The first harvest festival

There is nothing like a busy day and a good night's rest to put life in perspective! The first of several benefice harvest services is over. The small village church was alive with flower arrangers on Saturday and people bringing donations of fresh produce. It certainly looked like a bumper year for crops. The Rectory garden was able to provide raspberries, sweet corn, runner beans, apples, tomatoes and spinach. This is the first time I have had a garden harvest for many years. Being new in the village, I was aware that people have been decorating the churches for years and I didn't even realise they had started until the Rector@6 happened to pop in and found a hive of industry. I did know that there wasn't a regular harvest loaf maker so I decided to spend my Saturday morning making one. Kneading bread must be one of the most therapeutic activities there is! All those teaching years with salt dough and play dough paid off, and I was pleased with the result.

The church really did look splendid. In a village surrounded by farms, there is a particular relevance to Harvest festivals. We have all witnessed the long hours the farmers have worked to bring in the crops as the tractors thundered through the village to empty their trailers. We have watched the changes in the weather - hoping that it won't affect the yields. The fields are already ploughed and replanted and so the landscape has changed through a spectrum of colours from the green ripening shoots, to the golden stalks, to the dusky yellowing stubble and back to the rich brown or chalky white soil that village is built on. The flower displays reflected all these colours and also remembered the harvesting of the sea with some poor little sardines that had been washed up on a beach and brought back to the village, dried and added to the church displays!

A traditional service attracted regular and not so regular churchgoers and the church was full. What a difference it makes to sing hymns of praise with so many voices! If only these rural churches were full more often as they can radiate such warmth and sense of community. Yet many people are moving away from wanting to recognise or believe in a God who loves them. Attending church doesn't seem relevant to their lives as they are struggling to make ends meet or are busy working to provide for their families. And yet this church will be busy on Monday morning with people coming for a chat and coffee at the regular coffee morning and bric-a-brac stall run to support the church building fund. The harvest lunch that followed the service, was bustling with people. So I suppose the Church has to look at its changing role in these small communities. It is very much wanted to carry out the 'matching and dispatching' of parishioners. It is wanted for traditional festivals like Easter, Christmas and Harvest. It is wanted because it is there and has been there for hundreds of years. It's strange how the focus of a church very quickly becomes fund raising and then they are perceived as always chasing money. Perhaps it is even more important for rural churches to turn and look outside the doors of these beautiful buildings and seek out where they can serve best.


I nearly forgot to mention that on our return from holiday, we had difficulty getting to the rectory front door due to the arrival of fifty or sixty yellow squashes that seemed to be breeding on the doorstep! They had been there all weekend. Nobody will own up to  placing them there ....so we can't thank them but they made us laugh!

Why would anyone want to be a vicar....or a vicar's wife?

The honeymoon is over and the clouds are rolling in. We knew it had to come to an end but the reality of the life we find ourselves in, is hard to take. We ended our summer holiday with four days next to the beach with no television, internet or telephone. We thought we were energized, refreshed and ready to go, but the coal face is a lot harder than we anticipated. I have been alongside The Rector@6 through 3 very, very long days and the contrast with the peace and silence we had experienced last week was vivid. So many voices, so many personal agendas, so much talking and being talked at. I hope that this really isn't the Kingdom of God because right now, I don't want to be part of it. I feel bruised and exhausted and I can't imagine how The Rector@6 feels. Right at this moment I want to go home......I will write more when things are more in perspective and I am less tired. I write so that I can reread this at a later date and know that things did get better.

The problem of being the vicar's wife is that you feel no one comes as a genuine friend, they all eventually want to tell you where the church has gone wrong or how it could be better if it was done this way or that way. I suspect this is in the hope that I will pass it on. I am tired of talking about church.

So that was the summer

Our last summer walk from Corfe Castle to the coast at Swannage.

Summer is over. I am sitting next to a roaring fire and through the window I can see the predicted gale tossing the trees so violently that they are forced to surrender their leaves. The Rector@6 and I are on our summer holiday. We have had some time to explore Dorset and now we have escaped back to Devon to put up our feet for a day or two. (At this present moment The Rector@6 is changing the light fittings in this room.)
The real summer has been full of shows, festivals and harvesting. Our rectory has been filled, each week in August, with a lunch and then evening summer course run by the rector. In between all of this, we have managed some lovely days out. Pictures are better than words.....and at the moment I seem to have very few words to write. Maybe it will be easier after our 'summer' holiday.
 For now, here is a taste of our new life.

The beaches are varied and glorious!

We live in the countryside where Thomas Hardy was born and where many of his books are set.

We are next door to an amazing annual steam fair!

We managed to get to the Christian Greenbelt festival for one day!

The weather has been good and the natives friendly! Here is our Faith, Hope and Love lunchtime course sharing lunch in the rectory garden. We had five sunny Tuesdays in a row in August / September - allowing both the evening and lunchtime groups to eat outside. It has been good to get to know so many people and I hope they will feel enthused to work together to build up our six rural churches. It has been good to talk - now the work begins!

Busy Rectory Bees - needing Confirmation advice

The pace of life doesn't seem to slow down at the rectory. Just when we can see a gap in the calandar, there are unexpected visits from our sons and other family members. It is such a joy to be on the visiting radar, as living in Devon, we were just that little bit too far for an easy drive for the rest of our families. The summer is full of village shows and we have tried to get to most of them. The Rector@6 still hasn't quite got broad enough shoulders to ignore remarks about his occasional lack of attendence at one or another show. These comments show such little understanding of how hard he is working, and whether the comments are in jest or not, they upset the Rector@6 and me. If they could only see behind the rectory door! Finding his way through the business of six parishes and getting to understand the people and how they work, is a very time consuming business.

As autumn approaches, thoughts are turning to harvest services /suppers (each parish wanting their own), Christmas (yes Christmas!), Advent courses and the post Christmas visit from the Bishop for a Confirmation service. The latter service means that the confirmation classes must be completed during the Christmas period. Of course the Rector@6 won't be doing this all on his own, he has a team of clergy who have to work together to cover the six churches of the benefice.

I am now taking on the role of Benefice secretary !!!!!! Ok - so I was going to have my own life - but it is just not possible and keep a sane husband. While we remodel the benefice website, it is easier to have this job under the rectory roof for a short period (it is not for ever!). I have also been going through some of the resources available for Anglican Confirmation. I am so disappointed by what I have found. Has anyone used up-to-date, none indoctrinating, challenging, exciting material for teenagers' Confirmation classes? It is a serious business but surely we should be tapping into the teenage energy and encouraging them with up-to-date understanding of the Anglican church and how we (The Church) recognise their gifts and can use them. There must be something out there that makes the Church of England look relevant to the average teenager!
If you can help, or can recommend anything, or can ask anyone you know who might have suitable material - please contact me. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong places but we do want to see our young people spreading their wings.

Six monthly audit and lots of faith, hope and love.

I can't believe we have been here for six months! Our life was upturned and redirected in February, when we moved to this small rural village and my husband began his first incumbancy as the rector of six rural churches. I can't believe how different one English county can be from another. Here we are surrounded by thatched cottages and vast fields of crops. Despite living in the countryside before, never has the onset of harvest been so obvious to me. We are surrounded by acres of wheat and barley that stretch as far as the eyes can see. Now, after a short, intense sunny spell, the tractors seem to be working continuously to bring the crops in. The thundering tractors race through the village from dawn until midnight (- when they are actually obliged to stop). As you look over towards the farms, it looks like there is a dust storm rising out of the fields - centred on a huge harvester monster that continuously crawls up and down the field. And so the crops will be brought in and the circle of ploughing and planting will start again.

The Rector has now had six months to listen and watch the six churches in action. When he came here, he promised to make no changes and to get to know the people and parishes in his first six months. This has required patience from those folk who wanted things to change or move on, or were worried that the new rector was going to shake up the familiar. It has been a great time for us as we have tried to attend most village events and the Rector@6 has tried to attend most parish meetings. It has also been a very busy and tiring time!


Often in August, being the school holidays, many church groups take a break so the Rector@6 decided that this was a good time to run a short course to get to know people on a different level. He advertised the York course 'Faith, Hope and Love' - to run in the Rectory garden with a bring and share supper. It has been a great opportunity to listen to people and where they are in their churchmanship, their faith journey and their relationship with the parish church. The Rector@6 would thoroughly recommend this course to other ministers starting out somewhere new. It has proved to be very popular - so much so -  that we have had to run it in two sessions, either with lunch or supper. It has made for a very busy August hence the lack of blogging on my part!

I am settling down into a routine of helping with and riding the big horses over in the next village. This is my escape from parish life, as they are outside the Rector@6's parishes. And I need it! We seem to eat, sleep and talk church in the Rectory. This settling-in period seems such an intense time but then that is the same with any new job - but I am not employed in this job - I just live in it!
 

An interactive encounter

Just over two weeks ago, the Rector@6 and I were invited to supper by 'the upper home group' in one of the parishes. There are two house groups in this village - 'the upper' and the 'lower' groups! This bears no relationship to their churchmanship or academic status (or at least I don't think so!!), it is simply due to their geographical location. One is situated at the top of the village and the other is at the bottom end of the main street. This is the village that has the biannual 18th century street fair and where the Rector and his missus made their entry (see last blog).

We have learned that there is no such thing as a free supper when you come from the Rectory and usually the conversation turns to church matters. The Rector@6 has learned to take his wine slowly, in order to be able to respond to the conversations thoughtfully. The evening was delightful and we were able to sit outside and get to know this group. There was a buzz and this was a group who really seemed to be engaging with their beliefs but we hardly saw some of them in church because of the Rector@6 being rostered to go to other benefice churches.

The conversation turned to the street fair and one member commented that her daughter had seen palm readers, magic shows and fortune tellers but, even inside the church, there appeared to be no Christian representation at the fair in the previous years. Many people went inside the church to listen to the live musical performances and then left - perhaps unaware that it was actually a working church and not a concert hall. This year there was a new space in the South Aisle that had been beautifully converted to make a meeting room with kitchen facilities. As yet, -  no fair group had claimed that space. So there it was - that was the challenge to create a space (for God).

I had seen some amazing interactive prayer stations in a church in Cromer in Norfolk, when we were on holiday last year. I had watched the holidaymakers come in and engage with each area - people were able to be still, to reflect in this sacred space and engage in activities that would focus their prayers and thoughts on different areas. There were so many brilliant ideas. I took loads of  photos - with no idea of when they might come in handy again. I have to say - I have felt that God has been placing projects into my hands since we have been here. When we arrived in this benefice, I had felt the need to have some type of reflective space at each of the regular coffee shops that we have in three of our churches. Nothing too threatening but just to remind people that they were not in a village hall and that they were actually in the village church. The Rector@6 had put out a request for noticeboards but they had not been forth coming, so I accepted my timing was wrong and I couldn't do it on my own - anyway, I was the incomer!

Suddenly, with a couple of weeks to go, there was the opportunity and a group of people who were going to make it happen. I just had to share the photographs from Norfolk. It was like lighting the blue touch paper!
It was great to see people become enthused and help in any way they could. The South Aisle was transformed by fair day. A trail of footprints was stuck to the floor and people were encouraged to follow the footprints to see where they took them to. They were encouraged to write one thing that they were thankful for on a sticky note and stick it on the glass doors and ask a big question to God and peg it up.

We had a soft seating area where people could sit and chat or be still or read. There was colourful bunting hung from the ceiling.We had prayer trees, 'making tables' where Icthus symbols could be decorated and added to the net hung from the ceiling. You could help yourself to water from the tap and think about those that didn't have access to clean water. Prayers for different places in the world were written on luggage labels and pins were placed on the map to locate where the focus was. A homemade quilt decorated the walls (covering the large TV screen) and its comforting message was explained. People engaged with the very recent news stories that were made up into a collage. It was great to just sit, watch and listen. Sometimes the room was busy and buzzing with people, other times it was empty or just a couple were sitting talking. The Rector@6 and I popped in and out as this was an unmanned event this year - everyone had been allocated street fair jobs by the time this idea was thought of!

What now? People have been enthused and liked the space being used differently. The Rector@6 used the prayers and big questions in the service the next day - the Gospel reading being Luke 11, 1 - 13. I am now finding out more about interactive displays. SGM lifewords have very interesting pages on 'using traditional buildings for creative mission'. 'Space encounters' is such a brilliant title. Let's hope that others are inspired and we can bring these churches alive!

The 18th century rector

 

 So here we are - The Rector@6 and his missus at the street fair. The door curtains turned into a very presentable dress and even the Rector's hat and wig stayed on. We won a prize for the best dressed group so all the hard work was worth it. Now the question is - will the Rector@6 be in costume for tomorrow's service? You will have to be there to know the answer!

An added bonus to the day was the success of the upper house group's reflection zone in the church - an interactive prayer space was created and was well received. With only a couple of weeks to create this from the first germ of an idea - it just shows how much untapped energy there is around. Who else will come out of the woodwork?!