Nigel Wright

everyday at work...

A quote to ponder on from Tony Jones’s book;

 

“The church that doesn’t challenge its members to face the core ethical issues that confront them everyday at work is the church that has abdicated its responsibility.”[1]

 

I would add to that:

 

The church that doesn’t help, assist and equip its members to face the core ethical issues that confront them everyday at work is the church that has abdicated it responsibility.

 

I’m finding quite a lot of the stuff in Jones’s book challenging (and frustrating in places), more of that later, but there is also a reassurance in a lot of what is being expounded, not least the above!

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[1] Tony Jones, The New Christians, Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier ( USA: Jossey-Bass, 2008), P. 17.

Beliefs drive...

"Beliefs drive the way a person feels and behaves"

"Transparency and consistency are basic to good management"

I am pondering on the above at the moment, particularly the integration between religious belief and everyday action. They are both from a book written by a friend of mine, a book well worth a read whatever your back ground. The book is "Transform the way you live and work, Motivate People, Get the best from yourself and others" by Gavin Ingham (London: DK Publishing, 207).

Just another motivational book?

No, it actually captures all the best theory and practice in the area, in a concise and straightforward manner, and is set out in such a way as to enable the reader to take a journey and progress accordingly.

Many in the "religious world" discard such literature as useless or irrelevant for those whose faith should provide their belief structure and behavior patterns, but take the basic premise " I exist because you exist" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and you have the underlying ethos of this book. Not least to give is to receive...

So... back to my pondering, I believe that being Christian should result in transparency and consistency... Why doesn't it so often?... What other beliefs are the prominent drivers in our lives?...

  

Where's God on Monday?

Week three of "Where's God on Monday?" is tomorrow evening (Tuesday the 30th) 7.30 to 9pm.

If you haven't been to weeks one and two, sorry it won't make a great deal of  sense, but there will be another course running soon...

Week 3 is all about reflection on our findings in weeks 1 and 2 and preparing for a time to consider our responses.

Where's God on Monday

“Where’s God on Monday” kicks off at St. Mark’s on Tuesday with only a couple of places left out of the fifteen maximum, so if you are part of the St. Mark’s community and want to join us, ring the church office on Monday or Tuesday.

For clarification, the sessions are in the Church, not the church hall, 7.30pm to 9pm for the next three Tuesday evenings. There will then be a response time in about a month, the date is subject to the Wright household’s impending arrival on the 29^th March!

For those that I promised to do a manual for the course, my apologies for not having done so already, I am hoping to do so from this run as my mind is refreshed and the experiences captured.

And my thanks as always to the community at Opawa, New Zealand and Steve & Lynne Taylor, who were integral to the birth of the course in the current format.

Saints in Hell

I have a keen interest in the worker Priest movements of the past, for fairly obvious reasons, as I try to workout my ministry. When working directly for my training Parish, all is well in terms of support and the psychological position, however, when in my non-parish, business world environment then things can feel very different... 

A good friend lent me a copy of Gilbert Cesbrons' book Saints in Hell, which is a novel based on the worker Priest experiments of the Roman Catholic Church in France, just after the second world war. The copy I was reading was an English translation by John Russell. The book, for me is powerful, thought provoking and reassuring as I wrestle with my own outworking. Read on for a short extract...

Ministry settings - roving chaplains

A common question and/or observation as been how difficult it must be to get the curacy/consultancy balance of time. While I have to admit it has its moments it hasn't been a huge issue. (Yes I know it is early days, I have a very understanding training incumbent etc etc).

The challenge is actually in my consultancy, I am finding more and more (and I say this with thanks) a demand for my time during consultancy/client work relating to issues that most would consider ministry/pastoral.

There appears to be a real need for "roving chaplains", for want of a better phrase. People who are in the workplace (and work place must not be classified as only places where it relates to paid employment, the family home is the work place of many as much as the office block, factory or shopping mall) alongside people in their workplace setting.

There is a need for people to journey alongside in the difficult times, in the day to day demands of life, simply to be and to talk...

Sometimes it is my clients who ask me for themselves, sometimes for their employees and sometimes the employees ask there employers if they can spend time with me. This started, in the main, when I published the news of the commencement of my training to my clients, although there were occasions before that not infrequently. Since ordination (early days I know, could be a coincidence) the demand has increased again.

I thank God that it has and that it will continue to do so.

It is starting to register questions with me, a little muddled but I am thinking out loud:

If the focus of ordained ministry is more and more on self supporting ministers then there should be more and more "roving chaplain's"?

Do we need to specifically train people to recognise and act in these situations?

The best training is often peer based sharing of experiences, how do we bring together the "roving chaplain's"?

Is there a need for workplace church/fellowship meetings?

There must be thousands of lay readers out there in similar positions, what are there experiences, how do they fit into the picture?

How do we educate employers that they may have an incredible human resource on their hands without prejudicing the position of that person?

What happens when the incumbent whose patch my client happens to be on gets annoyed?

How on earth do you distinguish whose patch when the workplace will almost always be outside the parish of residence, etc.?

Should there be a blanket licensing for "roving chaplaincy"?

I would never ever seek to proselytise anyone in the workplace environment, but in my mind it has to be an incredible opportunity for mission! The person that influenced me most during my road to faith was in my workplace setting, they never spoke a word about their faith but I was mesmerised by their approach to life; there was something about them that was so different and so appealing; so kind and caring without being a door mat; so generous and hospitable and it was only when I bumped into her in church, by accident, did I start to find out the answers - her faith in Christ!

Good Fairies

I get to work with, and for, some rather amazing people but it is difficult to share it as I am bound in the main by client confidentiality, however, here is one about the good fairies that I have permission to use, you will get the thread as it goes along:

"I returned home last night to find a lovely surprise.  I went down to the office (business offices) at around 9.30pm to have a tidy up and found that 'The Good Fairy' 'Tinkerbell' or 'The Fairy Godmother' had used her magic wand and tidied up the kitchen and emptied the bins in the loo's etc.  I am so thankful for this, but don't know which fairy to thank. 

* I had a word with the Three Blind Mice but they said 'they saw nothing'... (keep reading)