All calm on the River Tay this afternoon as we walked on the North Inch. During the week, I had a swift pedal on the Brompton up towards Almondbank – still searching for that balanced clergy lifestyle as suggested at the Clergy Conference.
Earlier today we had a gathering in Perth for clergy and laity from congregations which hope to be part of the Casting the Net movement during 2011. This is all about Mission Action Planning, the Nine Marks of Mission and all that. It seems to me that, at this stage, it is all about encouraging people so that they are prepared to take the risk of getting started – and persuading them that it will be worthwhile. And congregations are always much more persuaded by what others do than by anything which the bishop says.
Fortunately I didn’t have to say very much today. We have a great team of people who have that wonderful mix of being both passionate and hard-headed about it at the same time. I thought it was one of the most encouraging gatherings that I have been to in a while – I’m looking forward to the next stage.
No — scared is good; it had the true ring of calling. That was where some of the energy was coming from.
They’ll need the God-given hide of an armadillo much more than a reassuring life jacket.
There was a great buzz of anticipaton and fear. But those hard heads would like some to jump from the boat into the water in 2010. So perhaps we need to be thinking about preparing the lifejacket as opposed to the spiritual armour.