Now the London side of the Kent Coast line tunnels there's a window of opportunity to update the blog before the long tunnel under the Downs at Sevenoaks, so here goes...
It has been a different week having had two reflection days at college in place of the usual lectures. Monday afforded the opportunity to finalise another assignment for the Introduction to the Bible module which is now in my case ready to hand in tomorrow (a week ahead of the deadline!). Tuesday saw a structured retreat day led by Rev Ian Stackhouse of Guildford Baptist Church. These two days were punctuated by dinner at the Walters' - my London hosts - in the company of three of their friends and Will. (Will had been Bloomsbury's summer intern from the US and it was good to see him again as he spent Thanksgiving in the UK.)
Returning to Walmer we met in Church Meeting on Wednesday which was a positive time both dealing with the business of the church and also spending time refelcting on the first 'few' weeks of my Pastorate. It was very encouraging that in our though shower exercise the list of positives grew and grew on the flipchart pad whilst no-one could come up with a negastive and so we changed 'negatives' for 'aspirations' and then were able to come up with a number of suggestions.
Thursday saw a visit to one of our oldest members now confined to bed in a care home in Broadstairs. Although she may not have fully comprehended who I was or why I was visiting, she did seem pleased to have had a visit and it was good to report to the church she was OK.
Friday heralded a visit from my Spurgeons Field Placement Tutor and my Supervisor to check all was progressing well. We had a good session and hopefully another round of boxes have been ticked as the Ministerial training process continues. The day ended with time spent decorating the church for Advent before Friday Night Pizza.
Saturday saw a modest indulgance with a shopping expedition to Canterbury the nearest one can get to anything like my London retail experiences although it must be noted that on this occasion no further additions to my wardrobe were added.
Sunday, dodging hail and torrential rain to get next door to the church, saw the official beginning of Advent with the lighting of teh first candle on our advent wreath. The sermon took the form of a period of 'waiting' as we watched images on the screen of a variety of people and situations where individuals were waiting and thus reminding us that we too need to wait - wait upon God.
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