As it is two weeks I am afraid it is going to be highlights. On the Tuesday two weeks ago I gave the second of three courses. So there is just one more course to give this session with maybe on NVivo course if there is demand as NVivo has been extremely popular. The puzzling thing is that like the previous course where you could just attend by being present at the first session only, there are now three sessions. So people need not sign up for all three. Indeed they could release spaces between courses. All three courses are fully subscribed but people are showing the same attendance pattern as before. That is selfish as I know some people want to attend the later ones who do not need to attend the early ones.
On Friday night the Younger Womens Group attended a St George's night meal at the Carlton Park Hotel which was pleasant enough. The menu was interesting, nobody thought it was typically English but some of that was the way they named the dishes. For instance they had Pork Hock Terrine which may well have been fairly British, basically Ham in Jelly, which of course does not sound quite as nice. The desserts really were not English, well the nearest you got was I think Manchester Pie and Apple crumble but the others were things like chocolate cake. There was not one steamed suet pudding amongst them, nor any milk puddings such as rice, sago or tapioca. I fully acknowledge that I would not have eaten the later but I equally would not have eaten Manchester Pie.
Saturday it was over to Manchester to visit my parents who had invited Ruth around for the day, I think on the pretence of gardening but really because they decided it was time Ruth and I got together again. We did manage to get some gardening done, but as my parents had not planned any it was limited to tidying up jobs. This reminded me of what I intended to get mum for a birthday present, so a folding stool is now ordered so that it can be stored down in the utility space for Mum when she wants to climb up during gardening. It is light and pretty strong. Hopefully this will help prevent her having mishaps like last years.
Sunday morning I had planned to do bits of thesis work I had not got around to, like writing up the meal on Friday night. Due to the meal I had not come over until Saturday morning and Mum was feeling that time was short. So she decided on Sunday morning that even though I was going to be busy that she would stay at home just to be near me rather than going to church. Unfortunately she did not confirm this with Dad who was not happy at the prospect of going to church on his own, so Mum had to do a quick change around and get ready for church.
Tuesday I was down to Birmingham for a supervision. It actually went fairly well but Birmingham New Street was on emergency power source after flooding which meant that though there were lights, none of the retail units whether food or newsagents were open nor were the escalators working (and I presume lifts). Intriguingly unlike when escalators are swtiched off or broken when you can still walk up them. For those interested the station right next door to Birmingham New Street, Curzon Street is still standing and the platforms are still there as I see them every time I go to Birmingham. My suspicion that this rather than Birmingham New Street is actually what is going to be the new High Speed Rail link seems to be confirmed on Wikipedia. The weather was good and I managed to get the Rymans shop which gave me opportunity to stock up packs for Jenny and Cait. The supervision with my supervisor went well, although I need to review the amount of stuff I am transcribing as I simply won't get it done in the time.
Wednesday I went out with the NAG (I think Neighbourhood Assessment Group) from Herringthorpe to Intake Doncaster. It was interesting. The thing was that the situation developed because a church was generous even though it was nearly out. Generosity is something Herringthorpe needs to learn at the moment the cost cutting I think is actually having the knock on effect of reducing peoples giving. The thing is that they see things run on lets get by with the cheapest we can. Somehow always looking for a bargain is not a good sentiment to get people to give nor to particularly encourage people to join the congregation. However the person at Intake underlined the fact that just being generous and involved in the community is not enough, in his words, it persuades people you have not got two heads but it does not bring them into church. I am getting more and more convinced that we need to look on joining a congregation as a journey to be undertaken and not as a matter of an instant decision. The good news is you don't have to approach everyone you know with "Have you considered the claims of Jesus Christ" or you are not playing your part. The bad news is that it needs more people, you cannot rely on the big evangelist to do it all, it is upto people to form relationships and to welcome a lot more people than will every join your congregation.
Thursday finally submitted my essay to Renewing Reformed Theology which is a sociological one. I know I am proficient in doing theology at least contextually but it seems to me at present more important to grasp how people do do theology, than to spell out what that theology ought to be. So late Thursday I submitted it. I suspect that they are expecting theological papers and to have one that clearly isn't but addresses the issue might be something of a surprise. However I can say with all honesty that my paper is answering the question.
Friday I had supper at the Dicksons. It is good to get to spend time talking with them.
Saturday I think I over did things. I put on a a pot of dhal in the morning, hung , not sure what now. Went into town where I shopped for a lot of bits and pieces. I started by walking down to Argos, but it was a Continental Market day. I must say I think the stalls are getting less continental and more arts and crafts plus normal market stalls. However with them Fargate was packed. I am tempted to say recession, what recession after seeing that. It was a constant crowd all the way down. I then bought a pair of walking shoes to replace the brown ones I started wearing when a volunteer on Iona. It is at least my second attempt to buy a pair of shoes to replace them. I bought a previous pair which proceeded to disintegrate at a faster rate than the brown shoes so I went back to them. So I now have a pair of walking shoes, fairly light which I hope I can be happy in wearing every day. Then to Boots and Marks. On a whim bought a pair of trousers and a top for smart as I wanted something cooler to wear to church. Then in the evening started writing up an account of the visit to Intake but got distracted into buying a computer. Well one somewhere between a netbook and a superlight notebook. I probably could have got a netbook for half the price but then I would not have been so confident in its quality. I also managed to order it at a good price from Debenhams rather than just any internet shop. This was prompted by an incident which meant I had no phone or internet connection at home for a few hours. I would not have known about it except that I went home for lunch and tried to login. I just became aware about how I felt disconnected when that happened. Silly really but so much of what I do is spent on line.
Today I went to Herringthorpe, we sang "Shine Jesus Shine", I have two queries, will we sing it again before I leave (no hymns repeated when I have been there since about Christmas and I have been recording) and secondly I realised it does stir strong emotions, people either seem to love or hate it. Individuals could give their own personal reason but I am wondering what the more general one is, and why this particular chorus. However I was aware at the end I had a migraine, mainly due to the headache, but also due to the fractured sense of reality. If you have seen early cartoons then they sometimes look fractured, jerky motion to them, well with a migraine my experience of reality seems to have a similar quality.
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