It’s amazing what we have collected in our “much watch this” – or “much watch this again” so we’ll record it on the box list….. Awaiting us …. sometime are Singing in the Rain, Swallows and Amazons, Paddington, and some old cop shows that got a bit violent and dark and we did not watch the end of the series. Oh and Montelbano- the wonderful Italian detective with subtitles that you have to be in the mood for or one falls asleep and misses out chunks of the plot.
It all promises that one day there will be time, one day the grandchildren will return to be looked after and ask, “May we have a snack?” and “Can we watch something?”
In the meantime we continue to be as careful as we can and try and stay healthy! Look after yourselves!
Permission to Officiate..
My Tesco click and collect is now booked up to the week before my birthday reminding me that I will be one year way from my three score and ten when in the eyes of the church all ministers lay and ordained suddenly have to have a different licensing system presumably because of our encroaching decrepitude.
As we have readers who are doing a wonderful job in their 90s it does seem something of an anachronism to draw this line.
Now that all Readers have to be relicensed every five years (personally I think it should be three yearly to go along with Safeguarding requirements) it would appear to make PTO an unnecessary piece of bureaucracy.
And Something About Relicensing......
The re-licensing process is vital to healthy ministry when approached with an open mind and heart and not merely a ‘tick-box’ irritation that must be endured.
- the elements being:
- Safeguarding
- A Work Agreement
- and the full support of the congregations in the cluster or benefice in which a Minister is serving as well as the approval of the incumbent and / or the Rural Dean.
Support of the local people is not just about the PCC passing a resolution, it is about whether your ministry among them is appropriate and valued although the PCC will have to give the formal nod as well. If you serve more than one PCC, they should really all give their approval.
AstraZeneca trial week 3:
So I did not have to have the Covid test but I did need to provide blood and the usual small plastic bottle of yellowish liquid as well as having my blood pressure and oxygen levels monitored. Apparently my BP is a bit on the high side (it always is whenever a practitioner gets anywhere near me) but my oxygen levels could not be better!
Well no symptoms or side effects thus far so I have either been injected with the placebo. or the antibody injections have not caused any problems…. I guess I will never know. I have to let the research team know when I have my appointment for a vaccination…. which I can still have, thank fully.
I wonder how many of us have tried to fix computer problems talking on the telephone in the past 40 weeks?
Yesterday – I actually went to an elderly parishioner’s home to fix her email issue. To ensure safety… she went for a walk with her dog which meant we could be suitably socially distanced and she has had both her vaccination shots so it seemed reasonable.
The fix involved finding a little Office 2007 program called scanpst.exe that lurks deep in the bowels of the hard drive. It worked thankfully and she was able to send emails to her daughter and the family once more. It underlined just how much of a life-line the computer has become to many folk. Age is not the barrier- just motivation to use the stuff and having the physical resources.
ZOOM has a function for remote help which works for some things…. but if the person has an old machine, or one that is being pushed to its limits its a dead loss.
Maybe we need some courses on helping folk get started, or keep using their technology!
Changing anything in church is tough.
- moving a pew
- a new setting for the Gloria
- leaving the church open
- Joining two or more PCCs into into one streamlined unit.
- starting a youth group
- etc
Some responses you might hear….
- But you cant get rid of that pew, it was given in memory of…..
- Leave it open? We tried that once and someone stole the flowers….
- sing something different? but we only learned this one in 1972.
- Join PCCs? but then St Selfish’s will have all the power- it’s not fair!
There are lots of tools to help with gentle change management but it all begins with changing the culture, and that begins with prayer. The SWOT analysis is an example….. many of you who work in change management in other organizations will have other resources…… I wonder if we need to make more use f this sort of stuff rather than suggesting change, getting the negative, defensive response and then trying to work our how to get round it.