Error Messages in LSM - Voting

Parish Council membership must be respected carefully.

A proper election from among the parish membership should put a Council in place each year. If others wish to attend or are invited to be present—

** the seating arrangements should make it clear that they are not voting members

** the record of the meeting should identify them as “observers”

It is too easy for a small group of people who know each other well to become a little relaxed about exactly who has been elected or appointed to make the decisions and carry the responsibility.

This can be a serious problem if conflict arises. But it is easily avoided if there is clarity about exactly who are elected to exercise a vote.

Error Messages in LSM - Conviction

It goes without saying that not all Parish Members will give their fullest support to the LSM strategy. Those who are experiencing deep-seated objections need particular pastoral support—

** They may have formally objected to the decision
** Or you may notice they have just gone very quiet;
** They have not been open to reviewing their point of view as time has gone on.

Whatever their situation, they may require specialised pastoral care over a long period. People do not change their basic convictions easily and may need help to accept a situation which they may feel has been pushed on them by an insensitive majority of the membership.

We pray for the world

We know Easter is upon us just from looking at the paper or watching TV or walking the shops. On all sides is a bold proclamation of what the community believes is important.

We who treasure some different understandings of Easter properly reject this “secular” celebration of the Season. But we need to remember that the Faith which returned to full life after the central figure in the Jesus Way was crucified is not just for us.

Recently, Ann reminded the Ministry Team of the many Christian communities who maintain regular regimes of prayer. They don’t just pray for the world to get what it wants or needs; they pray on behalf of the world which usually neglects to pray for itself.

Sometimes our insignificant efforts to stand up for meaning in a noisy, uncaring world seem pointless. It seems hopeless to try to persuade today’s secular society that Easter means more than bunnies and chocolate.

Perhaps that’s not what we are called to do. We’re called just to be Christ’s people on behalf of those who can’t be bothered. We’re just called to be faithful. Of course we will speak out about the injustices of a society that is led only by economics and Easter shopping glitz and political expendiency. But, at heart, that’s because we are people of faith.

Easter bunnies have nothing on that!

Do not write your password down

A LETTER TO OUR BANK:

In respect of your requirement that passwords not be written down or stored in a computer, we need some guidance as to how you suggest we remember these. We have checked our memories carefully and find that, between us, we find we have about 130 passwords and other verification which are not to be written down nor stored as above.

If you check our application form for our birth dates you will appreciate that memorising four or six more items of information is now a rather difficult chore (we had to check our birth certificates to get our names right). So we have decided enough is enough and, despite our signatures on the application, we are not confident that our assurance on this issue can be quite absolute. So we are looking for ways of dealing with this situation.

One possibility is that instead of writing down the necessary information, specifically forbidden by you, we write it up, as is usually done of notes after a meeting. These are seldom written down but often written up. This seems to us to be the simplest solution to our dilemma.

However, given that we are quite tech-savvy for a couple of oldies, we have looked for more sophisticated ways of dealing with the problem. So, instead of storing the information in a computer, we presume it would be acceptable to store it in a camera, reel-to-reel tape recorder or audiocassette machine. We can also use a personal digital assistant, electronic address book or recording pen. Looking ahead a little, we might use a wristwatch with recording capability or videoglasses which could portray a visual list of up to 250 items page-turned at the flick of an eyebrow.

Just so that you know we are taking your conditions seriously, perhaps you would give us some guidance as to your realistic expectations.

Thank you for your assistance

Today, with about a dozen other people, I watched a young mum with a babe in her arms, having a struggle with one of those “terrible twos”. The child was lying on the ground screaming her head off. People in most of the big shopping carpark and the adjacent café all turned to watch.

Her mother was very patient but helpless. An older woman stepped over and had a sympathetic chat but the child yelled on. With everyone watching but doing nothing, Mum eventually dragged the child off by one arm to even more determined shrieking and an embarrassing show of resistance and agonising pain.

After a few steps mum let the youngster down on the ground where a full-blown tantrum developed. I walked over and said to the now somewhat distressed mother, “Would you like me to pick her up?” and, without waiting for a reply, I did so. Of course, the noise subsided on the instant.

I carried her with her Mum and baby brother over to the supermarket. We fitted the two of them them into a two-seater shopping trolley. They disappeared inside and peace returned to the forecourt.

I left the scene quickly. The last time I kissed a child that wasn’t a close relation I was reported to the Methodist Harassment Police and I had to write an abject apology.

How many chiefs does it take?

Our small parish is now just one congregation with a membership of a couple of dozen. For twenty years we have been using Local Shared Ministry. There's no minister, indeed, no paid person at all. But our strategy seems to be a bit of a mystery to the powers that be. We don't fit the mould.

We have just been informed that we are now to have a "Parish Superintendent" Minister. He will visit us from three hours away, apparently a couple of times a year. Not such a big chore for him, and we know him and would love to have a visit. But we wonder who will pay for all that travelling.

And we want to protest that our little corner of the Vineyard is already supervised, in some degree or other, by the President and Council of Churches Together In Northland, which is our regional affiliation and is supposed to provide pastoral and administrative support. Through CTN, we are also responsible to the Uniting Churches of Aotearoa-New Zealand which draws together ecumenical parishes such as ours.

But, being under Methodist jurisdiction at the present, we are also responsible to the Methodist District Superintendent of Auckland, as well as a new Regional Superintendent for Northland (but who also lives outside Northland and will have to travel for a couple of hours to see us).

And most importantly in our view, we have a Ministry Enabler who meets with our Parish Council Team for training, supervision, support and, to provide the necessary links to the wider church. We think she is quite adequate to replace all these ecclesiastical dignitaries. 

Now I hear on the grapevine that we may shortly be moved to Presbyterian jurisdiction. Right now, that sounds like a good move.

Where to go on Sunday

      Bev and I had a busy time while down south last month and it wasn’t always possible to attend worship on Sundays. But when we did, we became very aware of the difficulty of finding a place to worship.
     Information was quite hard to find: times and places were sometimes incorrectly advertised on notice boards, websites and newspapers. All the apologies in the world don’t make up for wrong information.
     But more important for us was what kind of service did we want to attend? Time was when you looked for the nearest church of your denomination. But these days that doesn’t work for us any more. There are Methodist churches which are as “progressive” as we could hope for and others that offer a couple of hours of something more like we might find at the local pentecostals. And there are not many in between those extremes.
     You might say, “Never mind what it’s like, it just matters that you attend”. We don’t feel like that any more. Doing worship well matters. It is vitally important for both the participants and their communities.
     I would like to think that our little congregation's worship leaders will continue to have a sense of that importance. Meanwhile, we have a new noticeboard... and I should take a photo and add it to this....

DIY on the Geraldine River Walk

A few days ago I took the “river garden walk” at Geraldine.

A narrow strip of rough woodland runs between the buildings and the river at the back of the main street is. Locals have been cleaning up the scrub and carving a one kilometre path along the riverbank. Everywhere they are planting new shrubs on the tidied up grounds. It's looking stunning.

This achivement, apparently, is not the work of the District Council and certainly not the Government. It’s being done by local volunteers who are taking a little pride in their community.

Another example of that DIY spirit by which people pitch in and get something done for their own place, their own environment.

Rather like Local Shared Ministry, in a way...

Pioneers

 Last night we visited the memorial to Richard Pearse, New Zealand’s pioneer aviator. It’s a simple replica of the machine in which he made the first powered flight of the British Empire, if not the world. It’s sited almost exactly where that first flight ended in a hedge,

Only his own modesty and conflicting eyewitnesses accounts about the actual year denies him the certainty of beating the Wright Brothers into controlled flight by several months.

Considering that Pearse had no training or qualifications of any kind, his flight was an absolutely extraordinary achievement. He solved problems without the benefit of knowledge already available in other parts of the world. He wrestled with the equipment and supplies he had and improvised to create his own solutions produced an amazing result. And at the end of the day he put his own body on the line and flew the thing.

It’s that kind of spirit that impels people in some small congregations to tackle Local Shared Ministry. They choose to realise on their own assets in ministry instead of waiting for someone else in some other setting to provide ministry for them.

Will you take...?

   Our month in the South Island was planned around the wedding of Grandson Tim and Casey at her parents’ high country homestead.

   It was a great occasion for around 100 family and friends. The weather forecast hadn’t looked too good but it turned out fine. All the complex and little details put into this imaginative event went smoothly. And everyone pitched in and enjoyed themselves. For my part, it was a pleasure to have no responsibility for any part of it!

   So another couple was launched on their joint life’s path. Another set of families is linked together “by marriage”. And all of us had the opportunity of thinking again about our own relationships and expectations.
   Some say, Why bother with a wedding? Well, I’m glad these two have. Just the event itself was a positive experience for dozens of us. I wish them well.