Preaching at Porton

Another very warm day today and up early to review my sermon and print off a copy to take with me to Porton.  Sara and I arrived in good time and we enjoyed a packed church with quite a few clerics in the congregation – slightly worrying when you find yourself preaching to a number of “collars”. The theme of my sermon today was “calling” with a gospel reading from Luke 9:51-63 in which Jesus sets down conditions to those who say they have been called.  This weekend priests and deacons are being ordained in the Cathedral including Mark from our very own Clarendon Team village of Pitton.  The service and congregation were “warm” and both Sara and I felt really welcome in Porton Parish Church.  Afterwards a number of people said that they had found the sermon inspirational including a number of the clergy who felt it had spoken to them – I felt quite humble especially as I had only written up the sermon last night (although in truth the structure and content had been going around and around in my head for a few days before that. A copy of the sermon can be found at http://pulpitmichael.blogspot.com.  This afternoon Sara went to Andover to do one her teenage makeover parties and after I had mowed the inside lawns I chucked a few sausages and burgers on the BBQ and provided myself and the children with a simple grilled lunch.  I had a short nap this afternoon.  This evening Richard and I had our usual get together at the Lion’s Head where he told me that he too had just ordered a new car – a Mini.  He has decided to sell the house when Linda starts her curacy and will probably buy something down in Cornwall.  A really fulfilling day today.  I had been a bit anxious about my sermon – always the case when you are preaching in a church you do not know – but in hindsight I had nothing at all to worry about.

New car for old

A really hot day today with the sun shining very brightly.    It was interesting to reflect that today would have been my 28^th wedding anniversary if I had remained married to my first wife.  It was also interesting to reflect just how my life has almost certainly changed since those days.   I attended the Men’s breakfast meeting at Alderbury Bowls Club this morning where Bev, Dave and Shaz as well as two of the residents came along to promote their Morning Star charity.  A really good presentation with the breakfast money all being donated to the charity which must have raised well over £100 for the charity – an excellent result.  After the breakfast I went home briefly, picked up Thom and drove over to Chippenham to swap cars.  The journey was not a good one as the A342 between Upavon and Devizes was closed and I had to divert towards Pewsey and Woodbridge to join the Marlborough to Devizes road.  We arrived at Chippenham Motors a good half an hour late.  After dealing with more paperwork and getting the garage to put some fuel in the car, Thom and I drove to McDonald’s for a later lunch before driving back to Winterslow via Seend – a route I have come to know so well.  I managed 57 m.p.g. despite not being used to driving a manual after fifteen years of driving automatic cars.  This was the best I’ve ever got out of the Mercedes so I am hoping for better on a long motorway run.  This afternoon Sara and Mary were involved in the Cheerleaders Fete in the village hall where they made a fundraising profit of about £1,300 and so can now buy the tumble track they are saving up for.  I am preaching at Porton tomorrow and so spent a couple of hours this evening writing my sermon.  Sara read it afterwards and apart form a couple of minor glitches seems fine for tomorrow.

History of Stonehenge

The weather was overcast this morning but quite warm leaving a rather muggy feeling in the air.  I worked in the study this morning whilst Sara went to Netheravon to pick up a decorated cake for tomorrow's Streetz Cheerleaders' Fete.   This afternoon she took Mary to the cinema to see Despicable 2.  At lunchtime I picked up the parish magazines from the printers and delivered them to the distributors as well as placing a few copies in each of the Winterslow Anglican churches. This evening I drove to Swindon to attend a meeting of Wiltshire Masters' Lodge where I was elected as Worshipful Master for next year (I take office at the end of August - just one month before my licensing).  following the formal part of the meeting we were entertained by an excellent illustrated talk by the curator of the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes on the history and use of Stonehenge.  Fascinating stuff including a description of some of the archaeological finds in the neighbouring barrows.  I hadn't realised just how many ancient burial sites and other historic sites there were around Stonehenge - all of which become more apparent now when looking at Google Maps.  We had an excellent "Wiltshire Salad" to follow: - ham, turkey and minted new potatoes.  I arrived back home at 10.30 p.m. after a good drive back from the Swindon metropolis - a much easier journey than that which I experienced on the way there - it took me half an hour to get through Marlborough.  Exciting day tomorrow with another trip to the north of the county to pick up my new car!

Catching-Up - Monday 10th June - Thursday 27th June 2013

Deep apologies to all my regular readers for not updating you during the month of June. Since I last posted anything – Sunday 9^th June – life has been extremely hectic with Sara’s father and wife coming over to stay with us on the following Wednesday and it has largely been due to entertaining them and other work which has intervened that I have not been able to regularly post on a daily basis.

As a quick canter through those last couple of weeks I will now write a few paragraphs to bring you up to date.

On Monday 10^th my car went in for MOT and service the cost of which was expensive and got me thinking about changing my car to a cheaper and more economical one – which would mean a break from a seventeen year run of Mercedes cars.  I am impressed with the Kia range and will look at the Rio.

On Wednesday 12 June I got up at 4 a.m. to drive to London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 3, to greet my in-laws off their American Airlines flight from Raleigh/Durham.  They arrived nearly an hour early and I took them for an English breakfast at Popham on the way back.  That afternoon the whole Huffey family (13 in all) met up in Salisbury at the Hampton Inn.  That evening I left the family playing cards (predictive whist) to attend a Deanery Synod meeting where I gave a short presentation on Morning Star.

The following day I took my father-in-law to the Ageas Bowl to watch a very poor performance by Hampshire against Gloucestershire in the Cricket County Championship (they went on to lose by 198 runs).  This was followed by a quick drive around Southampton, an Indian meal in Commercial Road and a really good performance of the musical Cats at the Mayflower.  Friday 14^th saw me spending time writing up a sermon for Sunday at Sarum College followed by a meeting of the Alabare Finance and Resources Committee at Salisbury Hospital.  David and Andrea left for Cornwall on Saturday 15^th and I spent some of the day finalising my sermon.

On Sunday 16^th I preached for the first time from the pulpit at All Saints, Winterslow, complete with robes. I believe that this had the effect of the congregation having a different perspective on my ministry and training – quite a few members assuming I would be continuing my training towards ordination. 

Monday 17^th was a catch-up day and Tuesday 18^th saw me over in Chippenham for a meeting of Wiltshire Province Secretaries.  I also visited Chippenham Motors to pick up the mats and cleaning equipment for Sara’s new car and also discussed the possibility of buying a brand new Kia Rio to replace the Mercedes.  Wdnesday 19 was a training day with me attending a half-day course on chaplaincy put on by Alabare and the evening saw me back at Seend for my penultimate session on pastoral care.  This was taken by Stella and looked at pastoral care to the elderly.  David and Andrea returned back from Cornwall early due to the poor weather they had been having.

On Thursday 20^th I had my monthly meeting with Nils and we had our usual house group session in the evening.  I attended Ambassadors’ Business Breakfast Club on Friday morning and then drove to reading for a meeting with a client at the famous Sweeney’s Pie Shop. We had pies for evening supper followed by a couple of rounds of predictive whist.  On Saturday 22^nd I took David and Andrea to Southampton to look around the Solent Sky Aviation Museum followed by a drive down to Calshot Point and Hythe to see where the Schneider Trophy races took place and look at some of the “sailboats” as the Americans call them.  On Sunday, after having written a sermon, I led the service at Whaddon but the preaching came from a roman Catholic Deacon, John Detain, who was absolutely excellent – a much better sermon than the one I had prepared.  We also had a barbecue for all the Huffey’s at our house which meant much cleaning of the barbecue and getting a fresh gas bottle.  

I was up very early again on Monday to take David and Andrea to the airport and then drove back via Newbury (to avoid horrendous traffic on the M25) going straight basck to bed for a couple of hours.  In the afternoon I visited one of our elderly parishioners in the village as part of my pastoral ministry training.  In the evening I chaired a meeting of the Parish Council’s Weather Committee to formulate emergency plans in case of inclement weather.
Sara and I visited Chippenham Motors again on Tuesday 25^th June and after test driving a Rio and a Pro’Ceed I placed an order for the Pro’Ceed (despite its silly name!).  A great deal because the style is changing – some £3,000 off plus road tax of only £20 per year, 78 miles to a gallon of diesel, cheaper servicing and insurance and a seven year warranty.  I am to pick it up on Saturday although the personalised number plate will have to be put on later.  Exciting day.

On Wednesday 26^th I had a Team Staff meeting at the vicarage in alderbury after mid-week Eucharist at St. Mary’s Hall, Whaddon – it was well attended for a mid-week service with 17 there. Tonight, after a quick call in at Chippenham motors to sign some paperwork, it  was our last session at Seend on the pastoral care module and we had supper with our tutor, Howard, at the Bell Inn in Seend.  After the session he gave each of us a book to help us with our ministry – the book he gave me was “Who are you – when nobody is looking?” by Bill Hybels.  He had beautifully inscribed it and I shall treasure it.  I like his idea of a “prayer-walk” around his library in choosing the books for each of us.

On Thursday 27^th Sara and I had coffee with Bev at Morning Star and I then did some gardening – I am glad I did as we had heavy rain in the afternoon.  This evening I went with Nils and Elizabeth to a training session on healing at Landford Methodist Hall – organised by David Bacon.  An interesting session but still leaves me feeling unsure about what is going on at these.  Certainly the holy spirit is present but do you need to actually summon him up, or is it just channelling energy.  When time permits I would like to explore this some more.

Praying for Nelson Mandela

It was reported in the news this morning that Nelson Mandela is seriously ill in a South African hospital and that nation is preparing for the worst.  The weather was duller for the early part of the morning but brightened up as I left church.  I was on duty at All Saints today acting as Intercessor. My prayers included Nelson Mandela and the Duke of Edinburgh who are both in hospital at the moment.   Sara and the children stayed at home – Sara is still frantically decorating and preparing for the visit of her father and Andrea from the States on Wednesday.  Today was not only the anniversary of Sara’s mother’s birthday but also the 50^th birthday of Judith, the Rector’s wife who led the service and preached the sermon this morning.  This afternoon I cleaned the lower guttering and fascia boards of the house, did some gardening and also went for a later afternoon stroll in Bentley Wood.  This evening saw me, with the rest of the “Last of the Summer Wine” quiz team at the Lion’s Head where, true to form, we won the quiz with a six point margin.  Another bottle of white wine to add to the collection.

Tending my own Greens

My voice seems to have returned a bit this morning although it is very croaky and I can’t talk for long before it gets very uncomfortable.  Went for my morning stroll this morning – up to the water tower and back via Coopers Farm – about 1.5 miles – so not very strenuous.  I spent much of the day in the garden – weeding and mowing all three lawns to keep them closely cropped. This year, for the first time I can ever remember, I didn’t go to the School Fete on the Recreation Ground – it was also the first time ever that neither of our children are at the village school. Sara went with Mary and Thom and said that it was very well attended.  I had good intentions of writing my intercessions for tomorrow but didn’t do so until late tonight.  It has been very hot again today and I can feel that I have caught the son. Felt very tired as I wrote my intercessions so will have to review them again in the morning. Hampshire and Kent ended up drawing their cricket match – with Hampshire only two wickets short of winning when time ran out for them.  Yesterday’s rain cannot have helped and was, I think, unexpected.

Almost a day at the Grasmere House Hotel

Up early this morning but no morning stroll as I had to be at the Grasmere House Hotel at 7.30 a.m. for the Ambassadors’ Breakfast Club’s Annual General Meeting.  This meant that I didn’t have to give a one minute elevator speech which is as well as I have completely lost my voice – and very frustrating that is too!  Every time I try to speak I just seem to squeak!  During the course of the meeting the heavens opened and the rain started to pour down.  After four days of lovely hot sunny weather this was quite a shock – so pleased that I wasn’t out on my morning stroll today!  Following the meeting I stayed on and worked in the coffee lounge – completing and updating this blog which was over a week behind.  Gave me a great feeling of fulfilment to know that I was up to date again!   On the way back to Winterslow I called in at the Boundary Coffee Shop in Alderbury and met up with some of the Alderbury and Whaddon parishioners who were delighted to see me and anxious to know when I would be back in their neck of the woods to preach and lead.  I told them that I would be in Whaddon for Evensong on the 23^rd. Once back in Winterslow I called in on Sara at the Lord Nelson and had a soft drink before returning home to upload the blog and deal with other work and correspondence.  Tonight saw me back at the Grasmere House Hotel (same room too as this morning) for a legal seminar for parish councillors on rights of way, common land/village greens and possessory title – took me back to my land law days at law school. We also had a talk by John Glen MP on the new local government localism legislation. All interesting stuff.  The continued loss of my voice precluded me from asking many questions although I did manage to squeak one!  I was accompanied by Simon, the Chairman of the Parish Council and on our return to Winterslow we walked together to the Lion’s Head for a few beers. As Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Parish Council it is important that we work well together.  I am sure that we will.

Afternoon at the Rose Bowl

Instead of my early morning stroll I started work in the garden at 7 a.m. shifting the old fence panels (Geoff has put in new fence panels between our property and our neighbour’s over the last couple of days) and chopped down foliage off my nice mown lawn down to the bottom of the garden and built up a bonfire.  I will let this dry out a bit (if this weather holds) and burn it up at night-time when it is of no nuisance to anyone. This afternoon, Richard and I spent a few hours watching cricket at the Rose Bowl (we saw Hampshire finish their first innings on 455 all out and watched Kent put on 118 runs for the loss of 2 wickets before we left – they ended the day on 149 for 4). A very pleasant way to spend an afternoon and we shall be repeating this next Thursday with Sara’s father when Hampshire take on Gloucestershire.  Tonight, I felt rather tired and I seem to be losing my voice.  We had House Group this evening when we discussed healing ministries in the context of Mark’s Gospel.  I had to get others to lead prayers and read the extracts as my voice is certainly on the verge of giving up.  Not sure what has caused this but it is very frustrating.  Perhaps I have been talking too much recently!  Almost impossible to talk on the telephone at present.

 

Pastoral care for children

Thom is in the middle of his examinations and Sara is regularly picking him up after he has done them.  Yesterday he had two papers and today has his RS paper.  He hoped for, and was rewarded, with a question on the five pillars of Islam.  Sara did her stint at Morning Star early today and I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John’s followed by a Staff Team Meeting at Debbie’s.  A fairly mundane meeting which ended a little after midday.  Tonight I attended the eighth in the series of tutorials on pastoral care which was chaired by the Diocesan Leader of the Mothers’ Union (herself a vicar’s wife) on the pastoral care of children.  Our normal tutor, Howard, is currently with a group of students in Turkey.  Missed my evening stroll as a result of having to go over the Seend.

2013/2014 Season tickets Secured!

Another hot day today – true to form the first few days after the first Monday in June remain hot but traditionally the weather will worsen before the end of the week. Yesterday I tried to renew our season tickets for Southampton FC online, without success, and so this afternoon, having completed my first assignment for one of my University modules, I drove over to Southampton to visit the ticket office at St. Mary’s and was surprised – first, to find a free parking space no more than 20 yards from the ticket office, secondly, to find there were no queues, and thirdly, that I was able to pick up the tickets there and then and finally, that there was no extra administration charge if you attended the ticket office in person!  After this I called in at the Rose Bowl to look at the facility changes for members following the construction of the new hotel.  I was reminded that there is a County Championship game starting tomorrow and I will see if I can persuade Richard to come with me to that game on Thursday.

Another Hot Monday in June

The first Monday in June is, annually, the hottest day of the year – the day when the Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex meets in Worthing and senior Freemasons, dressed in black, melt away in the heat.  Today was no exception and it was truly hot today – so much so that I decided to forgo the trip to Worthing and, instead, work at home.  I have decided to get into the daily habit of walking in the early morning and evening – at least 3 miles in total each day.  Today I started by walking up to the water tower and then along Pincroft Lane and home.  This will also give me an opportunity to get acquainted with all the footpaths (and their condition) in the area for which the Parish Council has responsibility.  This evening I attended my second Parish Council Meeting from 7.30 pm. until 10 p.m. and I am now getting to understand, better, the procedures and issues.

Catch-Up - Friday 24th May until Sunday 2nd June 2013

 

I am sorry that I have posted on this blog site for over a week but life has been really hectic with my involvement with so many responsibilities – more than I can really ever remembering I had when working full time for Friends.

This post, then is a resume of what I have been up to between Friday 24^th May and Sunday 2^nd June inclusive.  The photos above are a mere "snatch" of where I've been and what I've done

Friday 24 May 2013 : I attended the Annual Open Public Meeting at Winterslow Village Hall this evening when members of the public are invited to question their parish councillors.  We had set aside a full two hours but the meeting lasted only half an hour when only one member of the public came  - and that was the spouse of one of the councillors! 

Saturday 25 May 2013 : Up early this morning to visit Salisbury Market and purchase a crab, cheese and fruit to take up to Grimsby. Left home at around 11 a.m. and drove up to Lincolnshire via Oxford, Bicester, Northampton, Stamford and Boston.  Longer journey time than usual but heavy bank holiday traffic on the motorway would have had me driving a longer distance and for a longer period of time. When I arrived at Mum’s, my sister Heather was also there having spent the day with Mum – so it was quite an exciting day for Mum.  Heather left after about half an hour and Mum and I enjoyed a crab salad before watching TV.  Weather really quite pleasant after a miserable start.

 

Sunday 26 May 2013 : Today started with a bump – literally.  I woke up quite early and decided to go downstairs to make cups of tea for Mum and myself.  I slipped on the top stair and fell the full length (eleven steps) smashing into a cabinet at the bottom.  I remember tumbling over and over to fortunately landed on my bottom and not my head.  Was quite dazed by the event but fortunately no bones broken – bruising on my bottom and cuts and bruising on my back with a slight pain in my right wrist.  Stars are very steep indeed and Mum admitted that Heather has fallen down them also from the top to the bottom.  Felt well enough to walk to church this morning and arrived 30 minutes late (in the middle of the sermon) because it was a joint service with Christ Church and they begin these at 10.15 am, not 11 am as had been advertised on the website.  Had coffee and biscuits in the church hall afterwards.  Mum cooked roast chicken for lunch after which I took her by car over the Humber Bridge to Beverley (where we looked around the Minster and had tea in a tea/coffee shop) and also drove around Hull finding familiar haunts from childhood days.  Light supper tonight.

Monday 27 May 2013 : Bank Holiday Monday.  Decided to go for a walk to Cleethorpes this morning and watched people enjoying playing cricket on the beach.  It was a pleasant stroll down Clee Road and then along the High Street and promenade.  Back to Mum’s for a light lunch and then this afternoon I drove Mum to Tesco’s to buy flowers to place in memory of Dad at the Grimsby Crematorium.  Very peaceful and pleasant in the sunshine. Afterwards we went into Weelsby Woods and enjoyed an Appleby’s ice cream each and then went for a drive along Cleethorpes seafront.  This evening I bought excellent fish and chips from Cleethorpes.  Another quiet evening in.

Tuesday 28 May 2013 : Took Mum the quick way to Immingham to see her optician to adjust her new glasses.  What a dump Immingham town centre is now.  The shopping centre is almost deserted but does have an excellent bakers where I bought a Yorkshire curd tart.  On the way back to Mum’s we stopped off in the Grimsby Town Centre and I bought 10lbs of excellent Lincolnshire sausages from the long established butchers.  After a snack lunch I set off for Wiltshire via Derbyshire and Crich Tramway Museum. I took the old road via Gainsborough, Retford and Worksop arriving at Crich at 2.30 p.m.  I spent an enjoyable 3 hours there – admittedly in the pouring rain at times, but had rides on Blackpool 630 and Glasgow 812 and a good look around the new Exhibition Centre.  I drove back through rain for a good part of the journey. I eventually arrived back home at around 8.30 p.m. unloading the sausages and other goodies. 

Wednesday 29 May 2013 : I decided to miss the Staff Team Meeting today, especially as at least three of the clergy are away on holiday.  Instead I helped Sara make sandwiches for the Morning Star Banquet Run. This afternoon I attended a meeting at Debbie’s to discuss the Mission Giving Project and Sudan Link.  Tonight I drove over to Seend for the seventh session of my LLM training module on pastoral care.  Tonight we continued our discussions on grief and bereavement in the context of when somebody finds it difficult to overcome their grief.

Thursday 30 May 2013 : I am beginning to worry about my assignment for “Being an LLM” which requires me a write and present a podcast.  Yesterday I spent some time writing the script and sent this and some images across to Adrian at Church House to help me put together the podcast.  This afternoon I spent three hours with Adrian at the end of which I felt reassured that I would have something to take to the LLM Residential weekend. This evening we had a good House Group meeting with almost a full house, discussing more texts from St. Mark’s Gospel.

Friday 31 May 2013 : I had a lunchtime meeting with the Rev. Peter Ostli-East today in the Lord Nelson pub when we discussed outreach and mission within the Deanery and, in particular, our respective work in the area of pub theology.  This evening I attended a meeting of Wiltshire Master’s Lodge at Ludgershall which was followed by an interesting talk by an audiologist from Swindon about hearing loss.  An excellent dinner followed of roast lamb and vegetables with profiteroles and cheese and biscuits to follow.

Saturday 1 June 2013 :  The first of two days at Sarum College on the annual Licensed Lay Ministers’ Formation Residential weekend which this year concentrated on the role of the laity in the formation and life of the English church.  We spent the morning thinking about all the lay people in history who have had a major influence on the church and in the afternoon talks by the bishop of Sherborne (the role and influences of LLMs in his life and the diocese) and by Ron Hart on the Sudan Link (between the Episcopal Church in the Sudan and Salisbury Diocese). This was followed by attending Evensong at the Cathedral. This evening, after dinner, we watched the first half of the podcasts we had each been asked to prepare on the role of an LLM. This was followed by a couple of hours in the bar drinking wine and swapping stories and experiences within our differing benefices.

Sunday 2 June 2013 : The second of the two days at Sarum College.  This morning we viewed the remaining video/podcasts including my own (this can be seen at : http://youtu.be/VDPK-vGkrx8). These were followed by a talk by Jane Charman emphasising the availability of Continuing Ministerial Development and we were each given a booklet containing details of courses and events for the rest of 2013. After an excellent lunch of roast pork and saying our fond farewells we each made our way home.  This afternoon I mowed all the lawns to get them looking nice for the visit of Sara’s Dad in ten days’ time.  With the rain and now the sun, the grass and weeds are growing up rapidly and if I can keep the grass down by regular mowing it won’t be such a big job.  The new lawn mowers really help.  Down the pub this evening with Richard for a catch-up as we’ve not seen each other for several days.