I closed the poll for the Halloween discussion last night. It was interesting to see how many churches are doing something at Halloween, and how the increasing popularity of the festival challenges us to think through how to respond in a godly way to our changing culture. Some of us find the whole thing a bit scary, though, it seems.
| Light Party |
24%
|
|---|---|
| Turning the lights off and hiding behind the sofa |
22%
|
| Giving out sweeties to trick or treaters |
16%
|
| Giving out tracts to trick or treaters |
16%
|
| Other |
14%
|
| Pumpkin Devotional |
4%
|
| A Light up the Night type walk |
2%
|
| Trick or Treating |
0%
|
| Going door to door giving out treats |
0%
|
As ever, the most fun and inspiring part of the poll has been the ‘other’ answers. I was very encouraged to find out that people would be praying. Not necessarily so sure about trying to get the Vicar drunk though. And I can’t be the only one who finds the prospect of a Churches Together disco extremely alarming, surely?
| All Souls Day Eve Prayer/All Hallows Evensong | 2 |
|---|---|
| Barn Dance (though I’d rather be behind the sofa!) | 1 |
| Churches together Disco | 1 |
| Trying to get the Vicar drunk | 1 |
| Saying that we are Christians and celebrate happy things – so come back at Xmas! | 1 |
| Away on half term holidays | 1 |
I enjoyed having another poll up again. Anyone got ideas for another?
Wednesdays is my baking day and since the recipe for lemonies seemed to go down pretty well the other week, today I’m going to share another Vicarage favourite bake. I’ve adapted the recipe from one in an Aussie cookbook sent to me by my oldest friend, who now lives in Sydney.
What do Vicar’s Wives think about as Autumn half term looms and Christmas will be upon us any minute? Summer holidays of course. We need some thoughts of warmth to keep the chill from our bones as we resist switching the central heating on for one more day… and one more day… and one more day.
When people ask me what my job is these days, I usually say I’m a mother, or a full time clergy wife. And that I’m not paid to do either of these things! And since people like to pop people in pigeonholes, they are sometimes surprised to find out, usually at a much later date, that I used to design systems for mechanical equipment for water and sewage treatment.
Recently I was reminded that Halloween is just around the corner (thanks Cassie!) and have been thinking about the different ways that churches and individual Christian families can respond. The idea of celebrating darkness and things of the night goes against the grain with Christians who have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son (Col 1v12-13).
I had a great day out on Saturday with three ladies from church. We went to the 
Lizzie Smallwood’s talks from Colossians on The Complete Woman were challenging and encouraging in equal measure as she reminded us to ‘become what you are’ but also to have ‘a good clear out of our behaviour wardrobe’. The Holy Spirit, said Lizzie, is God’s beauty consultant – your very own Gok. Did I mention that Lizzie is a vicar’s wife? Yay!
Helen Roseveare is now in her eighties and has been a Christian for over sixty years. And yet her joy and delight in knowing Christ continue to overflow as she speaks, as fresh as if she were a brand new believer. She spoke of how she is continuing to learn and grow in wisdom even at her advanced age. It was wonderful to hear her and be reminded of the privilege that she spoke of – to know Christ and also to suffer for him. I want to be like her when I grow up.
As anyone who follows me on Twitter (or is a friend on Facebook) knows, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My kitchen time is especially intense on Wednesdays, which is my baking day in preparation for the 
Last week I blogged enthusiastically about John Chapman’s book ‘
Today it has been announced
The Vicar's Wife 