Training options

Starting to ask what would be the best training options if mrs and I are both accepted for ordination.logic might say train together for convenience and for a shared experience.  But that makes babysitting harder.  Also we have different needs.  She had a lot of pastoral experience and theological training but little experience with preaching.  I am mainly a preacher with some theology but little pastoral experience.

The residential courses are probably ruled out posting to conflicts with kids education.

There is a local full time course which is 3 days a week working in church and 2 days of study.  But she would struggle working in our church where she doesn't feel at ease with the vicar and where we alway have a trainee that wet would end up being in competition with.

There is also a local part time course which suits her best with it's modular structure.  But it's a bit below her. (BA when she is already on an MA).

Personally I would prefer the full time local course, but this may not be feasible.

References

Vicar came round tonight to ask questions so he could fill in my reference for ordination.

Mostly straightforward but some tough questions.  Had to list my weaknesses.  Had to explain why I am a good candidate despite our massive falling-out a few years back.  And some similar stuff.  At least we cleared the air somewhat.

I think he will do me a good reference.  Wondering why he didn't have a similar time with my wife for her application.  He did have some written material from her.  I put it to her that he was more confident with hers, but we both know that's not true.

The latest on my ordination quest

Slowly it's getting there.

Mrs has put her forms in, and is waiting for our Vicar (currently on holiday in Africa for three weeks) to do a reference so that an appointment can be made with the Bishop's Chaplain.

I got my forms ready, but was then advised that my interview with the DDO in 2009 was now out of date and I would have to start the process again from scratch.  So I had a meeting with the 'Vocations Officer' today, which was as I expected a formality.  She gave me the forms to fill in - which I duly swapped on the spot for the ready-completed ones.  She was made up!

So now I will also have to wait for the Vicar's reference to go on to the next stage.

Me, a Vicar? III

Notwithstanding that my quest for ordination is currently at a standstill (owing to my financial position) people keep coming up to me saying that i should be a vicar.

Great Sunday

Today has been a day of God's blessing.

I thought it was going to go horribly wrong. I was double booked, being on warden duty as well as leading the 9:30 service. Half the welcome team didn't turn up, so I had to recruit a spare sidesperson to stand in as steward and rearrange the communion adminsitrators. But once I was on the patform things fell into place more, and the service ran very smoothly. THe assistant mininster preached prophetically. Outstanding.

She preached the same sermon in the seocnd service, which turned out to be exactly the right message for one visitor - the daiughter of one of our members who has been praying for her to come for 12 years, and today was the answer to that prayer. (PS - the sermon was on perseverence in prayer)

The evening service took the form of 'extended worship' - cynically, a sing-song which requires little preparation. But the cynic rarely speaks for God - and every song was directly relevant to my situation - thanks for provision, learning to trust, obeying, etc. Yes - even that order was significant.

So praise the Lord, who dug me out of an awkward position this morning, and who spoke to me in the evening confirming his calling to ordination.

Ordination quest

I now taking my Vicar's suggestion that I should train for ordination quite seriously. I want to discuss this in a more public blog than this supposedly anonymous one, and so I have started another blog to cover that particular topic.

Now obviously I can't put a link here to that blog, or else this one would cease to by anonymous. However, if my regular readers (all three of you!) seriously want to read it, please let me know and I will give you a link by email.

Me, a Vicar? II

Today I had my prayer session with my Vicar and assistant minister regarding my employment situation. They did pray, and well, on this topic, but also took the opportunity to press a bit more on the idea of me training for ordination.

I put to them my previous analysis, that on a fair assessment of my skills I don't really have it.

They said nobody has all the skills at the start of the training programme God does sometimes come through the mouth of a man rather than through gooey feelings.

So I agreed to think about it.

Came home to tell Mrs, but found the house empty. She was out on a walk. Pondering and meditating. And quite independantly of my conversation with the vicar this morning, thoughts came into her head that the idea of me as a vicar wasn't quite as daft as she first thought.

So when I told her about my meeting, her mind was very open to the possibility.

So after much talk and weighing of evidence we concluded that we have now heard from God, and we seek confirmation of this by Him now giving me work to keep as afloat financially while the training (if I do go for it) takes place.

This also fits with her own lack of direction over the years and the idea that being a Vicar's wife might give er more of a sense of purpose. We also discussed ideas such as her training for Readership. It's all exciting stuff.

One of the main obstacles to all this in the ast ahs been the children's schooling, but in the timescale we are talking about most of them will be leaving school by the time ordination and posting to some remote parish takes place.

So, watch this space?

Signed Rev SaintSimon????

Women Bishops a reality

So the Synod of the Church of England has voted.

I am broadly, but cautiously, in favour of women bishops. But I really don’t like the way it has been done.

Regarding the basic theology:

In favour:

• It is illogical to have women vicars but not women bishops.
• In history women have always been domestic, and it is only in the modern western world that this question has been asked, and hence it is only now that we have reviewed scripture on the topic. So just becasue it has not been done traditionally does not mean it should not be done.
• Christ opposes discrimination and broke the social taboos of his day to elevate women.
• Peter (and the church) was given authority to 'bind and loose'

Against:

• “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man” – this verse has never been satisfactorily answered.
• The doctrine of ‘one flesh’ and many other verses in the Bible indicate that while the genders have equal status, they have different roles. Especially where these are roles that symbolise the relationship between Christ and the Church.
  
• (I reject the idea that a woman cannot represent Christ as president at the eucharist. We are both made in the image of God.)

Regarding the politics:

• It has been done politically, rather than spiritually.
• The baying angry women campaigners are NOT the women I would choose to be bishops (there are many women I know who would do the job well, but not these ones). They have not shown Christian love towards the traditionalists, they have shown only a worldly thirst for power. They have not sought a genuine compromise in the inclusive spirit of the Catholic and Protestant Church of England. They have sought to exclude the traditionalists. And in driving them out, they impoverish the church. How is this an example of peacemaking to the world?
• If the liberals had been willing to accept a system of separate structure of male bishops for those that want them, they would have had women bishops years ago. So they can’t even manage their own strategy, yet they want to run the church?

So, it is something approaching the right outcome, but it was definitely done in a shameful manner and the women should have had the basic Christian grace to make more generous concessions to people with different convictions to themselves.