Rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated. I have been away…I have been busy…I have forgotten that I might have something to say. So here I am, for anyone with enough patience to come back and see if I've written anything lately.
Last week I was away for a good part of the week at a workshop for clergy types in team ministry, or as we clergy are prone to say, Team Ministry. Things that are capitalized are more important, you know, like the name of God.
Anyway…it was a good experience for me. I did come to realize that where I work we are NOT a team, and need to face that fact, and deal with our work life accordingly. But that didn't stop me enjoying the enthusiastic team ministry folk sharing their learning with one another. The big thing about team ministry is how it mitigates against the sense of isolation so many ministers feel. In a team, you have a colleague to share things with, test ideas against, and share responsibility for activities that might receive blow back.
I found it fascinating to watch from my aged vantage point. Some of the participants were the age of my children. Many more were the age of some of my grandchildren. They spoke in language categories that I didn't always understand. The quoted authors I had never heard of. But they were keen to share what they knew and to take in wisdom from others in the group. Many of them could see immediately, I think, that I was not on their page. But they were polite and they were inclusive, and I did learn some things that I feel were valuable.
Using my new-found knowledge to reflect on own current work situation, I began to understand why I feel such dread as I approach the weekend in the congregation. I don't feel like i "belong" there. This partly my own issue of belonging/not belonging, but it is also related to the fat that my colleague has been the incumbent for 18 years, and most questions, information and relating focus on him. Some younger members have had him as their minister their whole lives!
I have five months left in my contract there, and I am quite serious about not renewing it, should they want or need to renew because they don't have a replacement person yet. I'm sure they would want me to remain over the summer, if only because they have six Sundays to cover when my colleague will be absent…which leaves very little summer for me!
I don't belong there, and I'm not even sure if I want to belong there. To be 'second fiddle' in a place without even a clear job description is a recipe for frustration, and frustration is what I feel these days.
Complicating all of this is the up and down nature of my recovery from surgery. Mostly, it's fine. But then a time arises - like Sunday, when I'm racing around the country conducting two worship services in place of a 35 year old student - when I start to blood in my urine again, and have to slow down and lie down for the afternoon when I get home. One never knows when this will happen. It's normal over the first 4 to 6 weeks weeks post surgery. Sigh…
Beatrix and I took in The Life of Pi at our local theatre last evening. I have somehow managed not to read the book, so the story was new to me. New and fascinating. A visually rich and dynamic parable about what it is like to pass through a hard life. Symbols abound, and growth is described in a number of cunning metaphors. Now I have to find the book …I think it's here in the house…and read it. Jan Martel deserves that!
Walking in the dark yesterday morning, I cobbled together the beginnings of a sermon for Sunday. I plan to inject into its conclusion, a sort of hypnotic suggestion to fix an idea or a plan in peoples minds. I'll let you know how it works.
Last week I was away for a good part of the week at a workshop for clergy types in team ministry, or as we clergy are prone to say, Team Ministry. Things that are capitalized are more important, you know, like the name of God.
Anyway…it was a good experience for me. I did come to realize that where I work we are NOT a team, and need to face that fact, and deal with our work life accordingly. But that didn't stop me enjoying the enthusiastic team ministry folk sharing their learning with one another. The big thing about team ministry is how it mitigates against the sense of isolation so many ministers feel. In a team, you have a colleague to share things with, test ideas against, and share responsibility for activities that might receive blow back.
I found it fascinating to watch from my aged vantage point. Some of the participants were the age of my children. Many more were the age of some of my grandchildren. They spoke in language categories that I didn't always understand. The quoted authors I had never heard of. But they were keen to share what they knew and to take in wisdom from others in the group. Many of them could see immediately, I think, that I was not on their page. But they were polite and they were inclusive, and I did learn some things that I feel were valuable.
Using my new-found knowledge to reflect on own current work situation, I began to understand why I feel such dread as I approach the weekend in the congregation. I don't feel like i "belong" there. This partly my own issue of belonging/not belonging, but it is also related to the fat that my colleague has been the incumbent for 18 years, and most questions, information and relating focus on him. Some younger members have had him as their minister their whole lives!
I have five months left in my contract there, and I am quite serious about not renewing it, should they want or need to renew because they don't have a replacement person yet. I'm sure they would want me to remain over the summer, if only because they have six Sundays to cover when my colleague will be absent…which leaves very little summer for me!
I don't belong there, and I'm not even sure if I want to belong there. To be 'second fiddle' in a place without even a clear job description is a recipe for frustration, and frustration is what I feel these days.
Complicating all of this is the up and down nature of my recovery from surgery. Mostly, it's fine. But then a time arises - like Sunday, when I'm racing around the country conducting two worship services in place of a 35 year old student - when I start to blood in my urine again, and have to slow down and lie down for the afternoon when I get home. One never knows when this will happen. It's normal over the first 4 to 6 weeks weeks post surgery. Sigh…
Beatrix and I took in The Life of Pi at our local theatre last evening. I have somehow managed not to read the book, so the story was new to me. New and fascinating. A visually rich and dynamic parable about what it is like to pass through a hard life. Symbols abound, and growth is described in a number of cunning metaphors. Now I have to find the book …I think it's here in the house…and read it. Jan Martel deserves that!
Walking in the dark yesterday morning, I cobbled together the beginnings of a sermon for Sunday. I plan to inject into its conclusion, a sort of hypnotic suggestion to fix an idea or a plan in peoples minds. I'll let you know how it works.
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