At the last meeting of Diocesan Synod we had some really fascinating presentations from three people involved in really imaginative works of Mission in the Diocese. There is a Priest in Weymouth in the town centre leading work in cafes and pubs during the day, and then organising teams of Street Pastors at night; looking after people after a night out in the town who may be in quite a vulnerable state. Another Priest is based in the old town in Poole building a community of Christians together who will work doing quite simple things which will, hopefully, give a troubled community a bit of love and t.l.c. A third project is in Devizes with a Lay Person employed as a Children and Families Worker. Again this is dealing with people who are often vulnerable or struggling to keep from falling through the gaps between various agencies, and building up the Church as a result.
One of the comments which really struck me was about Church often being organised so as to keep people coming, whereas really our Mission is to make disciples, and these two aims are not necessarily the same. Growing to be a disciple is more than simply attending because being a disciple is about the whole of one's life. When we had the Confirmation Service last year it was lovely to hear one of the teenagers give a testimony about how God had been at work in her life. Many of us, though, would find it more difficult to verbalise something like this - probably partly out of Anglo-Saxon reserve (we don't want to look like we're boasting), but I would also say it is a fair comment that many of us find it difficult to relate what God is doing to our everyday lives and also struggle to identify more than one or two moments in our lives when we might clearly pinpoint God's hand moving.
It is exciting that Keith Charnley has just begun his training for Ordination. Although the wearing of a "collar" is still some years away we look forward to hearing more of how Keith has identified God's hand at work in his past as well as how he knew that the right thing for him was to leave his career in order to start anew with something else. I know there is much to hear because I have been fortunate enough to have been part of the process of discernment by Keith and the wider Church to make sure Keith wasn't just making it all up. We wish him well and look forward to years of ministry from him and Chris together.
As we start to plan our Carol Services it is an awareness of this sense of God's hand at work that intrigues me about the Readings this year. From the moment of the Fall when Adam and Eve disobeyed, God had another plan at work to win back not just Adam and Eve but the whole of Creation for Himself. Theologians refer to this as the story of Creation, Fall and Redemption - God's ultimate plans at work through the birth of Jesus but also through the life and work of those who have responded to God's love by being willing to become disciples. God seems to have a funny way of doing things - it is usually when we come together to do something which is external to ourselves and our needs or wants, such as an act of Mission in caring for the vulnerable, that we find ourselves to have grown the most to become more like Jesus, often without our noticing.
Being part of a much bigger story is, I think, a huge encouragement to us. Geographically we might feel a bit betwixt and between, out on the borders of the Diocese, but through the work that has been started in each Church and Parish, I trust we will be able to identify God's work at hand. As we celebrated the completion of the Redecoration Project at St Nicholas we read the story from 2 Chronicles about King Josiah ordering a cleaning of the Temple, but finding in that act a renewal of people's allegiance to God. I found it moving to see a parallel between cleaning out the Temple and repairing the walls (I could as easily have been thinking about the new altar curtain at St James or the plans for a Kitchen and Toilet at St Peter). We are part of something much bigger - God's story of completing the work of Redemption started in a stable but continuing today in Wiltshire in a village near you.
Revd Howard Jameson
