I spent today at the General Synod Offices in Edinburgh, at a meeting of the Lay Learning Group. The composition of this small committee varies round a core, but the main point is that all but one of the dioceses are represented and we all feell we have our contribution to make. I always feel I'm more of a consumer than a provider, but realise after today's meeting that there's some work on the horizon as we plan a possible learning event in the autumn.
At this point the finer points are but a gleam in +Brian's eye, but there's an exciting buzz about this which I can only hope will grow louder.
And in one of these interesting side-tracks which always enliven a meeting, I learned of how people in one diocese had "decided not to bother" with the Lambeth-inaugurated Listening Process. I wonder if "bothering" should perhaps be a given for Christians - a sine qua non of our calling. Any thoughts?
Setting aside the serious and the feell(as is my wont), I have this vision of you all sitting around spouting Sir Walter Scott or Thomas Babington Macaulay. Say it was so!
ReplyDeleteI was blogging sans specs - you can't expect me to spot a spare "l" here and there....
ReplyDeleteOh yes I can! But what about the Lay Learning? Did you learn any?
ReplyDeleteNo, no - any more than and education committee learns to conjugate verbs. We share ideas and resources and back up what is happening in the dioceses - and occasionally initiate provincial happenings. It's very good for someone from the wilds (like me) to be part of the wider scene - and to remind city slickers (like you) that the wider scene is out there.
ReplyDeleteBother. I keep spotting typos too late. It's other folks' PCs wot does it. Honest.
ReplyDeleteNo lays learnt then? pity.
ReplyDeleteMore to the point, which of the dioceses are engaging in a listening process?
ReplyDeleteWell, at a recent clergy gathering it was much debated. Some of us said 'it's not optional; it has to happen, and it has to happen soon.' Others said,in effect, 'yes, but my congregation would not know how to cope with it; I need help.' Others yet claimed that all change takes time, talking is not productive, and we just have to wait for a generation to pass. I think the 'common mind' was that we need first to gather the clergy and ensure that everyone has facts to hand and some awareness of how to best facilitate a conversation. Then we need to take it to each congregation. But that is not in fact a listening process.
ReplyDeleteKelvin, you sketched out a church-wide listening process, but how would it best proceed on a congregational basis in places where the whole subject is still tabu?