 Baker's Blog ...
March 2008
Some
of you will have noticed that sometimes I carry with me a large diary
- my Filofax with bells on! I find it much more satisfying than a PDA
even though it’s a lot more cumbersome. I use my ‘Manager week’ to
record some of the ministry highlights and to shape a journal, which
allows me to reflect on objectives, targets and incidents which I can
then recycle in communications like this one! It’s not a proper
journal – I’ve never had time to do that and have always found them
just a little indulgent and self-referential.
So let
me begin by allowing you to read parts of my kind of journal …
Feb 26th
Elders Meeting - brilliant ! NB Elders’ meetings
can occasionally float my boat!
-
8 pm: Interviewed one couple for
full time word ministry in the UK (Andy and Ruth Mckenna). That
makes two couples in a week (last Tuesday it was Andrew and
Helen Court). Must remember to contact the Principal of WEST whose
new Binary course is the reason why these people are seeing us, and
write their references.
-
8:30 pm: Another encouraging
interview with Alison Young called to work with OMF in Thailand on a
two year assignment with Students. That’s two of our recent Ministry
Apprentices going into Mission.
-
9 pm: Gillian Pegler - After years
of Doctoring and short term missions in South America and
Phillipines, she’s going full time into Mission after training at
Redcliffe College. That’s six of our best people in one year –
brilliant! But help – how are we going to support them financially?
-
9:30 pm: Update on Catrin Byrne now in the
Sudan with AIM – another one who is on the way into Medical
Missions, possibly next year.
Feb 27th
-
1
pm: Men’s Convention Committee. Good lunch! 600 men booked for
Saturday, Highfields input crucial to the planning, stewarding and
the delivery of lively but sensible music (praise the Lord for Phil
Holt and crew!)
-
2
pm: Staff Meeting – many encouragements
-
Another
Primary School Club is starting up – that’s five we run now
(Let’s keep plugging male volunteers to help on the
team)
-
Three people
professing faith through the CE course and three in the CU mission
in Cardiff.
-
The Sunday
afternoon meeting for the North Koreans is developing momentum
-
Three people
(more threes!) being interviewed tomorrow for the MA positions 08/09
-
Giles and
Victoria Cattermole can now be “Skyped” online free to Hong Kong.
-
A new Life
Group starting after Easter
-
Excellent
devotion and study time with Staff reflecting in part on the theme
for Sunday evening- the silence of God. Help (!) need to do sermon
prep
Feb
28th
·
8:00am
– 10:00 am: Met with the two other musketeers Simon and Phil as
usual.
·
11:00am: Three C’s (there’s that three again!)
·
12:00pm: Write script for live Radio 4 on Materialism (Use last
Sunday night’s sermon ideas and link it to the Good Childhood
Inquiry report out this week.)
·
6:30pm: Wedding rehearsal
·
9:00
pm Home for a meal
Feb
29th
·
6:00am: Wake up to get into studio for 8 and dress rehearsal. Go live
after Desert Island Discs and Kirsty Young hands over to us at
9:45. Adrenalin surge followed by dip.
·
11:30am: Back for midday wedding at church . Bride breaks all
personal records- half an hour late for service. Arrives at Church and
finishes dressing in library. One bridesmaid’s dress had been stitched
back together en route. Congregation fractious, Dick Jenkins and
group run out of music before the entry of the bride, contemplate
playing Songs from the Shows! Registrar and I reduced to tears of
laughter.
·
2:00pm
Back home to begin prep for Sunday night…
Several things strike me about these selected extracts. Firstly how
gospel ministry means for us all to live constantly on the stretch –
there’s never enough time to do all I’d like to do or as well as I‘d
like to. You cannot afford to be a perfectionist otherwise you’ll fail
before you even start! Secondly gospel ministry means wearing more
than one hat – in any single day I move quickly from pray-er, to
counsellor, to organiser, to study of the Bible, to reflecting
critically on the news, to manager, to problem solver, to script
writer, to sermon deliverer, all while being Sian’s husband!
What
these extracts don’t show is how many other people situations are part
of a normal few days.
Postscript. During my day off on the following Monday I was
having coffee with Sian in the new Coffee One on Wellfield Road
(Recommended – the walls are full of potential sermon quotes!) and in
walked a student who smiled at us as she sat down wearing a hoody with
a bit of I John 4 on it. Her name is Pippa. Then two minutes later she
was met by another member of Highfields (the aforementioned Alison
Young), carrying a latte and a Bible. They did a study together on
Daniel 3. It was a heart-warming sight. A picture about the Church in
the community, impacting lives, openly Christian.
Gospel
ministry is fundamentally about people. It’s not essentially about
brilliant organisation and ticking administrative boxes, but about
being passionate about helping people. It’s a privilege to be part of
a church which supports others in making a priority of that.
So I
finish with another people story. Christine Williams (Missionary
Committee Treasurer) handed an air mail to me on the way out after
church on Sunday and said “Sometimes I get things like these and I
don’t always know what to do with them. I said ‘Give it to me, I can
blog it!’
Dear Everyone @ Highfields, Thursday, February 21
, 2008
We
hope this finds you well? We just want to write to let you know
how grateful we are for your prayers and financial support through
OMF.
Thank you so much for the regular monthly gifts you send us plus
the extra bonus we received personally from you in December for
our Christmas presents. We really do appreciate the way you care
for us.
We
pray that the Lord will pour out His blessings and meet all of
your needs, whatever they might be!
With our love …
Charles, Elizabeth, Joseph, Sarah & Bethan Chalmers -
Philippines
Remind
me next time to tell you about their Pig Project!
As always, In Christ
Peter Baker
Back to beginning of Bakers
Blog
Previous Blog article
Feb 2008 |
www.highfieldschurch.org.uk