Candlemass, and news from home

I walked across Plaza san Rafael to get the car this morning just moments before the sun peeped over the horizon. I was a bit earlier than usual as I had to drive out to Mijas Golf village to collect Gordon the organist at Benalmadena, as Val, his usual lift, is up in Madrid this weekend. We arrived in Benalmadena in good time just minutes before we could get into the church. Gordon explained that the building complex was locked down with a timer overnight, so that even those who had keys couldn't get in before nine o'clock. This was a consequence of a break-in some time back. It gives the welcome team just half an hour to get everything ready before the service starts. 

Afterwards, Gordon guided me uphill to the nearest motorway exit, so that I could make haste on the motorway and take him back to Mijas Golf before going to St Andrews for the service there. It worked fine, and I arrived with eight minutes to spare. I imagine that in the holiday seasons the coastal trip back from Benalmadena would be slower, less predictable, and the added 20 minutes to take Gordon back to Mijas Golf would be out of the question. It doesn't happen all that often, however.

There were nearly sixty at Los Boliches, long stay visitors from Colorado and Belgium among them. As it´s Candlemass today, I preached about the ministry of old people in relation to children, and was surprised by the favourable comments I had afterwards. I stopped and chatted with people for a good while, so it was gone three by the time I sat down to lunch. The earlier morning start took its toll, and a siesta snooze was called for before I was ready to return to the office for a session on Skype with Clare and then Rachel.

I had an email from Archbishop Barry announcing the appointment of his Chaplain Fr. Gerwyn Capon as the new Dean of Llandaff. From his present role, there's nothing about the problems and difficulties of the past year that Gerwyn isn't aware of, and he's already a familiar figure to the Cathedral staff, Chapter and church members. Let's hope and pray that everyone will now pull together behind his leadership to restore the credibility of the place in the eyes of church people and Cardiffians, shocked and disconcerted by the events of the past nine months. That's vital if the institutuon is to recover from its financial difficulties.