Time for Reflection

I had planned to return to Ripon soon after our return from Cambridge, but plans changed, partly because I wanted to finish processing photos from Rome and catch up with the blog, but also because Kathryn developed a heavy cold and had to take time off work. So I found myself in Bury for a longer spell than hitherto during the sabbatical. 


Linzi, my brilliant PA, is working here throughout my time off, except for when she is on leave, and so for the first time I was in the house at the same time as she was working in the office. She has done an immaculate job of making sure I know nothing of what is happening in the Archdeaconry and Diocese, but for these few days I found myself battling with curiosity. 'What is going on at ........?', 'I wonder what that phone call was about?'. 


On one of the days she was asked to go and fill in at Bishop Chris's office, while his own PA was off work. To my surprise, the 'work' phone here never stopped ringing. It was all I could do not to go into the office and listen to the messages, an internal battle with echoes of Romans 7. The red light on the answering machine flashed for 24 hours, while I resisted the urge to press the button and listen, just the once. It was ultimately the fear of discovery by Linzi the next day that prevented me. 


All this, and a very helpful article in today's Church Times by Sarah Horsman of the Sheldon Centre, got me thinking about dangers and damage in ministry, and the benefits of not doing it for a time.


I remember many years ago, before my first (1996) sabbatical, a conversation in the slips during a Diocesan cricket match. A clergyman on sabbatical (but still playing Diocesan cricket!) said to me, 'You don't realise the effect vicar-ing has on you until you stop doing it for a while'. The same can be said for archdeacon-ing, in a different way.  Full-time Church of England ministry is by no means entirely unique, but many aspects of it are quite unlike any form of paid work, employed or self-employed. The almost unquestioned expectation of a six-day week, more often than not with long hours; the combined home and work base; the intangible and often elusive reward of faith that you are serving God's plans and purposes when the external evidence is sparse. And ministry can be addictive - in a very unhealthy way.


It is the relentless six-day week, which for many clergy can leak alarmingly into the seventh day, that provides the fundamental justification for clergy sabbaticals. That, together with the critical realisation that the quality of ministry depends first on the individual's relationship with God, and then on the freshness and alertness of their mind, far more than on toil and perspiration (although those are necessary too). Time out for regular retreats and occasional sabbaticals brings immeasurable benefits to mind and sprit. Another category of people with the opportunity to take occasional sabbaticals, of a rather different kind, are university academics, for whom freshness of mind and originality of thought again are essential qualities. 


Most clergy who have taken sabbaticals have seen the raised eyebrows, either of lay people who have no comparable opportunity, or of other clergy who see themselves as so indispensable that they would never contemplate taking one. It is true that many lay people work extended schedules, not always for financial reward, and then point out that the Church seems to expect them to put in an extra stint in evenings and at weekends, but this is an extra stint of doing something different from their daily work and usually with the buck stopping somewhere else. It is the consistent pressure of responsibility and expectations, the erosion of time off by pastoral emergencies or a persistent caller, the lack of space to think and reflect, that wear so many down. There may be no obvious escape route from the Vicarage. Some find it harder than others to learn from Jesus how taking his yoke upon us does, in fact, bring rest for our souls. This is fertile soil for inappropriate attitudes or behaviour to take root. Some clergy become blunt instruments in God's hands, or break down completely. A sabbatical may only turn up once in a Preston Guild, but well used it can bring years of benefit. I trust mine will help to energise the remaining years of my full-time ministry. 


A month in now, and some old habits die hard - that's why it's been a testing week. But the benefits are also taking hold. For the most part, despite my battle with that flashing red light, I've begun to march to a different drummer and readjust my vision of God and his world. 


Next week, I shall return to my ministerial womb, the theological college at which I trained, St John's, Nottingham, for a summer school to 'Top Up Your Theology'. Not just brain training, I fancy, but a return to where it all began and a different kind of opportunity for renewal and refreshment. 


Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest 

Matthew 11:28

Cambridge

Cambridge is a fine city. Its problem is that it isn't Oxford (where Kathryn and I studied and met).


We had arranged to visit the East Midlands on June 23rd to meet up with friends made on holiday in Turkey last year. I had looked for a suitable occasion to collect a set of Simeon's Horae Homilaticae, which had been donated to the Trust by a clergyman on his retirement and were now in the care of another Simeon Trustee near Cambridge. The trip to the Midlands gave the chance of continuing on to Cambridge and enjoying a two-night break in  the famous University city, exploring some of Simeon's old haunts.

Simeon's Church - Holy Trinity, Cambridge

The trip to East Midlands passed very happily and we checked into a B & B (convenient for the 'Park and Ride') on Saturday evening. The plan for Sunday was to worship at Holy Trinity, Cambridge, where Simeon served as Vicar for 54 years and we turned up in good time for the 10.30 service, on the first Sunday after the end of the University term. Holy Trinity's current vicar is Rupert Charkham, who has just 45 years to go to match Simeon's tenure. He preached in the communion service in which the Associate Pastor, Diana Nairne, shared the leadership. Under Rupert's leadership Holy Trinity has re-established itself as a significant student church and even though term had ended there were plenty of students and other young people around and many signs of lively ministry amongst all age groups.

Simeon memorial in Holy Trinity

We really enjoyed the worship songs and, especially, Rupert's expository sermon on Psalm 23: 'God will meet our needs'. Simeon would have been delighted by that, I'm sure, but as a champion of Anglican liturgy might have preferred to hear the full text of the communion service used!


We stayed for coffee and conversation afterwards, and took the opportunity to photograph the memorial erected to Simeon by his parishioners after his death. It was an uplifting and encouraging morning.

St John's College

The Caribbean food stall in the open-air market (highly recommended!) provided some delicious snacks for lunch, and then we decided to try the Christian Heritage walking tour of the city, which we had heard about over coffee at HT. We enjoyed this. Christian Heritage is an interesting organisation, based in the city, with a particular conservative theological position, but its walking tours give some really helpful insights into the history of the University that might otherwise get overlooked. We visited three different colleges and a number of other buildings of interest. Our guide took us to Holy Trinity and talked about Simeon, of course - but I was able to set him right on a couple of details after we had finished!


We returned to Cambridge the following (Monday) morning after I had collected the Horae Homileticae from fellow Trustee, Mike Booker, in Comberton. I wasn't able to follow much of the 'Charles Simeon Tour' of Cambridge because King's College Chapel (where he is buried) closed early and I couldn't get access to see a famous bust in the Senate House Library (I'm hoping that the copyright holder of a fine photograph of that will allow me to post it here). But it was a very good weekend indeed, and a greater familiarity with the places where he lived and served in the city will be helpful as I continue to read about his life and work.

The Horae Homileticae

Give instruction to the wise and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.

Proverbs 9:10

Oh, no, not again!

After a couple of days in Bury to come down to earth and reacclimatise I had hoped to go to the third and final One Day International between England and the West Indies at Headingley on Friday 22nd June. But the 2012 summer ruled out any possibility of that. It was an atrocious day, in Bury and in Leeds. 

So, of the 11 days cricket-watching planned for this sabbatical, the score so far is 2 hours cricket out of 5 days. Surely this can't go on?


Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

James 5:17

Arrivederci

Our last full day in Rome was reserved to catch something of the glory that was the Roman Empire. We planned to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, the Capitol, and, of course, the Colosseum. 

Roman Forum

We'd already caught glimpses of ancient Rome on our open-top bus tour but now we were to immerse ourselves in history for a few hours. I'd already been awestruck by the size of the Circus Maximus, the site of the largest stadium of Ancient Rome, said to hold 300,000 people to watch horse and chariot races. The Forum also gives the impression of the size of the public and other buildings that dominated the city in its pomp. The cityscape changed many times through its history, of course, not least when Nero, having allegedly set fire to Rome and fiddled while it burned, then covered a wide area of the heart of the city with his 'golden palace', the Domus Aurea. His successors, keen to distance themselves from his evildoing, destroyed the palace and rebuilt those parts of the city, with Vespasian constructing the Colosseum from AD 72 onwards.

Detail from the Arch of Titus

The Forum is full of atmospheric remains of this great civilisation, the history of which  intersects critically with the history of the Jewish and Christian faiths. I was struck, for example by the reliefs inside the Arch of Titus which clearly show Roman soldiers carrying off the spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem after its destruction in AD 70. The ruins of temples told of the power of ancient Roman religion and other buildings reminded us of the scale and importance of the justice system and of commerce. I began to feel that I was inside a computer game re-constructing the ancient city in my imagination.

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is a delight, with shady pine trees, flowers and the ruins of Domitian's huge palace from the end of the 1st century AD. It was one of the most restful, and photogenic, parts of the city, even though it was a steep path up from the forum to reach it. There were hints here of the lavish lifestyle of the ruling classes.


When we had completed our self- (or, rather, Dorling-Kindersley-) guided tour of the Forum and Palatine Hill we walked another steep route to the Capitol, once the site of the great Temple of Jupiter and the centre of the Roman world. Today the seat of the city's government and a couple of fine museums occupy the space at the top of the hill, in front of which stands the dominating Victor Emmanuel Monument. In the centre of Michaelangelo's Piazza de Campidoglio at the top is an impressive equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. History is everywhere, but on this occasion we were only able to   get a superficial taste of it because the museums (and their well-recommended cafe) were closed on Monday.


So it was time to find somewhere cool and enticing for lunch, and this time we made up for the previous evening's error of judgment by picking a winner, Cavour 313 (click that link and look at the gallery of the food, at least! You'll be booking your table!). We ate salads and drank red wine and couldn't have been more contented at lunchtime on our last day in this wonderful city.


Cavour 313 set us up for our final major visit, to the Colosseum. I have to admit that I had always rather assumed that the Colosseum was more or less a hollow shell and therefore there wouldn't be much to see. Far from it. The interior is dramatic and it's not difficult to imagine the atmosphere as gladiators fought to the death or the Emperor decided their fate with a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' sign. But the walkways at the different levels feel just like the interior of a modern stadium, built to a similar design.

The Colosseum

It was a fitting climax to four outstanding, unforgettable days. We could hardly have improved on our programme, or on the whole experience. Rome delighted, inspired and excited us, and enriched our understanding of history and, indeed, of our faith. 


And so we came to Rome.....Acts 28:14

No Coins in the Fountain

All Saints', Rome

It promised to be another scorching day, but we set out on Sunday morning on foot. To continue the theme of worshipping in different settings during my sabbatical we were heading for All Saints, the home of the Anglican Church in Rome. The route took us up and down some quite steep hills, and near the end down a long flight of steps, but we found it alright and enjoyed taking part in the 10.30 a.m. Sung Eucharist. A visiting priest was presiding in the absence of the Chaplain, Jonathan Boardman, who is also Archdeacon of Italy and Malta (rather different from Bolton), and the preacher was Dana English, who is shortly to be ordained deacon. The worship was enriched by an excellent visiting choir from St Chad's College, Durham. 


It was a formal, but welcoming and accessible service with a thoughtful sermon. Afterwards there was opportunity to enjoy a cold drink in the garden and to meet members of the congregation. One of the choir members turned out to be from Tottington, near Bury, and plays the organ at Rivington Church in Bolton Archdeaconry. He was a good salesman, too, and persuaded us to buy a CD of the choir's music.


We also met Canon David Richardson and his wife Margie. David is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre. We had an interesting conversation, during which I learnt that David will be retiring next Easter. Margie was responsible for the Anglican Centre's notes on visiting Rome that were proving so useful.


We have always enjoyed visiting Anglican churches and chaplaincies overseas when on holiday, and at other times, and always encouraged members of our congregations to do so. The local custom in Rome is to invite visitors to stand up near the end of the service and briefly introduce themselves, which we duly did. It was, as you might expect a cosmopolitan congregation. We were satruck by how many Americans had chosen to worship at All Saints', despite the presence of an American Episcopal congregation elsewhere in the city.

Spanish Steps

After a light lunch we planned to visit the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, two of the most celebrated tourist attractions in the city. We walked back to the Piazza di Spagna and realised the schoolboy error we had made earlier that morning. We had only walked down the Spanish Steps (see the first paragraph above) without realising it! Although feeling slightly ashamed of ourselves for failing to appreciate one of the city's most recognisable sights, we did enjoy the lively Sunday afternoon atmosphere in the square.


I loved the fountains in Rome. There are so many, each one of them catching the eye in a different way and offering refreshment in the heat of the city. They even conjured up for me the Biblical image of the 'river of the water of life' flowing through this earthly eternal city.

Trevi Fountain

Most famous of all, of course, is the Trevi Fountain. On a Sunday afternoon the tourists thronged around it, but we still loved it. It is full of life, both the sculptures and the flowing water, and the crowds just add to that. We lingered for ages before making our way back to our hotel for a late afternoon rest, but the Trevi Fountain acted like a magnet and we went back to the same part of the city to see it again in the evening and seek a meal nearby. 


But all the recommended restaurants seemed to be closed on Sundays or had disappeared altogether. We chose a 'spaghetteria' that looked busy (which we usually take to be a good sign) but it was a disaster, with unspeakably bad service. You win some, you lose some, but even though we didn't join in the superstition of throwing coins into the fountain to guarantee a return, we hope we will be back one day to rectify our mistake.


Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

Revelation 22:1-2 

Vatican City

St Peter's Square

We set Saturday aside for a visit to the Vatican. With temperatures rising above 30 degrees we were determined to take things easily. We had booked our tickets for the Vatican Museums in advance and began there. 

Modern sculpture of Christ
in the Vatican collection

The museums are vast and contain magnificent works of art by many famous artists. We had visited the Hermitage in St Petersburg on our Baltic cruise in 2010, and only there had we ever experienced so many masterpieces, from different periods, under one roof. No description can really do justice to what we saw, but we were particularly taken by the 'Gallery of Maps' and the 'Raphael Rooms', which were decorated by Raphael and his assistants in the early 16th century. There is an impressive collection of modern religious art as well. 

Detail from The School of Athens
fresco by Raphael

Eventually, though, your route brings you to the breathtaking Sistine Chapel, one of the most famous sights in the world. Michaelangelo's altar wall fresco, 'The Last Judgment', his incomparable ceiling, and the wall frescoes by various artists are breathtaking. Photography is not allowed so all that could be done was to gaze in wonder at these astonishing human achievements. The side walls show episodes from  the lives of Moses and Christ, and illustrate the exodus parallels in the life and work of Jesus. The ceiling is adorned with scenes from the Old Testament, centred on the stories of Genesis 1-11.


Leaving the museums, we sought out a restaurant for a leisurely lunch to gather strength for the next stage of the visit, to St Peter's itself. Thanks to our guide book we had spectacular success at Il Bar Sotto il Mare ('The Bar under the Sea'!), an real Italian seafood restaurant, only a few hundred metres from the Museums but full of local families rather than tourists. It was probably the most memorable meal of our stay and we were fully refreshed to join the queues in St Peter's Square for the basilica.

Interior of the Dome of St Peter's

Pieta - Michaelangelo

We didn't have quite enough freedom to look round in St Peter's because they began to close off some areas for a Saturday evening mass. The size and splendour of the square and the basilica are surely unrivalled. There can be no more magnificent, and opulent, church building in Christendom. Constructed, one trusts, for the glory of God, it is bound to raise questions in some minds about  how far it really does glorify the God of the poor, but if those doubts are suspended, it has to be acknowledged as quite magnificent. 


I can't testify to highly-charged spiritual feelings about the Vatican, but it did feel awesome to stand in the place that so many regard as the temporal focus of Christianity.


We decided to leave the ascent of the Dome for another visit and headed off towards Castel Sant'Angelo, the citadel that overlooks the Vatican and the city of Rome itself. There were indeed some spectacular views from the top (and the most expensive beer and Coca Cola we found throughout our stay).

The city from Castel Sant'Angelo

It was an exhausting, but richly rewarding day. We collapsed back into our hotel room and emerged only for a sandwich and a cheaper beer in Piazza della Republica, before bed.




Do everything for the glory of God

1 Corinthians 10:31

Buongiorno, Roma

Neither Kathryn nor I had ever visited Rome. We had a longing to do so, and the sabbatical provided an opportunity and a reason to experience for ourselves a city that has played such pivotal role in the history of the world, and of the Christian faith.


We planned five nights - four full days - in the Eternal City and flew from Manchester on Thursday 14 June. My former curate, Richard Carew, now the Archbishop of York's Domestic Chaplain, spent some time in Rome during his theological training and had sent us some useful notes for visitors. We also found the information from the Anglican Centre  very useful in assembling a programme for our visit, which we hoped would have something of the character of a pilgrimage.


One of Richard's tips had been to try and sit on the right hand side of the aircraft when flying into Ciampino Airport, in order to see some spectacular views of the city on the descent. He was right. Our first, thrilling, glimpse of St Peter's and the Colosseum was from the air, in the evening light. We were soon immersed in the atmosphere: a temperature approaching 30 degrees, a hair-raising taxi ride to our hotel with an an excited commentary on the car radio on Italy's latest match in Euro 2012, and sights on the route that we had waited a lifetime to see.


Hotel Columbia, near Termini (the rail and bus transport hub) welcomed us warmly and we were able to enjoy our first evening meal at a nearby restaurant and still get an early night ready for the excitement in store the next day.

The Pantheon - Interior of the dome

We had planned for Friday a an overview of the city on an open-top bus tour, with a break in the middle of the day around the Piazza Navona. The plan worked well, and we were able to get our bearings in the city and catch a glimpse of the most significant sites that we would be visiting over the next few days. We got off the bus to walk to the Pantheon and felt immediately in touch with the city's history. Built by the Emperor Hadrian as a Temple of 'all the gods', it became a Christian church in the Middle Ages. The artist Raphael is buried there. So it brings together in one place the history of Empire, Church and culture.

Piazza Navona

The midday heat in the Piazza Navona was intense, and so the crowds of tourists gravitated towards its three flamboyant fountains. It is a lively, beating heart to the city, vast and elegant, a place to watch people, but not from the tables of the expensive cafés surrounding it. We headed down a side street for a sandwich and then decided to head indoors out of the heat, to the Palazzo Altemps, one of the branches of the National Museum which houses an outstanding collection of classical sculpture. 

Courtyard of the Palazzo Altemps

After an hour and a half there, the churches around and near the Piazza had begun to re-open after the midday break and we were able to visit San Luigi dei Francesi, Sant'Agnese in Agone (dedicated to St Agnes, said to have been martyred here), and the charming courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Heading back to the bus route, our final church visit was to Sant'Andrea della Valle. It is staggering to find so many ornate and beautiful church buildings all over the city. There seemed to be something to see in every street and around every corner, and plenty to talk about over pizza, coffee and limencello in the evening.


...I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you....

Romans  15:23

Days 2-4 to follow! More photos here

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Silhouettes of Simeon preaching

A few days in Ripon gave me the opportunity to begin reading in earnest. My first aim is to  get to know much better the man whose chair I shall inherit later in the year, Charles Simeon, the extraordinary evangelical preacher and leader who founded the Simeon Trust.


I've come under Simeon's influence in the course of my ministry in a number of different ways. My Christian faith came to life when I was a student at St Aldate's Church, Oxford - one of the 140 or so parishes to which the Trust has sole or shared responsibility for appointing an incumbent - and I first learned about him there. Years later, I was instituted to my first living, at South Cave and Ellerker with Broomfleet, on the day he is commemorated in the Church of England Calendar, 13th November, the anniversary of his death. On that occasion, the late Professor Arthur Pollard, who was Reader in the parishes, gave me a copy of a book about Simeon that he had co-edited in a series called 'Great Anglicans'. 


In 1997 I moved to Beverley Minster, but I was not presented by Simeon's Trustees, who are its patrons, because my predecessor had been appointed as a Diocesan Bishop (Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester), and so the right to appoint passed for that occasion to the Crown. But it was a Simeon's living, which the great man himself prized dearly. In an essay in the book given to me by Professor Pollard, the story is told  of how he was once asked by one Dikes of Hull to sell the advowson (the right of presentation) to the Duke of Northumberland, whose family had historic connections with the Minster. In his reply Simeon pointed out first that he was not free to sell it because he acted not for himself when purchasing it (when its sale by Beverley Corporation was compelled by the Corporation Act of 1835) but as the agent of those who had subscribed, and then added, 'And I am God's Agent also; and have bought the souls of that place for him - What account should I give to him at his judgment seat, if with my views of the worth of a Gospel Ministry, I should deprive them of it after having secured [it] for them. What are Dukes or Kings in comparison of fidelity to God?'


In 2003 I was invited by the then Chair of the Trust, Peter Williams, to become a Trustee - an immense privilege - and duly heard Simeon's Charge to his Trustees, which is read aloud whenever a new Trustee takes up the role. Since then I have represented the Trust in appointments to perhaps 20-30 parishes, mostly in Yorkshire when I was at Beverley, and in the North-West and West Midlands since coming to Manchester Diocese. Holy Trinity, Ripon, was the first to which I had returned for a second appointment. This year the Trustees have appointed me as Chair, in succession to the Venerable Gordon Ogilvie, who has led the Trust with great dedication and energy for several years.


For the sabbatical I am equipped with a copy of the recent (2011) biography of Simeon by Derek Prime (Charles Simeon - An ordinary pastor of extraordinary influence) and the much older (1892) biography by H G C Moule. The 1847 American edition of his memoirs is also available online (all 491 pages), and in a few days' time I shall be taking possession of a set of his Horae Homileticae - his collected sermon outlines on the whole Bible - which has recently been donated to the Trust. 


I hope to contribute a few insights from Simeon's life and works to this blog, but next comes something he might not have thought too much of...my visit to Rome!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us....

Hebrews 12:1

Home from Home

If there are any regular readers out there you will have realised by now that I am playing 'catch-up' with entries to my blog. I'm already a week behind, and have travelled to Rome and back, but now I have some time at the computer to get up to date.

Our 'second home''

After my drenching in North Wales I drove to our house in Ripon, North Yorkshire. The property was first bought by my late father in the early 1980s and became ours after my parents had both died. It has been a welcome bolt-hole for almost 30 years and friends and family members have enjoyed using it as well. It was my base for my 1996 sabbatical, except for the time in India, and will be again for much of the time until August. It has sometimes been a trial looking after it, most notably in the past year after the 'great flood' of 1 July 2011 (caused by a ruptured joint in a water pipe) which has taken until now to put right.


Kathryn was already there and we were able to enjoy a relaxed weekend. Two sets of friends from Beverley have moved to the Ripon area in the last couple of years and we are able to meet up with them. Part of the attraction of Ripon, though, is Sunday morning worship at Holy Trinity Church.


I have been involved on behalf of Simeon's Trustees in the appointments of the last two incumbents at Holy Trinity: Mark Tanner (now Warden of Cranmer Hall, Durham) and, recently, Chris Butler. I presented Chris at his institution in May and it was good to go along on the second Sunday of my sabbatical to see him settling in. It was a service of Holy Communion in a relaxed, contemporary style, with a music group. There was an excellent, gently challenging sermon from Canon Alison Montgomery, Holy Trinity's long-serving non-stipendiary Associate Vicar, who is held in great affection and respect in the parish and the diocese. 


Kathryn and I value Holy Trinity a great deal. We have got to know the clergy and quite a number of lay people and we appreciate the warmth of the welcome. We feel very much at home in the worship and are excited by many of the church activities as well. It remains to be seen whether we will make our retirement home in Ripon, but if we do it seems certain the Holy Trinity would be our home church. We also have a great affection for the Cathedral, just a few hundred yards from our house,  and would look forward to building a relationship there as well. We would have to sell our existing property and find a more suitable home. The sabbatical is a welcome opportunity to reflect on what might be.


Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you. for the glory of God.

Romans 15:7

Welsh Weather

So, the first ten days or so of the sabbatical were for disengaging from ministry and adjusting to a different pace and rhythm of life. The weekend in Dorking was just the job, and Bolton Archdeaconry and Manchester Diocese were beginning to feel some distance away. 


On Wednesday 6th June I set off once again on what was supposed to be four days of self-indulgent relaxation. Yorkshire were due to play a four-day County Championship fixture against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay and this was to be my first cricket 'road-trip'  of the summer.


I started making an annual 'road-trip' in 2006. I decided life was too short, and 4-day cricket under too much threat, to miss out on watching county cricket at some different venues beyond the boundaries of the Broad Acres, where I had been brought up as an avid Yorkshire supporter. I started six years ago at the best possible venue, Arundel, said to be the most attractive first-class cricket ground in the country. The following year I went to Tunbridge Wells, almost its equal, and in 2008 to the Rose Bowl, Southampton, no match in atmosphere for the other two. In 2009 it was Hove and 2010, Taunton. In 2011 the fixture list and my diary just didn't coincide and I had to make do with a solitary day at Worcester during a glorious weekend in early April. So in this sabbatical year I planned to make up for last year with two 'road-trips' - to Colwyn Bay in June and Chesterfield in July.


As well as (hopefully) attractive new surroundings in which to watch cricket, the other ingredient of my 'road-trips' has been a carefully researched Bed and Breakfast, hopefully cheap, but well-reviewed on Tripadvisor. I'd been well served in this regard in the southern counties, but Colwyn Bay, on the North Wales coast presented a different challenge, especially as I came to book late.


In the 1980's, when I was a curate at St John's, Worksop, we held a couple of parish houseparties at a Christian guest house in Rhos-on-Sea, just round the corner from the cricket ground. We stopped going there, largely because the management insisted that we all sat in the same places at every meal and so the parish group couldn't mix as we would have liked. I was curious to find out whether it was still there and whether it might be a cheap option for B & B during the cricket. It was, and there was little else available, so I booked with some trepidation.


The four days didn't work out as planned. For two hours on the Wednesday morning it was like this:

For the rest of Wednesday, and all through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, this was the scene:

Cyclones swept across Britain, and Wales experienced some of the worst June weather in living memory. Not a single ball was bowled from soon after lunch on Wednesday until the match was finally called off before the scheduled start of play on Saturday.


So instead of a cricket 'road-trip' the four days in Wales took on something of the character of a retreat. Fortunately, I'd taken my books with me and there was a 'sun'-lounge at the guest house where I could sit and read, and watch the rain sweeping in from the sea. There was also wi-fi, so I could get to work setting up some of the appointments with Archdeacons in July. There was also the trip to Rome in a week's time to plan. With only 5 nights in the 'Eternal City' a game-plan is pretty much essential, so with the help of a Dorling-Kindersley Guide Book and the internet I was able to draw one up. I ventured out, too, in one downpour to another National Trust Property, Penrhyn Castle, the indulgence of a wealthy 19th century industrialist.


The guest house itself provided some diversion as well. Sadly it didn't seem to have moved on much in the thirty years since we had stayed there, and I learnt shortly before going that it will be closing its doors for the last time in July. The welcome and service were warm and friendly but it wasn't difficult to see that the world of Christian hospitality had overtaken it and left it behind in the intervening years. Two groups stayed there while I did, and at least one of them were under instructions to sit at the same places at every meal.

...for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 

Matthew 5:45

Surrey Hills

Standing stationary on the M25, engine off, for an hour, hadn't been in the plan for the first day of my sabbatical. Kathryn and I were on the way to Dorking, in Surrey, where our daughter, Jessica, has made her first home after qualifying as a teacher. Kathryn's father, Scott, and his wife Nancy were in the back of the car, enduring the frustrations of the country's most notorious motorway at the start of the extended Bank Holiday weekend.

No one, Jessica included, expected her to find her first job in this well-to-do region of the Home Counties. In fact, we suspect that she didn't really know where Dorking was when she applied for the post to teach history at a Church of England secondary school. The Baileys have northern souls, even though Tim was born during our 4-year sojourn in North London in the 1980s, close to the northbound carriageway of the M1. But Jess has landed on her feet and settled happily in Surrey, thanks in no small part to the warmth of welcome she has received at St Paul's Church.

The story of how, last summer, she became the tenant of a flat belonging to the church is a testimony to God's providence. Now she is a regular member of her 'small group' and involved in various other church activities.

We stayed with Jess until Monday of the Jubilee weekend, visiting the National Trust property at Polesden Lacey on Saturday and the largest vineyard in England, Denbies Wine Estate, on Monday. But Sunday centred on St Paul's, where the church tapped into the Jubilee enthusiasm that had begun to capture the country's imagination.

In the morning, it was 'Café Church', a regular event aimed at families and others who might never otherwise connect with more traditional church services and activities. It was some time since I had been to an occasion like this, in Beverley where 'Minster Way Network' had run similar events. I was impressed by what St Paul's were doing. The 'service', if you can call it that, was accessible and not demanding. Activities for children and families went on around what was being presented from the front and there was a relaxed atmosphere throughout. The message, based on video clips, was challenging, and there was opportunity to discuss it with others - or not, if you preferred. We were hardly 'Mystery Worshippers' but the warmth of welcome was genuine and not overwhelming, from a succession of different people. I was impressed by the clergy and other leaders 'working the room' both during and after the main event, which merged more or less seamlessly into a Jubilee 'Bring and Share' Lunch and a street party that was, sadly, somewhat cramped in style by the damp weather. Inside the church building the Thames Pageant was shown on a big screen. The opportunity to build community and reach out to others had been seized.

Café Church will not be to everyone's taste, and it is far more about building bridges than about Christian nurture, but we desperately need those bridges to be built in today's context, and there was ample evidence at St Paul's that the format is attractive and engaging. I am looking forward to a range of different worship experiences during the sabbatical and this was a great place to start!

We didn't stay to watch the Thames Pageant on the screen, so that the older members of the family could have some rest, but we caught a glimpse of the splendour and excitement of it all on TV (despite the BBC's celebrity-obsessed coverage) in Jessica's flat. Then it was on for afternoon tea with a St Paul's family who have a connection with Nancy.

We were back in Bury in time for the Jubilee Concert on Monday evening and marvelled with the rest of the nation at the performances of ageing rock stars and the lighting effects on Buckingham Palace. 

These Jubilee celebrations were beginning to take hold of me.....

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 

1 Timothy 2:1-2

Getting Started

On Friday 1 June I began my second sabbatical in 32 years of ordained ministry. 


The first was in 1996 (work it out - that's perfectly even spacing!) when I was Vicar of South Cave and Ellerker with Broomfleet in York Diocese. Then I ventured far afield, to the Diocese of Tirunelveli in South India for a month, and also carried out a study project on Leadership for the Emerging Church. 


This time, it's a 'Manchester Sabbatical'. The Diocesan Website spells out the purpose:

'The sabbatical is understood to be a time for space and reflection, refreshing and equipping for the future. It is a chance to step back from the immediacy of parish life and to look again at our ministry and work and rhythm of life. It is a chance to let God speak to us more deeply and afresh.'

So, what's planned? Well, this isn't strictly a full three-month sabbatical because a fair chunk of my annual holiday allowance will come within the three-month period rather than outside it, but I'm putting together a mixed bag of activities that will last until the end of August.

Charles Simeon

Reading - I've a pile of books to read but I particularly want to study the life and ministry of Charles Simeon (right) the great evangelical Anglican leader of the 18th and 19th centuries. Later in the year I am to become Chair of Simeon's Trustees, the Patronage Trust which he founded. It feels a great privilege and responsibility to take on this role and the least I should do is to get to know him better.


Studying - I'm booked onto a 'Top Up Your Theology' Course at St John's, Nottingham (my alma mater) for a week in July.


Visiting - I'm in the process of setting up meetings with a number of Archdeacon colleagues in other urban dioceses, to learn more about how their dioceses are facilitating and resourcing innovative mission projects. Hopefully, I'll see some of those in action as well.

'Chillaxing' - Definitely part of the sabbatical plans! For me that starts with watching cricket. I've planned in a couple of 'road trips' to watch 4-day Yorkshire matches away from home and I've tickets for three days of international cricket as well. But I time my sabbaticals carefully. In 1996 the European Football Championships were held in England and I was able to attend a couple of games at Elland Road, Leeds. This year, the Olympics top that, and I have tickets for a couple of events in London at the start of August (OK - nothing to get most people on the edge of their seats - Hockey and Volleyball) and two football matches at Old Trafford. 



Travel - Kathryn and I head for Rome, for the first time ever, in mid-June and then, in August a great North American adventure begins. Our younger son, Tim, married Susan Goehring in Carlisle, Massachusetts, in August last year. It was a wonderful occasion for everyone who was there, but there were only 12 of us! Twelve months on they will take part in a Service of Thanksgiving for their marriage and  have the reception they missed out on last year, in Woodstock, Vermont. After family and friends assemble in Vermont for the celebrations we all go our different ways and Kathryn and I will be heading to New Hampshire, then to Maine, and finally on a cruise from Boston to Montreal.


Finally - a sabbatical is also a time for learning new skills. Some with my camera, I hope, but also on the computer. Yes, I'm learning to 'blog'! This is my first attempt. I hope my efforts will keep some of you entertained in idle moments. I'll try to keep you updated on my progress from time to time, and share any more profound thoughts and experiences as I go along......

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians  4:8