One year on

Or a bit over a year.

I was, I’ll admit, disappointed that the invitation to the priests of the two deaneries to become participating authors on this blog, or to nominate people from the parishes they serve to contribute on behalf of their parish, didn’t bear fruit.

But the tumbleweeds blowing through this blog are deceptive. Today’s special deanery meeting showed that in parishes in the Western deanery, the You Are Living Stones consultation process has been proceeding with vigour. And I hear similar things coming from the East.

I’m hoping tonight or tomorrow to reproduce here the questions that were put at today’s meeting, so that those who weren’t able to attend can use the blog’s comments system to have their say.

While I did, as our bishop asked, chair the meeting, I am immensely grateful to Ron Lynch for offering and applying with such generosity his acclaimed skills as a facilitator. Ron’s help meant we got as much from that meeting as we might have expected from one lasting four times as long.

I am also grateful to the many thoroughly busy people who took the time to take part.

The report of today’s meeting will be available here in due course.

Nottingham East Deanery Talks on ‘You are Living Stones’

Each Wednesday in Lent in the Nottingham East Deanery we are enjoying a series of talks aimed at providing a backdrop to the consulation ‘You are Living Stones’ that will take place in parishes across the Diocese. You can access the talks here:

1. Our Mission in Christ – Living the Gospel Today
2. Who we are as the Body of Christ – the Church
3. Our Resources – Where we are at

Why not join us for the next talk which takes place this coming Wednesday 28th March at The Becket School, West Bridgford: A way forward together as living stones

Long Eaton’s Living Stones parish audit day

The date has been announced for the Living Stones parish audit day for Long Eaton parish: 10am to 1pm on Saturday, 31st March, at St Francis of Assisi.

All Long Eaton parishioners are welcome to attend this parish audit day, which will be run by experienced and qualified consultants generously offering their services pro deo.

The Living Stones talks would be a good preparation, but everyone will have something to contribute even if they’ve not been to a single one of the talks. People will be better able to contribute if  they’ve at least read and thought about the Living Stones information sheet that was given out in church on 3^rd & 4^th March; better still, if they’ve looked at the complete You Are Living Stones document.

At 1pm participants will finish by eating lunch together (so take some food!). If you have to get away promptly at 1pm, though, don’t let that put you off taking part in the consultation.

Bishop Malcolm’s letter

If you were at Holy Mass tonight in either of the Nottingham Deaneries — or indeed, anywhere in Nottingham Diocese — you will have heard Bishop Malcolm’s letter about the You are Living Stones consultation he has established. Here is the text of that letter in full. I’ve added links to the Gospel reading and documents that Bishop Malcolm refers to.

Bishop Malcolm wrote:

My dear friends in Christ,

In the Gospel we have just heard, St Mark tells us how Jesus is transfigured; he appears in radiant glory, and his three disciples are filled with fear as they see him in that glory. This is clearly

Freebies!

I’ve made some freebies for visitors to this blog. Some bookmarks, and a poster featuring a quotation which I think is very pertinent to the Living Stones consultation.

Feel free to print them out and give them away! Look for “Freebies” in the menu bar above.

Comments welcome — graphic design was not part of seminary training in the 1980s, so hints on how to do better next time round are always appreciated.

Deanery map: the West

In case you’re wondering where the churches are that make up the deaneries, well, I can help you with the Western deanery. Here’s an image I made when I became the dean in November, partly as a possible graphic element for a letterhead, but mostly as an exercise to help me learn the geography of the deanery. Even though I was brought up in Hyson Green parish, I’d been away from the area so long that I’d forgotten most of it.

It’s about ten miles between Hucknall and Long Eaton.

For those who are interested in the technicalities,

Lenten Talks in Nottingham East Deanery

These talks at 7pm on Wednesday nights are open to anyone interested in the context which guides the Living Stones consulation. Each talk should be finished by 8.30pm.

• 21st March at The Good Shepherd, Woodthorpe: Our Resources — where we are at
• 28th March at The Becket School, West Bridgford: A way forward together as living stones