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home / about / who’s who / reader training / Aug 05

Greetings Friends, It has been some months since my last ‘posting’ and such a lot has taken place, in my work life, my home life and of course in our church family.

With regard to my ongoing training I am just about to embark on year 2 beginning with a residential weekend with my year group at Foxhill conference centre next weekend 15 –18 September.

The theme for our weekend is “Passing on what we have been given” and includes sessions on voice production, preaching/exegesis, presentation skills, liturgy and leading worship. I am told there will be time to relax!

I don’t feel as though I have had much of a break in training although that is the intention of the programme during August. I needed to complete my year-end project and because of other commitments at work I was only able to present my project in August, so, my month ‘away’ became filled with preparation and study!

Many thanks to all those who came to my home and fulfilled the function of ‘story listeners’ as I tried to meet the criteria for my chosen year-end project “Why is storytelling in the Old Testament important?” I hope you enjoyed the stroll with CS Lewis and JR Tolkien. You will be pleased to hear that my assessor awarded me straight ‘A’s for the project and only commented on spelling mistakes within the written piece!! I wonder how accomplished Jesus was at spelling?

It illustrated I hope the need to tell our own story and share openly our walk of faith with other members of the church family. Storytelling encourages, challenges, enthuses and may offer much needed clarity to seekers.

I really would welcome your ongoing prayer support as I begin this second year of training, not least of all because of the demands we are all going to face as Michael begins his long overdue and much needed study leave. The ‘reader in training’ and ‘vicar’ relationship is a vital one and is a catalyst for my continuing personal development. For four months I am going to be without the support, counsel and wisdom of my highly valued and significant mentor.

I also need encouragement through your prayers as I grapple with the perceived functions of this thing called ‘A Reader.’ At times I feel as though I am a great distance away from ‘Anglican Readership’ in its traditionally accepted sense and question my calling ‘daily’. Maybe a critic of the past was right when they pointed out that it would be more appropriate for me to be in the Free Church tradition.

That said, I believe God would much prefer to have the Church of England ‘freed’ from its slavery to buildings, tradition and maintenance and allow the Holy Spirit to work ‘freely’ in the hearts and minds of its people and the community in which it lives.

Ponder these two questions for a moment:

If St Mary’s were to close it doors for good this weekend what impact would it have in the wider local community?

What impact do you consider it would have on church ‘members’?

Your thoughts and answers to these two questions are a barometer of our spiritual life as a church.

Maybe God will accept fresh expressions of ‘Readership’? New wine and old wineskins come to mind. Please pray ‘with purpose’ for the future development of my own reader ministry within the Church of England.

Please pray also that God will continue to challenge us through the change we are now experiencing at St Mary’s and as Michael prepares to take time out and ‘listen to the gentle whisper of God’ pray that ‘we each’ will have a spirit of boldness to carry on as co-workers, full of God’s Holy Spirit, yielding as He breaks us, separates the pieces, selects the pieces he needs to create something beautiful and new and then moulds and fashions us with the incredibly strong adhesive power of the Holy Spirit into a brand new *vessel accepting and expecting to be filled to overflowing with the grace of God and His love.

“Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you”
Joshua 3:5

Keep on praying.

God Bless Alan S

(* The vessel referred to could also be interpreted as a ‘ferry type’ vessel, perhaps God is building a new ferry to take people on a different journey? Enquire at the ferry terminal – Call Freephone Jeremiah 33.3 ) © Mike Buckley 10.30 Sermon