Hallelujah He is Here - Chataway

[DutchOma]

Well here you are then I don't post often, but just to save Nickel a job...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/1490407-SESthebrave-live-induction-birth-thread-waters-are-gone

Oooh, exciting! Thanks!

aaah nickel can you give us a quick course in Parish Profile writing?
There is a joint PCC meeting with the archdeacon tonight, the 2 parishes together. Apparently they wanted to hand in the parish profile tonight. Now it would have been nice if someone would have told me that a few weeks ago! Communication is not a good point it seems. I thought it was said that parish profile was quite low on priority list at the moment, as tonight is probably going to be decided whether we will stay a benefice or not and then we would concentrate on the parish profile after that...
Really don't need all the stress atm...

well, our parish profile is still live - it's being slightly re-written, i think (now that we're interviewing again)
www.canterburydiocese.org/vacancies/Sittingbourne/sittingbourneparishprofile2012.pdf
but it shows the kind of things you need to include

I think that the most important thing is communication - something we seemed crap at until the interregnum - now we're getting much better!
I reckon parish is better than benefice, it seems to make life easier (and makes it much more "us" than "us and them")

i've Googled a few more (i typed in Parish Profile)

this is really wordy

this looks good

I think it should be bullet points with a bit of extra text following.

Thanks nickel I still had it in my downloads from looking at it last time!

The outcome of the meeting is that we are highly likely to split up, the other parish will possibly become a House for duty. Because of their A&B resolutions, they asked the archdeacon whether they would get a young family when choosing that option, he laughed and said no. They were told very clearly that because of their resolutions they are seriously reducing their pool of priests that might apply for the job.
Our parish will get a 0.5 priest, with a 0.1 housing allowance, well most likely that is. But we will probably have to wait till Oct/Nov before that is decided... Quite some time without a priest...

I'm hoping once our vicar retires, communication will improve!

that's a shame.
very true about reducing pool - we have that worry - we've got 2 churches very different - which is great for the diversity and needs of anyone who wants to worship , but there are too many priests coming in who only want hc, nothing traditional

Team Ministry is the phrase you want to bandy about.

I usually cringe at SJS on organ but that actually sounds a lot better than most other versions of SJS!!

Not good here. Have to go into hospital again, tomorrow. Rather fed up and just tired :(

:(

Where is everyone?

Back from hospital and doing home IVs. In need of some conversation

Hope all are well, and not been raptured?

I'm here MHD so obviously I missed the rapture too. You'd think clergy spouse and missionary wife would make the list .

Been following your hospital progress on fb. Good that you're home.

We've only got just over four weeks left here now . Just two holiday clubs with UK teams to host, packing the house up and working out where we're going to be next to do. So not too busy/stressful

Please can I stick my head in and say Hi.

I obviously also missed the rapture.

we're not the chosen ones, are we?!

you may - I've seen you elsewhere, so hello :)

do join in with chat, philosophical musings, GK lyrics etc

Welcome NKU. Tell us about yourself :)

Oooh thanks - any idea what's happening next? Must feel very strange for you.

Hello nickel. Indeed we obviously missed the rapture. Perhaps only fervent GK fans qualify

Rapture? I wish...

I'm still here too!

thanks, for the warm welcome.

Have felt that i wanted to say that I am a Christian forever, and for a while in the past I did, without second thought. Then have had a really rubbish patch and realised that I had so many doubts that it would be hypocritical to say that I am a Christian.

However, had an awesome chat with a friend who is at vicar school and after talking about all the things that I do believe, and the things that I have trouble with, he felt that it would not be dishonest or a lie to say that I am. It has made me so happy.

I think that's all part of the journey.

I always say it's important to constantly question faith. :)

Totally. Faith without questioning would not be an authentic kind of faith.

Glad your chat with your ordinand friend was helpful. :)

Lots of 'interesting' threads around MN atm...

Indeed MHD It's religion-tastic over on AIBU

Welcome NKU! Agree with nickel and MHD - totally normal/natural/healthy. Great that you had a friend you could talk with.

Hi Everyone

As usual I've been lurking but not posting, but thought I would today. I've another take on questioning faith. I have so many questions about so many different things, mainly to do with how should we decide which bits of the new testament we adhere to and which bits we say were written for their time and are no longer socially applicable. You can apply this to the role of women in the church, gay marriage, gay ministers, Sunday observance etc etc. There is so much I don't understand. If I questioned it all the time I think I'd burst. Instead, deep inside, I know I have to trust God. My faith is bigger than my questions and so I just have to live with them.

I totally agree with you Jaffa as well. There has to be some kind of balance of questioning and trust, or we'd never get anywhere in our relationship with God. I think it's getting that balance that can be difficult and beautiful at the same time. :)

Jaffa, that is so right, the chap I was talking to asked me if I thought that the disciples had questions or doubts. Yes, I do, but they had Jesus to sit with and ask... not a document that has been translated by man and retranslated so many times it is possible that the real message has been lost.
However, as he pointed out, those closest to Jesus, had doubts and Jesus still loved them, and trusted them to share the word. That helped me to feel that t would be acceptable for me to have doubts.