Training to Serve

In Changing Churches (3) – the Anglican Church I hinted that his move had worked out well for me, and in Victory over Sin I talked about how this had taken place while preparing a sermon on Repentance.

While I was at the Charismatic House church I learned a lot about living in the spirit, and I was content there, if rather inactive and overlooked, but I was too busy domestically to be worried – I couldn’t have taken on more responsibility. My wife on the other hand, having known only that church, was keen to move on. As described, we went to the Anglican Church.

I can remember the Vicar coming to our house to discuss our role in the church, and uttering the immortal words “Tea, Vicar?” From my background it was hilarious to hear me say those words, but I’m not sure he understood why I was laughing.

Anyway, he asked what my gifting was, and I said that people seemed to appreciate my preaching. He arranged for me to preach a few months later. Bear in mind that people told me that if I moved to an Anglican church I would have no opportunity to exercise my ministry!

My first sermon was a nightmare though. He had given me a subject, but with to much free-church influence I ‘sought the Lord’ and came up with a very different sermon. On the morning of the day I was due to preach in the evening, he asked how it was going. I said fine and outlined my sermon. His face would have been comical of it hadn’t been so serious. He did not like the fact that I had changed my sermon topic. So I sent the day re-writing it, in a total panic. As the evening service approached, he asked for another outline. He still didn’t like it and needed another serious redrafting.

By the time I stood in the pulpit I was a total wreck. I actually spoke quite well – because it is my gifting – but I came down from the pulpit still feeling absolutely terrible. I could not face a line of parishioners saying ‘well done’ and so I ran home as soon as the service ended without speaking to anyone.

But the Vicar actually liked what I said in the end, and arranged another date for me. He also asked me to assist as a deputy warden in the church – taking my turn to open and lock the church and keep opportunist thieves at bay during Sunday services. To occupy this role I would also be elected (one party one candidate!) onto the Parish Church Council.

So I went from being just a shadow in the corner of the Charismatic Church to a senior role in the Anglican Church within 12 months!

Also, to capitalise on my preaching gift was well as to meet church rules, I have been put onto a Reader Training course, and am just at the end of the second year. This course has been really fantastic. The first year was spent going through the Bible which I thought I knew, but had my eyes opened to vast areas of knowledge and debate that I had been ignorant of. The second year has been church history – again a massive eye-opener. My preaching can now be from a position of having actually studied these things, and will be more effective as a result. Next year I have to complete a placement at an Anglican church from a different tradition to my own, and will be going to a church where the Oxford Movement is the model. I will find out about how the liturgy is supposed to work (because we barely look at it in our own church), and will no doubt come into contact with more Universalist doctrines and stuff that will cause a lot of soul searching to find where the truth lies.

So this post is primarily to show how the move to this church was a call from God to start my ministry.

In the meantime my wife has languished in many areas – as described in other posts below. She feels that God has rewarded me for graciously accepting her desire to move, but has put her in backing her place for thinking the grass is greener on the other side.

I trust that she will now come through this phase, and that her time to shine will come.

And his brings me to the present, and my next post will start up-to date blogging in the real sense.

Ciao!