for the long term

Whilst I'm here, I may as well tell you about Sunday.

For me, the weekend went passed in a bit of a blur... up early on both days, with my head full of things that I needed to do!

Sunday was a 6.30am start! Eek, but it  was all for a very good cause. On the third Sunday of the month, Christ Church celebrates Communion at 8am, if you're looking for a spoken, reflective service, this one is definitely for you. It is really is a very sedate liturgy strong service. it's good for me to go to a service where I really don't have to do anything other than just participate.

This Sunday, however, we had a very special visitor. My long-standing friend (and mentor of sorts) Shirley Gowland joined us for both services and as Warner is away for Walk West Dorset, I was in charge of hospitality for Shirley - which meant being around for the whole morning. I was also leading the 10am service ans co-ordinating the Uniform Groups.

To say there was a buzz about church, would be a bit of an understatement. Shirley and I were both excited about what she was going to say to the congregation, teaching them about a resource that she has developed, called Bible In Literacy. The response from church was amazing, the children got involved and were singing their hearts out at the start too.

We are really starting to develop proper links with the community we live in, through the uniform organisations that use Christ Church as a meeting place. I love parade services and on a number of occasions I have been a bit overwhelmed by the joy that I get from working with them and seeing young boys and girls in the church. pray for them though, they really struggle with getting leaders and we're looking at how we can support them as a church.

I am really excited about Bible In Literacy, partly because it is an awesome resource and because it is ready to use for a lot of teachers. if you want more information about training or just to find out what I am on about, please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.

I am really excited about schools work this term and how we are working as a team to bring the message to schools, as well as the relationships we have with teachers and young people. After three full years of being in school every week, it is starting to become easy! The challenge is still there though - how do we get the message of the gospel across to so many who don't yet know it.

Longevity is the key here, it is something that I can not stress enough, but I am still learning how to deal with longevity - I have never had a job that has lasted more than 2 years and even those weren't 'career' jobs. This is a calling, it is a career, it is something I know I am called to for now, and something I know I don't always have to do either.

I have said since the end of my 'year out' of youth work at the council that I am wholly grateful for the team that I worked for that year - they gave me such a great sense of what working in the 'world' was and it gives me a better idea of what working in the 'bubble' is!