"Church Possible"

Bev and I are just finishing a really great three days of challenge and inspiration. Our Paihia Church Centre has been the venue for a gathering of up to 35 enthusiastic people.
Several of the Methodist LSM workgroup attended, together with other contributors and participants from Northland parishes. We had really good sessions on different ways of being church, how churches change, creative worship, working as teams and dealing with conflict. In a session on how Local Shared Ministry actually works, our parish, with some 16 years’ experience, had an opportunity to tell its story.
Our modest facilities, not to mention some stunning weather, made a good impression. Rosalie served up excellent meals right on the spot, and most people were able to sleep on the premises in our two cottages or just over the road at the Youth Hostel.
Sadly, Beverley Deverell, who did a lot of enthusing for the event, was homebound with a very painful condition as a result of a probably broken ankle. We thought of you many times, Beverley!
The event could have come at a better time for Bev and me. We’d been on the road for two weeks and then very busy with a special video commission deadline and Sunday services. We plunged into this event without so much as a couple of hours to catch our breath. But it’s been great and, well, perhaps we will sleep in for a while tomorrow morning...With some things in life you just have to grab the moment and run with them and make the most of them. Perhaps the whole of life is like that. Maybe the very next thing I am going to do is the only thing that matters for the rest of my life. Carpe diem!