Of ministry and management

I was back in St John's this lunchtime, to pray with a mother and her son whose husband had died abroad on holiday. They were unable to bring his body back for a funeral here, so a daughter had gone out for a cremation service, leaving the rest behind in shock and grief. I'd received an enquiry over the weekend to lead them in some prayers at the same time as the cremation was taking place. I referred it to the Area Dean as priest-in-charge, but he was already booked, and consented to let me take his place.

I took them into the little Herbert Chapel, which as well as being a historic family memorial chapel with a fine seventeeth century chest tomb with effigies, most likely was built two centuries earlier as a chantry chapel, for the daily recitation of Masses for the Dead. It's a little haven of peace along the north side of the Chancel, with a beautiful nineteeth century window of Christ the Good Shepherd - one of two such windows in the church - very much a sign of the value placed on that icon of the Lord in the life of the community and its Parish Church.

I led them quietly and slowly through most of the funeral office without comment, and let the peace of the place work its perpetual miracle. Afterwards, a much relieved widow said: "I didn't think it would help so much, the way I was feeling earlier, but it did." Thus consoled, they departed. I was happy to have been able to help them find what they most needed, in a place so very dear to me. I find it a a great relief not to have all the day to day worries and responsibilities for such a holy place, and a privilege be able to offer the most basic of pastoral ministries freely, wherever I am asked.

With a Street Carers' training session in County Hall to attend in the evening, I spent the afternoon updating information and compiling subscriber invoices for Cardiff Business Safe. Each time a put in a few hours there's something new to learn about how different enterprises manage their finances, which are prompt payers and which are the slowcoaches or avoiders. Some of the large corporate bodies are the worst, due to complex administrative and anti-fraud procedures. Large corporations with strong centralised controls may well know how to communicate with each other, but the demands they make of small suppliers in circumstances of mutual reliance, leave much to be desired, and are close to be oppressive in their demands. Colonialism is far from dead!

Today's hot news is the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for Cardiff County Council, John House, currently Bristol Council's deputy CEO. So, none of the internal candidates, either internal to the Council or to Wales got the job. It's a bit like what's happened with several senior appointments in the Diocese of Llandaff this last few years. What does the desire to bring in 'new blood' from outside hope to address on this occasion, I wonder? No doubt all will be revealed in due course.