Chaplain’s Blog Christmas 2023 I can’t quite believe that 2023 is almost over and 2024 looms ahead full of the promise of…… well uncertainty, turmoil, change and opportunity. How we deal with hose things will depend on our attitude and outlook whether they are personal, church or wider-afield. Locally, like many of you, we in Redruth will be hoping to appoint and welcome a new Rector and in the Diocese we have the search for a Bishop in the knowledge that whoever is chosen they will not be the right choice for everyone. In the National Church the discussions around Living in Love and Faith and the ceremonies /prayers used for same sex unions will rumble on and the various pressure groups from GAFCON to the Single Parish movement will be fighting for their causes while the rest of us will be desperately trying to just keep our churches going in times of ever decreasing person-power. Whatever the views and I am avoiding writing about my own here, my hope is that love will be the key factor in all discussions rather than dogma and legality. my further hope is that all engaging in discussions will get to know people who disagree with them and try to see things form their point of view. tough I know, but it is the only way that we can be true disciples... "love one another as I have loved you." With the increasing age and decreasing energies of our retired priests, and the growing need for oversight ministers to manage ever larger groups of churches the desire or perceived need for weekly communion services is problematic. But how do you change the mind-set of folks who believe that a diet of weekly communion services has been something that has happened for ever, or at least as long as they can remember. I am not at all sure that Communion by Extension is the answer! So maybe the church, in its widest sense will have to think more creatively. Here are some thoughts in no particular order of importance and not necessarily my view on things! Struggle on regardless Allow for communion by extension by wider groups of folk with some sort of training…. Eg church wardens and worship leaders. Change the designation of readers to permanent deacons…. Make readers who go through a local discernment and training process local ordained ministers who can officiate at communion. An edict across the board that says one communion service a month is to be the standard – and other services will be made up of traditional Morning or evening prayer, evensong and matins or worship in Fresh Expressions. Close a few more churches! Join more congregations with the Methodist church I am sure you can think of more…… which do you think have mileage and which would you throw out without a second thought? In Redruth, our ministry team is pretty realistic about what can and cant be done and we do not expect a…
A month had passed since the last blog piece and what a busy month it has been! In amongst the normal call of a few funerals and sermons to write there has been the pressure of all things Transition (interregnum/ vacancy) and the deep relief at all the key players agreeing that the profile and the advert are fit for purpose. ((if it interests you - they will be published at ... Vacancies- Rector – The Benefice of Redruth with Lanner & Treleigh (redruthchurch.org.uk) )) I think I succeeded in consulting so much that it battered people into a state where they were happy not to be consulted any more!I have also had the great joy of doing a couple of days of chaplaincy for the Foundations in Christian Ministry Course and for the First Post Licensing training day for the new Readers. The two things have a connection in that the FICM course is a must for all potential Readers / Licensed Lay ministers and is so well put together that as Readers we should be looking around for people who might just benefit from it and then pointing them in the direction of Sally Piper to begin the discernment process. https://trurodiocese.org.uk/resources/ministry/foundations/Four Readers (including me!) have been taking part in the latest cohort of Sens Kernewek ((Sens Kernewek Archives - Truro Diocese : Truro Diocese ))exploring aspects of Local Lay Leadership. I have found the sessions to be interesting, occasionally inspiring and always valued for fellowship. This week we were asked to write a litany working in pairs. I was working with Alice who is doing some amazing work with Night Church as well as working with the homeless at st Mary's in Penzance so our litany reflects the recent issues there with the vandalism of the tents and few possessions of the homeless folk being helped by the church. It is published in the next box! If I were to add an illustration it might be the cartoon in the Guardian today. A Litany for Sens Kernewek Alice and Jim Call: For those who are chained by addictionResponse: This is not a lifestyle choice.Call: For those who live and tents and doorwaysResponse: This is not a lifestyle choice.Call: For those who struggle with mental illnessResponse: This is not their choice.Call: For those who are stigmatised for using foodbanks and warm spacesResponse: This is not a lifestyle choice.Call: For those who occupy the family pew and deny change & growth for othersResponse: Is this a lifestyle choice?Call: For those who hunger and thirst to know GodResponse: Life is the choice! If I were to add an illustration it might be the cartoon in the Guardian today.
Sermon for Reader Service, 30-09-2023Rebecca Greenough - LLMI had to come into Truro early today, not just to make sure I was ready for the service, but to go to the market to buy these. They are cherries, one of my favourite fruit. And I discovered they were also my daughter’s favourite fruit when I first gave her some in the summer just before she was one.The only problem was that she also liked the feel of the stones in her mouth and didn’t want to give then up. Clearly, they were a choking hazard so we came to an agreement that I wouldn’t give heranother cherry until she had given me the stone from the previous one.We hit a problem however when we came to the last one. Obviously, she had no reason to give up the last stone, so she naturally swallowed it. Despite her young age her reasoning and logic werewell and truly established. We are not born as empty vessels. We are born with a sense of self, with personality. Probably the most important thing to achieve in a child’s first years is to get to know who they are and not impose on them who we think they should be.But God has none of those problems. He knows us from the moment we are formed, as David says in Psalm 13913 For you, God, created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from youwhen I was made in the secret place,when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.God knows us perfectly, long before we are born, equally when we are ten, twenty or a hundred. And his love for us is unconditional.I am not saying that we remain the same throughout our lives, ‘we change with changing seasons’but God doesn’t. He is a constant. And it is in this relationship with God, that we grow.And so, with that in mind we find ourselves here, Readers, Licenced lay Ministers. Following a call that has always been part of God’s plan for us. One which we may have been aware of for decades or something that has come to light much more recently. I admit it came as a shock to me, but when God calls, he calls! And he doesn’t take no for an answer.Part of our training as Readers is through formation, the bringing together of our disparate parts, to become one whole. Through this process we come to understand ourselves better. And as the 14thC English mystic, Walter Hilton, explained – if we want to know God, look first to ourselves, because we are all made in His image. And the better we understand ourselves, the better we come to know God. Vital, as we train to be Readers and vital if we are to continue to grow as Christians.But formation is only one part of…
well that was an interesting week... someone for Spiritual Direction on Monday- thankfully they were very cheerful and reasonably happy with how things were going! Tuesday morning is our normal Ministry Team meeting here in Redruth which seems doubly important in this time of transition when looking after our curate and each other as the work-load increases. I also had a Wardens Group meeting which discussed amongst other things the final details for the service on Saturday so I crept off into the Curate's study and logged into ZOOM for an hour before rejoining the original meeting. Thankfully there were still some biscuits! In the afternoon I met with one of our 'retired clergy' to plan the informal harvest service for two churches- but that will keep for the moment- but that is what the picture is for. Wednesday and Thursday were two full one days with a lovely group of people who were inspiring and engaging - but it made me think so hard that my brain was exhausted and I need my Friday morning to catch up on the emails for the week, safeguarding requests and so on. Saturday of course was the Readers service and what a joy that was!The new precentor Sue Wallace brough a breath of fresh air - almost flying in to the canon's vestry where I was chatting to the brand new Readers about to be licenced. She managed to smile through most of the organisation over the next couple of hours and I made a point of thanking her afterwards not just for me but for the readers as a body. who's that old bloke in the blue scarf? Single use plastic harvest Having had such a busy week I had little time to prepare anything particularly new for the two harvest services this morning so I wet for my trusty harvest assembly kit of some paper plates and 21 or so plastic cups. its an all action give the cups out to various groups around the church and see how the worlds resources are shared... and then linking that with the gospel about the rich man and building barns.... They all seemed to love the idea and the activity and even the sermon.... but Redruth Town has 'banned single use plastic' and we have a Creation Care crusader who I knew would take me to task. It cut no ice that I said that if I replaced the cups with others I would have to throw these away and that would contribute to the plastic waste. The discussion was curtailed by having to go off to harvest number two.... but it made me ponder about the things that keep us from God's view of things. Jason, our assisting minister took a couple of photographs during rehearsals beforehand which he posted on social media. I peered at the blue scarved figure deep in conversation with Canon Paul and Bishop Hugh and mused about how old he looked.... then I realised it was me. More About…
Last Monday I went to the introductory session of Sens Kernewek, The Saints Way, course which laid out the plan for the next 14 sessions and the commissioning of some local leaders. I don't really see myself as leading any one church but I do see myself as a key player in our church ministry team as well as part of the leadership team for the Readers in the guise of the Warden's Group and so on. So why Sens Kernewek? Firstly, by the end of the course I want to be able to speak about it with first hand knowledge. Secondly, it is important o get outsssde one's normal pattern and speak to people in other situations. Third some personal challenge especially in focussing my reflections. It is all too easy to be so embedded in Benefice life that we do not see the bigger picture. The diocese for example becomes "them" and or own patch becomes "us" and spiritual / theological manure rains down from on high. Now if we are happy being parochial we could go on with that metaphor and suggest that the gifts from above can be seen as just so much dung or it can be seen as fertilizer to help growth. I would rather everyone saw themselves as 'The Diocese' we are all in this together. hmmmmmmmm ...... a thought........ One of the challenges set for Sens Kernewek is to read a book of the Bible we had not read for a while- or indeed a book we had never read. My mind went immediately to the book of Amos which I did read many moons ago. The example of Amos the Prophet watching the world go by while tending his figs or whatever fruit it was appealed to me greatly. In the circular from the Center for Action and Contemplation today, Richard Rohr writes about prophets as inside outsle people and comments that ithe longer we are in an organisation the harder it is to be critical of it....... email.cac.org/t/d-e-vtittn-tlkrdthytr-f/ but it is better to click the link and read it for yourself. Sens Kernwek is certainly already accomplishing my hope of challenging me to think! email.cac.org/t/d-e-vtittn-tlkrdthytr-f/
When the rector announced that he had been appointed Rector of Calne (somewhere east of the Tamar) I found myself the link person between the Transitions Adviser and everyone else.... it meant work, but then it also meant that I could have some input. I am a firm believer in putting one's money where one's mouth is!So the first thing I did was to send out a questionnaire to as many people in the five churches as I could reach - link here... The response was excellent and the next task was to compile the responses into some sort of working document for discussion by the various church councils. The compiled responses can be seen at the bottom of our vacancies webpage. There was now much trading of text between church wardens, keen folk on various church councils and our excellent transitions adviser (Andy Harris) who managed, skillfully, to make us focus on that which was most important.We are now on version eleven of the document ready for a chat with the archdeacon and the PCCs next week. I really hope I do not have to change much now. The knock-on effects for me have been to do with the sheer hoovering up of time! People have been wonderfully diligent in spotting typos, grammatical errors, incorrect service times, things that need mentioning..... things that should not be mentioned but each one takes time to correct and time to disseminate the new working of the document. The thing that surprised me most, and I suppose it should not have done, was how much unity there was between our churches and how much desire there was to work as a team. Team work or the lack of team seems to be the cause of most of the problems for Readers that land on my desk but in Redruth we have been fortunate in having a strong team that meets weekly for discussion, prayer and support and the thought of losing that to 'father (or mother) knows best' type of priest who takes everything on themselves and does not know how to consult or delegate effectively is a worrying one. The person specification is important is such an important part of the process- which should guide the questions for interview. In amongst all that profile writing has been planning the rota for the next six months.... Caspar was really keen to make sure he left us with as much in place as he could.... taking on some extra funerals and so on. Our Curate, now in his second year has a suddenly increased workload..... and the rest of us , congregations and churchwardens as well as the ministry team have a duty of care! I wonder how many priests face burn out because of workload and unreasonable expectation. I know many of you are going through periods of transition - if you would like to share your experience please do let me know EssentialDesirable· Be an experienced team leader (in any context) having a heart for identifying and encouraging vocations in…
Erm…… There’s No Hole…… A while ago in the blog I wrote about the privilege of taking the funeral service for an ex-student of mine – a young mum who I had sat down with and planned her funeral the year before she died. A couple of weeks ago I was to preside over the interment of her ashes at St Euny in Redruth.Because I expected quite a group, there were about 20 folks who gathered, I planned to begin the service in the church lighting candles around the container with the ashes while we shared memories, read a psalm and said some prayers before heading up to the churchyard for the interment. I had enlisted our newest Reader, Jason, to assist – a good move because he has a key to st Euny and I would be sure of the Church being open.Out early dog walking I made sure I passed the churchyard and the likely interment spot to check where it would be……. But I could find no evidence of any preparation by the stone mason. “never mind,” I thought, “plenty of time- he is probably going to come in the hour efore the service begins.”I arrived three quarters of an hour before the start time of 9am and still no sign of the mason. The family began arrive……..As ZOOM morning prayer was at 9 and I knew that Caspar, the rector was leading that morning I quickly logged on and explained before they began. Caspar in his normal phlegmatic calmness sai he had a spade in the garage and would come down and dig a hole if nothing had happened by the end of morning prayer.Andy, the husband of the Anna whose ashes we were burying arrived and he tried to phone the mason who it turned out was on holiday in Croatia! So it was a message to Caspar who said he would message when the hole was ready. Jason, luckily had discovered the commemorative slab wrapped in sack leaning against a nearby tree.So the little service in the church grew with not only lighting our candles but also blowing them out with some ceremony before leaving the church. Luckily I have a store of extra poems and readings I the back of my funeral folder which meant I had enough material to keep going until the message arrived and we were able to head for the church yard.The family and friends were all amazingly supportive and felt that the occasion had been very special. You can imagine my personal prayers of thanks!! Lesson learned about checking fully for each occasion- I hate to think what would happen if a grave had not been prepared!The Burial of Ashes Introduction and Welcome and we invite those present gather around the ashes. Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Though we are dust and ashes, God has prepared for those who love him a heavenly dwelling place. As we prepare to commit…
Latest News:We welcome four new Readers in Training who will be starting with SWMTC in the Autumn. Claire, Richard, Joanna and Mary.... welcome to the Reader Community! Please add them to your prayer lists as they embark upon their studies at the beginning of their Reade journey.It was a privilege and a joy to be part of the interviewing panel and to be part of the discernment process which is much MUCH more rigorous that it was in 1986 when I began Reader studies! Reader Service Details_ please put this in your diaries and make this a wonderfully celebratory event- especially as support to those who are about to be licensed for the first time. Quiet Day at Epiphany house – Friday 28th July. Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith – Epiphany HouseGood to know it is going ahead with a cluster of bookings :) I am leading a quiet day on Friday 28th of July to which anyone is welcome..... but booking is essential through Epiphany House. Please book a.s.a.p. the last one was cancelled and several people were disappointed because they had not got round to booking. Cost £25.00 to include all hot drinks & a light lunch, for all information and to book a place please contact bookings@epiphanyhouse.co.uk or call on Tel. 01872 857953 Currently I am nursing a sore jaw and a sensitive tooth and occasionally feeling sorry for myself while wondering the ideal time to go back and do the negotiations with the dental surgery reception. I was delighted to get the emergency appointment to replace my broken filling - I only had to wait six weeks - however I fear more radical treatment may be required. Possibly something to do with a partially impacted wisom tooth. But I am lucky to be on the lists of an NHS surgery and to have receptionists to negotiate with having heard of so many people who cannot get a dentist at all, let alone an NHS dentist! So my stock of Sensodyne is helping.... but the jaw is an irritation that gets in the way of thinking about important stuff like the next sermon.... or a creative way of doing a burial of ashes. Mind you, the Ashes cricket is also a distraction! In Redruth we are about to have a period of transition as our Rector, Caspar Bush heads up country to a new job at the end of August. It has been interesting collecting up the views of folk in all our five churches - more about how i went about this and the questionnaire will appear in the next blog. Next week we have a ZOOM with our transition adviser and anyone from the various councils and congregations who want to take part so life should get interesting!Yesterday I went down to Penzance for the funeral of my old friend John Wallis who gave so much, not only to reader ministry but also across many other areas. It was lovely to have a part to play in the service, reading a lesson... draping his Reader Scarf across…
Rev Sian Yates writes:I write to inform you that John Wallis, a Reader in the Penlee Cluster, died last night after a number of years of living with an aggressive cancer.He has served the church and this diocese faithfully over many years both as a Reader and a Head teacher. Many years ago he also helped with writing the RE syllabus for the country and he brought great insights and sense of fun, along with an unswerving faith.He was just so humbled last week when bishop Graham said that he would visit him and pray with him on Thursday when he came to Newlyn for a confirmation….real tears of joy. Bishop Graham was the person who confirmed him many years ago. Of course, he has not died before this was able to happenSo after prayers and Last Rites yesterday morning, and with his music grouo singing their hearts out and making a recording for John as the parish mass, John took his next steps towards his death, bravely, humbly and full of confidence. One of the pastoral team who is a nurse sat with them throughout the night until his death . John's phrase of "'Tis what it is my 'ansome" summed up his philosophical approach to illness and life in general summoning up energy for his daily sketches and posts on Facebook and early in his journey with cancer he even took on being deanery Reader Steward and attempted to promote meetings, a quiet day and prayer. He was a little disheartened that the response was less than he hoped but then not everyone had John's passion! Rest in Peace John and Rise in Glory! As Chaplain to Readers I very much appreciated John's wisdom and wit. He had the special talent of being able to sidetrack any discussion that was floundering and to insert a pithy comment that would temper a more extreme view. I knew John for many years, our paths in teaching crossing fairly frequently - usually on courses but I got to know him much more in retirement in his last years as a driving force in the church and in his dedication to reader ministry. He was vociferous about the fact that when he had asked the bishop about being a reader, the (then) bishop had suggested ordination and John turned it down flat!
Stroy Telling in Pennoweth primary school Every year since I retired from teaching I have given the teachers at Pennoweth an afternoon of story telling and music in the summer term so the children get something different and the teachers get some time for reports or the million and one other things they need to do when not actually teaching.I find it really annoying when i see the posts in social media about children needing to be taught manners or about worsening behaviour because over the years the evidence has been to the contrary and this year has proved no exception. the children have all been a delight and make an excellent audience able to listen and participate with enthusiasm. what a fab job their teachers do! the Nature of Retirement I have always believed the retirement is work without the benefit of a pay cheque - or these days a monetary payment into one's account, and, that the drawback of retirement, apart from increasing decrepitude, is not getting a day off! However, having retired from teaching in 2009, I would far rather be useful and busy than be slowly assimilated into an armchair before the wonders of daytime TV- even if the cricket is on. in the last week, we have had the delights of the annual Arts Festival at St Andrews in Redruth- organised as always by my lovely wife who, despite rattling like a maraca with pills to stave off heart failure attacks these things with huge enthusiasm and drags everyone else along with her. My jobs have included collecting our grandson from school, running a clay workshop making grotesques, running a story making workshop for 10 year olds and driving back and forth as requested. ready for the clay workshop Steam punk art- Nick Earl A view down the church Quiet Day at Epiphany house – Friday 28th July. Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith – Epiphany House i am leading a quiet day on Friday 28th of July to which anyone is welcome..... but booking is essential through Epiphany House. Please book a.s.a.p. the last one was cancelled and several people were disappointed because they had not got round to booking. Cost £25.00 to include all hot drinks & a light lunch, for all information and to book a place please contact bookings@epiphanyhouse.co.uk or call on Tel. 01872 857953. Transition and other BusinessWith our rector (and rural dean) leaving us for a new challenge across the border in England we are about to go into transition and so i am thoroughly involved in trying to coordinate, collate, collect and otherwise communicate between the congregations of five churches. What we will come up with for our parish profiles and person specifications remain to be seen but my own list of attributes would include:A prayerful listener who is.....used to running / working with teams who...knows their own limitations and can delegate appropriatelySomeone who has a heart for equality and diversity who will encourage and develop the vocations of all involved in our churches at whatever level.Someone prepared…
Discernment Yesterday I spent most of the day at Church House in Threemilestone with the panel and two dedicated and selfless people who had put themselves forward to train as Readers. They had been asked to prepare two tasks including chairing a group discussion on a passage they found tricky and telling a story to illustrated a Bible reading for an inter-generational service. Between tasks they met the warden's group whilst balancing coffee and cake as they spoke and in the afternoon they had lengthy conversations / interviews with the selection panel. Over the years that I have been involved in the discernment for new Readers the process has become much more rigorous and the demands of training every higher. I trained with a colleague in the Redruth Team with a Tutor based in a nearby parish, the Rev David Stephens who set and marked our essays. I remember going to a few lectures in Truro with Canon Peter Boyd and doing a placement of sorts in another setting, the local Methodist circuit. I managed to complete the course and be licensed back in 1988 while working full time as a Primary School deputy head teacher and with a young family. I really doubt whether anyone in their thirties with a full time job and young family could train these days. I certainly could not although the study part was relatively easy following on the back of a Masters dissertation and an NPQH!These days training with the ordinands is a wonderful opportunity especially when we rely on teams to run our multi-church clusters and benefices. these days all the trainees have to attend 7 weekend sessions at MARJON in Plymouth and 14 reflective practice groups in Turo. Before that they must complete the Foundations in Christian Ministry Course ad afterwards complete the rigours of the very practical post Licensing year. Only after all that is done will a full three year license be granted.It would be good to record here any thoughts you have about your own path to Licensed Lay Ministry and any thoughts you have about how training might be done differently for today's needs. i have signed up for some training myself with the next Sens Kernewek Course which i am thoroughly looking forward to having heard excellent feedback from other Readers who have attended. Visitors For the last three weeks we have had a friend to stay and as a result the Garden has been transformed and many tasks that I have had on my To-do list for the past several years have been completed. ( I will post some pictures at the bottom later) Having a visitor, especially a really helpful visitor, is great but it changes all routines and as I get older I value my times of solitary meanderings more and more. Those times of prayer are time to mull over sermon thoughts, to pray for those in particular need and for others more generally and when that time goes there is certainly a sense of something…
Life is somewhat hectic at the moment and the last couple of weeks especially busy with the Bishop’s study day in Wadebridge and Reader Day in St Petroc’s with story telling afternoons in school in between – not to mention the second session of the new safeguarding leadership course which we leaders are getting our heads around.The All New Safeguarding leadership CourseThe new course is markedly different to the old leadership course although still delivered on ZOOM. The training team have adopted it before any other diocese because we don’t want people to have to repeat the old course…. And because it means we can feed our experiences back to the national team who write the courses. We have already changed quite a lot of the language in the document which might cause confusion and irritable complaints! So if you are approaching the end of your three years since your last leadership course do book onto a new one and give the team some feedback to help shape the course for others. It is all too easy to complain about courses and it takes a bit more effort to approach them positively with the aim of helping to make them really fit for purpose.Book Safeguarding Leadership Training Incidentally, if you need sample risk assessments for your church activities to get you started, Newcastle Diocese have a great resource here: Safeguarding Templates and Resources - Newcastle Diocese (anglican.org)Back to being busy…. And some thoughts about the two study days.I am not complaining about any of it however! It was wonderful to see a lot of colleagues at the two study days although with only about a quarter of the Readers at Bodmin on Saturday it did mean that many missed a thought-provoking and inspiring day.Links to documents of which you should be aware: The days were closely linked in many ways with The Diocesan Plan for Change and renewal being the common thread. Click the title to open the32-page plan from the Diocesan website. Before you get too deep into the technical detail of the plan it is probably wise to go the The Saints Way Page which describes the Diocesan vision behind the plan. Simon Robinson, the interim Dean at the Cathedral spoke about his journey on the saints way to begin the day. His is an interesting story and much of what he said resonated with others, especially with those of us who spent a lifetime in schools.The Saint’s Way document is here. On Tuesday afternoon Professor David Ford joined us by Zoom from Germany to talk about his latest book, A Theological Commentary on the gospel of John. it was a twenty year labour of love and he spoke with huge passion and enthusiasm about John being a Gospel of abundant truth, life, and love. There is a brief biography of David at the bottom of this post. You can find the book here in various formats and various prices at Amazon Much as the worship was uplifting at the Bishops study day, the speakers thought-provoking…