Well, we’ve had our annual Ministers Conference this week and it usually leaves me pretty drained emotionally. This year, however, has been a notable exception to what I’d assumed would be an on-going rule.
Why is the question I ask myself? Two things spring to mind immediately – One factor is the sense of sharing the load within our small team has become reality. This means, whilst I still feel I must ultimately carry the can for anything which doesn’t work etc. we now have a much greater sense of shared responsibility in practice – for which I am very grateful.
Secondly, a less demanding queue of requests this year has meant I’ve been able to spend more time simply catching up with various folk and having more obviously leisurely conversations than all being loaded with difficult issues.
My colleague, Pat Took, was our key speaker and, I think, went down well enough, although I’ll know more after looking at the feedback forms. Interestingly, she helped us look at three dimensions of Baptist our distinctives in order to encourage us to evaluate them in our present contexts. So, we looked at
- the crown rights of the redeemer,
- the priesthood of all believers
- walking and watching over one another in love.
Thanks Pat.
The most stimulating session, for me, was one where she looked at the nature of Christian community alongside the questions ‘do we want it?’ and ‘what’s the cost of it?’
No photos – took my camera, but it stayed in the bag, so maybe not as relaxing as I thought!
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