Musings From The Manse: Autumn 2011

Dear Friends,
In June it was the annual URC Minister’s Summer School, held this year in the Lake District at the URC Windermere Centre. It is one of my favourite places to be and a beautiful part of the country, even when it is raining! However, we were rather fortunate with the weather, and it was good to meet with colleagues I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
Summer School is not (as some have been known to comment) a ‘jolly’, but rather it’s an intensive time of discernment and learning for URC Ministers and CRCW’s (Church Related Community Workers) of the North Western Synod. Though some free time is factored in, Summer School is not for the faint-hearted, as sessions can continue almost back to back from 9 in the morning until 9 in the evening. However, it does give an opportunity to think and reflect on things we would not readily come across in daily pastorate life. (more…)

Musings from the Manse: Summer 2011

Dear Friends,

Anyone who has email communication will surely receive some that just make you stop and think.

I received one such email recently which had a link to a YouTube film clip – and if you are able perhaps you’d like to watch it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

In case you can’t, this short film illustrates the power of words to radically change your message and your effect upon the world. It was made by an online marketing company, but through the power of YouTube, it has received over seven and a half million hits. (more…)

Musings From The Manse: Spring 2011

Dear Friends,

Life as a Minister can be challenging, rewarding, exhausting, and exciting – and that is often all in one day! But occasionally, there are times when I am encouraged to step back, ponder, and re-invigorate myself, away from the telephone and the emails.

One such occasion was very recently at the North Western Synod Minister’s Winter School. Entitled, ‘Lost for Words?, Evangelism through Welcome’, it was led by Francis Brienen, (the URC Secretary for Mission), Lawrence Moore, (URC Moderator Elect, and Director of the Windermere Centre), and Rev Stephen Collinson (NW Synod Training Officer). (more…)