Posted in Books, tagged Amanda Robbie, author, book, Church, faith, hall table, mess, The Ministry of a Messy House on 16 November, 2013| 1 Comment »
A friend tagged me last night on Facebook with this picture of her copy of The Ministry of a Messy House. It took her a while to find it on the table. Looks almost identical to our hall table. Although I think there’s a miniature Amy Pond figure there rather than a toy gun. I’m sure there’s some great ministry going on in her house.
Posted in Church, tagged BBC, blogging, book, breastfeeding, Christian New Media Conference, Christians, Church, CNMAC, documentary, faith, Proclamation Trust, review, sourdough, The Ministry of a Messy House, Vicarage on 12 November, 2013| 10 Comments »
Blogging is a funny old thing. Sometimes I can focus myself and write something every day. Other times I can’t think of anything to say. And then time goes by and there seems to be too much to say. So today I’m just going to say a bunch of random things and am hoping that will clear the blogjam that I’ve been experiencing the last week or so.
Vicarage Fireworks
That’s enough wittering. Perhaps some more coherant blogging will flow now.
Posted in Church, tagged broken, Church, double glazing, hall, vandalism, window on 2 November, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Breathless kids called at the Vicarage this afternoon. Had I seen the broken window in the church hall? I hadn’t, so I went with them to survey the damage. They don’t know who was responsible, alas. This door which faces the playground has been damaged before – that’s why there’s no glazing above the door now. Looks like someone has been playing a rock-lobbing game. Again.
At least it’s more straightforward to deal with than the coat on the roof.
Posted in Church, tagged Birmingham, cartoon, Christian, Christian pumpkin, Church, CLC, Crimperman, faith, Glen Scrivener, Halloween, pumpkin, pumpkin carving, pumpkin gallery, pumpkin meditation, redeeming Halloween on 28 October, 2013| 1 Comment »
I have some wifi and am now desperately posting and scheduling all the things I’ve been thinking about whilst our lines have been down this last week. First off some links to some of the Halloween ideas I’ve blogged previously:
I noticed this weekend that CLC in Birmingham had a whole heap of Halloween tracts – and a pumpkin prayer, in a display this weekend. So if you’ve not had time to grab any resources, a quick trip to a local Christian bookshop should sort you out in time for any trick or treaters likely to descend. Our church are holding a light party for the first time this year – we’ve just rescheduled our October Messy Church to coincide. My kids are looking forward to it, and I’ve promised the Joker he can do some ‘guising’ at the party by encouraging everyone to tell cheesy Halloween jokes.
Ryan Cartwright aka Crimperman has published a great new cartoon for Halloween this year. I can’t seem to find a seraphim costume anywhere, though…
Posted in Church, tagged Christianity, Church, Churchyard, faith, funeral, holly bush, homelessness, Inner city, Ministry, vicar on 2 October, 2013| 4 Comments »
Who has been sleeping in the holly bush at the entrance to the church? We’ve not seen them, but they seem to have built quite a little den. But since Gone is away at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, we don’t have an immediate suspect. I’m afraid the bush dweller may be disappointed tonight, as we’re clearing out this evening and the Vicar will be taking the debris to the dump.
There’s a funeral in church tomorrow and it’s respectful to the mourners to provide a tidy churchyard. The bush is right next to the church steps by the main entrance door. The church is being cleaned too, as we’ve had scaffolding in whilst damp plaster and ant chewed woodwork right up in the ceiling above the chancel has been removed and repaired. Theological college training can never cover all the bases for ministry life.
Bed (and sitting room it seems) in the bush
Posted in Church, tagged 10ofthose, All Hallow's Eve, Christianity, Church, darkness, evil, faith, Glen Scrivener, Halloween, light, redeeming Halloween, resource, saints, triumph, video, Vimeo, YouTube on 23 September, 2013| 1 Comment »
I know we’re all thinking about Back to Church Sunday and Harvest and everything (gosh, it’s a busy term – and we’ve got a confirmation to factor in too), but before you know it, it will be Halloween. And the brilliant Glen Scrivener (of Anti Santy Ranty fame) has produced a great new video to get your congregation or youth group thinking. A great reminder that the light triumphs over the darkness.
Posted in Church, tagged apprentice, attic, Church, Church of England, CofE, DDO, diocesan director of ordinands, Fun, Inner city, intern, internship, lay assistant, Ministry, ministry trainee, ordinand, ordination, parish, parish assistant, priest, training, vicar, Vicarage, vocation on 9 September, 2013| 1 Comment »
The lovely Radiohead left our attic yesterday. He’s headed back home and is busy applying for jobs in teaching. So now there’s a space in the Vicarage for a new Ministry Trainee.
We’re looking for someone who has a passion for people and for seeing God at work in their lives. You don’t have to be considering ordination, although the Diocesan Director of Ordinands would be very happy to see you and two of our previous attic dwellers have taken that path, and Red, who’s still here, is aiming for a dog collar. Perhaps you’d like some time to think about ministry life, or just want to serve in a church before going into something else.
A fondness for cake and the ability to negotiate your way around a cluttered family home might be an advantage. And you should know that we have a cat, a fish and a rodent. But you don’t have to have the rodent sit on your head if you don’t want to. If it’s not for you, maybe there’s someone you know who might be up for Vicarage life. Do please point them in our direction.
More details can be found on our church website. And below you can see a pic of Radiohead and Red in their attic living room, where they are able to escape from the pets, the clutter and the mayhem. If the kids don’t follow them up there…
Working hard. Or possibly playing games. There’s time for both.
Posted in Faith, tagged 10ofthose, acoustic, book, Books, Christianity, Church, Easter, faith, folk, hymns, Kids, Messy MInistry, music, Ordinary Time, Resurrection Eggs, The Mystery of the Empty Tomb, toddlers, writing on 18 March, 2013| 3 Comments »
Still bogged down in book writing, so just a few things that have been on my mind this week:
I ordered a bunch of copies of The Mystery of the Empty Tomb for our toddler group for Easter – it has lovely pics and a really clear story. 10ofthose do very fast delivery if you want some too. And give you a one hour delivery time slot. Magic. I clubbed together with some other clergy wives on the conference to get a good price. on a bulk order. Perhaps you could do a joint order with other local churches. You could make a couple of calls and save everyone money.Posted in Church, tagged alcoholism, bacon, Church, Gone, homelessness, Housing on 4 March, 2013| 4 Comments »
Frantic writing for IVP continues, so only a small hello and an encouragement from me today. I’m about to head off on my annual pilgrimage to the Proc Trust Minsters’ Wives conference. I shall report back on what the well dressed vicar’s wife is wearing this season.
But I wanted to let you know that we briefly saw Gone in church on Sunday morning. He was happy and tidy and seemed well and hadn’t been drinking. He waved his house keys at us but said he was having a little trouble budgetting his electric and his bacon had gone off in the fridge. We were very pleased to see him. The Vicar asked him to come back later so he could put money on the electricity card for him but he headed off before we were able to do that.
So he’s managed about 3 months in a house and is keeping himself together. Good news!
Posted in Faith, tagged Advent, animation, birth, Children, Christianity, Christmas, Church, clip, devotions, faith, Family, Jesus, Joseph, Kids, Mary, movie, name, resource, Scripture Union, stable, story, YouTube on 18 December, 2012| 1 Comment »
I’m sure you’re all super-prepared for all the Advent happenings in your parish. But just in case you aren’t (or want to be extra-super-prepared for next year) I thought I’d share this brilliant alt.Advent series from Scripture Union that I just came across. They are posting a 2-3 minute daily animation of part of the Christmas story every day of Advent. The full animation, combining all the clips, is 47 minutes long – perhaps something to have on hand for early risers on Christmas Day…
These would be great for family devotions or to show in a service or school assembly. I might even show a few to the kids over tea this week. SU have posted a good number of other videos on their YouTube channel that would be useful for services or family bible times.
Here’s today’s lovely section of the story:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePB5LiRETkQ%5D
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