Pull up a pew (or a fetching plastic chair) Religion Chat Thread No 6

[madhairday]

Helloooooooooo!

A shiny new thread :)

How are we all today?

DS seems to have the beginning of what may be chicken pox so is in bed feeling sorry for himself. My laptop is playing up - a picture fell on it yesterday and killed the b key - it takes ages to make it respond now grrrr - and cracked the screen, so not sure what to do :(

Oh dear - didn't mean to confuse people. Being dyslexic means I can come up with all sorts of odd words, evensnog has gone down into family legend now.

I'm really enjoying the extra hour this morning as it is an early morning preach and preside which means time for another cup of coffee.

That made me laugh esp as dh is going out to the Congo next year to do some teaching/mission stuff!!!

How's everyone?

Helloooooooo

Where are y'all?

Not got enough to say for ourselves, I suppose.

ooops how are you all doing?

Hellooooo everyone! I'm back (I think) and feeling a bit better. How are you all?

Oh Niminy, maybe everybody sayed away because you weren't here. (By the way: I didn't, I just had nothing to say.
But I'm glad you are back.

It's lovely to 'see' you again. I realise I never heard about the choir festival in Peterborough -- how did it go?

I'm just back from a residential training weekend, so rather tired and with a lot of tidying up at home to catch up with. Hard work, but good. I'm still at work, looking at a mountain of marking that should have been done a while ago!

The festival was absolutely wonderful in spite of the fact that our conductor was feeling like death warmed up (and not much warmed up either) and that we made a mess of one of the pieces.
We have now heard that our choir mistress, who has done the job for 28 or 29 years is giving up after Christmas, so there probably will be no more festivals to go to. Very sad.

Oh, that's very sad news. Is there any possibility that another choirmaster or mistress could be found? The festivals sound as if they have been a wonderful thing.

Oh that is a shame, DO, I do hope you all find a way to carry on, it sounds lovely.

I'm off to a new wine women in leadership conference tomorrow - can't wait :) Soo much to do though - we have so much to sort out for Christmas, it's coming quickly (doing big community celebration which takes so much planning, rehearsing etc....need more time)

Where is nickel? I hope you are ok.

wb niminy :)

Have a fantastic time tomorrow MHD!

I'm slightly in denial about Christmas. After months of shilly-shallying about we are finally going to move in December, so I'm sure it'll be chaotic. Plus my mum is about to move, finally, on Friday to her new, no-stairs and convenient kitchen flat. Which will be great but there is nowhere for us to stay when we go to see her. I'm thinking of getting myself intensively rota-ed at church so we have an excuse not to have to try and find somewhere to stay in Brighton over Christmas (which I'm sure will be £££).

I'm hoping that our minister, who is a brilliant musician (he was a concert pianist before he became a Baptist minister) has something 'up his sleeve'. He is too busy to do it himself, but might know someone who could take it on. I don't know, we are all getting older and only have two men who read music, the rest is willing and can sing (sometimes) but not always what is on the page.

Christmas - ahhhhhhh.

Not only do I have to plan the family Christmas which will be very low key with other people cooking but I have to plan three carol services including the huge one where half the town turns up. No pressure then.

Yeeks, greenheart, three carol services. That's a lorra lorra carols.

DO I hope your minister does find something up his sleeve. However old anyone is, singing is so good for you, I think everybody should go on and on doing it as long as they can. (About the only heartening bit of the programme on Wakefield Cathedral the other night was the singing group for people with dementia briefly glimpsed through the gloom -- that was inspiring and lovely.)

Interesting you should say that about the Wakefield cathedral programme Niminy

There are loads more carol services which I'm expected to turn up to but so far those are the only ones I have to plan. Except for the one at the nursing home which I've just remembered.

Just remember, clergy are for life and not for Christmas and donations of chocolate and nice wine are always appreciated....

+ +

• chocolate.

and for greenheart - You'll need 'em to build up your strength!

Good luck with your big celebration, MHD - hope it goes well.

We are going away (i.e. not to stay with family but away to a holiday house) for Christmas for the first time ever, and taking my parents with us. As long as we survive the journey (6 of us in the one - large - car) without falling out it should be nice, and gives us the opportunity to keep it relatively simple as we won't have space to take much with us!

Don't talk about that programme! I'm feeling more and more cross and upset about the incredibly partial nature of what they showed. And I know for a fact that they had a lot of more positive footage that they could have used, but they chose a particular line, clearly...

I don't know anything about that particular singing group, but certainly my gran (who lived with us for years when I was a kid, after she'd had a series of strokes, and who was almost totally aphasic) loved her hymns. She used to settle herself down in the loo and have a good old sing... 'There is a green hill far away' and 'The day Thou gavest Lord is ended' were particular favourites as I recall, and she was word perfect, though she couldn't ask for a cup of tea in ordinary everyday speech.

I really hope you find a solution for your choir, Oma.

Well, we finally have a date for moving! Now all we have to do is get everything sorted out

And more imminently, Sunday will be the first time the DSs will see me robed -- am expecting a reaction from DS1 who has AS and doesn't really like change. But who knows? Since I started allowing him to take the iPad to church he's been much more enthusiastic about the whole thing.

Oo hello. This thread doesn't appear in my Threads I'm On bit anymore.

Niminy I probably asked you this before but are tou staying in this area or are you moving further away? Hope your ds is amused rather than disturbed by seeing you in your robes!

How was the conference mhd?

Green heart that's more carols than anyone should have to sing!

Not at all thinking about Christmas yet, which I'm sure I will regret as time passes and I start to panic. My dd had a little op at v short notice last week butbit totally took over the whole week. I'm blaming that!

at your gran tuo

sorry I've been awol.
I didn't come on mn at all for about 2weeks when I closed the shop (so much so that my threads I'm on had only one thread on it!)
byt that was because I didn't have my computer in front of me for 8 hours a day!
then this thread had dropped off, and I kept thinking "ooh, I myst tell the religionnchat thread about blah blah" but never making it!

I've read through the latest posts though. I pray that you'll get a choir solution oma, I'm sure it'll all work out :)
and I wonder whether alpha would be possible in a more middle-of-the-road church.

mary's church had a beer festival! I saw pics on facebook and it's not that different in layout to our church, but the other one always gets the events because of its favouritism "flexible seating"

niminy I'm sure he'll be fine seeing you in robes- it's only like a long coat.
:)

He was fine about the robes, and I didn't mess up too badly and only forgot where I was supposed to be standing a couple of times. Wearing my shiny silver DMs underneath the robes helped to calm my nerves a little.

Jayne, good to see you. We're staying in Cambridge but moving to a slightly larger house so the boys can have separate rooms. Hope your dd is recovering well from the op.