Caramac: None, but I must confess that owing to bad eating habits and a lack of cycling, I have put weight on. I have discovered waistcoats are an effective means of holding in the padding, leading some people to suggest I have lost weight. Am dieting now though. Can eat as many Muller Light yoghurts as I like. Found out the reason – there is virtually nothing to them! Alcohol consumption near nil – apart from Champagne after graduation. Illness: battled the lurgy with everyone else post-Christmas. Enjoying the days getting longer now.
The Vice-President of Conference visited the other week. She came to look at some of the work we are doing in response to poverty and social justice issues. It was an informal daytime visit. As I suspect is the norm with these things, the day she was free was the day where we had nothing happening in the circuit that she could visit – if we were to be sensitive to the feelings of those who we serve. In the end, this worked in our favour. Rachel will have been escorted around countless Foodbank distribution hubs and community centres, so we had to think hard about what aspects of our work would give her a glimpse of something that was different. On reflection, we began to see that some of our most valuable and impactful work is done in partnership. However, how things have come about, who takes the lead in different areas, how it all fits together, and who does what, is unique. The Winter Night Shelter is a good example, and the opportunity to look back, explore how things started and compare this with where we are now, was deeply moving. We ended up transporting Rachel across four locations; Westgate New Church, where representatives of the staff and CLT gathered for prayer, and Lesley shared something of the specific challenges of city-centre ministry. We then moved on to the Charteris Centre in Welland, joining with Deacon John and other community leaders to talk about how we had been able to support the needy. Finally, we visited Dogsthorpe Methodist Church where Sue and Arnie Hensby were gathered with representatives from each of our three churches who are involved in Night Shelter. What struck me was the extent and depth in which we were able to talk about the realities and practical challenges of our work; about how some of our community leaders and politicians have questioned the need for Foodbanks and refused to associate with them (to do so is to accept that there is a problem and that one has a responsibility to try and alleviate it); about the fact that homelessness is such an acute issue in Peterborough – and our understanding of why this is; about how some of the measures taken by the council (such as housing families in a Travelodge) are helpful in one sense and ‘tick a box’, but do not solve the wider issues of how people cook and clean for themselves; about how poorer communities often lack the resources and expertise to qualify or apply for grant funding.
At the same time, I was mindful that whilst our circuit could offer significant insights, we also needed to hear from Rachel. Rachel shared a great deal in conversation. However, what I remember most is how we felt seen, valued and affirmed through her listening, and how she sought to understand the challenges that we face by trying to view ministry from our perspective. I also felt proud of the team here in Peterborough. As they described the nature of their work, in turn, I saw a real unity in calling and purpose, despite our differences in personality, giftings, and how our work is focused.
Sometimes we think that a President of Vice-President of Conference as being loaded with superhero executive power. Certainly, they have the capacity to hear what is happening in one context and ask probing questions in another. If a President or Vice-President asks ‘Are you altogether sure about this or that?’ you would be wise to reflect seriously! Even so, their main function is a representative one. They represent the wider church to the local, and vice-versa. Perhaps then, there is a superhero power at work, but it is brought about by being open, attentive and listening to others, where the primary task is to affirm and to understand why people feel the way that they do. I think that the South Africans have a word for what is happening here – ‘Ubuntu’. It is a philosophy whereby ‘a person is a person through other people’. It relies on us recognising that despite the differences that we may have with each other, we often share the same core values and aspirations. I am not convinced that as disciples, we always live like this. There is a dangerous tendency that we become self-protecting and isolationist, and that our churches become like enclaves. Conflict can all-to-easily be defined by ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Connexionalism is a powerful antidote to this. We are defined not simply by what we believe, but by what the whole Church believes. We are not defined simply by our own experiences, but the experiences of others. Differences enrich us, rather than divide us. We live life whilst being attentive not simply to our own perspective, but that of others. That way, when we struggle, we find that we are supported by friends, rather than having no one to turn to because we have made enemies. How great it is to be part of a Church and to know that as a family here in Peterborough we have friends who live at the other end of the country, who will reach out at a moment’s notice, to help in any way they can. How great that it is to be part of something that is bigger. How great is it to pray for others, and know that people are praying for us. How great it is to know that we can learn from each other, and that we do not have to do all this stuff feeling that we are alone in the world.