Pages

Popular:

12.6.23

Advice to the Newly Ordained

Updated for 2023

It is that time of year where various blogs offer those entering ordained ministry various pieces of advice - spiritual and professional.

But I have some practical advice.

Buy a Decent Computer



If you are a Mac user then you will already get this. If you are not it might come as bit of a shock.

A laptop should be about £1000.
It is not unreasonable to spend twice that.

Still breathing. Good.

A decent desktop computer with a screen, quality keyboard and mouse should also be about £1000. Again you can spend twice that.

And relax.

Plenty of people seem to update to the latest phone every 2 years, on a contract paying £^0 a month, whilst struggling with a creaking PC which is not fit for purpose.

Laptop or desktop you will be staring at the screen and tapping the keyboard on a regular basis. Good quality keyboards and screens reduce work related strains and pains. These are often the hidden costs of more expensive laptops.

Although most laptops offer at least an HD display of 1080p, High Density or Retina displays are considerably easier on the eyes. Although most laptops have screens in the TV shapes 16:9 ratio, some offer a taller display of 3:2 or 16:10 ration (typically in High Density) which many people prefer for writing and web based work.

A fast SSD and plenty of RAM will mean that when you start designing a flyer or a PowerPoint you won't be slowing to a crawl or crashing. And when you find yourself needing to edit a video ... you might actually be able to do it.

Laptops are not all of the same type. Just like cars - for the same amount of money you can buy something sporty with 2 seats, or a 4x4 with lots of space for stuff. In the same price range thin and light metal laptops will be less powerful than a chunkier plastic machine. Two laptops with same sort of processing power may be different prices because of the quality and type of screen, keyboard or touch-pad. Desktop machines will tend to be more powerful than laptops in the same price range. Thin and light laptops may slow down during long complex tasks (like video rendering) as the internals reach their thermal limits (so you don't burn your lap or hands!)

For Windows PC's if you are expecting to produce heavy PowerPoint presentations, live-stream complex services, or edit hour long videos, a Ryzen 7 / i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD is not an unreasonable target. If you want that thin and light with a good screen, keyboard and touch-pad you are already looking at £1600 at time of writing. CPU technology is always improving - and Ryzen 5 CPU's from this year will outperform i7's from several years back.

In the last few years Apple have disrupted the whole CPU ecosystem with their M1 and M2 chips, which in many ways out perform chips from AMD, Intel and others in laptops and tablets. They offer more than enough performance for the majority of users. But with Apple you are tied to multiple devices if you want a tablet and laptop experience. If you already have a tablet and just want a laptop for other tasks it is hard to not recommend a new Mac. 

In the last 12 months 10 inch e-ink devices like the Remarkable and Kindle Scribe have gained more attention. These devices do not offer full tablet facilities, but are excellent for note taking, PDF's (including sermons and liturgy) and with the scribe accessing your e-books.

In terms of operating system there are 4 options for a quality laptop experience - and again they do  different things well. There are real advantages to lighter operating systems like Chrome OS and iPad OS, but you might struggle with more complex tasks like Zoom or streaming (or just find they are harder to accomplish). If you want a convertible device (which can be used as a tablet for sermons) a Mac is not an option. Windows is extremely flexible but has a poorer (but improving) reputation for long term speed and security.





It may be that you need more than one device. For example I have a Ryzen 7 Desktop Windows PC which flies through heavy content creation, and a HP Spectre Laptop which is always on, works as a tablet and can be used anywhere for writing, email and work social media. I use a Kindle Scribe for preaching and taking notes.

Apple users will tend to have a good iPad (and maybe keyboard cover) and a more powerful desktop Mac or Macbook.

Remote desktop (where you access one computer from another) is not difficult to set up and manage. I regularly edit complex media on my Desktop PC using my Pixelbook which would struggle with the task.

If you are looking at Chrome OS then the convertible Acer Spin 714 series is good value, with 16:10 touchscreen and stylus. This machine is not going to be so great for video editing, and some apps like Zoom do not have the same facilities - but great for writing and web based tasks.

If you are looking at Windows my money would go towards the HP Spectre. For several years it has been considered in its iterations the best light Windows laptop. The option with the 3:2 OLED display is excellent on the eyes, and it is usable as a tablet with a pen.

These devices will be vital for your work. Them being inadequate for the job will only make your work harder and more frustrating. Quality IT equipment tends to last longer too. You can spread the cost under depreciation on expenses over 4 or 5 years rather than 2 or 3.

You could budget £20 a month for IT hardware depreciation, which the PCC pay, assuming 50% personal use for all devices. Yes that is almost £2000 over 4 years.

Back Up Everything to the Cloud


It doesn't matter what service you use.

I prefer Google Drive, and as a church we use their free charity provision for storage (and pay a small subscription for extra space). But I have always backed everything up to Drive, at times paying for space if needed.

Not only does this give peace of mind, but it allows you to use Google's excellent search technology to find that particular joke, sermon or file from 10 years ago that you can't quite remember the exact name of.

Disperse your email



If you are fortunate you will be given a parish email address. But even then you may well find the need to have three addresses. 

One for parish you would be happy to share a login with a Churchwarden or Parish Administrator if you fell off the steeple and were off work for 6 months. And this means you can turn off notifications on your day off.

One for professional work in the wider church that you would not want to share with anyone in the Parish. Like when you apply for another job.

One for personal, even if it is just for bills and accounts, that you might share login details with a spouse or close friend in case that fall from the steeple has a rather more permanent effect.

Keep your emails on a server. Do not delete them. Archive them. Because you never know when you might need to look back to a previous email with the Diocesan Safeguarding team.

Manage your social media.


Finally.

However careful you are with social media never say anything on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere you would not say from the pulpit with the Bishop and Archdeacon present whilst being filmed for Songs of Praise. 

Unless you are in a private group - but even these have a habit of leaking. And you never know when that person you had a misunderstanding with over the doctrine of trinity in Vicar Sharing Space of Facebook ends up interviewing you for a role as Bishop of Rockall. 


17.8.18

Making Facebook Work

I once came off Facebook. I deleted my account, and migrated to a portfolio of other social media providers. Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, etc.




But in the end I came back to Facebook.


Facebook is where people are


Younger people may prefer Instagram, shouty people like Twitter, creatives may find their way to Tumblr or Pinterest, but Facebook is still the place where most adults have an active account. 

If you want to network with new church members, gauge the culture of a community, or just know what is going on Facebook is hard to ignore. For ministry it is an invaluable tool and can be life giving and supportive too.

But how you use that tool is important.


Ditch the Feed


Taking inspiration from Google Plus' feature set, Facebook now allows you to control who sees what you post with Friend Lists. But much of the distraction and stress from Facebook comes from what other people post. It may sound heartless but the Unfollow button is your friend. If someone's posts are doing your blood pressure or anxiety levels no good then simply unfollow them. You may even like that person and agree with what they are saying, but you probably don't need the temptation to respond. If you are posting generally on Facebook focus on being light-hearted and unoffensive.

There are times when it is appropriate to post something more significant or political, but there may well be better arenas for that discussion. If you are in ministry you may well find yourself dealing with an argument between a colleague and a family member - and it is not pretty.


Build Groups


Again drawing from Google Plus' structure, Facebook has made Groups far more powerful. They can be public, private or even completely hidden. 

Most people have a range of interests - my Facebook posts would naturally be a mixture of board games, kites, church stuff and music. Instead of inflicting that content on a range of people who have little interest in all these areas it is better to join or build groups.

Building new groups is hard work, it requires regular new posts and sometimes you need to invite other people to join and post content they have shared elsewhere. Some groups are unhealthy - so don't stick around, you are not obligated to be part of any group. 

If Facebook is an important family space (we have migrated to WhatsApp) then why not start a family group and get people to post news and updates there rather than on their timeline?

There are complex controls (and algorithms) that influence what group posts you see in your main feed. Facebook is becoming better at making his transparent, but often when I log on to Facebook I simply flick through groups rather than focusing on my main feed. Doing so makes me more likely to post content that will help that community grow and thrive.


Turn off Notifications


Really. On your phone, on your PC. Social media is not a telephone, and does not require your complete attention 24/7. Treat Facebook like a book or magazine that you choose to pick up at certain times of day.


Start from Scratch


It may seem drastic but I have done it. Deleted my account and started afresh. It gives you the opportunity to regain control over who you connect with, and think intentionally about your privacy settings and who can connect with you.


3.2.18

First Apostles


And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:28
Disclaimer: My own views - not those of The Sodality of the Holy Spirit, or Sanctum Collective. I grew up through school a Methodist.

There are a number of excellent Anglo-Catholic responses to the report Mission and Ministry in Covenant - the report on working towards further unity between The Church of England and Methodists.
Andrew's critique rests heavily on the pattern of the early church. Understanding the Church of England to be Catholic and Apostolic is not about vestments, journeying with Rome, or even sacramental theology (although those are all part of being Catholic). 

It is not even about desiring full unity between Christians (although we do). 

Rather it is a desire to be shaped by the teaching and mission of the primitive church, expressed in scripture and the apostolic (early church) tradition. In the Church of England when we assent to the 39 articles we are assenting to that spirit - indeed I suspect that if the Anglican reformers were writing today with our greater knowledge of the apostolic era the 39 Articles would be rather different. But still we have this:
It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church to have public Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments, in a tongue not understanded of the people.
Article 24

Here then is the spirit of Anglicanism. To reject that which is repugnant to the Word of God and the custom of the Primitive Church. (They really had a way with words!)

The New Testament uses the word bishop to mean an overseer - rather than a particular office. However Paul is clear in the direction or flow of ministry and order. This order is not hierarchic, rather it reflects the development of New Testament ministry.

  • First apostles, whose roles varied from settled to missionary.
  • Second prophets (together with Evangelists) a role expressed in the permanent diaconate both ordained and (due to historic issues in the CofE) lay.
  • Third teachers, here we must embrace the fullness of meaning of pastor teacher as expressed in Jesus' ministry as shepherd rabbi.

Presbyters are not the source of the church's ministry and mission. Bishops, as successors of the apostles (spiritually and through the laying on of hands), are the source. 

Bishops are not presbyters writ large, but rather presbyters are bishops writ small. 

Both are apostolic - Jesus' ministry as shepherd & rabbi cannot be considered anything but the prime model.

The disciples of the disciples understood the role of bishop in this way. St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing in the C1st using deeply poetic language:

“For your justly-renowned presbytery, being worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Thus, being joined together in concord and harmonious love, of which Jesus Christ is the Captain and Guardian, do ye, man by man, become but one choir; so that, agreeing together in concord, and obtaining a perfect unity with God, ye may indeed be one in harmonious feeling with God the Father, and His beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
St. Ignatius: Letter to the Ephesians; Ch 4

As I noted in the Church of England the diaconate is lacking - Methodism has much to teach here. Readers, and other lay ministers act in a diaconal role in many parishes (including my own). We are not perfect, and I certainly do not off hand reject the validity of Methodist orders and sacraments. As a Charismatic I am very aware that the gifts of the Spirit work in the church even when unacknowledged. However the fullness of the Spirit in gift and sacrament demands a deeper alignment. 

The question is how Methodist Presbyters can be joined together in concord with the Bishops as string are to the harp. I know how I was joined - through confirmation and ordination. Anything less, as the articles would have it, falls short of 'the Word of God and the custom of the Primitive Church.'




15.2.17

Take Note

Have you ever said something stupid in front of an Archbishop?

Monday lunchtime I happened to be sitting next to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I was a guest at a meeting discussing forming clergy as leaders in mission, and we were both deep in conversation with other people. However I did repeat my frustration that with some sections of the Church of England that it is almost as if they don't want there to be a pension left for them in 30 years.





Shortly afterwards Justin said a few words where he emphasised that our motivation for mission should not be about saving an institution, but about sharing the love of God. He is right. I was wrong. I will not say that line again, even in jest.

I have taken note.

This afternoon I will be joining with fellow Charismatics at Soul Survivor's Naturally Supernatural conference. Meanwhile Synod will be asked to Take Note of "Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations". I have probably got the better deal.

Personally I am convinced that Paul's soteriological statement in Galatians 3:28 applies to the whole economy of God. That in order and sacrament, and ultimately the new creation, gender, as we have understood it is passing away. I support the ordination of people irrespective of gender for the same reasons I support the marriage of people irrespective of gender. I am aware that this is not the official teaching of the Church of England, and I live under that discipline.

In the report to Synod the term used throughout refers to those who experience same sex attraction. Here is the rub - who is this? Is it everyone who had a pash or crush at school? Everyone who has ever found themselves in an intense same sex friendship that they suddenly realise could be more? Everyone who has had a sexual fantasy or dream about a member of the same sex?

Or is it the 49% of 18-24 year olds who do not describe themselves as heterosexual?

If you have the time read the report and replace the words 'Same Sex ........' with '49% of 18-24 year olds'. How does it read now? Because that is how those outside the church will read it.

This evening I will chair a PCC meeting. I enjoy PCC meetings, but I recognise as a leader that the decisions we make seldom please everyone. They may not even please me. In many cases they are a step forward on a journey towards discerning the will of God. Hopefully however we avoid saying something stupid.

And sometimes the PCC needs to tell the Vicar she or he is about to say something stupid.

I am passionately committed to supporting our Bishops and Archbishop. As clergy if we do not we cannot expect the wider church we lead to respect our leadership either. But I expect my PCC to tell me when I am saying something that sounds stupid. And I take note.

I have no doubt that the report before synod this afternoon was anguished over. I have no doubt that it has been presented with the best intentions. But whatever our views on sexuality the language is wrong.

I suspect we are on the verge of saying something rather stupid.







15.8.16

Crisis in the Church?

Towards the end of the 100-minute service at St Luke’s in Birmingham on a sunny Sunday morning, Taryn Nabi began to shake uncontrollably. Near her, a man fell to his knees with head bowed and arms outstretched. Several people wept; some embraced. Guardian
Sounds like church to me.



Cue references to to various movements through history including the Wesleys, Augustine, and the Apostolic church. But others are less comfortable with this direction in the Church of England:
“The diehards become more and more frenzied, while everyone else looks on in total incomprehension – and in many cases are repulsed.”
This it simply is not my experience of running the Alpha Course. Or offering regular opportunities for prayer ministry in gathered worship. Or finding ways to make the richness of Catholic Anglican worship accessible to the unchurched. Or for that matter simply going out into the community and telling people about Jesus.

And then we have Martyn Percy:
"The church", (is) in the grip of a “small group of elite organisationally minded evangelicals who think the church is a biddable, shapeable, governable body, and that’s not the case. The reality is complex, messy, knotty."
Martyn is correct that the Church of England is difficult to lead. But it requires leadership. Evangelicals have invested in leadership training over the last 20 years in a way that other traditions have not. Some of those models may be good, some may be bad, but the alternative seems to be no intentional leadership. I learnt more about missional parish leadership in a one day course from an evangelical than I did in three years at theological college.

Martyn continues:
"A lot of the ways in which [evangelicals] talk about God is fundamentally offputting. More people are turned off than turned on.”
The anonymous commentator spoke of repulsion. Martyn speaks of 'fundamentally offputting'. This is emotional language.

In the past I have had my own hang ups about charismatic and evangelical spirituality. There are issues in all spiritual traditions, but I have come to recognise two things. Firstly that contemporary evangelicalism is increasing in breadth and depth - including valuing and working with other traditions. Secondly that in some areas I was simply wrong. In particular in re-embracing the supernatural action of God in the charismatic. I am not alone on this journey - the old tribalism is dead.

There are questions - especially about how a central leadership vision works in parishes across the country that have become resistant to growth and mission.
Robert Cotton said. “Membership is not the language that I and those that live in the soggy middle of the CofE often use. Of course we want more people to come to church, but I don’t think of the church essentially as a membership organisation.”
I cannot see the church surviving without becoming a membership organisation with high levels of commitment to growth from all the members of the church. But I understand where Robert is coming from. The difficulty is real and it needs to be addressed. Yet the soggy middle of the CofE does not have a great track record when it comes to growth.

Clergy hit brick walls in parish ministry and become disillusioned, but this is not the fault of those who are making it work. Evangelicals have built up support networks that have a proven track record, and are facing up to these new challenges.

And there are new networks and communities developing. The Sodality of the Holy Spirit is one such missional community:
"An inclusive community of individuals committed to developing the charisms (intentional, missional, expectational) in their own discipleship and ministry."
There is also Sanctum which is transitioning from an event into a network:
"A network of emerging sacramental practitioners and dreamers.
To worship, recharge, share ideas, pray and support."
I am convinced that God is doing something new in the Church of England. Yes, there are legitimate questions, those of the critical friend, that need to be asked. My worry is that the voices of negativity will be taken as speaking for whole swathes of the Church.

They do not speak for me.

19.3.16

Sign & Spirit - the website - and more ...

This website has been running in various forms since 2003. It has always been a diverse mix of different material on different subjects.



However recently writing on Sign and Spirit I have realised that this material needs its own space to develop: http://www.signandspirit.com/.

So stuff that relates to church leadership, structure, theology, will be here. Stuff that relates to intersection of the charismatic and sacramental only will be there.

I am also involved in the Sodality of the Holy Spirit, An inclusive community of individuals committed to developing the charisms (intentional, missional, expectational) in their own discipleship and ministry.


Finally I am enabling Sanctum, an Emerging Sacramental gathering of practitioners and dreamers
to worship, recharge,  share ideas, pray and support.



30.1.16

Reflections on the YouGov Poll

Firstly I am deliberately not engaging with arguments for and against same sex marriage here.



Secondly, the recent YouGov poll: what does it really say?

This is the section which deals with those who responded as 'members' of the Church of England (Anglican/Episcopal etc.). We know that actual worshipping members of our church are about 2%. Yet here 19% identify themselves as having an affiliation.

This is a remarkable figure, as it demonstrates the missional impact the Church of England has in the nation.


13.1.16

The Primates

So the Primates are meeting to discern the future of the Anglican Communion. And we are praying. But I do have some thoughts.



Catholic or Reformed?


The Anglican Church is both Catholic & Reformed. Catholic in Order (Bishops, Priests and Deacons) and Sacraments (with ecumenical agreements and disagreements) and Reformed (and reforming) in its expression of the Catholic faith. Obvious statement - different Anglicans understand this differently. But so do different churches within the communion.

In particular what we will call the 'Episcopalian' tradition from Scotland and the United States has a different history and spirituality to the 'Anglican' tradition found in England. The churches in the communion which have these roots have had fewer people who look towards the Reformed Presbyterian model of church, and have far less historical attachment to the 39 Articles, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Commonwealth and Monarchy!


Gender or Sexuality?


Although the debate in the communion is framed in terms of Liberal vs. Conservative this is not entirely accurate.

28.11.15

Rebuild My House

Synod this year was opened by a sermon from Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.



Fr. Raniero is a Papal preacher and an advocate of renewal in the Church. He writes (via CBN).
“Baptism in the Spirit is not a human invention; it is a divine invention. It is a renewal of baptism and of the whole of Christian life, of all the sacraments. It is a renewal of my religious profession, of my confirmation, and of my priestly ordination,”
You can read more of his reflections on renewal here.

6.10.15

Tribalism & Identity

The Bishop of London's lecture at Lambeth has created some great discussion. It is a long read, but worth it.



For me what stands out is the rejection of tribalism, but the acceptance of identity (or different expressions of church).

One obvious source of division was the training of the clergy in party colleges, and an effort was made to overcome this aspect of the old system while eschewing any attempt to homogenise the proper diversity of the Church of England.
The desire to stimulate vocations and to train ordinands in a context in which every legitimate tradition could be honoured had an impact on perhaps the most significant development of the past twenty years: the establishment of St Mellitus College.
In the old system candidates were entrusted to independent training agencies, often founded along party lines.
... 
One of the underlying principles of the past twenty years in London has been that every legitimate strand in the Anglican tradition should be honoured and reflected in the appointments made in the Diocese. There is only one vital distinction which transcends the differences between different strands of churchmanship and that is the distinction between dead church and living church.
I am working with a St.Melitus placement at present and I can confirm the spirit of that community, that they carry out into their work in parishes. I also deeply value my time at Westcott, especially as part of the Cambridge Theological federation. But St. Melitus seems to be doing something different.