd like to know what the license says:
WE PETER by Divine Permission Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells TO our beloved in Christ JAMES STEPHEN TILLEY Clerk Bachelor of Theology.
GREETING
WE do hereby grant you our Licence and authority to serve during our pleasure at a Stipend in accordance with the Diocesan scale for an incumbent as Assistant Curate (having the status) and title of Associate Vicar) of the Benefice of Nailsea Holy Trinity within our Diocese and Jurisdiction under the direction of the Reverend Kenneth John Boullier the Incumbent thereof and to perform all ecclesiastical duties belonging to that office with special responsibilities for the Trendlewood area AND ALSO Licence and Authority (so long as you are licensed to the said benefice) to minister in the Benefices of Nailsea Christ Church with Tickenham and Wraxhall with Failand within our Diocese and Jurisdiction to perform ecclesisatical duties in these benficies in co-operation with the Ministers in charge thereof
IN TESTIMONY whereof We have hereunto set our hand and caused our Episcopal Seal to be affixed this ninth day of October in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Six in the ninth year of our Consecration and of our translation the fifth
+Peter Bath & Wells
So there you have it (this is my words again now OK). Notwithstanding the deep suspicion engendered by anyone who insists upon talking in the first person plural and what Mr Parry would have called 'an alarming inconsistency in the use of the upper case' there are a number of questions I needed to help my mother with and they are these:
Clerk? It means cleric. I am a clerk in holy orders.
Assistant Curate? All parish clergy are assistant curates, not to be confused with training posts which are decribed, annoyingly, as curacies and the office holders as curates.
Why is it all so complex? It is a legal document and lawyers have to speak inaccesibly to continue to generate fee income. (This may not be the right answer.)
James? Not Mum's question (she knew) but you may not have done. First-born male Tilleys are all called James, which is confusing.
Confusion. Bit of a theme really.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Common Ground
Wednesdays' Society supplement in The Guardian (I finally reached Wednesday's Guardian in bed this morning, Sunday) had a fantastic piece of writing by anthropologist Gillian Evans about living with a middle-class background on a working-class estate. Although highly educated, and therefore able to earn her way out, she found herself in financial circumstances that made a Bermondsey council estate the only place to live. She stayed 13 years.
In the piece she discusses the key differences between being middle and working class from both her and her neighbour's perceptions. Includes how to learn to communicate, how to keep rules for your children when no other childen have rules and the true value of money. Fascinating.
Click on the title of this piece to read it.
In the piece she discusses the key differences between being middle and working class from both her and her neighbour's perceptions. Includes how to learn to communicate, how to keep rules for your children when no other childen have rules and the true value of money. Fascinating.
Click on the title of this piece to read it.
Bloggers Change the World
Nice article by Mark Greene of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity about blogging's impact and its significance for the church here.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Free Food
On Trendlewood Way, near the top of Huntley Road is an apple tree. It is next to the pavement and therefore is a roadside tree. It's not on anybody's land. The apples look, and taste, like russets. They are a bit sharp so may be cookers, or may simply need another couple of weeks. Let's not waste them.
If I do not blog again they are dangerous to eat.
If I do not blog again they are dangerous to eat.
Short Essay on Stupidity
I have written before about the examples of stupidity demonstrated by the Great British Public (GBP) in making retail purchases. Two from the past which spring to mind are:
What is the difference between a 7 inch light shade and an 8 inch?
Will this table cloth fit my table at home?
We now have some lovely conservatory furniture which Liz tracked down and captured due to her job. The fine oak table we now have has some lovely natural markings, knots and blemishes which really give it character. 'Those are the sort of things that people complain about and return the product,' she tells me.
It transpires that, in order to avoid confusing the GBP there is a sign which accompanies all the real wood products on show saying something such as, 'Wood is a natural substance and as such there may be some colour discrepancies between the product on show and the product delivered. Furthermore there may be some natural blemishes in the appearance of the product.'
We are so stupid, the GBP, that we have to be told that there is a real danger wood may look like er, wood. No such trouble with MDF is there?
What is the difference between a 7 inch light shade and an 8 inch?
Will this table cloth fit my table at home?
We now have some lovely conservatory furniture which Liz tracked down and captured due to her job. The fine oak table we now have has some lovely natural markings, knots and blemishes which really give it character. 'Those are the sort of things that people complain about and return the product,' she tells me.
It transpires that, in order to avoid confusing the GBP there is a sign which accompanies all the real wood products on show saying something such as, 'Wood is a natural substance and as such there may be some colour discrepancies between the product on show and the product delivered. Furthermore there may be some natural blemishes in the appearance of the product.'
We are so stupid, the GBP, that we have to be told that there is a real danger wood may look like er, wood. No such trouble with MDF is there?
Friday, October 06, 2006
CEN September
Just getting round to producing October's surfing column so here is September's.
September 2006
I’m a sucker for a review. Once I’ve seen a movie for instance, and begun to rate it, I want to know what the experts felt. As I almost never see movies when they come out I will have long forgotten the newspaper reviews. The Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) is my favourite place to go. It lists all the places the film you search for has been reviewed. Consistently interesting is Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times. I wish him a speedy recovery from the surgery the site tells me he’s just had.
CEN’s movie reviewer Steve Parish referred me to three sites, Christianity Today for current reviews, JoyofMovies for archived reviews and articles and HollywoodJesus for pop culture from a spiritual point of view.
If you want some indication of the content of a film from a Christian perspective before you see it try Christian Answers which has a spotlight on entertainment. Preview does a similar job, in their own words ‘... a fun, informative tool for Christian parents and moviegoers. Our reviews contain the content of films so you can decide if they are suitable for your viewing.’
In broader matters of popular culture, The Ooze is another site for emerging church thinking to take place with archived articles and discussion forums. As is the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory a, ‘...peer-reviewed journal devoted to both disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship of a cutting-edge nature that deals broadly with the phenomenon of religious and cultural theory.’ A simple guide to bringing biblical truth alive for young people can be found at Essential, an Evangelical Alliance site.
If you know where the Noddy guide to all this is hosted please let me know. Geez magazine has no toy-town tendencies but it is post-modernism with its tongue firmly in its check, pricking the bubbles of pomposity, letting down the tyres of fundamentalism and annoying the pants off the over-used theological metaphors of progress. Sorry, I think I caught what they’ve got.
Anyway enough of popular culture; let’s save the world, again.
Travelling without causing the planet too much harm concerns many of us these days. Offset the emissions of your journey at Climatecare where you can calculate the cost of the damage to the environment your journey is causing and invest the money in sustainable energy projects. Excuse the preach, but more of us should do this. Responsible Travel is a place where you can book, ‘Holidays that give the world a break.’ Read the full text of the Bishop of London’s recent rant against selfish holidays at the Times online archive.
The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECRU) is running a debate on all this at the end of the month. Details on their web-site. Meantime, Car-pool.co.uk will help-you find someone local who wants to share lifts to work with you.
Many people feel they have let their friends down if they don’t send a ‘proper’ greetings card. If an e-card isn’t anathema to you why not send one that raises awareness of issues – Water Aid have a nice selection. Send a Cow also offer this service with a special children’s section. Don’t get too sidetracked by Udder Madness – a game where you drive a truck and try to catch cows falling from the skies but where the falling bulls trash your vehicle. As they do.
Given that post-apocalypse there will be silence in heaven for only half an hour we may as well humour the Noisy Parish Awards, a site for people who want their churches to sound slightly less apocalyptic just now.
Distracting game of the month is What Word? Find words in a grid in a given time. Slide tiles around by making other words. Try not to make, accidentally, words which remove letters you need. Fun and more than a little time-consuming. American spelling too, to keep you on your toes.
August’s whimsy festers quietly at Mustard Seed Shavings. Links from there to all previous articles. Visit. Go on. You know you want to.
Steve Tilley
September 2006
I’m a sucker for a review. Once I’ve seen a movie for instance, and begun to rate it, I want to know what the experts felt. As I almost never see movies when they come out I will have long forgotten the newspaper reviews. The Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) is my favourite place to go. It lists all the places the film you search for has been reviewed. Consistently interesting is Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times. I wish him a speedy recovery from the surgery the site tells me he’s just had.
CEN’s movie reviewer Steve Parish referred me to three sites, Christianity Today for current reviews, JoyofMovies for archived reviews and articles and HollywoodJesus for pop culture from a spiritual point of view.
If you want some indication of the content of a film from a Christian perspective before you see it try Christian Answers which has a spotlight on entertainment. Preview does a similar job, in their own words ‘... a fun, informative tool for Christian parents and moviegoers. Our reviews contain the content of films so you can decide if they are suitable for your viewing.’
In broader matters of popular culture, The Ooze is another site for emerging church thinking to take place with archived articles and discussion forums. As is the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory a, ‘...peer-reviewed journal devoted to both disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship of a cutting-edge nature that deals broadly with the phenomenon of religious and cultural theory.’ A simple guide to bringing biblical truth alive for young people can be found at Essential, an Evangelical Alliance site.
If you know where the Noddy guide to all this is hosted please let me know. Geez magazine has no toy-town tendencies but it is post-modernism with its tongue firmly in its check, pricking the bubbles of pomposity, letting down the tyres of fundamentalism and annoying the pants off the over-used theological metaphors of progress. Sorry, I think I caught what they’ve got.
Anyway enough of popular culture; let’s save the world, again.
Travelling without causing the planet too much harm concerns many of us these days. Offset the emissions of your journey at Climatecare where you can calculate the cost of the damage to the environment your journey is causing and invest the money in sustainable energy projects. Excuse the preach, but more of us should do this. Responsible Travel is a place where you can book, ‘Holidays that give the world a break.’ Read the full text of the Bishop of London’s recent rant against selfish holidays at the Times online archive.
The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECRU) is running a debate on all this at the end of the month. Details on their web-site. Meantime, Car-pool.co.uk will help-you find someone local who wants to share lifts to work with you.
Many people feel they have let their friends down if they don’t send a ‘proper’ greetings card. If an e-card isn’t anathema to you why not send one that raises awareness of issues – Water Aid have a nice selection. Send a Cow also offer this service with a special children’s section. Don’t get too sidetracked by Udder Madness – a game where you drive a truck and try to catch cows falling from the skies but where the falling bulls trash your vehicle. As they do.
Given that post-apocalypse there will be silence in heaven for only half an hour we may as well humour the Noisy Parish Awards, a site for people who want their churches to sound slightly less apocalyptic just now.
Distracting game of the month is What Word? Find words in a grid in a given time. Slide tiles around by making other words. Try not to make, accidentally, words which remove letters you need. Fun and more than a little time-consuming. American spelling too, to keep you on your toes.
August’s whimsy festers quietly at Mustard Seed Shavings. Links from there to all previous articles. Visit. Go on. You know you want to.
Steve Tilley
Friday Morning
Interesting in-between world Nailsea inhabits when it comes to green issues. On the negative side the place is incredibly car-dependent and many people are never seen on the street not encased in metal. I have discovered that the two mile drive to Tescos is a half mile walk.
On the positive there is an excellent kerbside recycling scheme for cardboard, garden waste, plastics, glass and paper. I also bought a huge composter off the local council for £10 and they delivered it. It included a rather nifty little plastic sink tidy with a lid to keep the daily peelings in.
Yesterday I went to explore Bristol and the short walk to the station was followed by a ten minute journey. Left home at 9.35 and was sitting in a Bristol coffee shop waiting for my friend at 10.25. Got absolutely soaked mind. Bristol confused us terribly in the car last week but walking round it all makes sense. Wonderful opportunity to take a river bus from the station to the city centre.
Leamington friends please note - I found Fopp! Hypocricy spotters please note the exclamation mark is part of the name officially. Confused new readers please note I hate exclamation marks and believe that words should do their own exclaiming without help from punctuation. Those unfamiliar with Fopp! should get back under their rock.
Today is my last day of pottering, setting up study, tidying bits and pieces around the house and doing a bit more address-changing admin. I need to wait in for the delivery of some conservatory furniture. I will try and read a whole week's Guardians at lunchtime. Tomorrow we'll try and take a bit of a break from all this for a weekend and then Monday I get bishopped.
If you are planning to come, see you there. It will be a strange combination of saying hello haven't seen you for a fortnight, hello thanks for the welcome and hello who are you? With finger buffet. In a leisure centre to make the point that my job is not really about buildings. 17 weeks after I set foot in Nailsea for the first time in my life, it is home. So I'd better start pronouncing it Nailzi.
On the positive there is an excellent kerbside recycling scheme for cardboard, garden waste, plastics, glass and paper. I also bought a huge composter off the local council for £10 and they delivered it. It included a rather nifty little plastic sink tidy with a lid to keep the daily peelings in.
Yesterday I went to explore Bristol and the short walk to the station was followed by a ten minute journey. Left home at 9.35 and was sitting in a Bristol coffee shop waiting for my friend at 10.25. Got absolutely soaked mind. Bristol confused us terribly in the car last week but walking round it all makes sense. Wonderful opportunity to take a river bus from the station to the city centre.
Leamington friends please note - I found Fopp! Hypocricy spotters please note the exclamation mark is part of the name officially. Confused new readers please note I hate exclamation marks and believe that words should do their own exclaiming without help from punctuation. Those unfamiliar with Fopp! should get back under their rock.
Today is my last day of pottering, setting up study, tidying bits and pieces around the house and doing a bit more address-changing admin. I need to wait in for the delivery of some conservatory furniture. I will try and read a whole week's Guardians at lunchtime. Tomorrow we'll try and take a bit of a break from all this for a weekend and then Monday I get bishopped.
If you are planning to come, see you there. It will be a strange combination of saying hello haven't seen you for a fortnight, hello thanks for the welcome and hello who are you? With finger buffet. In a leisure centre to make the point that my job is not really about buildings. 17 weeks after I set foot in Nailsea for the first time in my life, it is home. So I'd better start pronouncing it Nailzi.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Weston-super-Mare
If towns could speak but one word, what would they say? Leamington Spa spoke Regency. Nailsea has not spoken to me yet but I'm sure it will, given time. It certainly has ancienter history than Royal Leamington. Neolithic, stone, bronze, Roman and medieval in fact. It's just been a bit bulldozed and rebuilt.
Weston-super-Mare spoke yesterday, the second I arrived. And its word was 'chips'. Chips on the street. Chip shops a plenty. And therefore, of course, chips on the breeze. Its word has not changed for many years.
Weston has special memories for me. As a child our annual, family holiday was a week in the Birchfield Hotel, Weston (it's still there). I can recall Marine Lake trapped behind a now-dangerous breakwater. The Winter Gardens where we had milk shakes and doughnuts. The two piers. One is now abandoned and dangerous, the other, which I used to love, is horrid for the reasons I used to love, mainly one-armed bandits. Being sent to bed for kicking Paul Leyser's drink into his supper.
As a couple of Brummies Liz and I love the sea, even if it is the Bristol Channel. What we hadn't appreciated before about this area is how flat it is apart from the bumps which make up a couple of islands Steepholm and Flatholm (they call it as they see it round here) and then the towns of Weston, Clevedon and Nailsea. Please watch your emissions old friends or we may all become islands again.
Anyway we wandered around yesterday, hating and loving the place in equal measures as we ate our Subway rolls on the pier listening to piped Mantovani and observing the khaki and green slackness of the passers by. Hated the pigeons. Noted the absence of gulls (too confined a space to land?) and pleased to see starlings, another sight and sound from Birmingham's past.
Next time we will buy chips. We hear them calling.
Weston-super-Mare spoke yesterday, the second I arrived. And its word was 'chips'. Chips on the street. Chip shops a plenty. And therefore, of course, chips on the breeze. Its word has not changed for many years.
Weston has special memories for me. As a child our annual, family holiday was a week in the Birchfield Hotel, Weston (it's still there). I can recall Marine Lake trapped behind a now-dangerous breakwater. The Winter Gardens where we had milk shakes and doughnuts. The two piers. One is now abandoned and dangerous, the other, which I used to love, is horrid for the reasons I used to love, mainly one-armed bandits. Being sent to bed for kicking Paul Leyser's drink into his supper.
As a couple of Brummies Liz and I love the sea, even if it is the Bristol Channel. What we hadn't appreciated before about this area is how flat it is apart from the bumps which make up a couple of islands Steepholm and Flatholm (they call it as they see it round here) and then the towns of Weston, Clevedon and Nailsea. Please watch your emissions old friends or we may all become islands again.
Anyway we wandered around yesterday, hating and loving the place in equal measures as we ate our Subway rolls on the pier listening to piped Mantovani and observing the khaki and green slackness of the passers by. Hated the pigeons. Noted the absence of gulls (too confined a space to land?) and pleased to see starlings, another sight and sound from Birmingham's past.
Next time we will buy chips. We hear them calling.
Confirmation
Whenever I want quick wisdom on a piece of Church of England jargon I normally turn to this book - ABCD (A Basic Church Dictionary) - compiled by Tony Meakin.Under confirmation he says this:
'(Latin confirmare - to make firm). Confirmation is the rite by which a person, having been baptised and made the baptismal vows, receives, through the laying on of the bishop's hands, the particular grace of the Holy Spirit required to undertake full communicant membership of the Church. When a person has been baptised in infancy, the baptismal vows made on that person's behalf by parents and god-parents are re-made by the candidate at Confirmation.'
It is a clever definition because it affirms the proceedure without casting doubt on any other dedication or commitment made by the candidate. If someone comes to confirmation already baptised as an adult the rite simply expresses the desire that the person should receive all that is necessary from the Holy Spirit to proceed as an adult member of the Church to which they now belong.
It is akin to being prayed for before going on a long journey or undertaking a difficult task. Who could doubt that belonging to the Church of England, whilst retaining your sanity, is a long journey and a difficult task?
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Thoughts and Stuff
Been here a week now. Getting lost a little less. Here are some truths I have come across:
There is a labyrnth of old village footpaths and bridle ways over which a town has been built. They offer a far more scenic journey everywhere but don't necessarily go where they look as if they might go.
This place has the most scenic tip - Virginia creeper growing up a disused quarry.
Asking questions in staff meetings is welcomed but can cause 45 minute discussions about the meaning of confirmation.
Bishops like wearing robes and the instruction, 'Clergy are not required to robe' does not apply to them.
Painting a 270 square foot conservatory takes a long time.
My wife is magnificent at home making.
Sharps Doon bar is magnificent. Badger is good but gives you a headache. Tangle Foot causes its obvious eponymous problem.
There are no corner shops (Jaz - move here).
The Bath and Wells Diocesan Handbook and the Bath and Wells Diocesan Directory are not to be confused.
Getting the Digital radio receiver to work is a bit tricky.
My concentration span is down to about 11 minu
There is a labyrnth of old village footpaths and bridle ways over which a town has been built. They offer a far more scenic journey everywhere but don't necessarily go where they look as if they might go.
This place has the most scenic tip - Virginia creeper growing up a disused quarry.
Asking questions in staff meetings is welcomed but can cause 45 minute discussions about the meaning of confirmation.
Bishops like wearing robes and the instruction, 'Clergy are not required to robe' does not apply to them.
Painting a 270 square foot conservatory takes a long time.
My wife is magnificent at home making.
Sharps Doon bar is magnificent. Badger is good but gives you a headache. Tangle Foot causes its obvious eponymous problem.
There are no corner shops (Jaz - move here).
The Bath and Wells Diocesan Handbook and the Bath and Wells Diocesan Directory are not to be confused.
Getting the Digital radio receiver to work is a bit tricky.
My concentration span is down to about 11 minu
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