Two services this Morning. I left for St Peter's at ten past nine, and found myself in an unexpected queue of traffic at the Penhill lights, which were out of action. replaced by temporary ones. There were queues in each direction, and changes in lights seemed much longer than usual. Across the junction were a couple of police vehicles and a car, whose back end was mounted on the pavement and wheels were sticking out into the carriageway. It was hard to imagine how it ended up like that but was clearly out of control before it stopped. This scenario robbed me of five minutes, but I arrived in time, deprived of a leisurely start.
There were forty six communicants, over fifty adults and twenty children altogether in church, a lively and healthy parish congregation. I hastened to St Luke's after the service, and again had to park four hundred yards from the church, arriving just in time at five to eleven. Thankfully, I only had to preach, as Fr Rhys was celebrating. The organist was away and we were only thirteen in church.
Ministry Area congregations are still reacting to the unexpected announcement of Mthr Frances' departure, and St Luke's people are worried about how to face an uncertain future with decisions awaiting about a future that would involve a permanent church sharing arrangement. Without a regular parish priest of their own, numbers have dwindled to an unsustainable. Having even a small group of clergy taking services on rotation hasn't worked for them, few people are willing to volunteer to take on new tasks. The absence of a church warden to represent the interests of the congregation has undermined confidence. Abolition of this elected role under reforms and restructuring initiated by the previous Bishop has been catastrophic.
In two weeks time Bishop Mary is visiting St Luke's for Sunday Mass, and remaining members will have an opportunity to be heard, and understood. What is missed most it seems is the lack of pastoral care and continuity, apart from emergencies, as clergy are too busy managing the Ministry Area and maintaining communication with the congregations (mostly digital) from which some older people feel excluded in any case. We've had a lesson in not trusting Cloud communications this week, with the routine newsletter for Canton churches unable to be issued to a failure in the accessing Microsoft Sway on-line publication account, whose product is regularly issued on a Thursday or Friday. There's no printed equivalent. Several hours preparatory work for delivery down the drain.
It's difficult to get by these days without use of social media of one kind or another, as we've become so dependent upon them, but how much good is it doing us as a society or as church? Just saying - this week's notices are available on-line or been sent to your email address - is not much good if you don't get around to picking it up and reading it in your own time. Reading out the notice at the end of a service is a direct and social connection to church affairs while you're still in the group to which the information is relevant. It may stimulate a response and action, which can get lost if a churchgoer is distracted by other mundane matters after church. In a church congregation we're still participants, not consumers, but this truth seems to have escaped those who have fostered strategy so dependent on digital media, in which you can get away with messaging and not talking to each other.
Anyway, it so happens that I have a free Sunday when Bishop Mary visits, so I have volunteered to take the service at St Catherine's in order to free Fr Rhys to go from St John's to St Luke's for the whole service instead of arriving late from St Catherine's. It's a long time since I took a Sunday service there, and there's no need for me to show up at St Luke's. As a retired cleric and pensioner I'm a beneficiary of the Church in Wales, and have no say in how it's run. Sooner or later I'll get to meet the new Bishop, but there's no urgency to do so.
After listening to people over coffee when the service was over, I got home at the same time as I would when driving home from St German's. After lunch it rained. Fran came around and joined with Clare in an on-line study session. There was nothing for me to do but wait until the sun broke through again, so I dozed in the chair for about two hours before going out for a walk.
I can still handle preaching twice and taking a couple of services in a morning if needs be, but I'm noticing these days how tired I am afterwards. I need to rest before doing anything else. Another sign of ageing no doubt, along with not being able to work under pressure, and feeling stressed by tight deadlines. I'm fine as long as I have time to prepare, time to deliver, and time to enjoy what I'm doing, so that life feels worthwhile.
I listened to 'The Archers' while I was out walking, and ate supper on my own when I got back as Clare had eaten earlier. Then a quiet evening reflecting and reading, then finally packing a case for our Oxwich Bay holiday trip tomorrow before turning in for the night.
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