3 out of 4

I have now finished my third year of training. One more to go and then I will be in Circuit. Although it is only a technical finish as I will be working on my dissertation over the summer. It is a good opportunity to use all the time I normally spend at college on the dissertation.
Our final day was really helpful. A quiet day led by Judith Jessop. Two exercises helped me to focus on all the things that God has blessed me with.
As the the reflections opened we were offered the guidance to try and leave all of our concerns on one side for the next few days. I was taken back to my days at Damart as I was picturing all the things I have been thinking and praying about coming off the back of a container as boxes - one-by-one. Emptying the space so that God can take first place. Some work on this picture may prove fruitful.

Blessings

I have been blessed by several visits over the past 6 weeks.
John Bell led a session on worship which was entertaining and challenging. Irene really enjoyed that day, and has been using one of the songs in her services.
Adrian Plass made me laugh, and cry and gave some food for thought at Cliff College. The afternoon ascents walk was very good as well.
John Hull delivered a lecture in Wakefield with a focus on re-discovering the real prophetic faith. Illustrated by challenging actions associated with Queens ministerial training
2010 has provided many opportunities to listen to people who have worked at theology from all sorts of angles. I love diversity (and I don't really mean the group) especially when it helps to broaden my understanding of God.

Progress

The resubmitted formative assignment has now been passed. The content has been trimmed. The continuing variation in acceptable referencing style is still not resolved. Have spent the last 3 weeks focusing on detailed analysis of J.W. journals - a significant amount of work gleaned useful, but small amounts of evidence. I am continuing to enjoy the reading and still hope to finish for Sept/Oct

Formative Assignment

The feedback on the formative assignment seemed positive - mostly technical issues to sort (which takes a long time). This has been resubmitted. Very unsatisfying to spend so much time on form and style. It is difficult to discern where this figures in the Kingdom of God.

Discipleship

Graham Cray at Cell, Martyn Atkins and Barbara Glasson at the Lay conference. All talking about following Jesus. Decided to follow up one of Crays sources - Dallas Willard:The Great Omission which led to Alan Hirsch:The Forgotten Ways and Bill Hull: Discipleship. Very good stimulating reading. They help to inform and resource my understanding of the importance of small groups. It is not surprising that John Wesley is mentioned so many times. The Hirsh resource is excellent - anything that has been reprinted 9 times since its first publication in 2006 is impressive. These are really helping to prepare for encountering the small groups in Circuit.

Dissertation update

I am awaiting some feedback on the formative assignment from my new Tutor - Ian. He is new to the York St John process so its a bit like two uncertain travelers making their way! Still its the road to Emmaus next week so it fits in rather well. Have done some more reading and sorting of notes in the meantime - realised how much I have been able to cover. Wesley is a fascinating character - not least for his pragmatism. Wonder how he would have got on today?

Refreshment

Fantastic experience at the Methodist Youth and Lay Employees Conference.
Met some great people and shared some fascinating stories. I was privileged to hear Barbara Glasson who led the bible study on the parable of the sower. There was a really good session on "with Integrity" by Helen Cameron.
Martyn Atkins inspired with discipleship challenges.
Worship was thoughtful
Overall it was good work, good fellowship and good worship.
I still am struggling to come to terms with the absolute privilege of being able to worship as part of my working day. Life is great.

Dissertation Progress

The first stage of my dissertation is being reviewed by my supervisor. I have managed to get 60 references into the 2000 words to provide some indication of what sort of reading I have undertaken. The process is uncomfortable but I feel I have really found out the scope of the challenge.
I am certain that I will have significant re-work to do (based on experience) but I am really getting a feel for Wesley and Leadership in the Church.
One more step along the road....

Love --->>> Action

Reading Wesley's sermons in one go at the moment - the themes are pretty strong:

What is in your heart?


What are you going to do about it?


Great questions for reflection, and to keep reflecting. This is not a one time "work" but a journey of discovery. The reading in one go also produces a huge sense of urgency. I sense that my urgency to fulfil the "what are you going to do about it?" is the dissonance for me at the moment.