I'm looking forward to a number of days off soon. The Kidderminster Choral Society is going to be sending a contingent to our Twinned Town, Husum Germany, where we will be singing with the Theodor Storms Chor.
I didn't realise until doing a web search that the women wear liturgical stoles! :-)
I'm looking forward to the time off and the singing.
10 comments:
Please don't buy into the culture that says it is OK to neglect yourself ! I know it is all pervasive in our churchy culture and therefore very hard to step out of, but it is wrong. Do start blocking time off in your diary months ahead - you deserve it and need it like any other human being.
Meantime, what's with this not realising that women wear stoles business ?
Barb - Joke. If you look at the Theodor Storms Chor picture, all the women in the choir are wearing scarves that look like liturgical stoles.
I'm not 'buying in' to neglect. Still trying to adjust to a new way of working.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving your kind feedback. I sometimes wonder if what I write makes sense to anyone else. I am in the candidacy for deacon ordination. Congratulations on your upcoming ordination I am assuming as an elder in full connection:-)!
Thank you, Pamela. Yes, in the UMC 'an Elder in full connection' in British Methodism 'a Presbyter in full connexion' ;-)
Many blessings on your training as well. Isn't it wonderful to find a new path on the journey in the middle of life? (I sometimes wonder if I should have been a Deacon, but I think I would have been 'out of the box' no matter what I did.)
Enjoy the break!
So what happened to the three part clergy day?
ie you're supposed to work for two parts only.
ie you're supposed to work for two parts only.
That's the part I'm having difficulty with! For two reasons.
1) My home now seems primarily like my place of work rather than a place to relax (explanation to Americans: most British minister have their offices in their homes). This is one of things I'm finding most difficult after 25 years of going to an office. That and the relative 'isolation' of working at home - even though I go out visiting.
2) Methodists are assigned X number of congregants regardless of numbers of churches. I have four churches which means that trying to find an evening to even *hold* a meeting is difficult. Most evenings are taken up with meetings and I find it very hard to wake up and say 'I'm working the afternoon and evening, so I'm taking the morning off.'
Pam, I'm sorry for not being attentive enough to pick up the stole ref. And I'm sorry if my comment about buying into over-working seemed harsh - it was not meant to be.
Actually, the 2 apologies are prob related; over-working is a bit of a theme of mine at the moment - probably because I'm doing it, and because a symptom is not recognising a joke when I see it !
Peace.
Barb - don't worry, neither comment seemed harsh. I realised that you hadn't seen the photo.
The Puritan Work Ethic - hmm, maybe a post on it's own.
Sometimes our culture gives us the message 'Spoil yourself, you're worth it!' and we feel that this is not a Christian attitude. On the other hand, it is so right that we can't help others when we are exhausted and that we do need to genuinely take care of ourselves. Human beings do genuinely need rest and recreation (re-creation).
Let's both take care of ourselves as we are taking care of others. Blessings on your ministry, Barb.
I have just looked at the picture and could be tempted to start wearing my 'Batman' look alike outfit (Cap and gown) if I could wear a preaching scarf like that!
I am always impressed by some of the stuff hanging in the vestry at our church that is shared with the Anglicans - there are some extremely colourful outfits - not sure they add or take anything away from the worship but they look very nice and bright.
not sure they add or take anything away from the worship but they look very nice and bright.
I think I've shared that I grew up in a confessional ('fundamentalist' in the theological sense of the word) Lutheran denomination. They were 'fundamentalist' about their liturgy as well as their theology so everything had to be just so.
I can't get with the 'just-so-ness' of the liturgy (which seemed as obsessive an approach to liturgy as to theology) but I really do appreciate the liturgical colours and the beauty and symmetry of the worship space and of the worship itself. Set liturgy to me feels like ballet compared to Methodist folk dancing - nothing wrong with either way of dancing, just different. I feel sometimes that Methodists can be very precious about their 'anti-liturgical' stance and just as snobbish in thinking that they have The One Right Way of worshipping as any liturgist.
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