Likewise he took the cup

31st July 2013

Just when you think my friends here at Fairview can’t be any kinder they go and prove me wrong!

Today (as all Wednesdays) we had a staff meeting. I thought that as it was my last staff meeting I would bring in some cakes and doughnuts to have with coffee. But I found I’d been outdone, as cakes were provided along with tea in proper cups and saucers. I thought this was a lovely thoughtful touch.

Then just as the meeting ended a large box was produced and handed to me. On opening the box I found a most precious gift – a patten and chalice.

This was a personal gift to me from the staff at the church and I was so pleased when they all signed the bottom of the patten.

I am bowled over by the love and generosity of everyone. We have really been taken to their hearts.
And I was touched today when the associate pastor said how they all thought highly of Tom.

This evening I went along to choir rehearsal. This was their first rehearsal for a few weeks and they were working on a special arrangement of “Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah” to be sung during the service on Sunday.

The Musical Director has become a good friend and she chose this specially knowing how I love the hymn. And she too thanked me for my time here.

The rehearsal ended around 8.45pm and then the MD asked everyone if they had any news of former choir members or people in need of prayer. I thought this time of fellowship at the end of the evening was a really nice touch.

It is hard having to say goodbye and I know Sunday will be tough. Especially having to say goodbye twice because of two services

I will certainly miss the good people of Fairview and the new friends we have made.

Trumped!

30th July 2013

First things first I decided to write a completely different sermon. I still drew on some of the things I’d seen in Ashville on the weekend but the end product was very different to that written yesterday.

Having started work on the sermon I got a phone call from a friend asking if I had time for 9 holes of golf on the Trump National Charlotte course in the afternoon. Taking a leaf out of my circuit superintendent’s book I said yes. I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity. And moreover my friend said he’d collect me in his replica convertible 1937 Jaguar SS100.

It was a perfect day for a drive in convertible and a perfect day for golf. Even though I say it myself I played pretty well. I definitely play golf best in the sunshine!

Since Donald Trump bought the course they have been doing some work on it mainly adding some longer tees and relaying the greens. Consequently the greens are all out of bounds at present. But it was fun playing what we were able to. In fact we played 10 the front 9 and the 18th.

A very nice course and a privilege to be able to play it.

In the evening the same friend and his wife invited us to dinner and we had a lovely meal on the veranda of the club house watching the sun go down on the lake and listening to the jungle - like sounds of the cicadas and frogs all around us.

The thing that is very different about having dinner here (whether at some one’s house or going out to dinner) is that people tend to dine earlier and the evening finished earlier as a consequence. For example, we met our friends at 6.30pm and by 9.30pm we were on our way home. It is different to us but on a school night it is good. (Maybe I’m just getting old.)

Mime communion

29th July 2013

The day started off as a fairly normal Monday whether here or at home. Reflecting about Sunday and thinking about Sunday to come. In fact I wrote a sermon based on some of the things we’d seen in Ashville on the weekend. Though by the evening had decided not to preach it.

But in the evening we’d been asked to come along to a Mime Communion. In fact the Mime Communion had been laid on especially for us by two close friends we have made who perform it. (And it is a performance though still very sacred.)

We had no idea what to expect. But we were all very deeply moved by what we saw.

In some ways it is very hard to describe and equally by describing it I feel I will take away some of the mystery of it. And it was mysterious in the sense of encountering the mystery of God and what it can mean to be a follower of Jesus.

To the background of a beautiful song called Via Dolorosa, the mime artists entered the sanctuary. One was carrying a large gold box (about the size of a document box / archive box.) The box was placed on a small table. The lid was removed.

On the underside of the lid were the words “God’s great gift”. The male artist then took out a small nativity scene of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. This was placed on the altar. The male artist then took out a doll wrapped in a cloth and gave it to the woman who nursed it.

All eyes were drawn to the female mime artist for a while as she glided round the room all the while cuddling the doll.

But after about 30 seconds the male artist got something else out of the box. A cross about 2 feet by 1 foot. He then found a large nail. Then he went to the woman and snatched the doll from her. But as the cloth fell away the doll proved to be a loaf of bread.

The woman mimed horror and crying as the man took the bread, tore it and made to nail it to the cross. And then he tilted the cross so that wine poured from it.

I know I gasped when the doll was revealed to be bread and I immediately caught the symbolism. And as the wine (Blood) poured from the cross I know I had Goosebumps.

Communion was then served.

A very powerful piece of drama.

I was asked to share afterwards what I felt and I was speechless for once as I was so moved.

A lovely day

28th July 2013

A fairly quiet Sunday compared to some over the last few weeks.

At 9am and 11am services I didn’t preach. Instead Anne gave an excellent talk about Swindon Street Pastors. This was well received and people found it interesting. I know Anne had a long conversation after the service with a church member who is a former police officer.

During the 11am service 5 new Stephen Ministers were commissioned, And it was a privilege to take part in this.

After 11am service one of our friends came to me and said “You know how you were joking that it’s a shame David Calhoun didn’t have a large American car or pickup truck? Well this afternoon your dream has come true. Here are the keys to my truck, have a drive around in it.”

So I drove around in this large, 5 litre V8 pickup truck (Japanese but who is splitting hairs) with a very large grin on my face.

Anne and I would have gone for a longer drive but just after lunch another friend called offering to take us out on Lake Norman as it was a nice afternoon. So we drove the truck to the lake and then went out on a boat for an hour or so. How unlike Sunday afternoons at home.

After returning the truck home safely, the three of us went to another friend’s house for dinner. We had such a fun evening and – NO BARBECUE! Delicious crab cakes and shrimp instead. Washed down with a glass of Biltmore Chardonnay.

A lovely day.

Bele Chere

27th July 2013

After our visit to the Biltmore yesterday, we stayed the night in a hotel just outside Ashville and decided we’d go in to the town for a few hours and then perhaps drive along some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ But as you’ll see, our plans changed.

As we drove into Ashville, the road we were on was closed at the edge of the town centre. We followed the Detour signs (which promptly vanished) and we found ourselves in some back streets. Several of the churches were offering parking for $5.00 for the day. So we decided we’d park and walk the ¼ mile in to town. We had no idea why the roads were closed but off we set.

In arriving in the town it became apparent that some kind of festival was taking place. We found an information booth and were told that it was Bele Chere. We were none the wiser but went with the flow.
The town is really attractive with some wonderful art deco style buildings and lots of independent shops, restaurants and bars.

So it would have been a joy to visit anyway. But with the Bele Chere festival happening it was wonderful.

On several stages dotted around the town centre live acts were playing. These were nearly all local musicians and some were playing country, some blue grass and some rock. I would advise all towns to adopt this approach so that when wives are shopping husbands can be put into a husband crèche with a beer and live music.

(By the way, talking of beer, Ashville boasts a number of excellent micro - breweries – well so I’m told obviously.)

We had such a good time that in the end we didn’t have time to drive some of the Parkway.
Apparently Bele Chere has been running for over 30 years and it brought thousands of people in to the town. But apparently this is going to be the last one as the local council says it costs too much to put on. Given the vast numbers of people attending and spending money I would have thought it generates a lot of income for the town.

We had our own theory about why it might be ending. Ashville itself feels quite a hippy, liberal kind of place and we wondered whether there might be some political motivation behind the closure of the festival?

Given that we've missed out on the Larmer Tree Festival (one of our favourites back home) and Greenbelt it was good to attend a festival over here. And it was a proper festival as there were portaloos! Though thankfully no mud.

"The Vanderbilts have asked me out to tea"

26th July 2013

Ever since arriving in North Carolina people have been telling me “You must visit the Biltmore Estate”. I had heard of it before we arrived as I’d read about it in a guide book and some friends from the UK (who now live in Florida) had also mentioned it as a relative of theirs used to work as a gardener on the estate in the 1920s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltmore_Estate

Someone at church suggested it would be a good place to take Anne and suggested I booked a room at the Biltmore Inn on the estate. (For Inn read hotel.) As much as I love my wife rooms at $500 are beyond my budget. So with the help of a friend at church who has a season ticket for the Biltmore I booked a package deal of a hotel and admission to the estate.

Having looked up the Biltmore on the internet I thought it would be good. But having visited the likes of Blenheim Palace, Windsor Castle, Neuschwanstein in Bavaria and the Chateaux of the Loire in France, I thought Biltmore would be a Disneyesque fantasy. Well yes it is a copy of European stately homes but it was excellent.

The façade looks like a French chateau but on entry the Biltmore comes in to its own. Instead of the expected grand entrance hall, there is an open space which is in fact a winter garden.

I am not going to go through it room by room. But suffice it to say I’m not aware of Blenheim Palace having a swimming pool, gym and bowling alley in the basement!

What was special were the spectacular views from the rear of the house. The terrace (“loggia”) was open and to look across acres and acres of woodland towards the Smokey Mountains in the distance was awe inspiring. (The woodlands had been planted on the instruction of Vanderbilt’s landscaper as a way of covering various small farms!)

We enjoyed a walk around the gardens and were thrilled to see a humming bird and some beautiful butterflies.

The only jarring note is that the road leading guests from the estate goes around the garden. So the tranquillity was broken by Harley Davidsons! (Biltmore you need to sort that out in my opinion.)

I’ve spoken many times in the blogs over the last few weeks about how generous people are. Just before we left for the Biltmore the friend who helped me with the booking gave us an envelope. When we opened it we found it contained $50 dollars and a note to say that we should go and have a nice meal together. Taking out friend at her word we booked a table the Bistro at the Biltmore winery where we had an excellent meal.

A lovely child - free break!

Healthcare for all

25th July 2013

A non-stop day but a day full of interest.

This morning I accompanied the Associate Pastor on some visits to a couple of care homes where some elderly church members were resident.

The first visit was to a lady in her mid-80s. I’ll call her Freda. Freda is quite frail but still as bright as a button with a lovely sense of humour. She asked me whether I’d been up to the mountains and I told her about the visit to Lake Junaluska and to the motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley.

“I used to ride motorcycles. I started off riding pillion with my husband. But I didn’t like that so he got me my own bike. The last bike I had was a Kawasaki 900!”

She told me that her great granddaughter had just been born. “She’s cute. But her nose is too big. Still I suppose she’ll grow into it.”

The lady was a real blessing and I came away smiling.

Lunch time I met a chaplain for the main trauma hospital in Charlotte. When the meeting had been arranged I’d thought that she was the kind of hospital chaplain who sees patients on wards etc. But in fact her main level of chaplaincy is to the staff dealing with trauma whether in the operating theatres, or first responders.

The conversation soon moved on from chaplaincy to other areas. For example gay marriage and the church’s attitude to it and homosexuality. She also mentioned that in her experience in this part of the world there is still a view that committing suicide is a sin. Consequently, family members dealing with the consequences of a suicide not only have the guilt of the person’s death but also the guilt of sin too,

I said in my experience in the UK this attitude no longer applied, apart from among some Catholics.

A really interesting conversation. All too short.

This afternoon I was taken to the Christian Mission headquarters in Mooresville. I am now clearer on what the Christian Mission does. It operates a Foodbank but also provides clothes and household items and furniture. Clients are also given debt advice and signposted to other agencies. A very good set up.

After this I was taken to see the free healthcare clinic “Healthreach Community Clinic”. This is a good set up offering free health care to families where the total household income was less than $50,000 a year. I met a number of the staff (including the director). They are doing wonderful work.

But, my American friends, I find it appalling that the wealthiest country on the planet cannot provide decent healthcare for all citizens. Most European countries have some sort of state health care system so why can’t the US?

Prayer and laughter

24th July 2013

A very interesting but mixed day. Started with the weekly staff meeting at which we debriefed about VBS amongst other things.

Then in the afternoon I met a church member who had asked to meet to have a pastoral chat. Without going into too much detail, the gentleman said he struggled with praying, with God seeming to answer some prayers and not others and also with God allowing some people to die despite prayers.

I assured him he was not alone and that I too struggled with prayer and in fact always felt I had not been gifted with the gift of prayer unlike some people who seem to be such amazing "pray – ers". I suggested he reads Philip Yancey’s book “Prayer: does it make any difference?” as I had found it very helpful.

We went on to have a great conversation about all kinds of stuff. But I was honoured that the gentleman felt he could trust me enough

In the evening Anne and I met a friend from church and headed down to Charlotte to a comedy club called The Comedy Zone. Our friend regularly goes there and she had been given some tickets for that evening. The evening started with an open mike spot and 3 out of the 4 comedians were awful but the 4th (a woman) was OK. After that the warm up comedian came on. Marty Simpson. He was very good. Totally clean and he did some great stuff about churches. We spoke to him afterwards and he said to our friend that he would come to Fairview. I told him about Greenbelt and he was keen to find out more.

Have a look at his routine here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Cp3bTSfDo

Following him was an older comedian called Gerry Farber. He was good but for me Marty Simpson was the star of the show.

A very enjoyable evening though.

A greyhound that needs putting to sleep

Greyhound

Back home in a record case in the loft I have Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits on vinyl. I bought it when I was about 16 years of age after being at a party in which a friend played the album on cassette alight long. I remember being captivated by the songs. But one in particular was amazing – America – telling as it does of a romantic bus journey across the USA. It was always something I fancied doing.

Well I’ve not done this but my dream must have been passed on through my genes to Tom, as he announced he’d like to catch a Greyhound from North Carolina to somewhere else and he settled on Nashville.

So yesterday I attempted to book a Greyhound bus trip for him. He’d done some research and found that by buying a ticket on line there was a saving of over $50. So I went on the Greyhound website. This showed the journey he wanted to make from Hickory NC to Nashville. It also clearly showed a web price that was cheaper than the standard price. ($166 as opposed to $196. There had been a cheaper Advance price but this was no longer on display.)

However, for some reason the site wouldn’t let me finish the booking saying the fare was not available – even though the web site showed it as available.

So I phoned up. If all our call centres are now in India, Greyhound must have its in Mexico. No issue with this other than a Mexican trying to understand a Welsh accent and vice versa was always going to end in tears. Anyway, I explained the problem and the woman at the other end said she’d look in to it and put me on hold. After 10 minutes I heard nothing and it seemed as if I’d been cut off.

I managed to track down a number for the web site support and called them. After a lot of faffing around the man told me the fare was not available as they didn’t do internet fares from Hickory. Despite the web site saying they do.

Me: Why don’t you do web site tickets from Hickory if the web site says you do?

Him: We don’t do web site tickets on that “rout” sir

Me: Why then does your web site say that you do sell tickets on that “route” then?

Him: We don’t do web site tickets on that “rout” sir. You’d have to buy a ticket at $166 over the phone but I can’t do that sir.

(And he gave me another number to call.)

So I called the other number and, with Tom’s agreement, I attempted to buy a $166 ticket. But when the guy started taking the details and realised that I would be buying a ticket on behalf of Tom suddenly there was a $18 fee for this.

I asked to speak to a supervisor and spoke to John.

Him: (opening line) If you wish to complain you need to contact complaints on a different number

Me: Why do you charge a S18 fee for me buying a ticket for my son?

Him: I don’t set the policy sir you need to complain to our executives.

After all this nonsense I was relieved when Tom said he had changed his mind as he didn’t trust Greyhound. Wise move my son.

Greyhound should partner with Ryan Air back in the UK as Greyhound’s customer service is as bad as Ryan Air’s.

So the moral is don’t board the Greyhound in Pittsburgh or indeed anywhere else.

Levitcus 23:22 in action and more

23rd July 2013

This morning the three of us travelled to nearby Statesville to visit the Community College. The Director of the college is a Fairview member. He gave us a tour round the lovely campus (we weren’t surprised to learn that at one time it had been the sister college to Davidson, with Statesville being the female college and Davidson the male college.)

I was expecting a Community College to be like our Sixth Form Colleges or a further education college. But this one had a real feel of a university to it. Anne was very impressed with the nursing program.

We then went to lunch with our host at Statesville Rotary Club. There was a talk from the local Christian Foodbank about what they are doing and their new premises. Very interesting. Unlike the Foodbank back home, people are allowed to pick goods off the shelf rather than just being given a bag of food selected by Foodbank. (There must be some restriction on what people can select, though this was not made clear.)

The speaker also spoke of an initiative whereby they have worked with local farmers and gardeners encouraging them to grow an extra row of vegetables. (A very Biblical approach - 22 ‘“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.”’) This is working really well so that they can now offer fresh vegetables to clients.

They have aspirations to set up a community garden not only to grow veg for the project but to give allotments to local people and show them how to grow their own vegetables. (Most places here have much bigger gardens than at home – though typically they are mostly just lawn. So it would make sense for people in need to have vegetable plots.)

On getting back to Mooresville, Anne and I went to visit the soup kitchen. This is probably a misnomer as it is much more than a soup kitchen. I’ll call it the soup kitchen for ease, but as you’ll see it does a lot more.

The kitchen opens around 11am each day and provides meals for around 100+ people who call in at that point. That in itself would be laudable. But the Kitchen also cooks hundreds of meals each day which are then frozen and distributed to the needy. The produce for these meals comes from donations from supermarkets and restaurants as well as from local people. This is part of something called Second Harvest.

The kitchen operates from a former car parts warehouse and has a full catering kitchen complete with walk in fridge and larder. Each day around 40 volunteers help with the project in some way. Most are from local churches but not all. In fact the man who showed us round explained how a proportion of unchurched like to get involved as they feel they are helping the community.

And this reminded me of something Tony Campolo said at Greenbelt last year about we in the church not forgetting that there are many good people out there who would not call themselves Christians yet who demonstrate Christ - like love. We need to engage with such people and gently show them that the Spirit of Christ is within them.

The man showing us round said a large number of the people who receive food are not the down and outs and homeless that many might expect. The clients are often working people and their families but they are struggling to make ends meet. We got on to a discussion about minimum wage and living wage and how in the UK there is a campaign to provide a living wage.

Our guide (who I know has been a very senior executive with a number of major companies) said he tended to agree. And he mention several large US companies (retailers mainly) who consistently seek to offer low prices to customers but this comes at driving wages down and putting staff on part time contracts etc. He found this wrong and cited the practice as one reason why people struggle financially as more and more employers seem to adopt a similar model.

I was very impressed with the set up. In some senses it is a larger (well much larger) concept of community kitchen back at home. The difference being that this is daily and that several churches work together to put it on.

A wonderful project.

Lakes, trout, and petrolheads

22nd July 2013

What a wonderful day we’ve had.

Collected by friends at 7.00am to head to the mountains.

Our first stop was at Lake Junaluska.

There is a lake here unsurprisingly but it is also the base for the United Methodist Church’s North Carolina conference and home to the offices of the World Methodist Council and the World Methodist Museum. So for me it was a very interesting place with lots of Methodist artefacts. For Anne it was fairly interesting and for Tom it was boring!

The museum contained some interesting paintings and artefacts including John Wesley's death mask.

One thing that surprised me was seeing a British Methodist Overseas Mission collecting box circa 1960 (for British Methodist friends the little globe one) in a case. My mum and dad still have one!

But Lake Junaluska must be a wonderful place for a conference or a retreat. Any chance of the ministerial synod coming here I wonder?

After this it was time for lunch and our friends took us to a small town called Maggie Valley and we went to a small diner. What a lovely little local place. And I managed to avoid barbecue! Woo hoo! Instead I had locally caught trout.

Over lunch our friends offered us a choice of where to go next. We could either go to nearby Ashville or to a museum in Maggie Valley called Wheels Through Time. I know where I wanted to go but this being the first few days of Anne’s holiday I buttoned my lip. But she said “David and I will be going to Ashville on the weekend when we visit the Biltmore, so let’s go the motor museum.” (That’s why I love her.)

It is a museum mainly of American motorcycles, though there are some American cars. Some of the bikes are 100 years old but most work as the owner gets them into working order.

I am more a car fan but this was a great place. And our friend told us how as a young man he had had an Indian motorbike very much like one of those in the museum. To see the face of an older man light up as he retold the story was a joy.

http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com

After our visit finished our friends took us on a drive up in to the mountains proper. There is some debate about whether the mountains at this point were the Smokey Mountains or the Blue Ridge Mountains. Whichever they were at this point, they are very very beautiful.

We drove for mile after mile along meandering roads through small hamlets and villages and eventually along twisting tree lined roads all the time climbing. After reaching the junction with the Blue Ridge Parkway we started to slowly drop down. The roads are so tree lined it is not possible to see any distance but occasionally there would be a small break and we’d catch glimpses of the magnificent views.

Our friends pulled into an area called Sliding Rock, run by the National Forest Service. This is a waterfall but the waterfall travels over a very smooth rock surface creating a very large water slide. Under supervision of the park rangers and life guards people slide down the rock slide into a pool at the bottom. It looked amazing fun. But given the back board at the lifeguard station, (for use with someone with a suspected back or neck injury) sliding here is not without danger.

After enjoying watching this, we started to head home.

Eventually we arrived back home around 8pm after a wonderful day with (as usual) generous friends.

Feed me till I want no more

21st July 2013

The usual Sunday of preaching, teaching an adult Sunday School class and preaching again. But this time with Anne in the congregation and she is the person who I rely on most for feedback.

After the 9am service (in which Sir Wally rode again for the last time and at which we did a recap of Kingdom Rocks) Anne said to me that I’d preached with real passion and conviction. And that has been true (I feel) of all my sermons over the last few weeks. But this is because there is something about Fair View congregations that allows me to be unrestrained and also something that fuels me.

I think it is partly because the people at Fairview seem to come to church enthused and willing to worship. But also because their energy seems to give me energy. And also I think because I come to the services here feeling less tired and more focused than at home. Here my job is to be the pastor and to preach and not like at home to be the pastor, to preach, to chair meetings etc etc etc. Consequently the end product as it were is going to be of better quality here rather than back at home.

Something I have found strange though at the services here is the lack of prayer. Back at home we are taught (firstly as local preachers and then as ministers) that each service should have prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and intercession. That doesn’t appear to be the model here. Nor is it the custom apparently to have a prayer with the minister before the service.

Also there seems to be quite a bit of clock watching in respect of the services, The 9am contemporary service always seems as if the worship band and worship leader have been told that they must not run on after 9am on pain of death. In my opinion the service timings need reorganising somehow to allow for more time in worship.

11am service we had a good old hymn sing. Lots of old favourites and ended (of course) by “Guide me O thou great Jehovah.” The preacher’s choice!

Looks like we're dragging a clogger

20th July 2013

A really lovely day – though it started early courtesy of Anne’s jet lag. She was wide awake at 5.30am which for Anne is unknown. So there we were chatting away when for once this early bird would have rolled over and gone back to sleep.

At 7am we went for a walk around the block. And Anne was amazed at the houses on Knoxview Lane (the road next-door to the parsonage) and their proximity to Lake Norman. Several are for sale and American estate agents (“Realtors”) have little boxes underneath the “For Sale” sign with the details in which made for interesting reading. Over $1m for a house backing on to the Lake. Though an equally lovely house on the same road but not on the Lake (but having access to it via a slipway opposite) was $650,000.

Having come home and had a cuppa (and Anne having set up her blog) the three of us headed in to Mooresville for breakfast at my favourite place “The Daily Grind”. Crab cake eggs benedict. Mmm. (Be still my clogged heart.) Then we gave Anne a brief tour round Mooresville – though nowhere near as comprehensive as the tours I got from friends at church.

Back home, it was time to put the test match back on and to have the joy of England thrashing Australia, before preparing to head out for the latest attack on the arteries, a visit to Sims Barbecue.

We assembled at the church and a group of around 30 people headed off in the two church mini buses and a couple of cars.

Sims is in the back of beyond. If I’d been kidnapped there would have been no need to blindfold me I’d never find it again! After driving for about 1 ½ hours we arrived at a barn like place. And lo and behold this was Sims. Having paid the entrance fee of just over $10 each we joined the queue for food. This being North Carolina (and the name being Sims barbecue) the menu featured - barbecue. But not just the usual pulled pork also roast chicken. And there was the usual feature of high dining North Carolina style “all you can eat.”

No alcoholic beverages were available (no wonder NASCAR grew out of running moonshine) so it was ice tea.

An hour or so after we arrived and had eaten, a four piece blue grass band came on stage and started playing. And then the local cloggers took to the floor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogging This is a local folk dance and even I could see connections to Irish dancing and to the clog dancing of the north of England and parts of Wales.

The cloggers were fun to watch. Although most of the cloggers were women, occasionally they were joined by a young man who was very good – at least to my untutored eye.

Somehow I was persuaded by a lady from Fair View to join in the dancing. Given I have never ever clogged, have never had a desire to and I was wearing walking sandals, I think I was at a disadvantage. The things we ministers do to placate the troops.

(I should add that the words “Barn Dance” or “Country dancing” always will me with dread. I am firmly with Sir Thomas Beecham who supposedly said "Try everything once, except folk dancing and incest.")

It is hard to judge how many people were at Sims but several hundred. It is obviously a place for friends and families to meet on a Saturday evening. People of all ages were present. And there was a lovely friendly atmosphere.

Around 8.30 we decided we’d leave so we all trooped back to the buses. The more luxurious of the two buses had been commandeered by the young adults and older folk so we middle aged family types were in “The van”. Unfortunately the van refused to start. But the bus had already driven off. That’s what cell phones are for though isn’t it? Wrong! Out in the boondocks there was patchy cell phone coverage.

Eventually (probably after about 20 minutes) the bus returned and a trainee mechanic got off. I don’t know what he did that others hadn't done but the old girl fired up. (The van that is, not one of the pensioners.) But as we drove off it was making a funny noise so that one of the van passengers said “I think we’re pulling a clogger with us!”

A fun evening made all the more so by the conversations in the van.

And then there were three

19th July 2013

A brief blog to just to keep you all up-to-date.

Today involved three things.

Firstly, cleaning and tidying the house. Actually it wasn’t bad at all. Tom and I had kept it in good order so after an hour or so we’d (the Royal we) got things looking ship shape and Bristol fashion.

I was reminded of this great 1990s TV ad though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKb3J9mctlo

(American friends please go and look at this. Very funny.)

Having looked around with a sense of satisfaction, the second thing. Sitting down with a cuppa, reading and listening to the test match (cricket – England v Australia) via the internet. This amazes me. To listen to British radio in the USA via the internet is wondrous. (The problem is it messes with your time schedules.) But a taste of home.

Thirdly. Collecting Anne from Charlotte airport.

Tom and I have had a great time and we’ve got on really well. But we were both really pleased to see Anne after a month. She’d had a good journey – apart from the staff on Delta being inefficient (they were still serving drinks as the pilot told them to go back to their seats for final approach.) And although airline food is never good, Delta seems to pride itself in poor meals. (My experience coming over too.) That aside she arrived safe and sound, on time and with luggage.

As traffic on the I77 (motorway / freeway) was bad, we came off and drove up the 115 a back road in effect which was much more pleasant.

VBS

18th July 2013

OK. This blog covers the last few evenings when I’ve been involved with Vacation Bible School – VBS.

The theme was “Kingdom Rock”. And how we are encouraged to “Stand Strong”.

The material is bought in and it is very good quality. The songs (all of which were very good) were projected onto the various screens in the church (“sanctuary”) where the evenings started and finished. However, several of the teens at the church had learnt the songs and the dance moves that went with them, to help lead the children. The same four or five songs are used each evening so the children become familiar with them. But the songs are of such good quality I didn’t tire of hearing them.

Picking up on the Kingdom idea, the church and rooms had all been decorated to look like a castle. Many people in the church worked to put the sets together but the idea pretty much came from one lady and boy was it impressive. As you’ll see from the photos.

VBS started on Sunday evening. There was a time of worship when the theme was introduced though the rest of the evening was devoted to games and food. Fair View chooses to launch VBS with this family night – though some other churches usually end with the family night.

Monday – Thursday the evenings follow the same format. The children arrive around 5.30pm and have a meal then at 6pm they are taken in to church. The children are divided into groups depending on school age. My group were aged 7 – 8 and we were the yellow crew. (I had two other adults with me for a group of 13 children.)

As I was saying at 6pm all the groups go in to church for worship. This comprised of singing some songs some storytelling and some drama. Well drama is too strong a word. More like pantomime. The skits (that's the word Americans use we’d perhaps say sketch) revolved around the antics of wannabe knight Sir Wally. And typecast again I played Sir Wally.

The skits were two handers with me and the worship minister who (with his wife) led the worship excellently. We struck up a real rapport and were able to ad lib and mess around a bit with the script which made it fun. The technology at the church is such that we were able to follow our lines on a large TV screen (a bit like using an autocue I imagine.) Sir Wally became a firm favourite over the week as he struggled to become a knight. By the final evening he was a knight and this allowed us to have a bit of fun that the adults would get:

Wally says “Wait you’re knights too?” and Sir Vinny was supposed to reply “We’re not knights” but he added “Yes, Gladys Knight” which allowed me to say “OK I’m leaving on the midnight train to Georgia” Well we found it funny!

A lady in the church had made me a wonderful tabard complete with a coat of arms on it (the coat of arms of the City of London) so I hope I can keep it.

After the worship the children go into different streams (and with over 100 children this takes some organising.) But my team followed the same format. First we went to missions to hear about some mission projects the church is supporting. Then we went to Bible class. The crafts (with a snack time) and finally closing worship. By which time it was 7.45pm and the children were starting to flag.

Some nights there was a skit. (One of which was the infamous “hell” moment!) But last night the “skit” was a moving piece of drama about the crucifixion and resurrection which the children really got. Very powerful.

The evening always ended with the same song. A song from a VBS several years ago but which the kids love because it had some really fun actions to go with it.

The evening ended around8.15pm.

Over 100 children attended a good many of whom did not come to church. So it is an amazing program. And a wonderful outreach by the church. I would say that in terms of volunteers at the church each evening there must be close on fifty with the Bible class leaders, worship leaders, catering and audio visual. And that is not including all the people who worked at making the sets and putting the sets up in the week leading up to VBS. Everyone does a wonderful job.

In some respects VBS is not much different to the holiday clubs run by Stratton Methodist back home. Just on a much bigger scale. But when people asked did we have VBS in Britain I was able to tell them about the holiday club Stratton runs.

So VBS has been a great experience and it’s been a privilege to be part of it.

Wild goose chase

17th July 2013

In some respects a fairly quiet day (apart from the enjoyable madness of VBS)Though the day started off with an interesting conversation with one of the church team. She asked me how I'd enjoyed the lake yesterday and the conversation went on about the lake. And she mentioned how at one time there used to be a sunrise service held on the lake shore on Easter Day. She said it was very moving though sometime the geese made their presence felt.

I told her how in Celtic Christiniaity the Wild Goose was used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit rather than the dove. And at this she looked quite shocked. She explained how for several years a business she and her husband had run struggled but they kept faith with it (and eventually it did well.) And one thing that kept them going was seeing the geese on the lake. The geese alwys seemed an encouragement.

This morning I finished preparation for Sunday and then we had the weekly staff meeting. So that was all routine.

Then this afternoon I had a pre-arranged meeting with a church member. It was a really interesting conversation. She told me how she’d been challenged by last Sunday’s sermon “Called to be an innkeeper?” And she had this nagging feeling she was being challenged by God to do something else with her life. We had a long conversation about that and I shared my own experience of eventually being called to ministry but also the time leading up to this when I had felt for a long time that I wanted to change career but nothing felt right until this call came along.

She asked me how things were going and I felt able to say that one thing that was surprising is how refreshing the exchange was. How I was being nourished by it in the spiritual sense (though with all the North Carolina barbecue in the physical sense too!)

There was much more but it is not appropriate to mention here. But a really interesting conversation.

So this is a very brief blog. But as the blog is as much an aide memoire for me as anything it has served its purpose.
Had a Skype with Anne and Skype is a wonderful thing. She’s now left the flat she’d been loaned by friends and is spending a couple of days with her mum before flying out on Friday. So it was good to check that Skype worked there too. We’ve Skyped most days and that has made such a difference. To hear the other person’s “real” voice as opposed to the distortion of a phone is great. We’ve tended not to use the video as the connection at Anne’s end was not that stable. But video is even more amazing.

Just one VBS comment so I don’t forget. The evening ended with a drama which included a very sensitive account of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. As the actor playing Jesus came in carrying the cross, one of the kids me said excitedly “It’s Jesus! It’s Jesus!” Before saying “Well, I think it’s Jesus?”

Finally, a thank you to a good friend of mine who reads the blog every day and then contacts me with various minor corrections. I tend to write these late at night when I’m tired so sometimes make grammatical errors or miss out words. And I find I can never proof read anything off the screen and I don’t have easy access to a printer at the parsonage. So thank you my friend. You know who you are!

I think I said it once and I may have got away with it.

16th July 2013

Sermon writing this morning, VBS this evening. In between, a boat trip on Lake Norman.

Lake Norman, was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy. It is the largest manmade body of fresh water located in North Carolina.

Lake Norman is sometimes referred to as the "inland sea" of North Carolina; it offers 520 miles (840 km) of shoreline and a surface area of more than 50 square miles (130 km2)

Today has been a glorious day and yesterday evening friends at church who live on the lake and who have a boat called and suggested that today would be a perfect day to go on the lake. And so it proved to be.

Our friend grew up on a farm part of which Duke Energy purchased when the plans to flood the area were being put in place in the late 1950s. Our friend’s father agreed to let Duke Power (as it then was) have the piece of land in exchange for another piece of land. This was agreed and our friends’ house now stands on some of that land right on the edge of the lake.

Our friend explained that through the fields given to Duke Power, a small stream ran. The stream was so small that it was easy to step across. Yet that stream now flows into the lake. The dam was completed in 1963 and the Catawba River started to fill the lake. It took about a year for the lake to fill apparently.

The whole point of the lake was in assisting in providing electricity. Initially through a hydroelectric station at Cowans Ford but also in supplying water for the Marshall Steam power station (a coal fired station) and also for McGuire Nuclear station.

Initially people came to the lake and set up tents and caravans. But over time these have been replaced with many large houses. The area is favoured by the NASCAR drivers and the wealthy. In the 3 hours we were on the lake we hardly saw any ordinary houses as it were. And according to our friends, there are only one or two places where the public can get access to the lake.

We were on our way back when we came across someone on a broken down Jet Ski. In fact there was one person on the ski and two in the water. The Jet Ski had run out of petrol. Two of the three came aboard the boat and the third person and Jet Ski were towed back to our friends' house where the jet skiers were supplied with a gallon of petrol. They were about to go on their way when one of them asked for our friends’ names and phone number so that they could pay for the petrol. Our hosts said this was not necessary but the young people should “pay it forward.”

As stated all this week nothing much about VBS. However, I am going to mention a funny incident this evening involving Tom (in case I forget.)

Tom had been persuaded to take part in a sketch in which he would play a game show host. Every answer to every question was supposed to be “pray” or “prayer”. The four panellists (all church members) comprised the stereotypical American tourist; a sports fan; a guy who loved himself and a woman who was a scientist. It was after asking the scientist a question that Tom’s faux pas took place.

The scientist gave a very complex answer at the end of which Tom said “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about” Cue sharp intake of breath and much sniggering from the kids (“Did he really say ‘hell’”) Tom had no idea what he said was wrong. It was only afterwards that the meaning (in an American context) was explained to him and he was embarrassed. But two ladies at the church who are heavily involved in youth work told him not to worry. And in fact Tom has gained a lot of respect from the youth group!

Mooresville meanderings

15 July 2013

The day started with a tour round Mooresville by a couple of church members who are local historians. They had been on holiday when we arrived otherwise they would have done this during our first week. So although by now I knew some of the information they passed on, equally I learned a lot.

For example they took me round the whole perimeter of what had been a cotton mill and is now a large furniture outlet store. In fact the furniture store, which is big, was only part of the site. So I realised how big a factory it had been and how big an employer. In fact if the NASCAR teams hadn’t moved into the area and (more recently) the headquarters of Lowes DIY stores then my hosts said Mooresville would have been a ghost town. As it is, it is doing well.

They kindly took me to lunch at a Barbecue Restaurant called Lancaster’s and this was great. Inside it is a shrine to NASCAR with body panels, racing overalls and posters adorning the walls. And in the middle is a school bus which people can sit in to eat. Food was good though my turkey sandwich (which I thought would be a healthy option) came filled with melted cheese! (I should have read the small print.) A fun place all the same.

Back at the church I had one of those phone calls all ministers dread – the call for someone trying to get money. This person claimed her electricity was about to be cut off if she didn’t pay $250. She said she’d tried other places but with no joy. How is one to react? With sympathy? With scepticism? With an open wallet?

Having checked with colleagues, the stance of Fair View is not to give money but to point them in the direction of the Christian Mission which Fair View supports. When I spoke to the woman once more she claimed to have tried this and been refused.
As the guilt was kicking in I got a phone call from my cousin Tom from Ohio. We had a good catch up and have arranged to meet in Washington DC which will be great. It’s been about 10 years since we last saw each other.

Tom’s call meant I was a little late for my appointment with Mooresville’s Chief of Police. He graciously took me round the station and introduced me to a good number of officers and detectives. All very friendly and a good number who could see the value of chaplaincy. One officer chatted to me then disappeared before returning with a Mooresville police patch which I was thrilled with. (The chief also gave me a special coin with the Mooresville Police crest on it.) And I was invited to come in for a ride along, which I will do.

Just as the chief was about to show me out, he was asked to come and meet some officers from neighbouring police forces who were undertaking a joint operation. One of the officers was a US Marshall which I found really impressive. He looked nothing like Rooster Cockburn.

Then finally Kingdom Rocks VBS. More of which later in the week.

All within me falls at Your throne

14th July 2013

At the end of this week I will write a blog to talk about Vacation Bible School “VBS” which started this evening at Fair View. But I’m going to mention some other things that took place today.

The day started with Methodist Men’s Breakfast. I was asked to lead the devotions and I read Jeremiah 29: 4 – 11. I explained how verse 11 was important to me:

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And then I shared how I’d been called to ministry.

One man, who we’ve become very friendly with said after I’d finished whether I’d like to comment on verse 6

6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.

Did I have plans to find Tom a wife? Too much laughter.

I’ve published separately the text of my sermon. This evening several people came up to me and thanked me for it. One gentleman told me he hadn’t been at the service this morning but his wife came home and recounted the sermon to him and she said it was one of the best sermons she’d ever heard! (Very kind words but I don’t think I’d but in the same league as a sermon preached by John Wesley, or Donald Soper or other great preachers.) Another man said he really liked my reflection on what Jesus might be saying to each one of us. He’d never thought of the parable of the Good Samaritan that way before.

(I’d not thought of that interpretation before. It maybe it is in a commentary but it felt as if that was the word I was given to say. So it was inspired rather than read.)

The 9am contemporary worship was good again and I felt much more at ease at both services this week without having to juggle in communion.

Towards the end of the 11am service the offertory was brought forward and the associate pastor received it. But she then realised the altar table had been moved to accommodate VBS. Now the church has been transformed into a castle as the VBS theme is Kingdom Rock. So the associate pastor placed the offering on the throne and then knelt before it to say a prayer. This was spontaneous and was so powerful and moving. I really felt something special, in this simple gesture.

I was reminded of this song
King of Kings, Majesty,
God of heaven, living in me
Gentle Saviour, closest friend,
Strong Deliverer, Beginning and End
All within me falls at Your throne

Your Majesty, I can but bow
I lay my all before You now
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve Your Majesty

Earth and heaven worship You,
God Eternal, Faithful and True
Who bought the nations,
ransomed souls
Brought this sinner
near to Your throne
All within me cries out in praise


After service we were taken out for lunch by a couple we’d not met before. They were really good company and the man was very funny.

The line about marrying Tom off came up again. And the man said we needed to be careful when we went up to Sims Barbeque next weekend as the country girls were all waiting. And he warned Tom to be careful as they often have extra toes.

He went on to say though that they are not as bad as the girls from West Virginia who often share one set of teeth between six. (Tom and I were giggling away as we were reminded of the comments about people from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.)

Our host then said to us “Of course, you know the tooth brush was invented in West Virginia?” Really we said. “Oh sure. If it had been anywhere else it would be called a teeth brush!”

Well we found funny.

Called to be an innkeeper?

Abridged text of a sermon preached at Fair View UMC 14th July 2013

I trained as a minister on a part time course. Evening classes and weekend residentials. And it was on one of these residential weekends that I started to think of the story of the Good Samaritan in a different way. The particular course was called something like “Christianity around the world”. We went to a Bible college in the English city of Birmingham that specialised in training ministers from around the world. There were Koreans there, Christians from India and Sri Lanka and from many parts of Africa. And it was one of the speakers from Kenya who made me stop and think.

The idea behind his lecture was that our own cultural back ground will determine our understanding of a Bible passage. And he gave as an example the parable of the Good Samaritan. And he said to us – all white, British, middle class, men and women – “When you read the passage who do you identify with?”

We all said we mainly identified with the Samaritan. In that we wanted to try and do the right thing for those in need. And some of us said that from time to time we could associate with the Priest and the Levite when we pass by on the other side – ignoring the plight of the person begging perhaps.

The Kenyan said that in his culture most people hearing the passage would associate with the victim. The person who’d been robbed and beaten.

That was an eye opener to me. And maybe, because of your circumstances that is you. Maybe you feel more of the victim than the Samaritan.

And I don’t know but maybe some of you feel like the robber having done something in the past you feel bad about. If that is the case hear the words of grace “Your sins are forgiven”

So we’ve mentioned the priest and Levite, we’ve mentioned the victim, we’ve mentioned the Samaritan but the story contains one more character. Who is that? The innkeeper.

Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

In this story it is only the Samaritan who Jesus says is a neighbour. And yes of course he is. He didn’t pass by on the road. He gave first aid to the victim and treated his wounds. He took the victim to the inn, found him a bed and paid the innkeeper to look after the victim. But then the Samaritan moves on and it is left to the innkeeper to ensure the victim gets back on his feet.

Jesus’ story ends of course. It is left for us to imagine whether the victim got better. It is left for us to imagine that the innkeeper did take care of the victim.

I like to think the innkeeper was an honest fellow, a caring fellow. As opposed to being a Thenardier type character in Les Miserables – the scheming, plotting thieving innkeeper if you’ve seen the film.

So why do I focus on the innkeeper? I focus on him because even in the story we have he becomes a neighbour. OK you might argue, he is getting paid to be a neighbour. True, but that does not mean he is any the less detached. When he took the victim in, when he agreed to look after the victim once the Samaritan had left, the innkeeper becomes a neighbour.

I don’t know how familiar you are with the English metaphysical poets of the 16th and 17th century? No me neither! But one I have heard of and I only know of part of one of his poems. The 17th century poet John Donne wrote a poem entitled “No man is an island”

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.

It is actually a poem about death and in the poem Donne is trying to get over the fact that whenever he hears a church bell tolling, to signify that a funeral is taking place, he is connected to the person who has died and the family and friends.

Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,

John Donne’s point – no man is an island – is that all of us are connected to one another. We are all neighbours whether we like it or not.

So the innkeeper is a neighbour. He becomes connected. He becomes involved whether he wanted to or not.

The Gospel of Luke contains at least one other reference to an inn – though not an innkeeper. Any ideas? Yes the Christmas story

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

I imagine that if you have what we call a nativity play here, someone will always play the part of the innkeeper saying “There’s no room at the inn” So even though in Luke 2 the innkeeper is not mentioned, we like to invent the character into the story.

Every year I get down off the book shelf a great children’s story called “Jesus' Christmas Party” by Nicholas Allen. It tells the story from the perspective of the innkeeper. It’s for very young children and they love it because there are lots of actions. The inn keeper stomping around. The innkeeper being woken by people knocking at his door asking where they can find Mary & Joseph. “ROUND THE BACK!”

Eventually, the innkeeper gets fed up and goes to see what all the commotion is about and finds the baby. He is so enthralled by the special baby that he wakes up everyone else in the inn and then throws a party to celebrate.

It is a story. And yet it contains truth just as Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan contains a truth. And the truth in both stories is that the innkeepers become connected to others. They become neighbours. Whether they want to or not.

I think the idea of the innkeeper as a model for us is good as often we become involved with something as Christian neighbours even though we were not there are the outset. And even though we might not want to be involved.

Take Stephen Ministries at this church. As I understand it Stephen Ministries was founded back in 1974. And as far as I know no one from this church was involved at that time. But those of you who are Stephen Ministers have become involved. You are innkeepers. You weren’t directly involved at the start but have become involved as the Lord Jesus has called you to your ministry.

And maybe when we hear the story of the Good Samaritan that’s another interpretation of it? Maybe Jesus was the Good Samaritan. A Samaritan let’s not forget was shunned by Jewish society – just as Jesus was for the most part.

So maybe when we think of the story we can imagine Jesus being the Samaritan coming to the victim first and foremost. But then Jesus entrusts the care of the victim to the innkeeper – and the innkeeper represents you and me. We become involved whether we want to or not for Jesus has a way of calling us to do something for him whether we want to or not.

We might not feel equipped, we might not want to do it but Jesus calls us. And through his Holy Spirit he gives us what we need to enable us to be of service him. And to serve others.

Of course being an innkeeper can be highly inconvenient. We have other plans; we have better things to do. But then Jesus has a way of knocking on the doors of our hearts and getting us involved. And he’ll keep on knocking until the innkeeper within us opens the door and lets him in and before we know it we’re involved in whatever ministry he calls us to.

This can of course take a long time for some of us. But believe me Jesus keeps on knocking until that grumpy old innkeeper within us answers the door and decides to join the party!

I just want to go back to the verse in which the innkeeper in the Parable gets a mention

35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

Let’s imagine once again that it is Jesus, and not the Samaritan, who is speaking to the innkeeper

“Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

This to my mind is Jesus saying to the innkeeper in each one of us

“I love you. I trust you. I have a ministry for you. Feed my sheep, take care of my lambs until I return. This may cost you personally, it may cost you financially. But I promise you. When I return you will be rewarded greatly. And your reward will be to be with me in paradise.”

As the words of an old hymn have it

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

Amen.

Anything for the weekend sir?

13th July 2013

Another restful day. So again a series of random thoughts on impressions that have been made on me.

Barbershop.

This morning I went to a local barber shop for a haircut. Even there the North Carolina welcome was to the fore. Unlike in the UK where the person having their hair cut is turned to face the big mirrors on the wall, at this shop I faced out in to the room. Consequently the conversation with the barber (so like those in the UK - weather, holidays, politics) soon involved waiting customers. So that was different. And then something that made me smile. At the end of the cut instead of the brush down with a clothes brush, the barber used a mini air hose to blow the hairs away. This was similar to the kind of devices at some golf courses that are used to clean golf shoes (though less powerful I hasten to add.)

Thankfully (or sadly depending on your point of view) no barbershop quartet appeared. Instead ABC’s Good Morning America was playing on TV. And it appeared that ABC was holding auditions for village idiot judging by the presenters and the “news” items they covered. I would have liked some real news rather than features such as “Wienermobile Competition Celebrates National Hot Dog Month.” Or an obsession with the impending birth of the Royal baby. In the space of the 45 minutes or so I was in the shop, either waiting or in the chair, they went over to their London special correspondent Bianna Golodryga for progress on the Royal birth or “Contraction Watch” as she called it.

(The lady clearly is not an idiot. Her Wiki entry shows that she is fluent in Russian and a graduate in Russian/East European & Eurasian studies. So why does she have to appear to be such an airhead?)

The report suggested that Britain has come to a standstill while everyone waits for the birth. Honestly American friends reading this, Britain has not come to a standstill. There will be some interest among some certainly but not obsessively.

Apologies to American friends who may be fans of GMA but it’s not for me.

Water bottles

I’ve been struck by the amount of bottled water drunk here. It’s hot certainly and people (understandably) keep water in the fridge and drink water frequently. But why not use tap water and put it into reusable containers? Why buy bottled tap water in the supermarket?

Now I’m as bad. I sometimes buy a bottle of water at home and we have bought a big pack of water here. But when I stop and think about it this is crazy. The water here is perfectly drinkable and readily available (given the rain too readily available some would argue.) So there is no need to buy bottled water.

By coincidence a friend here in Mooresville posted this picture today.

And the same is true in the UK as this article shows. (Written coincidentally by David Gray but not me!) http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1883516/britains_love_affair_with_bottled_water_a_national_scandal.html

I’m sorry to get preachy especially as a hypocrite. But it is a daft situation.

I believe that we are God’s stewards of this planet. And as God’s servants we should be showing and demonstrating a different lifestyle. And caring more about water and waste is something we can easily do and should do. I’m not saying that we should be going round in hair shirts. But there are changes we can all make that can send out a message.


Choir social evening

The day ended with the church choir social evening. A lovely time and some interesting conversations.

I was very interested to find out that the church’s musical director has taken part in improvisation comedy for a few years and has from time to time performed stand up. That’s impressive. (And to show she has got a sense of humour she seems to have forgiven me about the organist and terrorist joke. Who knows, maybe she’ll use it?) And we had a good conversation about films. Especially the new Star Trek films.

Apparently last year William Shatner was doing a one man show and came to Charlotte. My friend went to see it and he was very funny. I told her about his appearances on BBC’s “Have I got news for you” last year.

Would you like another by pass with that?

12th July 2013

A day of relaxation.

Tom and I were invited to go and play golf by the Associate Pastor and her husband. (He had taken Tom to Trump National on Tuesday.) They took us about 10 – 15 miles out of Mooresville to a course called Warrior Golf Course at China Grove.

A really lovely course. Enough of a challenge but not too tough. I have to hand it to Tom considering he’s hardly picked up a golf club in a couple of years he played well. In fact the nice thing was we were all of a similar standard so no one was being held up. And it wasn’t played too seriously, so if you fluffed a tee shot then it was ok to play again. No one was keeping close score.
The course features lots of water but thankfully it doesn’t cause too much of a challenge on most holes – though Tom had a bit of a shock standing close to a lake. He had his back to the lake when suddenly there was a loud splash. (It was a big fish jumping.) But I think for a moment Tom assumed it was something like an alligator.

Talking of wildlife, we saw a turtle (well technically a terrapin) at the side of one green. Tom was convinced it was a tortoise until I pointed out that it was turtlely different from a tortoise. (Best said in a Geordie accent.)

Afterwards we were taken to an establishment called “Porky’s BBQ.” A fun place though not fine dining. They specialise in having a hot buffet. There was the usual local delicacy of pulled pork as well as fried chicken and bbq rack of ribs. But some of the other stuff was a mystery. (Our companion pointed out the deep fried chicken livers. I think I prefer my chicken liver in pate.) There was something that looked like a vegetable dish but on trying it later it was really sweet and had a strong taste of cinnamon. Weird. And of course there was “mac ‘n cheese” which the associate pastor told us passes for a vegetable in these parts.

A really great day and it didn’t rain, woo hoo!

House!

11th July 2013

The day started with getting a message from BBC Wiltshire asking if they could interview me (via Skype) about the exchange. They had interviewed me before I came out here and had interviewed David Calhoun via Skype.

Then my media appearances continued with an interview with the Mooresville Tribune

In the morning I went with some members of the United Methodist Women’s Group to a care home that appeared to be mainly for older people with learning disabilities. The women go fairly regularly to lead entertainment. Today it was bingo and yours truly was the bingo caller. That shouldn’t be difficult should it? Wrong!

For starters, although I’ve only played bingo perhaps half dozen times in my life, I am familiar with the British terminology for certain numbers e.g. 22 = two little ducks 88 = two fat ladies etc. etc. So I had to resist the temptation to use these calls.

I also understood that there was a prize for a line and then a prize for a full card. But some of the residents thought there was a prize every time a line was completed. The Methodist ladies clearly weren’t bingo players and couldn’t help much. So in the end I managed to make this rule clear and the great Mooresville bingo incident of 2013 was averted.

I asked one of the Methodist ladies if she knew who ran the home. Was it run by the town for example? She thought it was a state facility and was aimed at people on medi care. Well whoever ran it should be ashamed as it was really grubby. The carpets in the hallways looked as if they could do with cleaning (or better still replacing.) The floor tiles in the dining room (where we played bingo looked as if they could do with a wash too. And the saddest thing was the location. If I hadn’t been taken there I would have sworn the building was an industrial unit as it was situated at the back of an industrial estate.

Over lunchtime Tom and I were taken for a drive round the area by a gentleman who was born in Mooresville (well technically Mount Mourne – but an important difference in these parts.) His family owned several farms in the area – particualry around the area the parsonage is situated in. Farms that were sold off to Duke Power when they constructed Lake Norman . The gentleman also pointed out some very interesting houses including one that looked like the classic plantation house and which apparently has the remnants of shackles in the basement, that were used to restrain slaves.

He told us an interesting tale or two.

A railway line runs through the centre of the town (pretty much single track.) And in all the time I’ve been here I’ve not seen a train run along it. I asked our host if it had always been a freight line. He said back 60 or so years ago there were still passenger services. And in fact in Mount Mourne there had been a small depot (I loved the way it was pronounced “deepoe”). His brothers (who were older) would flag down a train and for 5 cents take the train the three or so miles from Mount Mourne to Mooresville to go to the cinema. And then pay another 5 cents to come back.

He also said how when he grew up on the farm a number of the workers were black. And he was close friends with one black guy of about the same age. On one or two occasions as young adults the two of them went on road trips together. Our host told us how they’d encounter prejudice in various places – and this after the civil rights movement.

This evening I went to a meeting of the Stephen ministers. And I learned more about it. One thing is certain there are no Stephen ministers in the UK and no plans to expand there. This is really a shame as I am convinced it would work well.
This evening was an opportunity for all the Stephen ministers at the church to have supervision that is share what they have been experiencing with their clients. So although Stephen ministry isn’t counselling it clearly shares some of the best practices of counselling.

(I wonder whether Stephen ministries – or similar - is something Willows Counselling could consider?)

Lord unless you build this house I am building it in vain

10th July 2013

A very interesting day.

Started off this morning looking round the various rooms in the church complex to see the preparations being made for the Vacation Bible School next week. The props and scenery being made are amazing. I forget the theme but it all revolves around knights and kings and queens. So there is a castle backdrop, a classroom turned into a mini banqueting hall, another classroom turned into a dungeon.

Although the church buys in the VBS material the envisaging of the scenery and design of it all falls on one woman. Amazing.

(Photos will follow. I’ve just not had time to download them from my phone.)

Then we had staff meeting. I was asked if I’d like to give my first impressions of the church. While I was gathering my thoughts, one of the ministry team said “Why don’t you expand on your thoughts from your blog about the worship last Sunday?” I explained that I felt I should have given more direction on how to shape worship to fit the UK Methodist liturgy.

But I also said that one observation I’d make is that Sunday mornings are too rushed. 9.00am Contemporary Worship followed at 10.00 am Bible Class followed at 11.00am traditional worship. This pattern doesn’t lend itself to people being able to attend the full 9.00 service and Bible Class. I mentioned how we’d experienced First Presbyterian in Fresno where the pattern is 8.30am service 9.45 – 10.45 Bible class and 11.00am service. This is not so rushed and allows groups to mingle.

(On the subject of worship I told them the joke ‘What's the difference between a church organist and a terrorist? -You can negotiate with a terrorist’. For the record, I have to say this does not apply to any church organists / pianists / musicians I have the pleasure of knowing.)

We then had a discussion about the difference between being friendly and being a friend. One of the team flagged up that although new people are made welcome, and realise how friendly it is at Fairview, they do not necessarily get to make new friends. For example a couple who have been attending Fairview for some while say hello to the new couple. But when the Fairview regulars spot someone they’ve known for a while they make a bee line for them rather than introducing the new people and allowing them to make friends.

I think this is a very shrewd observation and it is something common to many friendly churches in my experience.
This evening, I was invited to dinner at a new friend’s house. Had a delicious meal and a great conversation. They had visited Europe several times and we compared memories of places we’d visited. But the gentleman then started to tell me about the charity Habitat for Humanity. http://www.habitat.org/ or in the UK http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/

I had heard about the charity but didn’t really know much about it and I’d assumed it worked at building places in third world countries. It does do that but it also works at building affordable housing for people in the USA to buy, supplying the people with a zero percentage mortgage in order to do so.

Volunteers build houses and the prospective purchasers are expected to put in 500 hours’ worth of “sweat equity” in helping with the build.

A very interesting concept.

I'm reminded of a worship song by Lou Fellingham

All I have and all I am is Yours;
there's nothing that I have on earth
that doesn't come from You.
I lay aside my pride and worldly worth;
to serve You is the greatest thing
that I could ever do.

For unless You build this house,
I am building it in vain.
Unless the work is Yours,
there is nothing to be gained.
I want something that will stand
when Your holy fire comes;
something that will last,
and to hear You say 'well done',
giving glory to You, Lord,
glory to You, Lord.

See it on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryip0dD1uoo

Called in to the church as at 10.00pm the building was still a hive of activity. Very impressive.

Someone who is involved with Stephen Ministries at Fairview said that if we thought it would work in the UK in Swindon, he’d be prepared to come and train people. He’s frequently back and forth to Europe on business. I do think it is a concept that would work so I’ll do some research to see if it exists in the UK.