"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens...a time to plant and a time to uproot...a time to gather stones and a time to gather them."
Ecclesiastes 3
This is the final day of the season for me @cranmerhall !
"All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again."
Ecclesiastes 1:7
Praying for us all as we silently depart, flowing into a ministry that will be faster, wider and deeper than we could ever imagine.
"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."
Job 12:7-10
#Durham is such a beautiful city.God's creation sings its song each day.I will miss this daily reminder of God's goodness in this place, but I will find him in Bridlington...he goes before me.
"These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,a multitude keeping festival."
Psalm 42:4
I lament the locked doors as I dwell on my time in @durhamcathedral...
...but I look forward the day that churches open and God does something new and exciting in our world.
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God."
Psalm 42:5
Open the gates, Lord!
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and pray to me, and I will listen to you."
Jeremiah 29:11-12.
How easy it is to focus on v11, and not v12. God listens to me. Awesome!
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
James 1:17
Thank you God that you have met all my needs. Lead me and my friends as we go on from here,and bless this special place.#Durham
That should read 'a time to gather stones and a time to scatter them' !😎
For anyone starting out in curacy this summer, here is an A-Z of what I've learned in the past year... #curacy#ordination
A is for Admin
I would love to start with something deep and theological like 'Alpha' or 'Apostle'. But Admin, I'm afraid to say, is a dominant theme. I came to ministry from teaching, but the church is even worse for paperwork.And all of the training...was it always like this?!
B is for Books.
You'll love collecting books. And they'll look great on your bookshelf. I recently discovered a brilliant Japanese word - tsundoku. This is 'acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them.'
In ordinary times, today would have been my first day as an ordained priest. I designed a stole for the occasion, which has been beautifully hand-crafted by Yvonne Bell. It tells my story of life and faith which I’d like to share with you.
I came to faith in Jesus Christ on a field in Criccieth, North Wales. Throughout the year, the field was used to graze sheep, but in summer, I was the lost sheep and God met with me.
It was on this field, in 2005, that I felt this pull to be ordained, God wanted me to be a shepherd. This sense of 'calling' was nurtured through my work as a children's worker @TrinityMboro.