Minister’s Morning

I just spent an hour wandering up and down the main street of Romsey asking shops to display ads for our Advent Workshop and the Combined Churches’ Carol Service. Given that I am the world’s shyest introvert and the thought of this had me lying awake last night, I’m going to feel mildly proud of myself. (I didn’t get any knock-backs, either.)

That was after visiting the mother of a two-year-old that we will be baptising in January. It was the first time I’d met her, so I got the usual comments about my age and gender. My family and friends won’t believe this, but as a young female minister I’m cool! What will I do when I’m no longer young and funky?

Arriving home I found a parcel on my doorstep. I am now the proud owner of one Fairtrade clerical shirt. Doesn’t really matter that I’ve only worn a clerical shirt twice in my life; I now have one that tells me that: “The FAIRTRADE Mark on this item ensures small-scale cotton farmers from developing countries a fair and stable price plus the additional Fairtrade Premium which enables them to invest in their farm businesses and communities.”

So, I feel my morning was productive.

Have a sermon – The Reign of Christ

Matthew 25:31-46

We’ve come to end of the church’s year, and the last of our readings from the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s reading comes from the end of Jesus’ life on earth; it’s the last public teaching he gives before sharing a final meal with his disciples on the night that he was betrayed. We definitely finish the year with a bang. Today’s reading, the prophecy of the Last Judgment, is one of those parts of the Scriptures that make Christianity the religion that it is. Our faith and our lives as Christians would be very different if this story was not part of our inheritance.

Misusing my position

Today is All Saints’ Day. So tomorrow, rather than getting a sermon, Riddells Creek and Mount Macedon uniting churches are getting what seems to have turned into a history lecture on the development of the understanding of sainthood.

They can take the Avril out of the History Department …