The Sundy Review

I was so excited yesterday that Dorothy and Paul had arrived that I forgot to reflect on how the worship service went on Sunday. I think it went ok. I liked the way the hymns and prayers and message all hung together so that worked for me. I find selecting the music challenging because I don't always know what hymns the congregation knows as well as the fact that the books they generally sing from have no music so.... I don't know the tune at all. Fortunately there were two new songs (always good for a congregation I think) and the tunes were very singable, which has not been my experience with some English hymns. I think American hymnody and English hymnody is just different enough. I am always challenged by the music and as much as I really love the old, traditional hymns I don't think they are very attractive to younger people. There are times I look around the room and think - these folks grew up on Jimi Hendrix and Elvis and such and there is no influence (that I see) of that kind of musical style. Now I know that people have wide ranges in musical styles so.... just my little rant for the morning. The picture is of St. Columba's Church before worship started.

I enjoyed helping the congregation realize their youth as I had them recalculate their age before I did the children's message. This is easy, just take the two digits of your age, add them together and if the sum has two digits add them together again. This way there is no congregation with anyone over the age of 9! Brilliant! (Plus it really messes with the national offices when you have to send in the congregational statistics!) I shared a story that I love, and I think I did a good job with but it was perhaps a bit long for the situation - with no way to really shorten it so.... I live and learn. My sermon went ok - delivery confident, only briefly lost my place but I think I try to fit too much in. In my preparation I see the connections between the scriptures and that excites me but I don't have the polished skill yet to translate my "ah ha!" to the sermon itself. Perhaps 15 minutes it too short - but then, if it doesn't hang together well, 15 minutes can be too long! Thomas Sowter used to preach for 45+ minutes - now that would be too long!

I liked leading worship and I think that when I am settled in a single congregation and can really develop relationships and connection with the mission and ministry of the congregation I will be ok. Format, flow and cohesiveness will improve with time, and the power of the Holy Spirit. I look forward, in a way, to this week as I will work with Carla to do a form of dialog sermon for next week. Next week's service will be full - communion and ordination of elders and farewells to several people who will be leaving the congregation for other adventures.

They Arrived

Well, right as I was at church, ready to lead worship and a small crowd had gathered and low and behold, down Alred Street come my weary travelers. Dorothy and Paul arrived in time for worship but without enough time to be truly rested. Paul went for a walk to stay awake and Dorothy stayed in worship. After a well deserved nap - for all - we were off into Oxford and of course after a few looks up and down at the colleges we found the oldest pub in Oxford - or at least that is their claim- We met a lovely young couple from Brooklyn. A few pints later we walked through Christ Church Meadow and along the Thames and home to roast leg of lamb dinner. Paul was even able to get in a quick bike ride! We have our plans sorted and Dorothy and I will go to London to meet a friend of our Aunt Janes. It will be a wonderful day. Paul will come to London, or not and we will all have fun.

It is wonderful to have family here to see what I have seen and to share new adventures with!

The last day!

No it is not my last day here, but my last day alone. Dorothy and Paul arrive tomorrow morning! I am very excited and have worked hard to get a significant draft of my paper off to the professor and have my sermon ready and my children's time figured out - just a bit more practice and all will be ready. I think my head will be very happy to be able to relax just a bit now that that paper is off my plate for a while. I will cook a roast dinner tonight so it is ready whenever we are ready to eat it tomorrow. I know it should be cooked tomorrow but, a preachers schedule sometimes demands thinks to be otherwise.

Yesterday I went to Abingdon just for fun. This is a town not far from Oxford, along the River Thames, that is one of the oldest inhabited places in England. It is a pretty town even with dark grey forboding skys. The overcast sky made it easier to take pictures in St. Helen's church (2nd widest church in England). They had lovely stained glass windows and painted ceilings from the middle ages. I had a lovely conversation with the steward and then went to find a pub along the river - something I can't do just anywhere. Pub found, 1/2 pint enjoyed and then a wander to the Abby Gardens and back on the bus to Oxford. A nice little excursion.

Sermon writing

I have had a great day. I enjoyed my theological reflection with Carla and then having great conversations at Wednesday Welcome. A bit of a wander and a new camera battery and I thought - I should really start to put down on "paper" what I have been thinking about for my sermon on Sunday. So I decided to go off to the "English Sermon Writing Academy" (aka Pub) to get started. Low and behold I needed the internet to enter a confirmation number (with Microsoft, not God) and could only make a few notes before the pint was gone. Now reconnected and properly "spiritually enhanced" I am off to do the real thing - wish me luck. I know the children's message - a great story about puppy love that I plan on telling with my version of a North Carolina accent to an English congregation - the kids will get it for sure and the animal sounds are the same in all languages aren't they?

still proud - maybe more so

Well, I have been thinking about the George and Dragon Friendly society and so I did some research - George and Dragon is a pub which I mentioned and I have it on good authority that Eustace, who wrote the Journal that I am working from was a teetotaler (didn't drink) so I thought, perhpas he didn't know what the George and Dragon was - then I remembered that, at least in my expereince, the English are not too creative with Pub names - there seems to be the Lamb and Flag, The Bear, the Eight Bells and so on in each town so.... chances that he didn't know what the George and Dragon was is slim. Then I used the power of the internet to realize why I should be even prouder of Charles Sowter. Friendly Societies were mutual aid societies in the day before any form of insurance. People gathered, often time folks of the same class or professional groups and and all paid some fee. I am not sure if there were regular dues or what but the money went into a pool for investments of some sort - this is the pre-401K days, pre-National Health System, pre-Life Insurance or widow benefits. So... Charles was Master of the George and Dragon Friendly society for 26 years - people trusted him with their lives, the financial well being of their families in case of an untimely death and so on. Perhaps Charles lifted a pint or two in the George and Dragon, I certainly will but he also cared for others in very real ways and for both, I am indeed proud.

This is what happens when you pick your nose in public!

The Paper

Yes, it has begun. I actually have words on paper - several pages of them as I try to sort through 19th century English history, religion and literature. It will be interesting to see how this all works but I am enjoying the challenge of writing about the life and times of Thomas Sowter. So far I am loving my research and I could probably read a lot more but I have to stop for a few days as the library at Mansfield college is closed for the weekend. I will return on Monday afternoon with specific questions to answer from the documents they have available. Then on Thursday I get to go to Cambridge and read in their library. I am wondering about my ability to shape everything and keep it to 30 pages, a number of pages that seemed daunting at the beginning. I feel really smart being the only person in the Library - hey wait a miniute does that make me smart or stupid to be spending beautiful summer days inside? I have to take advantage of the resources that are not available at home so.... I have already figured out how to use part of my research for another paper on moral theology.

I discovered a funny family thing in doing my research. I was checking out Charles Sowter's life in 1804 when he got married. What I confirmed was that he was a smith (blacksmith mostlikely) and that in 1841 Thomas was a journeyman, I imagine under the tutulage of his father. By 1848 Thomas was a minister and long gone from home. It was in 1849 however that Charles received a great honor - or that is how Eustace (his grandson) perceived the receipt of a silver tankard with the following inscription: "Presented to Mr. Charles Sowter, Master of the George and Dragon Friendly Society, by the members, for his valuable and gratuitous services (26 years), May 29, 1949." Eustace stated "He must therfore have been a worthy man and esteemed in the town in which he lived, and his descendants may be proud of him." Well, the power of the internet revealed the truth of the matter. The George and Dragon is a local pub in Ashborne which opened in 1710 and has been in continuous service to the community. And so our travel route north has been altered so that we can go to the George and Dragon and toast our most esteemed forfather - of whom we are indeed quite proud.

Procrastination - or so I thought

Well, it has been a nice week - grey and overcast with a few sprinkles here and there and an occasional very local downpour. I have moved house again and am "housesitting" for a church member who will be away. It is in an interesting part of the city of Oxford and will suit me just fine and will accommodate Larry and my sister and brother-in-law when they arrive.

I preached in Cumnor on Sunday and it went ok - I made two power point presentations of the Lord's Prayer with different music and pictures I have taken here (with a few additional ones from home) The sound wasn't loud enough on the first one but the second was fine and is one of my favorite versions of the prayer sung by Joe Wise. Thank goodness for I-tunes! Monday night we attempted to have a movie night for youth - we tried out the system and it was loud - the kids showed up 15 in all 6 of whom the local youth worker had had not prior contact with so that was amazing. Pizza (free hence the 6 extra boys) and popcorn eaten in the hall and everyone went to the sanctuary which had been "relaxed" to watch the movie. Volume of the music was just fine but the volume for the speaking was not working right. No amount of dial turning solved the problem and we had no laptop back up so... unfortunately the kids left except for 6 from the youth group. Games were played and everyone had a good time and I think they will try it again in the future.

I did go to London on Saturday with half of the world's population. It was hot and bright and crowded but I had a great time dashing about to fit as much in as possible. I started at Buckingham Palace but didn't want to deal with the nearly hour wait for the changing of the guard so I walked and found myself outside the Guard Museum with the Guard Band ready to play. Here I was in London and the band played - New York, New York! I had to laugh. I then walked rather briskly along the Thames toward the London Bridge. It didn't look so far on the map but my feet told me something else. I had another laugh when I looked from the Tower of London toward the London Bridge and saw a Starbucks! I then walked to St. Paul's and Covent Garden, Chinatown, Piccadilly Circle, The National Gallery and then Trafalgar Square (the Lion). I find London amazing for the history and the crowds of tourists. The international economies seem to be doing much better than I would have thought when looking at the number of tourists and the packages they all seemed to have no less the ice cream and drinks they purchased on a hot summer day. I did a lot of people watching and enjoyed the day but was too tired to stay until 20:50 which was the time on my return ticket. I had to pay the price but I got home and rested and took lots of aspirin for my hips - they just aren't what they used to be.

This morning when I started this post it was to do something constructive and avoid working on my research paper. The title was written and a few lines drafted and my phone rang - it was the librarian at Mansfield College saying that I could come in an use the library! No procrastination now. I saved my draft and off I ran across the city to the college and sat like a pig in a mud puddle surrounded by the Congregational Church Yearbooks from 1830-1890! I am attempting to see how the church was dealing with the issues of the day and so far I have had 6 hours of reading and will be back at 7 am tomorrow for a few more hours before my morning meetings and then a few more hours in the afternoon and then.... well I think you get the picture. I am a very happy camper as I cannot get these documents in the US and it is fascinating to read. Church issues just don't seem to change. I also have a day in the library at Westminster College in Cambridge scheduled so I can't say I couldn't find information. I had been a bit discourages when I tried the conventional route to get privileges but as they say it is who you know that makes the difference. I know the chaplain at Mansfield College and the Principal of Westminster so... I'm in. Now off to sleep so I can get up early and dash to the Library. (Yes I am a bit crazy I know).