All Quiet till Saturday

It has been a quiet week for our CIH. Highlights of the week (until yesterday) were:
1. Receiving a cheque from The Lovely People of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department
2. Completing his sermon preparation for Sunday (Today)

As I may have mentioned, this was until yesterday when the CIH, along with four other leaders, took a group of youngsters from Highley to Alton Towers for a fun day out. They screamed and yelled their way around the park enjoying the big, fast and scary roller-coasters (and that was just the leaders). It was an early start (6:00am alarm so he was ready to meet the rest of the group at 7:30am). This enabled them to arrive at the theme park by 9:30 - just as the gates were opening. The weather was good and it was not too busy. Even so, many of the more popular rides boasted queues in excess of one hour. Being too idle to queue, the CIH missed out on AIR and RITA-QUEEN OF SPEED. However, he did manage to enjoy most of the big rides with OBLIVION being his favourite. All done and dusted, the CIH eventually arrived home a bit after 8:30pm. (Those travelling in the minibus arrived home about an hour later) This was a very good day and one not to be missed.

Today, it was another 6am wake up so that the CIH, with the RIH, were ready to begin a service of Holy Communion at 8:00am in St Mary's, Billingsley. The CIH was assisting with leading the service, preaching the word and leading the intercessions. This format was repeated a little later on at a 9:30am service in Chelmarsh. He will have one last opportunity to preach the same basic sermon to a congregation at St Mary's, Highley during a service of informal Holy Communion. I will report on the main points of his sermon tomorrow.

Unwrap the Gift

Today, the CIH preached his first post-ordination sermon. It was in St Peter's, Chelmarsh to a small crowd of thirteen. The Bible reading of the day was Mark 8:27-38; which includes Peter's response to Jesus' question, "Who do people say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Christ!"

The CIH challenged the congregation by asking, "Who would the people of Chelmarsh say that Jesus is? They will only see Jesus through our lives, our examples and our testimonies." He went on to say, "Do we want our neighbours to see the image of Jesus that we portray or do we want something better?" The CIH then asked who do we say Jesus is and, if Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, what exactly will that mean for our lives?

He was going to produce a beautifully wrapped gift but forgot to bring it and had left it at home but if he had brought it, he was going to suggest that we treat our Church buildings like precious gifts that we never unwrap. We never reveal to others the contents of the gift. Eventually, after people have seen the gift often enough and have stopped being intrigued by it, the curiosity falls off and the shiny paper somehow loses its shine. People stop asking questions about the contents - the gift itself. Instead, we should unwrap our church and reveal the contents to our friends and neighbours - namely Christ.

It was good to hear the CIH preach and have him lead the service. Keep up the good work.

The Lovely People of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department

Yesterday afternoon, the CIH did battle with the lovely people of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department. Having informed them of his new post and the fact that he now receives financial gain for his work as CIH, the lovely people of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department sent Mr & Mrs CIH six big envelopes containing between them, 2 final notice awards for 2004/2005 (they have already had at least six of these); 2 final notice awards for 2005/2006 (they have already had at least six of these too); and 2 award notices for 2006/2007.

This would have been okay but the lovely people of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department had made a mistake on the income figures so the CIH phoned the lovely people of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department to inform them of this fact. Mr & Mrs CIH can now expect another batch of envelopes containing more of the same information that they have already received at least eight times previously. The CIH suggested that they might like to refrain from sending all this information again. Unfortunately, the system (don't you love the way that it is always the systems' fault) cannot cope with such a suggestion and will automatically generate more of the same and it's only the postman who suffers.

And so the lovely people of the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Department are single-handedly (or more than likely multi-handedly) keeping the Royal Mail in profit at the expense of the tax payer. Hooray!

Chaplaincy Rules OK

Yesterday morning, the CIH switched into chaplaincy mode. He made a visit to the Pen Factory and chatted to several of the workers there and then popped into the school to chat with the staff at lunchtime.

First, the pen factory. This was a visit that the CIH was feeling extremely nervous about. It's not because he was frightened of the place or the people, it's just that he didn't really know what was expected of him or how he should be tackling the task of walking around a working factory and talking to people that are involved in processes that need full concentration. As it turned out, it was a worthwhile visit and nothing to be worried about at all. in the end the CIH only managed to cover just over half of the factory and resolved to try harder next time.

Second, the school. Our CIH was not at all worried about this one because he has been in lots of schools and knows what they're like. He enjoyed sitting in the staff room and hearing tales of what his children have been up to. Thankfully, it was all good so he can continue to show his face in the village.

P.O.T. 1

Yesterday, the CIH began his Post Ordination Training which is affectionately known as potty training. His potty training will last for three years and will cover many aspects of parish life and ministry.

This first session was spent in Hereford at the Diocesan Office and included a tour of the offices, meeting the office staff there and getting to know their names and functions. After lunch, he was given a tour of the Chained Library and Mappa Mundi exhibition in the cathedral. The whole day finished a few minutes early so once again the CIH suggested ice cream. No-one else took him up on the offer so it was just him - Mint Choc Chip this time round.

This was an easy POT session - I don't expect him to get off so lightly in future.

The IKEA Challenge

Over lunch on Monday, the CIH assured the RIH that it was possible to go to IKEA and escape from the store without spending in excess of £100. The RIH didn't believe him.

Yesterday, the CIH and Mrs CIH went to IKEA to put this theory to the test. A good day was had by all and they returned from IKEA having spent £97.40 but this did include a beautiful new rug for the lounge.

IKEA was followed by a superb pub lunch at the Oddfellows Hall, Compton Road, Wolverhampton. Excellent food, brilliant service and not too pricey either.

Keep Sunday Special

Yesterday, the CIH decided to join the Keep Sunday Special crew. He did this by leading the 9:30am service in St Mary's Church. So far, all the reports are positive. He then went to the Severn Centre where he heard the same sermon. As soon as he had arrived home, he had to leave again because the RIH was due to lead evensong in Hereford Cathedral that evening. He has to do this job at least once a year because of his Prebendary Committments.

The CIH arrived with Mr & Mrs RIH in plenty of time for a 3:00pm kick off only to find that the actual time of departure is 3:30pm. As is his want, the CIH suggested ice cream while they waited and a few moments later, the CIH (who chose Strawberries and Cream flavour) with Mr & Mrs RIH were happily consuming delicious ice cream.

Back in the Swing

Over the last few days, the CIH has begun to get back into the swing of things again.

On Wednesday (6th September) he had a short mentoring meeting with the RIH, took home communion to a parishioner, visited a Christian bookshop, popped into the primary school and led the homegroup that he has been given responsibility of. This was the first of six weeks looking at the various aspects of the armour of God described by St Paul in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus. As with the text (Ephesians 6:10-18), he began by looking at the belt of truth buckled round our waists. It's a while since the CIH last led a group Bible study. It looks as though he had better get his head round this before next week's meeting.

On Saturday, the CIH went to Volleyball now it has restarted after the Summer break.

Chapter 1

This morning (usually a day off for the CIH) he attended his first chapter meeting. This evening he attended a meeting of the finance committee at the Rectory. Good job he swapped his day off with Monday this week.

It's Barbecue Time

The CIH has still not preached any sermons in the parish and people are beginning to get a bit itchy to hear him. Instead, he was seen out on Saturday evening cooking burgers at the Billingsley Church Barbecue held on Rays Farm. Is this work? Discuss!

The brass band kept us entertained and the animals kept themselves well out of the way. Sadly the weather was not brilliant and attendance was low but everyone seemed to have a good time.

The Housing Fayre

The day after his visit to the Pen Factory, the CIH helped to look after a display of the church's activities at the Bridgnorth District Housing Fayre. This annual gathering of organisations concerned with all matters relating to housing, personal finance, and local information is held in a different venue each year. This year, the Housing Fayre came to the Severn Centre in Highley. St Mary's was the only church represented which gave us an excellent opportunity to talk to ordinary people about Christianity and the various ways in which the Church is able to help support community activities.

The CIH wore his new "St Mary's t-shirt" and gave out lots of copies of the "Highley Forum". He had some interesting conversations with people and he now hopes that some of these will bear fruit.