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Yes, it is time for another one of the Area Team’s Pastoral Visits, and this time I’m really looking forward to spending three days in the Benefice of Warminster St Denys with Upton Scudamore.  This evening I went over to the town to meet up with some of the key people who I will be working alongside, the clergy, churchwardens, and PCC members.

I started off with Harvey Gibbons and his wife and family for a supper, and chatting about how they are finding the town and parish.  It was a good chance to get a view from the inside of the Rectory, and also hear about what young people, in their early twenties are thinking and aiming for in their lives.  Thanks to you all for some great food, and stimulating conversations.

Then over to the Church, where the PCC, assistant clergy and churchwardens had gathered in the West End, a neat reordering under the balcony to provide a kitchen and large meeting place.  A choice of red or white wine, and some soft drinks, together with nibbles greeted us, and we were soon sat down and chatting.  Harvey explained the purpose of the three day visit – or rather, what the visit was not.  I’m not part of OfChurch, or any inspection.  There is no reporting back – just a simple opportunity for me to work alongside the people and parishioners of the town, and to spend time listening to the hopes and challenges, as well as to recognise and encourage the good things.

We were soon exploring the nature of welcome, and the importance of hospitality, and I was pleased when one of the members asked whether my wife Anita would value an invitation to spend time with me in the visit.  That was a first, and whilst Anita is supportive and encouraging of my ministry, as she has her own life and work, it was not possible for her to join  me.  But the invitation and thought was hugely valued.

We moved into the details of the planned visit, and I’ll keepthose from you for the time being, but I’ve some exciting opportunities to really get to meet people.  This evening was a getting to know you exercise, and I did enjoy that, as well as find out more about a new venture undertaken this summer – a holiday at home.  I hope to get details of this, and post them here – a real success, and fun!    Also, they have a magazine that is online – so I look forward to sharing details of my first example of this – unles someone out there beats them to it!!

Thanks you St Denys for the warm welcome and introduction to your world, and I look forward to sharing much more with you in the coming week.

This month’s collection of Parish Magazines have tumbled through my letterbox, and once again, I’m impressed with the tales of mission and ministry that happens in some many creative ways, in so many places.  This month’s good practice is as follows:

St Bartholomew Benefice: The parishes are organising some away time together, to build confidence, to get to know one another, and generally have a good time with their Christian faith.  A sailing trip to France, over the weekend of 30 September to 3 October.  If the seas doesn’t float your boat, the a trip to the Holy Land is being contemplated for 2011.  A new monthly Sunday initiative called TOAST [Time on a Sunday together] kicks off with breakfast in the School Hall at Semley, with an informal, child and family friendly expression of church.  taste and see that the Lord is good!

Arrowhead, for the parishes on Salisbury Plain, is always a good read, and a mix of community, adverts, and church activities get a blitz in the editor’s blender.  I was impressed by the Shrewton School’s Party in the Park event; the Annual Orcheston Weekend, including tractor rides and target shooting; and the Re-Cycling page, which give people the opportunity of getting rid of, or requesting various items.

Steeple and Street, for Whiteparish in the Clarendon Team, offered some great summer fun in the Parish Picnic with food and games; a May Ball for the Pepperbox Pre-school; and the Whiteparish Pony Show, with collaboration with the local riding school.  They’ve also organised a Whiteparish tidy up day, to give the whole community a chance to contribute to making their village the tidiest in the area.

Focus – on the Community is the mag for the Nadder Valley Team, and included some local articles on the Neighbourhood Policing Team’s new Community Beat Manager, and also a report from the Tisbury Watch of the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, including a really helpful guide to the role and responsibilities of a retained firefighter – essential for the rural communities.

The Open Door, the mag for St Thomas’ Ensbury Park contains a helpful page of prayers; advertises a parish visit to the Theatre in Christchurch to see “The Screwtape Letters”; some book reviews; and a great puzzles and smiles page, alongside the usual news and views of the parish church and wider community.

Thank you to all those who send me their magazines, and I look forward to receiving others too.

Yes, today was the day that the Parish of Wilton with Fugglestone, and Netherhampton, and the Parish of Bemerton united to provide a connection that took us back to the George Herbert days.  I’m also reading the book entitled, If you see George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him! This aims to make it clear that the idealising of the GH methodology of ministry does nothing to help the contemporary parish priest, whose circumstances are very different indeed than the blessed George’s.

We started at St Peter’s Church Fugglestone, and enjoyed a 20 min talk by The Rev’d Dr John Gosling, sometime former Vicar of Stratford sub Castle, and Director of Continuing Ministerial Development for the diocese. John outlined the history of the church building and its immediate surroundings.  John reminded us that in fact Fugglestone ws the parish church in GH’s day, with Bemerton being the chapel of ease, and later church building.  It is really because Herbert lived in Bemerton, and was buried in the church there that the Bemerton tag seems to have carried more weight.  We then moved out of church and walked around to the main gate of Wilton House, where the Earl had kindly given permission for us to walk though the park and then out onto the Netherhampton Road, before walking through Quidhampton, and onto St John’s Church Bemerton where people stopped for some much appreciated tea and cake.  The group then walked a little further onto St Andrew’s Church in Bemerton, and a service of Evensong completed the journey.  At a couple of stops along our pilgrimage, the Rector of Wilton, Rev Mark Wood read to us from Herbert’s treasury of poetry.

We learned a great deal from our conversations, mostly speculating about the Saxon meanings of our travel route.  Fugglestone apparently mean Mr Bird’s Farm – from Fogel’s Ton, and Quidhampton means something like rubbish dump [don't tell the residents!] from the word quid [filthy]  We can’t be sure of course, but it made for some interesting thoughts as we walked.  The group of 35 or so, seemed to really enjoy each other’s company, and the walk offered some great view points, rarely seen, together with a perfect walking afternoon, with hazy sunshine and temperate breezes.  Perfect!

Yesterday found me at the 1030 service at Wilton, and a triple baptism for the parish priest, Mark Wood.  I settled into my pew to find we were trying out for the first time a new form of the morning service with a baptism.  The previous Family Style worship left the regular congregation rather wanting for liturgy, and the normal parish Eucharist would not have been accessible for the baptism family and friends.

The service worked well, and the three candidates, a mother, her daughter aged about eight years, and a baby from another family, all performed their words and actions impeccably, and Mark spoke well during the address.  A happy connection for the congregation too, so we wish them and the candidates and families well for the future.

Within the pew notice sheet for the coming week was an interesting event coming up this coming Sunday 1 August.  “Walking with the Poet” is an open afternoon at St Peter’s Fugglestone, in celebration of George Herbert, Rector of Fugglestone and Bemerton from 1630 – 1633.  The event begins at 1500, with a short history of the the Church, and then from 1530 there is an organised walk through the grounds of Wilton House from St Peter’s to St Andrew’s Lower Bemerton, hearing some of his poetry on the way.  After tea at Bemerton, there is a short service of Evening Prayer at St Andrew’s.  Sounds great, and if you’d like to go on this outing please phone the Rector [01722 742571] or the Parish Office on [01722 742393]

After the service and lunch last Sunday I headed out to Milton Lilbourne to conduct a marriage rehearsal for two young people.  The marriage is not until October, but the groom is serving in the Army, and has just come back from Afghanistan, and will need to go back out there until just before his wedding.  It was a moving occasion, gathering the families and running through the service for them.  To be honest he looked too young to be a Royal Engineer recce platoon commander, too young to be risking his life out in that theatre, but I was impressed with his courage and commitment. I realised that for many people, the disruptions of this effort to keep peace in a remote part of the globe, and to give the Afghan people a chance of rebuilding their country will have lasting impact on so many lives.  Please pray for the couple as they prepare, long distance, for their wedding day, and for protection and peace for all those who serve in this way.

An invitation from the Team Vicar in the Nadder Valley Team Ministry, west of Salisbury, brought me to St Editha’s Church in Baverstock this evening.  It was a perfect evening for Evensong, with the setting sun pouring its glory through the west window.  Great hymns including Thy hand O Lord has guided, and Cranmer’s Prayer Book well rehearsed by Jane.  I preached to an appreciative congregation, which included a young Italian Roman Catholic who is here for a month learning English for her Fine Art profession. 

My sermon included what I had discovered about St Editha, and a reflection on the readings which were taken from Genesis’ story of Abraham and Sarah and their hospitality towards the three persons of God; and the passage from Luke where Mary and Martha entertained Jesus.  I concluded by saying:

The call from Jesus to Editha that guided and shaped her whole life, is still the same call that is made to us here today.  A call to bring people together in community whenever we can, to live our lives in a generous and hospitable way, making sure those less well off are offered what they need to have a reasonable standard of living.  To celebrate and give thanks and praise to God for all that is achieved in his name.

 Today we remember Sarah, and Mary and Martha, and Editha—not because they were women, not because they had special gifts and skills, not because they found themselves in the public eye of their day—but simply because they said Yes.  They said Yes, when God invited them to share in living his life, and their lives were changed for the better because of that.

 Celebrate your festival day, and hear the call of Jesus Christ to you this day, and see if in your heart and mind, you might follow Editha, you patron saint, and join her in saying Yes.

 After we had said farewell to the congregation I walked down the path towards the church gate, and looked across at the cluster of graves to the west.  One caught my eye, and on closer inspection it was the family graves of the Venerable Willian Hony, Rector of Baverstock, and Archdeacon of Sarum.  As one of my predecessors I took some interest in him, and have found some details on the parish website:

Early in the 19th century a new rectory was built on the opposite side of the road to the church. It was an imposing Regency residence and replaced the old rectory beside the church which had been burnt down in 1796. It had rarely been home to the Baverstock clergy, who were in the most part absentee rectors. One of the most memorable of the Baverstock rectors was William Hony. He became rector in 1827 and remained until he died in 1875. He additionally became Archdeacon of Sarum in 1847. He made considerable changes to Baverstock during his incumbency. His first task was the dilapidated church. He replaced nearly everything except the walls and these he raised. The parishioners contributed £100 towards the cost, the rector paying the remainder. His next project was to build a school for the children of Baverstock. This was built next door to the church on the site of the old Rectory. Later in the 19th century the children were transferred to a new school at Dinton. The Baverstock school became first a Sunday school and eventually a private house and remains so today.

 Those were the days, and clearly Baverstock has some impressive servants who have offered themselves to Christian witness and I pray that the present day residents might continue in that tradition, as they offer welcome and hospitality to all.

This month’s interest in parish magazines comes from deepest darkest West Dorset.  The Chalk Stream magazine covers the parishes of Bradford Peverell, Frampton, Stratton, and Sydling St Nicholas.  I was visiting a colleague recently down there who is working in areas of mission and vocation, and it was good to stretch the legs of my 120d.  By the way, if you are ever down that way, the pub at Sydling St Nicholas, the Greyhound, was quiet exceptional, with a good lunchtime menu choice, and excellent food. 

The Chalk Stream [which has a bumper issue for July and August of some 58 pages of news, views and advertisements] offers some interest in the local Dorset bread roll, called the Dorset Knob, produced by Moores the famous family firm.  Each year there is The  “Dorset Knob Throwing and Frome Valley Food Fest”  held at Cattistock on Sunday 2^rdMay 2010. Besides Knob Throwing there were additional fun knob attractions including Knob Painting, a Knob & Spoon Race, Guess the weight of the Big Knob, Knob Darts and a Knob Pyramid. Free parking and other more traditional entertainment were laid on to make this a really enjoyable day out with a difference.  It sounds a fascinating and truly novel local event, and some £4,500 was raised for local community clubs.  The record for throwing these delicious bread rolls, under arm and standing are quite amazing with the three records currently:  Gents:  26.10 metres; Ladies: 20.2 metres; and Under 12’s; 18.5 metres.  Why not tell me about your local novel sporting or social events?

Another article that grabbed my attention was about Lip Reading.  1 in 7 people have hearing impairment, and many result from time with the armed forces or disco customers, with the outcome being a distinct difficulty in hearing consonants clearly – an example being “biscuit” being heard as “big kiss”. A tutor holds classes every Tuesday morning for two hours, in a local parish church centre, where people learn not only how to interpret lip shapes, but also strategies for minimising a sense of exclusion as hearing loss progresses.

How wonderful to have a local resource like this.  Other local events this month included the Evershot Butterfly and Moth Festival; and thoughtful articles included From the Allotment; Bradford Peverell Twinning Association; and many more.  Useful ideas can be found on their webpages: http://www.sydlingstnicholas.org.uk/; http://www.framptondorset.com/; http://www.strattondorset.org/; and http://www.thelocalchannel.co.uk/bradfordpeverell/home.aspx

Each year for the past three or four years, Anita and I get an invitation to attend the Chitterne Flower festival, and it is an event we always enjoy attending.  This year was no exception, and the arrangements of flowers, with the theme “Quote: Unquote” were really breathtaking.  I can’t remember all the connections between the quotes and the arrangements, but this one was “A Rose Between Two Thorns”, and just enjoy the others!

The food served in the Village Hall next door to the church was delicious, and at one moment in the afternoon, I think we could have convened a meeting of the Stonehenge Deanery Synod!  We had the Lay Chairman, four clergy and the Archdeacon!  We avoided that temptation by sitting and tucking into our scoff.

later in the day we returned to the church, and as I am prone to do, starting chatting to the visitors admiring the arrangements.  One of the gents sitting quietly at the back of the church, engaged in conversation with me, and I asked him about the Veteran’s badge he was wearing.  Of course, as an old soldier he was quite happy to tell me all about his regiment, and the places that he served.  He carried on to tell me about some of the Chaplains that he served with as well. 

We were able to chat easily, and after a while, as old soldiers do, he picked up on something that had been troubling him for a long time, but he claimed that no padre had been  able to sort for him.  I’m quite used to being challenged by military personnel, and often I can’t offer the answer someone is looking for – but I try to share the dilemma, and encourage the person to keep searching and to trust in God for truth.

With all that he had witnessed, how could he believe in a God who allows good people to suffer.  I said that I could not answer that for him, but I have often asked myself that  question, and for myself, I came to the conclusion – how do we know that we are loved? 

When my children asked me, Daddy, do you love me?, and I answered Yes, of course I love you, they would follow up with, How do we know that you love us?  I replied, Because I will always try be here for you; when the life you lead is good, you’ll not need to ask me that question, but I will still love you.  When the life you lead is tough, you will not need to ask if I love you, because I will be there for you, and I will do anything I can to make the pain and the hurt, [which we all suffer, all of us]; I will do anything I can to make that pain and hurt more bearable.  How will you will know that I love you? Because the pain you are suffering, however it is caused, allows me to show you how much I love you.

The old soldier smiled, and nodded his head, said thank you, and walked away to give his wife a warm, long  and lingering hug.  And we said it with Flowers.

We’ve been so busy, busy, busy, being happy clergy with good ministry opportunities that I’ve not had the time to blog – but some interesting blogs are to be posted in the coming days.  This week I have celebrated being a priest for 20 years.  We normally don;t need much excuse for a party in our world, and on that basis I asked the Rector of St Peter’s Parkstone, in Poole, if I could come back to the church where it all happened to celebrate.  I was pleased to be asked to preach, and my wife and younger daughter accompanied me last Sunday.

It is always slightly odd going back to places where significant things have occurred – a real cocktail of emotions.  I had four challenging and very fruitful years in Parkstone – with some great colleagues, opportunities for some cutting edge ministry, as well as learning all the necessary parish activities and management – I always think back and thank God for all that I was given in those important first years.  But the people of Parkstone were just lovely, as many familiar faces hove into view, and reassuringly, some new faces too.  The service was a delight, well taken, and dignified use of incense, a great choir, and lovely cake and coffee afterwards.  They presented me with a card and bottle of something to drink, and then we retired to some friends’ garden for a delicious lunch.  Thanks to you all for a great day of memories and celebrations.

Ah yes, the weather has a stable, summery, sunshine feel about it, and we turn our  attention to connecting with people who are enjoying and lazing and drinking a chilled white whilst watching cricket or perhaps  can of something whilst watching the football on the TV.

I’m supporting the Deanery Mission Enabler for Alderbury Deanery, The Rev’d Peter Ostli-East, and at a recent meeting he tells me that he has started a series of Boules Evenings at the Vicarage in Winterbourne Earls.  Peter is a boules enthusiast, and I’m not sure, but probably has a title or two in his back pocket.  It is a great game, and we have a set here at Herbert House, which we toss around on the grass from time to time, only as an excuse to get a little more chilled white into circulation. 

Peter’s evenings have attracted a good following of people, many of whom don’t have a particular connection with the church.  When we were at Little Bedwyn recently, I noticed a Boules piste or terrain [see, I've got the lingo, what?] on the field next to the church.  I wonder whether there are others around the Area?  If you’d like to find out more about this gentle, but highly competitive sport, and perhaps see if you might use it in your toolkit for mission and evangelism, as well as a jolly good evening’s entertainment, then think about contacting Peter: 01980 611350

Originally titled in my diary as Toddler Worship – I had visions of small children on pedestals, and parents bowing low in front of them – but No!  This was another one of my visits to the benefice of Sarum St Francis, and Stratford sub Castle, and we gathered in the Chapter Room [a cleverly designed lower ground floor room under the chancel of St Francis Church] with around 20 children and as many mothers, and three or four very gifted children’s leaders.

We were welcomed and introduced, and then went straight into some lively songs, with actions – and yes, I did join in!  The theme of the worship was explained – animals,  and Jesus and the donkey.  We had a really good reading from the Bible interpreted with soft toys, and a very good storyteller.  The children were then invited to make their own donkey finger puppets, and we then had a time of prayer, and another song.  The children then happily played together, whilst the mums, and visiting clergy, enjoyed a cup of coffee and a chat.  This popular service is advertised on the parish website: http://www.st-francischurch.org.uk/

Tuesday 10:00am

Lots of toddlers and their grown-up mums and helpers have found the balloons on the church door on the first and third Tuesday mornings of each month. Why not follow them in and find out what fun we have? Doors open at 9:15am for a welcome cuppa and time for a chat whilst the children play, before we enjoy singing, games, inter-active Bible stories, simple crafts and some time to pray. There are more refreshments available before you leave.

I was certainly impressed by the careful and accessible worship, and the gentle and creative leadership.  Well done ladies!  Afterwards I visited the Pre-school which meets in the church centre behind the church – again I met very happy children being served their morning fruit and drinks.

Why not also look out for the church organised Party in the Park, in Victoria park on 3rd July – all free.

Victoria Park will be transformed for the picnic, with games, BBQs, bouncy castles, entertainment, stalls, and a plentiful supply of events for children of all ages.  The Reverend Paul Taylor, Vicar of St Francis, says, “This event is really important as it draws the whole community together and gives us another opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ without any conditions.  It’s about actively making Jesus known in the community and to show we can have social care and fun at the same time.”