Call to repentance

Slowly it's becoming less of an agony to get up early. Slowly, despite low cloud most days, it's a little lighter before I get out of bed and the blackbird in the back garden sings a little longer. Peter reflected on what makes for authority in the exercise of ministry during his address at Morning Prayer, quoting what Ignatius Bishop of Antioch (martyred 117AD) about the value of silence on the part of those called to the oversight and spiritual guidance of others. He also affirmed the appeal of a contemporary theologian whose name I didn't catch, to Bishops of today, calling on them to stop being church executive managers, re-claim their biblical apostolic role as pastor and guide to the faithful. This was received with general sympathetic approval.

I mused on what he'd said, recalling how often church at all levels suffers from poor communication and organisation unresponsive to needs of the age. Skillful efficient administration is vital. It entails a degree of vision, leadership, flexibility and enterprise to serve its purpose. But what about the role of management? It concerns supervision, understood as regulation and control. There's always a proper need for mutual accountability in any organisation or community, but over-regulation inhibits responsiveness to change and creative freedom. Church still reflects society at large, and there is no need for this, especially as church as a social entity is a small fraction of the whole. Yet it behaves as if it's much larger than it really is. Will this change as resources and numbers are further depleted? Regrettably, nobody with power relinquishes it without a struggle.

We had some lively and insightful discussion at our fortnightly College tutors meeting, stimulated as ever by consideration of our individual students, but also on this occasion engaged by the annual student survey report on College life. St Michael's is blessed by its teaching and administrative staff. Here all the year round serving conferences, and many different in-service learning groups as well as residential students, it has strong character as a community in its own right, one that builds community though its service to others. If only local and national government could be as efficient and effective in what it offers!

Before the tutor group meeting, I celebrated the Eucharist in Welsh, then joined the others in a half term outing to Coffee #1 in Pontcanna. I arrived late and found them fizzing with ideas and good humour, as they relaxed in a normal social setting. We should do this more often, I thought. Half term meant no Chi Gong class this evening so I cooked paella, then Clare and I watched 'Mamma Mia' again on TV, (even though we have the DVD), and ate chocolate. We didn't have room to eat pancakes for dessert.