Reader Upbeat! Revised report issued

At last: the revised version of the Reader Upbeat! national report on Licensed Lay Ministry has been published. The recommendations and action point stay the same, but the main text is shortened and focussed.

You can access the revised report on the LLM page of this blog at http://bpdt.wordpress.com/licensed-lay-ministers/ or on the national Reader website at http://www.readers.cofe.anglican.org/crc_doc_one.php?112.

Work on considering the recommendations in our diocese is now under way, and will be an item on the agenda of the next Readers’ Association Board meeting on 18th February, as well as elsewhere.

Filed under: Church of England, ministry

Fresh Expressions Teach-In

Dave Male, our Fresh Expressions adviser, is busy giving some really good teaching on F Ex, pioneer ministry and all stations in between. He’s made his Powerpoint presentation available and you can download it here. You can contact him at dm432@cam.ac.uk.

Filed under: Church of England, ministry, mission, Fresh Expressions, Pioneer ministry

New Lay Ministers for Ely Diocese

Ely Cathedral was full of life again today – what a great place it is, and so much going on – this time for the admission and licensing of this year’s crop of Licensed Lay Ministers, or Readers as they are called. Please give thanks and pray for

• John Marshall (Littleport)
• Helen Randall (Soham and Wicken)
• Mary Sutton (Sutton and Witcham with Mepal)
• Ruth Terrell (Papworth Team Ministry)
• Frances Leadon (Burwell and Reach)
• John Dickinson (Ely Team Ministry)
• Tony Harper (Ely Team Ministry)
• Shirley Holder (Great St Mary, Cambridge)

A good congregation was undeterred when the Halloween gremlins struck first at the PA system then at the organ (which started a ‘cypher’) and we finished in fine style sending off our new LLMs at the West Door, Bibles in hand, to preach God’s word and show his love to a world in need.

Inevitably, I was asked to say a few words:

LLM Admission Service Sermon 2009

I’ve just been reading Terry Pratchett’s latest novel, Unseen Academicals. It’s about football, except that since the main thing about football is that it’s not just about football, it’s really a book about life. The central character is a goblin-like orc, and the main thing about him is that even though he is a really good one, everyone would rather he was dead – until he helps his team win after all.

I’ve probably confused you by now – but I was hoping that talk of football and teams can help you remember a bit of what it was like in your playground days, and people were picking teams, and either they wanted you in theirs – or didn’t. Or how groups of friends would get together, and you were either in – or “it”. The last time I spoke here in the cathedral was to schoolchildren who had just written their hopes and burdens on shapes we made into an altar frontal. One of the biggest burdens? That all their friends would walk away. When I was a mixed infant, the usual way to get a game going was for a group of lads to link arms and start a chant, "Anybody wanna play cowboys and indians – no lasses." That’s more than half you left out for a start.

Life is cruel, society is cruel, we can be cruel – and it’s not how God intends things to be; which is why Isaiah has those strange words about eunuchs in today’s Old Testament lesson for the eve of All Sants – not what you would have expected. The point is that when God’s kingdom comes, everyone will be counted in. Even eunuchs; if they existed, even orcs; even lasses. Saints will come in all sorts and sizes. Pretty well by definition, there will be no second-class citizens in heaven.

This was the sort of society that Jesus started to build around him here on earth. We could say that this, just this, was what he meant when he said the kingdom of heaven was coming among us. We could say too that the Sermon on the Mount is the archetypal description of that society, which is made up of the poor, the mourning, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted. Suddenly those who are outsiders are called in; those who no-one loves are the beloved; those whose heavenly dreams lie in the dust find heaven among them. I wonder if that dream, a dream which was no dream but the totally real transfiguring of earth by heaven in the earthly life of the heavenly man Jesus, I wonder if that dream can touch your heart now, and reignite the you deep within you, the image of God within all of us, the vocation to be of God and for God, the vocation to minister in his name?

Filed under: ministry, Ely Diocese, LLMs, Readers

Local teams and their leadership in mission

The Foundation for Church Leadership held a conference in London today to launch the report that it has published on how we have developed our ALMs and local ministry teams in Ely Diocese. FCL write:

Revd Christine Worsley, Revd Jeremy Caddick and Revd Canon Les Oglesby from Ely Diocese and Jean Reed and Colin Quine from the Grubb Institute shared their experiences of grappling with the challenge of taking forward the Diocesan mission strategy and engaging clergy and laity throughout the Diocese.

The morning session provided an overview of the Ely programme and then invited the delegates to experience part of the process through a guided reflection.

In the afternoon, the focus moved to experiences of mission, offering an opportunity to explore this through an exercise based on the learning from Ely. Throughout the day, the team looked at the implications for leadership through the day’s discoveries.

I was chuffed to bits at both what our team have achieved and at how well it was put across, and the attendance for the day exceeded all FCL’s expectations, so that we took over the Great Hall at BMA House!

What next? Now we need to find ways of supporting and developing both our LMTs and the leadership skills of their incumbents on an ongoing basis. Watch this space.

Developing Leadership for Mission: Narratives merging from local ministry teams in the Diocese of Ely. (Leadership Review No. 3 ISBN 978-0-9559978-1-5; £7.50)

Filed under: ministry, Resources, Diocese of Ely

COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKER

Wesley Methodist Church Cambridge   Salary for qualifications and experience from £15,329 p.a. Generous housing allowance available for this full time post (40 hours) Job share or part time considered (pro rata) We are a busy city centre church (open 7 days a week). Excited by the possibilities of outreach to the community, we are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic person to match our commitment, with experience to develop and lead Christian Outreach initiatives among young families and people, children and teenagers in the church and community. The appointment will be for three years. The successful candidate will be responsible for the support and development of these initiatives, welcoming, nurturing, and offering pastoral care. For job description and application pack, phone Rachel Clarke (mornings) on 01223 352115 or e-mail centremanager@wesleycam.org.uk Closing date for applications 20th November Interviews over the weekend of 5/6th December

Filed under: ministry

Where you taking me?

When our eldest, Chris, was just a wee bairn, he would sit in his child seat in the back of the car and engage us in conversation. One comment that sticks in my mind was him saying, “Where oo taking me?”

As children and when we were are old – or when we are ill or become disabled – we know we have the experience of being taken places by others, and not always – say the scriptures – where we want to go. At best we may feel a loss of control and dignity.

In this bas relief from the former seminary at Merville the four evangelists are in a boat and a fifth figure is steering, and pointing them where to go. The caption on the stern post makes it clear that he is Jesus.

I wonder what thoughts the picture evokes in you? Try starting with the rather obvious fact that the rowers can’t see where they are going: they are being asked to work hard, but without either control of or direct knowledge about their journey, just attentively following the directions of Jesus. A metaphor for mission and ministry as we meet here in Merville?

Filed under: ministry, mission