Some quite impressive TV last night, I thought – showing Rowan Williams doing all sorts of things and talking about the growing crisis in Anglicanism. They certainly managed to create an encouraging impression of vitality in the church. When asked how he felt about his task as archbishop, I think he said something like, ‘This is a job in which it is hard to tell yourself that you are doing well.’
And sometimes hard even to know what you are doing. I’d had a weekend where I came into church – for an Institution and a Confirmation – when other people had done all the hard work of preparation. I’m still trying to work out how to contribute the very best I can when I’m not actually in control of what happens – as a parish priest I could be quite a control freak in my efforts to get things just so. And I’ve spent part of my day writing bits of a strategy document as part of our Diocesan Review process – and I can’t really control how that works out either. It’s very good for me because I have to learn to do my bit and trust other people. And I did try to tell somebody that today was Tuesday when it was, sadly, still Monday. Welcome to the church that doesn’t even know what day of the week it is.
If it was after Noon GMT when you said it, then it was Tuesday somewhere, just not yet in Scotland.