http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/An assistant curate in Gloucester city - now what is that about...?en-EUMokoFeed10http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/53/d4e834c31a567986ecca4504fd9883_160x200.jpghttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/15/interesting~3448201/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-12-15:/2007/12/15/interesting~3448201/Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:29:29 +0100 <p>It's interesting the way things work out.</p> <p>Writing my talk for tomorrow on 'helping those in need' - with action, giving and prayer. Broke off to go and say evening prayer at church - which was disrupted by the plausible homeless chap wanting food and not really knowing what to do with himself. One's immediate reaction - oh no, how can I deal with this and get on with all the stuff that needs to be done, like writing a talk on 'helping those in need'...</p> <p>Penny drops, someone gets a bag of food, and an old sleeping bag, and some emergency accommodation and food numbers, and some telephoning change and some cigarettes. Who knows how it will end? He may be a druggie, or he may be a person who wants to be sorted. He may turn up at church tomorrow morning, we may never see him again.</p> <p>But at least we tried to help. That is what we are supposed to be here for... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/15/interesting~3448201/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gospelchurchhelpinghomelesscarehttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/15/interesting~3448201/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/08/a_bit_of_excitement~3411809/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-12-08:/2007/12/08/a_bit_of_excitement~3411809/Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:54:33 +0100 <p>Interesting adverts on this blog site right now!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/08/a_bit_of_excitement~3411809/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/12/08/a_bit_of_excitement~3411809/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/27/hello~3201916/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-10-27:/2007/10/27/hello~3201916/Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:42:44 +0200 <p>Blogging again, in passing...</p> <p>Busy time, lots of personal challenges, but lots of fun...</p> <p>I'll blog for real in a day or so, fill in on some more details...</p> <p>Just passing right now...</p> <p>Bye-bye! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/27/hello~3201916/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/27/hello~3201916/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/08/come_play_on_facebook_instead~3105041/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-10-08:/2007/10/08/come_play_on_facebook_instead~3105041/Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:26:18 +0200 <p>That's what I'm doing! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/08/come_play_on_facebook_instead~3105041/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/10/08/come_play_on_facebook_instead~3105041/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/08/27/back_to_life_back_to_reality~2878200/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-08-27:/2007/08/27/back_to_life_back_to_reality~2878200/Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:06:22 +0200 <p>It's been a long time without much blogging - New Wine (big Christian festival, which we could unpack the theology etc. of for hours and only get to skimming the surface), holidays, time back in Gloucester but not at work (that was goooood - a chance to do some stuff and spend time with kids and try and think about stuff).</p> <p>Looking forward to work starting again tomorrow - back into the thick of parish ministry, funerals, services, visits, praying, trying to make sense of it all and me in the middle of it. Fantastic stuff!</p> <p>Highlight of my first five weeks in the job of 'Assistant Curate'?</p> <p>Impossible to pick one. Visit to the undertaker's? Fantastic experience, a real eye-opener. Taking my first communion-by-extension? Deeply strange but very affirming. Funeral visits? Humbling and terrifying (thanks for being there, God!). The people in the parish and the church? Too much to try and unpack.</p> <p>But I read a fascinating book on holiday - The Miracle Detective by Randall Sullivan. It's about the Catholic Church and miracles and visions. Partly interesting from a factual point of view - I knew so little about Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorje (which I'd not even heard of). Mainly interesting because his agnostic/lapsed starting point can feel very familiar - and he discovered God's love as the key to it all, in a personal sense, via a journey that removed the need for black and white answers in a grey world where 'good fruits' can be found in surprising places!</p> <p>I'll not read it again, but it was a very astute set of (out-of-control) observations drawing in some very wise and very spiritual people. Recommended. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/08/27/back_to_life_back_to_reality~2878200/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>christianfuneralsbookschurchhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/08/27/back_to_life_back_to_reality~2878200/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/27/and_dry~2711506/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-07-27:/2007/07/27/and_dry~2711506/Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:26:10 +0200 <p>The water shortage (well, total lack of mains water) in Gloucester is settling down.</p> <p>The systems to cope are working well. Bottled water is being handed out free to all (with cars) or delivered (to those unable to collect). There are bowsers that are filled pretty often, from what I see of people using them as I trundle about the streets of the parish and thereabouts. Residential homes etc. have portaloos.</p> <p>But people are getting fed up using bottled water, and no baths or showers are getting rather much after 5 days.</p> <p>Overheard between two older chaps at church yesterday: "When I was in the desert rats, we had one pint of water for drinking, washing, shaving, the lot." They stopped short of chatting about latrine digging.</p> <p>The issue will be maintaining people's morale when it's been 10 days or 15 days. Only 5 days dry so far! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/27/and_dry~2711506/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>water-shortagegloucesterfloodshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/27/and_dry~2711506/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/23/wet~2689635/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-07-23:/2007/07/23/wet~2689635/Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:30:54 +0200 <p>Parish life, three weeks into ministry in Gloucester.</p> <p>and the place floods!!! Not our parish (altho some of our extended family are flooded out, but well tended). the neighbouring parished are pretty damp, and we have lost our drinking water for up to two weeks, they say!</p> <p>The vicar is on holiday, and people are still needing to be buried, and we're trying to set up a prayer space and work out if the church is needed as a refuge site.</p> <p>Interesting feeling, to feel out of control but in the thick of it.</p> <p>Prayer is good... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/23/wet~2689635/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gloucesterfloodchurchhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/23/wet~2689635/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/14/funeral_rites~2635728/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-07-14:/2007/07/14/funeral_rites~2635728/Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:04:35 +0200 <p>Lots of funerals in city ministry...</p> <p>watched three in the last two weeks</p> <p>went on my first (accompanied) pre-funeral visit today with the curate of the neighbouring parish</p> <p>will be a part deliverer with him on Thursday...</p> <p>soon - lots and lots of them here in Gloucester, and i go on the crem-rota.</p> <p>each one a life to be celebrated</p> <p>each one a family in mourning</p> <p>each one in grief and needing hope</p> <p>hmmm</p> <p>and my other PC has died.</p> <p>Hopefully it can be resurrected (with some expense and minimum theology) Feels odd having so much personal data in the hands of strangers in a shop... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/14/funeral_rites~2635728/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>dead-pcfuneralschurchhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/14/funeral_rites~2635728/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/10/one_week_down~2605645/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-07-09:/2007/07/10/one_week_down~2605645/Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:03:35 +0200 <p>Look - no hands...</p> <p class="center"><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1778423" title="BishandI"><img src="http://data4.blog.de/media/423/1778423_30cc2e3e22_s.jpg" alt="BishandI" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>Excellent first week - very exhausting, lots of new stuff and new people, but hilarious and brilliant and serious and all just fab.</p> <p>God is good.</p> <p>And I'm an employee.</p> <p>Yay!!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/10/one_week_down~2605645/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>churchfantasticordinationfuneralshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/10/one_week_down~2605645/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/03/bizarre~2568614/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-07-03:/2007/07/03/bizarre~2568614/Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:52:46 +0200 <p>Ordained two days ago.</p> <p>First day - day in a collar, at two cremations, two wakes, a school governors' meeting and a worship planning meeting...</p> <p>Quite bewildering.</p> <p>But also quite wonderful.</p> <p>One might even dare to say - praise the Lord for He is good!!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/03/bizarre~2568614/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>fantasticchurchordinationfuneralshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/07/03/bizarre~2568614/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/23/we_ve_moved~2505363/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-06-23:/2007/06/23/we_ve_moved~2505363/Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:39:37 +0200 <p>Out of most of the packing cases, wireless network up and running.</p> <p>Cuddblog may have to be renamed now, moving from Cuddesdon to Gloucester.</p> <p>Glosblog? Catblog (new church is St Catharine's)?</p> <p>Hmmm</p> <p>More soon! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/23/we_ve_moved~2505363/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>blogschurchmovinghttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/23/we_ve_moved~2505363/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/05/the_times_they_are_a_changing~2396912/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-06-05:/2007/06/05/the_times_they_are_a_changing~2396912/Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:49:37 +0200 <p>I'm not much of a Dylan fan, but they are a changing.</p> <p>We leave Cuddesdon on Tuesday, for Gloucester. </p> <p>Issue - this is 'cuddblog' - does it change to 'glosblog', or do I stop (not that I am blogging much right now anyway), or something else.</p> <p>I feel the need to keep on going.</p> <p>Maybe start a new blog with a link from here...</p> <p>...hmmm </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/05/the_times_they_are_a_changing~2396912/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gloucestermovingnew-startbloghttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/06/05/the_times_they_are_a_changing~2396912/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/26/breaks_the_silence~2336287/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-05-26:/2007/05/26/breaks_the_silence~2336287/Sat, 26 May 2007 08:58:34 +0200 <p>...mood... getting ready to move in two weeks</p> <p>...in denial...</p> <p>...reality check...</p> <p>...we are moving...</p> <p>...my clergy shirts have arrived...</p> <p>...in denial over that too...</p> <p>...basically in denial lots...</p> <p>...chocolate and alcohol may be needed...<a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1622210" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data4.blog.de/media/210/1622210_3e845f10eb_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/26/breaks_the_silence~2336287/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>churchdenialchocolatehttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/26/breaks_the_silence~2336287/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/08/ebay~2236178/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-05-08:/2007/05/08/ebay~2236178/Tue, 08 May 2007 22:52:52 +0200 <p>I have ebayed a little, have a 14 star rating, but have never done that much.</p> <p>But just sold a bicycle!!! Wow - actually sold a bike! Fantastic!</p> <p>It is a good bike, and the chap is due to come with the money, but that should be OK (he has a 400 star rating, only one bad one ever).</p> <p>I have been quite distracted with all the malarky of selling, when I should be concentrating on a course on relationship therapy and marriage preparation, or on reading for some work on charismatic renewal authority in the church. Ho hum, back from the high finance of bike sales to the normality of finishing the course...</p> <p>Here's a blip - it went up by 3 pounds for the measurement day, then straight back down. Very strange. My kilt needs braces to stay up right now, Och Aye!!</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1557436" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data4.blog.de/media/436/1557436_3d7ca9f459_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/08/ebay~2236178/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>bicycleebaychurchmarriagecharismatic-renewalweighthttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/05/08/ebay~2236178/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149469/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-23:/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149469/Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:26:45 +0200 <p>I am circling trying to avoid doing serious revision for an ethics exam next week. It has got so bad I have just spent an hour reading people's blogs which largely seem to be Ridley ordinands also saying that they are trying to avoid working on their courses.</p> <p>There is something here of the possibility to talk, cross talk and cross-cross talk about a task in hand and quite successfully fail to achieve any of the task in hand.</p> <p>Now, I used to be in the civil service a few years ago, and this doesn't seem too alien a concept.</p> <p>But let's face it, I should be revising Christian environmental ethics just now, not clutching at straws trying to find theological reflection in the experience of avoiding starting work.</p> <p>As Dave Walker would put it:</p> <p><img src="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cartoons/procrastination.gif" alt="cartoon from a href="></p> <p>Cartoon by <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/">Dave Walker</a>. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at <a href="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/">We Blog Cartoons</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1391069" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/media/069/1391069_11456a1660_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149469/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149469/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149465/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-23:/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149465/Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:26:10 +0200 <p>I am circling trying to avoid doing serious revision for an ethics exam next week. It has got so bad I have just spent an hour reading people's blogs which largely seem to be Ridley ordinands also saying that they are trying to avoid working on their courses.</p> <p>There is something here of the possibility to talk, cross talk and cross-cross talk about a task in hand and quite successfully fail to achieve any of the task in hand.</p> <p>Now, I used to be in the civil service a few years ago, and this doesn't seem too alien a concept.</p> <p>But let's face it, I should be revising Christian environmental ethics just now, not clutching at straws trying to find theological reflection in the experience of avoiding starting work.</p> <p>As Dave Walker would put it:</p> <p><img src="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cartoons/procrastination.gif" alt="cartoon from a href="></p> <p>Cartoon by <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/">Dave Walker</a>. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at <a href="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/">We Blog Cartoons</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1391069" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data1.blog.de/media/069/1391069_11456a1660_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149465/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/23/circling_circling~2149465/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/17/title~2106668/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-17:/2007/04/17/title~2106668/Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:14:09 +0200 <p>Off duty, so popped into Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford for Sunday Matins this week.</p> <p>Quirky feature - the service was at 10am, but started at 10.05am - Oxford is apparently five minutes west of Greenwich, so Oxford time is five minutes later than GMT (or BST as we are at the moment...)</p> <p>Idiosyncratic or arrogant? Oxford feels rather torn between those two extremes - the students at the university have to sit exams in <em>sub fusc</em>, black and white with gowns and carrying <em>squares</em>, mortar boards. If your socks are the wrong colour, you could be barred from the schools (almost happened in one of my exams). It doesn't matter what you know or how hard you have worked, you must obey the rules...</p> <p>Idiosyncratic or arrogant? Now, about the church...</p> <p>Maybe another time...</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1336368" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/368/1336368_9ca9605c70_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/17/title~2106668/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>oxfordhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/17/title~2106668/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/08/jesus_christ_is_ris_n_today_a_a_a_llelui~2052242/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-08:/2007/04/08/jesus_christ_is_ris_n_today_a_a_a_llelui~2052242/Sun, 08 Apr 2007 05:17:11 +0200 <p>Apparently we aren't singing that hymn at the 5.30am service I am just about to go to, at the church 100 yards away, but I'm sure it will be on at the 9.30am easter day celebration.</p> <p>The brutality of Good Friday over, the emptiness of Holy Saturday past, now it's all bling and flowers and celebration. I engage with the image of Christ bursting from the tomb, in an unrestrainable explosion of life, power and energy, impossible to keep in the humanly created, dark, deathly tomb. The stone at the entrance should have been shattered into fine pebbles, not demurely rolled away and left neatly to one side.</p> <p>God made man, man reconciled to God. Whatever you feel bad about yourself, whatever that might be, whatever weakness or sin or addiction, that was taken upon the cross, and swept away on Easter morning!</p> <p>Happy Easter!</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1310265" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/265/1310265_0adc10a873_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/08/jesus_christ_is_ris_n_today_a_a_a_llelui~2052242/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/08/jesus_christ_is_ris_n_today_a_a_a_llelui~2052242/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/05/a_sunny_day_lots_to_do~2038743/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-05:/2007/04/05/a_sunny_day_lots_to_do~2038743/Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:44:30 +0200 <p>It's sunny, I'm finishing off three long essays, the grass needs to be mowed and I'm finding it hard to focus on doing any of these things right now...</p> <p>We are well into the college Holy Week, with the tempo picking up tonight with an all night vigil (how much will I stay up for...) until morning prayer at 7.30 am tomorrow.</p> <p>Tonight - agape and footwashing, the stripping of the altar etc.</p> <p>I always find Good Friday hard, with the death of Christ, but find Holy Saturday even harder - it is an empty day, the day that God was dead, the day when the world seems to hold its breath. there is something powerful about liturgy that re-created an event from 2000 years ago, but which is still happening all day, every day...</p> <p>I think I'll cut the grass... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/05/a_sunny_day_lots_to_do~2038743/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>focuscollegeholy-weekhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/05/a_sunny_day_lots_to_do~2038743/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/01/action_packed_palm_sunday~2016201/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-04-01:/2007/04/01/action_packed_palm_sunday~2016201/Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:01:08 +0200 <p>The sleepy little village we live in (for another 10 weeks or so...) was rather rudely disturbed this evening. We don't have proof of exactly what went on, but the gist of it seems to be:</p> <p>The local ne'er-do-well decided to go for a drive in his dad's car...</p> <p>The dad was not amused and called the police...</p> <p>The police arrived and gave chase...</p> <p>He drove off...</p> <p>More police arrived...</p> <p>Five cars...</p> <p>...and a helicopter.</p> <p>The ne'er-do-well drove through a hedge and across the fields...</p> <p>He crashed the car and ran for it...</p> <p>The police (including the helicopter and now an ambulance) chased...</p> <p>And sat on him (my 8 year old son was watching this bit acriss the fields)...</p> <p>We wandered out just as the flashing blue lights were going out and the helicopter taking off...</p> <p>All this happened about 100 to 200 yards away, just over the next fields. Who says rural Oxfordshire is quiet and idyllic...</p> <p>I hope they don't charge him for the police time - he'll have to stitch a lot of mail bags to earn that much money!!!</p> <p>Of course, it isn't actually as dramatic as the events told in the reading of the passion in church this morning, but it's easy to lose sight of that!!!</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1294382" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/382/1294382_ad770dda88_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/01/action_packed_palm_sunday~2016201/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/04/01/action_packed_palm_sunday~2016201/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/24/trust~1966543/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-03-24:/2007/03/24/trust~1966543/Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:19:02 +0100 <p>Wrap up session for my Sunday church placement just the other day - lots of interesting observations on the nature of church-going, religion and faith, and the lack of correspondance between the three things...</p> <p>I said how I had reservations about joining the establishment of the Church of England when I am ordained - accepting the authority of the institution, when I personally don't agree with some of its stances e.g. I don't buy anti-homosexuality stances, even if thinly veiled in attempts to delay changes to church guidelines - the gospel is proclaimed to all, in the particular culture of their day, and the counter-cultural element is always to be focused on God and away from the corrosive lure of sex, money and power...</p> <p>OK, so where do I go from here...</p> <p>There is a lot of trust given to individual ministers, in the conduct of their ministry. In a parish, it is up to the priest to pastor to anyone who walks in the door, regardless of their sex, age, orientation, religion (yes - I believe that too - God is bigger than our descriptions, although I totally buy the Christian gospel as my route to relationship with God, and Christ as saviour of all).</p> <p>That trust seems the most important part of the establishment - even if we are told not to bless same-sex 'weddings' (the current policy), we are trusted to do the right thing in each situation. Which will be to stand up for what we believe is true, and is what we see as the gospel answer in every situation. And this will include ministering to people who hate homosexuality, but are loved by God. And people who hate the church, but are loved by God. And people who will hate me for wearing a dog callar, but are loved by God...</p> <p>So will I bless civil partnerships? Will I openly support liberal-cultural initiatives while fundamentally rooting my actions in scripture? Will I explore ministry in more shapes than a stone building with a steeple? </p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1271010" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/010/1271010_4f8698ec95_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/24/trust~1966543/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>trustestablishmentgospelchurchhomosexualityhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/24/trust~1966543/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/18/endings~1925028/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-03-18:/2007/03/18/endings~1925028/Sun, 18 Mar 2007 09:41:02 +0100 <p>Ending for term, ending for church placement (very kind send off, with an anti-Lenten bottle of wine), ending of midweek placement in the mental health ward (very strange send off, with mixture of happiness at relationships and anger at me 'rejecting' them by leaving).</p> <p>Very mixed and muddled sensations - the new beginnings in June/July feel very close, and I am getting a warm feeling about them, especially as my incumbent (boss to be) came over on Friday and we talked and worked up my 'working agreement' - the details of how we will work. Also plenty of trepidation with college ending and not quite knowing what is going to start.</p> <p>Interesting...</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1251838" title="cuddesdon-stonometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/838/1251838_253e02ba74_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdon-stonometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/18/endings~1925028/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/18/endings~1925028/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/10/the_blogging_dilemma~1880685/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-03-10:/2007/03/10/the_blogging_dilemma~1880685/Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:12:08 +0100 <p>... I've had a bit of a blogging break.</p> <p>I found I was getting interested in my viewing statistics, and wanted them to get bigger which, albeit on a small scale, they did. I felt as if I was playing to an audience, some of whom I knew. I was spending time every day blogging and reading other people's blogs.</p> <p>That is real life, of course, but not the one that I am physically inhabiting...</p> <p>...and the fellow who will be my vicar when i am ordained in July, my training priest, I suppose, dropped a throw away comment ridiculing the waste of time that virtual life and blogging must be.</p> <p>So I have had a break, only really posting the fascinating (not) weekly record of what the college and course is doing to my weight, the Cuddesdon-ston-ometer (which is sort of interesting, in that one puts on weight in the vacations and steadily loses it in term when you are getting up early for church and doing lots of study...)</p> <p>Have I missed blogging and reading blogs (I have read some, but not so often)?</p> <p>Yes.</p> <p>And am I going to start up again.</p> <p>Sort of.</p> <p>I think I will try and capture the most significant moment in a week, whatever it is, and whatever it means, and blog that, rather than blow by blow accounts. There may be some God-moments in there, and some non-God moments. But there will be moments...</p> <p>This week's moment? Hmmm. During my placement in the local forensic psychiatric unit, the chap who two weeks earlier had gone bananas, thrown a book at me, sworn and stormed out felt he had to apologize. He is very, very ill, but a glimmer of memory and empathy with another human were very, very striking...</p> <p>...and here's the Cuddesdon-ston-ometer...</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1232628" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/628/1232628_cc20036b92_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/10/the_blogging_dilemma~1880685/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>godbloggingmomentsweighthttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/10/the_blogging_dilemma~1880685/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/06/a_tribute_to_kevin_betts~1857976/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-03-06:/2007/03/06/a_tribute_to_kevin_betts~1857976/Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:01:33 +0100 <p>watch this space for some proper blogging...</p> <p>...coming soon...</p> <p>...probably... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/06/a_tribute_to_kevin_betts~1857976/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/06/a_tribute_to_kevin_betts~1857976/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/03/good_morning~1837733/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-03-03:/2007/03/03/good_morning~1837733/Sat, 03 Mar 2007 09:00:13 +0100 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1213022" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/022/1213022_a6580663c2_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/03/good_morning~1837733/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>weightcollegecuddesdonhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/03/03/good_morning~1837733/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/24/saturday_again_and_life_rolls_on~1795731/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-02-24:/2007/02/24/saturday_again_and_life_rolls_on~1795731/Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:04:03 +0100 <p>More than half way through term - lots of essays to go! Head down and ploughing on...</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1194748" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/748/1194748_46a2eef94e_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/24/saturday_again_and_life_rolls_on~1795731/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>no-cakeno-chocolateno-boozelenthttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/24/saturday_again_and_life_rolls_on~1795731/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/17/and_another_one~1757079/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-02-17:/2007/02/17/and_another_one~1757079/Sat, 17 Feb 2007 17:06:38 +0100 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1177605" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/605/1177605_099737850a_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/17/and_another_one~1757079/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>well-maybeloose-trousershttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/17/and_another_one~1757079/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/half_term~1715288/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-02-10:/2007/02/10/half_term~1715288/Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:19:32 +0100 <p>Busy few weeks - half term break!</p> <p>Getting on well on my placements, in a forensic psychiatry ward (very challenging but with so much stuff going on) and in church.</p> <p>Lots of essays, lots more to go.</p> <p>Lots of services, all sorts.</p> <p>Busy... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/half_term~1715288/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>half-termcollegehttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/half_term~1715288/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/busy_week_again~1714825/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-02-10:/2007/02/10/busy_week_again~1714825/Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:41:39 +0100 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1160374" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/374/1160374_fdd6370d83_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/busy_week_again~1714825/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>collegecuddesdonweighthttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/10/busy_week_again~1714825/#commentshttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/04/ho_hum~1677296/tag:cuddblog.blog.co.uk,2007-02-04:/2007/02/04/ho_hum~1677296/Sun, 04 Feb 2007 09:30:39 +0100 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1146250" title="cuddesdonston-ometer"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/250/1146250_1817b3f88c_s.jpg" alt="cuddesdonston-ometer" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/04/ho_hum~1677296/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>collegeweightcuddesdonhttp://cuddblog.blog.co.uk/2007/02/04/ho_hum~1677296/#comments