Learning Things Too Late

I should have known that. People who are genuinely honest with themselves will say this more often than they put up a fight to defend their ignorance. It is an attitude that takes joy in discovery. I commend it. Here are two things I learned too late in my ministerial career.

Hearing Lady Hale on Desert Island Discs reminded me of her most splendid piece of teaching. In dealing with the massive matter of whether it had been against the law to prorogue Parliament she read a verdict which broke this complexity down to four simple questions:

1. Is this a matter on which we are able to rule?

2. What is the relevant law?

3. Has it been broken?

4. What should be the remedy.

For the last few years I have adapted and applied this to almost every meeting I have been responsible for when setting an agenda and leading a discussion to a conclusion:

1. Is this anything to do with us?

2. What are the parameters of our discussion?

3. What do we need to put right or improve?

4. What needs to happen now?

The second is like, namely this. I met a wise old priest who taught me to avoid the self-importance that comes with assuming that when someone shares something with you it is down to you, and you alone, to deal with it.

Given that pastoral problems normally lead to talking he used to reply, when confronted with such, by saying something along the lines of, 'That must be really difficult for you. Do you have someone you can talk to about it?' On many occasions the answer turned out to be 'yes' at which point he would pray for the relationship and commend it with thanks.

In effect he was praising the sharer for the good judgement they had made so far. This also sorted out the folk only he could help.

I tried it a few times. It worked and was well received.

Adventures in a Dog Collar Part 347

This is a true story. It reminds me again that the only way anyone can become a half-decent writer (I make no claims) is to go to places alone.

A few days ago I was advised to allow extra time to get from Nailsea to Wells because of the Glastonbury traffic. So I did and arrived an hour early. I opted for a sandwich and a pint at my favourite Wells haunt, The Crown. It's my favourite because they have a knack, not available at many pubs, of fast-tracking the sandwich queue.

At the bar I was asked for a table number. This is not easy for a single diner because you need to leave a possession unguarded at a table in order to reserve a seat. I found a seat where a couple were just leaving and left my bag with them.

Having ordered I went to the table and the occupants asked if I wanted to separate two tables which they had put together. I said no and then the man noticed my dog collar and told me he understood that as I was a clergyman I was gregarious (friends, keep your chuckles down, please).

Then, having told me I was gregarious, he told me the story of how the Master of Divinity at his College suggested that as he knew a good port and could sing he ought to consider ordination and put him in touch with the Professor of Theology at Exeter, where my story-teller now was, who would ask him for dinner. Some more junior members of whichever faculty he was at were, apparently, miffed that he queue jumped the dinner list at such dinner. On arrival he was asked 'Have you met the family' and when he said he had not he was given a huge scotch and told me would need it.

This may seem garbled because I got all this in a stream of consciousness and the idea of being stopped for clarification didn't seem to occur to my speaker.

He was then asked if he wanted to join a Hebrew, Latin or Greek supper club. The story sort of ran out without a punchline (the man was not ordained, then or ever). Surprisingly he then asked me who I was and where I came from. I got as far as 'ordination weekend' when he continued with a string of how he was going to the deaconing on Sunday. I also answered the question with the single word 'Nailsea' and hit a poor joke about a chiropodist. His companion left in the middle of all this (with a resigned expression on my behalf).

Someone in the story was called Robert Mortimer I think.

Sometimes I can only be a pastor if I remember I am also a writer. I can listen because I can anonymise, retell and hopefully entertain. Do with all this what you want.

Married Vicars and That - Article 32/39

XXXII. OF THE MARRIAGE OF PRIESTS

BISHOPS, Priests, and Deacons, are not commanded by God's Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage: therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.

Why this Article? Clearly not so I could bring 34 of my 41 married years into the ordained ministry although that is a blessing.

No, the church had, at the time of the Reformation, taken on a post-monastic tradition to clericalism and insisted on an unmarried, celibate, male priesthood.

But marriage or singleness is a discretionary matter within the new Testament. There are no special stipulations for leaders, priests and deacons.

So priests in the Church of England can arrive married and be married once ordained. Bible trumps Pope.

O'Donovan points out that Articles 32-36 are about discretionary matters within the church. 37-39 will be different. These articles were honed at the time of the Divine Right of Kings and therefore tend to separate those matters which are separate to the State form those which are bound up with the State.

At a time when our country's constitutional monarchy is being stretched to breaking point and may need substantial re-imagining we do well to remind ourselves, as the Reformers did, that Kings have to obey God. Or else.

But is it really work?

A few years ago I wrote a piece about the weirdness of clergy work. Find it here. It is based on a number of conversations with my friend and previous training colleague, Bob Clucas. The early Apple spell-checker suggested he was Reboot Clichés - I wish that had stuck. As with many of these ideas, which I usually wrote down but he also initiated, neither of us remembers, or cares, who deserves the most credit. So we tend to share it.

I have read a few posts on social media recently from new clergy trying to make sense of activities such as doing the laundry or cleaning on a day off and what to do when the mind wanders, during such activities, to work-related matters.

Firstly, well done for spotting it. And now to the idea. It is the difference between real and apparent work. And this, if my previous experience is anything to go by, will transform the lives of about 20% of the people who read it, whilst the rest will say 'That's crazy.' To the 80% I say, please allow the 20% to be crazy but happy. What follows ain't illegal. Here we go:

There will be things you do that come under the heading 'duties of office' (clergy are office-holders, not employees) which you enjoy and would do anyway, paid or not. For some this will be hanging around in coffee shops or going to parties; for others writing improving articles in the church press and for still others fixing guttering. These are work, apparently, but don't feel like it to you.

Then there will be things you do in your down-time or on your rest-day that you would rather pay someone else to do. For some this will be gardening; for others ironing, washing or shopping. These are leisure, apparently, but don't feel like it to you.

The trick, if trick it can be called, is to recall that clergy do not have to avoid domestic chores every day they are on duty. If ironing is work for you and it has to be done, do it on any day except your rest day. Glebe management is part of your responsibility so it is OK to do gardening whilst on duty. In fact it is required as part of your duties.

If you cram all the leisure activities that feel like work into your day off you won't feel like you've had one. If you trade them for one or two bits of your duties that don't feel like work you will.

To summarise, try and make sure your duty days are a mix of real work and real leisure, or apparent work and apparent leisure. And fill your days off with real leisure and, if necessary, apparent work.

I once shared this with a group of clergy who were what is known as 'training incumbents' (TIs). One guy, who I know for a fact had ruined the lives of several curates, responded, as if it were the last word on the matter. 'Well that wouldn't work for me.' He seemed quite shocked when I suggested that I was not asking it to work for him but that it might be an option he shared with his curate in case it was helpful for them. At this very idea, sharing something he didn't personally find helpful, he gave the room a look which encompassed all the ranges of amazement in the known universe. Teaching the doing of things exactly the way he had done them for thirty years wasn't the only thing that worked? Really?

If you were his curate I doubt he told you this. Sorry if it's late.

Same time next week?

What We Call Stuff

I have mused here previously on the delight we felt at Trendlewood Church when the independence of our lively and unusual congregation, who have met for 29 years without a building, was blessed by the diocesan legal team with the name 'Conventional District'.

A few years back a sign in a church in Ufton was drawn to my attention, praising a former Rector who, in the nineteenth century, 'preached here without Enthusiasm for fifteen years'. It had to be pointed out to me that this was high praise, then.

Earlier this month the Church Times clergy obituary column featured someone described as an 'Extraordinary Fellow' and I almost didn't bat an eyelid (other things to do with eyelids are available). You don't, obviously, need to be an extraordinary fellow in order to be an Extraordinary Fellow.

I was driving home from the ordination rehearsal last month, trying to explain to the husband of my soon-to-be curate what a precentor does. Best answer so far - he is the one who centors before the others... and I found myself chuckling at the enthusiastic, unconventional, extraordinary life this fellow leads.

Sorry but I don't do that

As a bit of a follow on from my previous post on work-life balance I want to explore what it is you don't do.

'On Holy Tuesday the Diocese gathers to worship together and to bless the Oils which will be used for baptisms, the anointing of the sick, for confirmations and ordinations in the coming year.'

But to begin at the beginning...

In Holy Week 1985, my first as a curate, I had a crisis of confidence. I know, I know. My entire readership experiences corporate shock. It hasn't happened since.

I found myself doing such a lot of things I didn't want to do that I had no time to do the things I did. Specifically I was taking communion to so many old ladies that I did not get to give the youth group's Holy Week sufficient planning time.  I wondered if I had made a big mistake and would have been a more effective youth pastor (what I felt called to do at that time) if I had not been ordained.

On Good Friday I sat in church in the silences between three addresses I was giving in an hour and said, 'OK Lord. You can have another year.' Ever since then this has become a habit. I am a minister for life but I serve in one year chunks.

Today the clergy of Bath and Wells Diocese gather at Wells Cathedral for a Chrism Service. In addition to the blessing of the oils used in ministry it is deemed a time to encourage busy clergy to take some time for their own devotions in this special week. I won't be there. Here is a list of reasons:

1. My decision to serve for one more year is done in peace and private. I do not make good decisions about my personal life through group think.

2. I do not use oil in ministry very much and, when I do, I do not feel it makes it any more effective if it has been episcopally blessed. I value my bishops' functionality more than their ontology.

(By the way, since many cancer sufferers come to faith as they realise their life is ending, is this the oncological argument for the existence of God? That may be the most niche theological joke ever.)

3. I do not like or enjoy cathedral style worship. The sort of musical worship I enjoy would not gather a crowd, leaving me with the problem of corporate worship either being a crowd of people doing things I dislike or a crowd of people hating what we are doing and wanting it to stop. (Even my imaginary friends gang up on me.) My ordination kick-started this as everyone except me spoke of how powerful it had been to wear a dog collar for the first time and walk down the aisle singing 'The Church's One Foundation.' I didn't voice my opinion which was to do with a guitar, four chords and the truth - my ordination scored 1 out of 3. Also, I have inflated the number of chords country and western songs require by a third.

4. I am refreshed by silence, space and isolation. That which has been designed to encourage and equip me would have the exact opposite effect and I would need time to recover.

Now don't get me wrong. I understand the line about the corporate church that we should not deprive others of our gifts and presence. I think I have been to enough voluntary occasions to have earned my exeat.

Maybe one year I will go. I don't know. But just at the moment, where every direction I look in my life (work and personal) I see things that need fixing, I do not wish to make anything harder.

Enjoy the service fellow clergy. I'll put a link to this on Twitter but the wifi in the cathedral is disappointing so you may have to read it afterwards.

A Level Results and That

In my late teenage years I was interested in football, music, board games and girls (I eventually narrowed it down to one girl). Every time the opportunity came along to try something new I took it. So I played rugby, hockey, squash, table tennis and golf. I guess I sought a sport for which I had natural aptitude and could have done well at without work. This is as big a theme of my life as annoying people by breaking the rules of grammar in favour of what I laughingly call my style.

The me who enjoyed study, thought and writing was some years off.

I have no idea how good I would have become at football and music if I had had someone champion/sponsor me. I didn't. On the advice and push of my Dad I got a back-up offer to the single university which thought it might take me (Swansea - geography). An insurance company in Brum had a non-graduate trainee scheme and the requirement was two A Levels.

So that became my career for eight years. And getting better than two grade Es clearly meant I had put too much energy in, not expecting to reach the dizzy heights of Swansea's offer. I did four parts of an Associateship of the Chartered Insurance Institute but again had no real motivation to complete it. I was good at my job though and promoted rapidly. I was a very young section leader (manager of a team of 7) at 24 and was, had things not changed weirdly and dramatically in a school equipment cupboard (more another day), earmarked as a trainee inspector.

Then I found myself, almost reluctantly, following the advice and prod of others to consider ordination. It wasn't completely out of the blue. I was a Christian and a churchgoer. It would have been odder if I had been neither - and perhaps more compelling a tale.

So I put my career on hold, studied part-time, jumped through many interview hoops, found I had the necessary two A levels to do a theology degree, packed insurance in and moved with family to residential training and then became a priest.

Throughout college it was commented that I had an attitude that would do 'just enough' rather than achieve academic excellence. But I also captained the first ever college football team to win anything, wrote and performed a musical, was year rep on the Junior Common Room Committee and got a brief stress-related illness. This was the beginning of my fully understanding the genetic hand I had been dealt. Just for 'fun' I revised excessively for one doctrine paper. By this I mean I learned a load of stuff I didn't really understand or care about. I came top of my group with distinction.

So where does that leave me? 43 years on from my A level results they have meant little except that I got two of them. I accept my lot in life to be interested in lots and specialist in little. I enjoy investigating new trends and crazes. It transpires that people think I have some ability with written communication (I was often told my essays were well written but light on content - should have been a tabloid journalist maybe) and I have had three books and many booklets published.

If your exam results haven't been quite what you hoped for, relax and chill. In the grand scheme of things they may not matter very much.

Now. What do you want to do next?

Ministry Tips 176-200 (That's All Folks)

Here are the final 25 tips. There may be more and I will collect them and publish if I get enough, but too many were repetitious or too closely linked to previous ones. Thanks for reading and sending comments. I am talking about a publishing offer. Nothing in writing yet.

176. Trust the projector operator; try not to look round to check what is on the screen behind you.
177. In meetings, try and make your points in two sentences. Then let someone else speak.
178. If you say 'The point is this...' the next thing that follows should be the point, not an anecdote.
179. Don't know how many points you are about to make? Go for a large number and stop short; not a small number and over-run.
180. When you say 'Any questions', collect a few before answering any.
181. Don't lead a church into reflecting your preferences; lead it into being more able to decide its own.
182. Priests don't consecrate things; they ask God to.
183. Getting people to stand in birthday order non-verbally is the finest icebreaker. Other orders are available.
184. If talk is being recorded, explain visual aids. Or make images available to the recording listeners. (Thanks Ruth Jolly)
185. When you take questions in front of large audiences, repeat them over the mic if there isn't a roving mic. (Thanks Richard Owen)
186. If you are tall, possibly intimidating, sit to chat with someone small. Also with wheelchair users. (Thanks Tim Sudworth)
187. 'I don't know' is a valid answer (and always better than bluffing). Thanks @ruth_hw
188. When bluffing, first establish the absence of expertise around the table.
189. Always make the distinction between your church and your church building. Thanks @yernaninakettle
190. Notwithstanding tip 120, best to wear your clerical collar a lot for the first six months of a new post.
191. In meetings, if you have nothing to say, don't say anything but...
192. It is not only the chair's responsibility to keep things moving.
193. When visiting non-church members do offer to pray, but always ask if that is OK first.
194. Have a good leaving do for everyone who leaves, even if you have been praying the bugger out for years.
195. Get out of the hearse when the undertaker does and accompany him/her on the last few yards walk.
196. Tell the bride and her father to walk 'as slowly as you dare'.
197. Don't display visual aids that make the opposite of your point. Visual aids help retention of the 5% of gold in your talk.
198. The God of the Hebrew Bible and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are one ... Whatever Richard Dawkins says.
199. Don't get too precious about precision in nativity plays or theology in carols. Stick on the tea towel and sing.
200. 'In the thrombosis of the church the vicar is often the clot.' (Anon) Thank you and goodnight.

Decorating Vicarages

How much care does the Church of England take over its housing stock? I have lived in tied housing for seventeen years of my ministry so have a few insights.

The quinquennial system, a five-yearly survey, ensures that properties are maintained to a reasonable standard. They are provided unfurnished although some properties include an office/study with some church stuff in it.

We used to be provided with a cooker but I don't think this is the case any more. I will find out soon as my cooker, an intrinsic part of a fitted kitchen, is near the end of its life.

I have found that work identified by the quinquennial is carried out promptly. I have also found that any safety issues are tackled quickly too. Blocked drains, leaning walls and sharp-edges have all been rapidly fixed.

But there are gaps. My vicarage has under-cupboard lights. They kept blowing the bulbs and an electrician advised replacing them. My diocesan property department told me they took no responsibility for such lights. So I replaced them at my own expense, saving me money on bulbs but also investing in a property I do not own. It would be churlish of me to refit the dodgy lights when I leave; but I would be quite entitled to.

And so to decoration. This is left to the parish and incumbent. Generously, local churches often redecorate houses between occupants. Mine had three or four rooms plus the hall etc painted in 2006. The Diocese have a small budget (£60 a year) to cover materials, which is great if the house is occupied by people who have plenty of free-time to decorate.

Three problems:

1. Most parishioner decorating is competent but not thorough. Doors are not sanded and refitted. Radiators not removed to paint behind. Walls not properly cleaned, primed and prepared. My pre-moving-in gang did quite well but they are unusual.

2. Houses with a quick throughput of ministers get redecorated more often than the long-stay versions.

3. A professional quote for hall, stairs and landing has seen three workers in my house for seven days. This cost is outside the scope of most clergy and also involves a substantial investment that cannot be withdrawn on leaving.

So I just wonder if there isn't a way to maintain the interior of a vicarage better without incumbent expense?

Priest or Leader?

Interesting article by Graham Tomlin in the Church Times about balancing the two words 'priest' and 'leader'.

It is well argued with the suggestion at its conclusion that '...priestly leaders are those whose one goal is the blessing and flourishing of those in their care.' Well amen to that.

But what about anyone who feels their call is to one or the other? Is there any other way forward than squaring the circle?

Of course there is, but it requires a change of heart and mind.

For those, often but not exclusively, evangelicals who want to lead I say, why not? Get leading. Your view of priesthood is functional not ontological. What you need is to be able to appoint, and indeed anoint, local priests who can preside, forgive and bless. You can still exercise a prophetic ministry (although so can anyone in the church). But then you will not be side-tracked by the need to scrub around for eucharistic cover when you have a weekend off. You need permission to have an order of Levites.

For those who want to exercise a solely priestly ministry the answer is nearer at hand. You need to be a priest and allow your church leaders (Wardens in the C of E) to lead. If you want to block any of the things they want to do then you are more of a leader than you think you are.

There is usually, within the church, a simple, answer and a complex one. But we never reach for the simple one.

More Teaching Vicar

Some time ago, maybe here, maybe somewhere else, I received an email bemoaning that the church was under satanic attack. A list of examples was given of things that, if I were a gambling man, I would have put money on happening in any group of people the size of that particular church.

If the petty squabbles, relationship difficulties and people-behaving-badly stuff listed was a sign of the devil at work I wondered, in replying, who was in charge of the attack where (insert name of nation) was being (insert name of disaster). I did it more tactfully than that, I like to think, but in essence offered the suggestion that the email writer should calm down a bit and get some perspective.

It was what happened next that I loved. I got a further reply suggesting that the church needed more teaching on this.

That's right. The response to me, the pastor, offering teaching, was to say we needed more teaching. When actually the person wanted more teaching that accorded with their own views.

We live in a world where people are told they haven't listened if they are not going to do what the complainant wants. People who insist they need closure simply want to write a happier ending than the one currently on offer. And teaching not to the pupil's taste is deemed inadequate.

That's me finished moaning for a bit. Will write lighter stuff over next few days holiday. Probs.

Bath and Wells Clergy Gathering

I was asked for my reflections on why the Gathering (deliberately not called a conference) of Bath and Wells diocesan clergy at Swanwick this week was so good. And you know, it's a hard question to answer.

I can immediately think of one thing that wasn't as good as last time and two things that were dreadfully cringy but somehow these didn't matter. I may not mention them.

Let's have a go at why that was. In no particular order:

Having no diocesan bishop takes the pressure off people to show-off or have someone they are trying to impress. We were told, back in July, that it was hoped our new appointment might be sorted by the time of the gathering so we could at least hear the name used for the first time. This didn't happen and, apart from a few jokes (the absent bishop has been referred to as Bishop Kevin for a while now) was not mentioned. But it does make our diocese a place of hope and expectation.

The organising group went to some trouble to include everyone. There were quiet spaces and discussions, a very noisy multi-media Eucharist and a quiet spoken one, a lively bar (which now has real ale on hand-pump) and a saunter (a solo outdoor prayer walk), many symbolic acts in a closing Eucharist but also a poet in residence all week. We had some simple gifts in our rooms to welcome us and an A4 pad with logo and pen.

A gathering is a different thing to a conference. We met. We shared stories without offering judgement or advice. Lots of the input was affirming and encouraging. By and large we know that our diocese needs some serious strategic leadership and cannot continue with clergy spread so thinly. We didn't need challenging.

We are a diocese with problems but we are at ease with ourselves. There is no constant bickering between the boys in black and the Hezbollah conservatives. Dog collars were not worn on day two. No-one seemed to have any issues sitting next to anyone else.

The boat was pushed out for a last night gala dinner and the Bishop of Taunton put wine on all the tables.

We took coffee in a separate room to our meal each evening with an amusing after-dinner speaker. This kept things light.

John Bell and Timothy Radcliffe were good main speakers full of earthed stories but taking biblical texts seriously enough not to upset evangelicals (I write as one who has largely ditched labels - you watch me for a bit and tell me what you think I am). OK, I heard of one who got annoyed (there's always one) and an archdeacon gave him (it's always him) a good listening to.

There was a flash mob. It included the Bishop of Taunton.

Every time I walk into Swanwick (after my ten years of conference organising at CPAS) I rejoice at not being in charge. I was on the planning group for the last diocesan conference in 2008. The centre is well-run and professional. Rooms are good.

Three gathering group sessions enabled us to share our stories and experiences with a smaller group.

There were no feedback forms to fill in. Feedback was asked for via a graffiti wall.

At three nights and two full days (Monday afternoon to Thursday lunchtime) it was long enough to get to know a few people and not feel guilty at sitting by them twice.

Most of the things were voluntary. If you want to refresh a gathering you have to be willing to let the gathering set the agenda and not impose one on them. No-one likes to be told 'Here is how you're going to relax.'

All this feels a bit thin by way of reasoning but that may simply mean the success is down to act of God, which wouldn't exactly be a bad thing.

The organising committee got one of the longest, and most heartfelt, rounds of applause I have experienced in thirty years of clergy conferences.

A Twitter Discussion

Yesterday morning Bishop Pete Broadbent posted a Twitter link to a blog post he had written which included a paragraph - twenty quick fixes the Church of England could do now. I read it and thought it was rather good. I re-tweeted it.

I then spent the day, on and off, in a discussion with some people who didn't think it was very good. I've been struggling to understand their position ever since. You will see from the correspondence, which I am going to have a go at transcribing below, that at one point I got a bit frustrated and gave a silly answer to a silly question.

If you want to follow it you really have no choice but to read the Broadbent post first. It is here and point eight is the key one with the twenty ideas listed. If anyone wants any of the initialisms explained please leave a comment. BMO is Bishop's Mission Order.

Graham Kings ‏@BishopSherborne17 Nov

'Twenty quick hits to change the #CofE' by Bp of Willesden, Pete Broadbent @petespurs. #strategic

http://bishopofwillesden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/twenty-quick-hits-to-change-cofe.html …

 Retweeted by Steve Tilley

 

11.26

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

aka 20 quick ways to bash the clergy http://bishopofwillesden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/twenty-quick-hits-to-change-cofe.html … Making me angry now :-(

 

12.12

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@therevsteve Really? I didn't feel bashed by it. What hurt?

 

12.15

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve Comments more than article, but @petespurs handed out the ammo with remark on "under performing" clergy needing to be got rid of.

 

12.27

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@therevsteve @petespurs you want to keep the under-performers?

 

12.51

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve you point them out to me and then let's discuss it... @petespurs

 

1.34

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@therevsteve @petespurs I am not in a position to review clergy performance. But a bishop is.

 

3.06

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve I don't think a Bishop has any more idea of what "performance" means for clergy than I do, except by the crudest measures @petespurs

 

3.08

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

.@s1eve The clergy role is simply not one to which the word "performance" applies in any sensible way @petespurs

 

3.08

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@therevsteve @s1eve @petespurs Oh I expect there'll be lots of 'performance markers' like running Alpha courses and Messy Churches

 

3.11

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@revpamsmith See, I'm underperforming already! @s1eve @petespurs

 

3.11

Liam Beadle ‏@liambeadle18 Nov

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Which one?!

 

(I think this means 'Which bishop is in a position to review? - ed)

 

3.12

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@therevsteve @s1eve @petespurs Yeah me too

 

3.13

Liam Beadle ‏@liambeadle18 Nov

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @s1eve @petespurs How about celebrating the Eucharist, baptizing people, and preaching sermons? #parish

 

3.15

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@liambeadle Yes, but *good* sermons or poor ones? We are judging *performance* here, not just activity... @revpamsmith @s1eve @petespurs

3.16

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@therevsteve @liambeadle @s1eve @petespurs Maybe we could bring Ofsted in

4.12

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs I think knickers are being twisted here. If you take an ontological view of priesthood OK. I don't.

 

(Ontological meaning it is more about being than doing, the opposite of which would be a functional view - ed)

 

4.17

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve I take a very *un*-ontological view! Still don't think clergy performance can be measured meaningfully. @revpamsmith @petespurs

4.20

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve Yes, you can measure *activity* but anything beyond that is either subjective or spurious @revpamsmith @petespurs

 

4.24

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs hope it isn't me making you angry, but ontological view cannot easily be counted. Functional can.

 

4.30

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve18 Nov

@s1eve No, not you! What measures of clergy performance would you use & how assess contribution of congregation(s)? @revpamsmith @petespurs

 

4.34

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs anything that can be counted. It's all we got. 360 performance review and detailed report & discussion.

 

5.59
Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Measuring performance indicators ALWAYS makes people skew workload towards what's being measured

 

6.00

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs So in this model an 'activist' concept of ministry takes precedent over any other form of priesthood

 

6.01

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs That may work if you can afford to pay for absolutely all ministry, if you can't, it's cloud cuckoo land

 

6.06

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs you measure as much as possible. Maybe 'more people seeking opportunities for quiet and sacred space.'

 

6.14

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith18 Nov

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Measurements like that are fairly easy to game (sic) - saw it in prison chaplaincy where regime hours are measured

 

7.26

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve18 Nov

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs Pam is there any sense in which you feel people should be held to account? Professionals or volunteers?

 

7.32

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith24h

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Look at my bio. What do you think?

 

(Her bio on Twitter says:)

 

Virtual vicar. Ex prison chaplain, teacher, health service. Into politics, TV, socmedia. Will follow back, but don't auto follow. I unfollow trolls.

 

 

7.54

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve23h

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs  You have had to cope with a lot of review in your life and have been wounded by it?

 

8.00

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith23h

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs Do you normally assume people who disagree with you are either ignorant or psychologically unstable?

 

8.12

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve23h

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs yes

 

8.13

Pam Smith ‏@revpamsmith23h

@s1eve @therevsteve @petespurs That's what I thought, just checking

 

8.21

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve12h

It's hard to follow Twitter streams without a hashtag. Later I will the (sic) to transcribe yesterday's conversation and post it to blog for you.

8.40

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve23h

@revpamsmith @therevsteve @petespurs but reading back through today I haven't disagreed with anyone, just asked questions.

 

9.03

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine23h

@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs I'm going to wade in. There are more ways to evaluate than counting the quantifiable.

 

9.10

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine23h

@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs we've known the value of qualitative, narrative evaluation for long time in youthwork.

9.12

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine23h

@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs appraisls and reviews drew heavily on case study, story, 'distance traveled', not just counting.

 

1017

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve22h

@markrhewerdine @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs agree Mark (I too have youthwork background) but we are unimaginative in what we count.

 

1018

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine22h

@s1eve @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs Imagination and a broad approach to evaluation is vital - allow clergy to tell rounded story.

 

1023

Stephen M Day ‏@therevsteve22h

@markrhewerdine And after you've done all that, how do you decide whether the clergy person is "performing"? @s1eve @revpamsmith @petespurs

 

1027

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine22h

@therevsteve @s1eve @revpamsmith @petespurs That's the rub - when story, qualitative "data" have to measured against inflexible criteria.

 

1028

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine22h

@therevsteve @s1eve @revpamsmith @petespurs There's much I appreciate about IME/Portfolio I'm faced with but how does it mesh with 1/2

 

1028

Mark Hewerdine ‏@markrhewerdine22h

@therevsteve @s1eve @revpamsmith @petespurs my calling as laid out in the ordinal, articulated in Bible, in my own context? Not so sure.

 

1044

Giles Morrison ‏@giles_morrison21h

@markrhewerdine @therevsteve @s1eve @revpamsmith @petespurs I really shouldn't comment, but welcome to our world #OFSTED #registration

 

1049

Steve Tilley ‏@s1eve21h

@markrhewerdine @therevsteve @revpamsmith @petespurs it is complex but Bible is clear that somehow we should be accountable to each other.

 

 CORRESPONDENCE ENDS