Sorry for the long blog free silence...we've been on holiday in wet Wales for afew weeks and now we are at Rippon College, Cuddesdon, just outside Oxford. We are here for a week while I get my head round all I have learnt and experienced so far in this sabbatical. My supervisor Rev'd Dr Emma Percy lives here ( her husband Martyn is the college principal) so it is good to be able to meet with her and talk everything through. We have known Emma and Martyn since way back when they were both Curates at St Andrews in Bedford.
I began this sabbatical thinking I would reflect on the challenges that all age worship brings in parish ministry and had planned to think about liturgy, music, movement etc but the more I read the more I realise that those elements ( important as they are) are only pieces of a much lager jigsaw puzzle.   Aware of the tensions that can exist between older church members and young children during worship I have spent a lot of time thinking about the ministry of welcome and how best we can encourage ( I refuse to say 'grow') an intergenerational community where people of all ages know each other, feel that they belong and that they all can play an equal part....and are able to worship together.  We've already had some valuable examples of how some of our older church members can befriend young families  - I am hoping we can find ways of encouraging more of this.  Thanks to the parents at St Pips who have been helping me for their comments and suggestions - I think the adopt a grandparent idea is brilliant and the tea parties - I hope we can talk more about these and other ideas  when I get back to the parishes.  It's been interesting to visit other churches - in UK and in Australia to see how they approach all age worship - one thing these visits have confirmed is that there definitely isn't a magic formula!
So, I still have lots to ponder as I wander..............


.

 Mist over the City of Melbourne: photo taken from Brighton Beach

 Today has been our last day in Australia and tomorrow we begin our long journey home. But, before that, we will have the 'fun' of packing and no doubt re-packing our suitcases to ensure that they each weigh no more than 20k.  It should help that I have already posted a package home containing various gifts we have been given (books and CDs etc).

We have wandered much in the last few days thanks to our generous hosts Alan and Lyn.  I have learnt much in the last 6 weeks including never to believe an Australian who tells me that wherever we are going is  ' just down the road' or that the weather is 'brightening up'- we have driven many many miles in much rain - but we have seen some great sights. After seeing so many fallen trees I can however see the merit of the advice 'never pitch your tent under a Gum Tree'.

We had our final experience of the Australian church this morning when we attended Lyn and Alan's Uniting Church - a partnership of  Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian congregations. We received a very warm and public welcome and were able to watch their children's ministry in action, which was useful as the focus of  my sabbatical study is attitudes and approaches to all age worship.

This afternoon we were taken to Ramsey Street (that should make my daughter happy!) and to a local diary for one final afternoon tea with Alan & Lyn.

This trip has been an amazing experience both from a personal and professional point of view. From the moment we landed we have been welcomed, loved and cared for and the hospitality we have received from individuals and congregations has been second to none.  We both now have so much to think about and it's bound to take us some time to sift through everything we have experienced but here are some immediate thoughts.....

There is nothing like being away from your own parishes and their church families to make you realise why it is they are so very important to you!
 
There is nothing like walking into unfamiliar churches for the first time to make you wonder about how your own churches might feel to first time visitors...

There is nothing like leading worship in an unfamiliar church to make you think about the liturgy (words, music, silence, movement, style etc) in your home churches


There is nothing like experiencing unfamiliar musical styles, hymns, cantors, chants etc to make you appreciate the important part that music and musicians play in your home churches 

There is nothing like going to a PCC meeting at a church on the other side of the world to make you realise that  parish life is parish life wherever you are!

The other day at a service we sang the familiar hymn

'In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north' 

Yep, I can agree with that!

It has been a joy and a privilege to minister here just for a short while. When we get back to UK I'll continue to blog while we are on holiday and throughout the rest of my wanderings whilst on sabbatical leave.

Two rare events have occurred....
Yesterday I viewed the transit of Venus across the sun.......and today , for the first time, I met a female Bishop

It was a great privilege to meet + Barbara Darling, Bishop of the Eastern Region of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. + Barbara, who was consecrated 4 years ago, is one of three female Bishops in Australia - come on UK, let's catch up!

We spent the day in Melbourne - it is very like London, but with trams and Palm trees.

We had a super final service at St Oswalds. The liturgy was very purposely very similar to that which would be used at st Philips and St Cuthberts 8 hours later and it all ended with a rendition of  'For yours is the Kingdom' which would have been more than acceptable at St C's!  We were sorry to leave so many new friends.

Straight after the service we packed ourselves and our luggage into Alan & Lyn's car and set off on more wanderings.  This was to be a very long wander as we had approx 900km to travel to get to Melbourne. Throughout the journey we stopped at some great little cafes in small remote towns for meals and drinks.  The vastness of Australia is awesome - there are miles and miles of straight roads through miles and miles of remoteness with hardly any other traffic in sight.  I was glad we were in the company of expert travellers...and very glad I did not have to drive.  On the first day we made it as far as Mount Gambier before booking into a motel for the night.  This was yet another first for us  - but it was clean, cheap and comfortable and the room had a good TV so we watched some of the Jubilee celebrations. We ordered toast for breakfast and to save money ate cereal that we had brought with us out of a cup with a teaspoon  how 'Yorkshire' is that!
 As we set off early on Monday morning in awful weather and headed for Victoria it really looked like our drive along the Great Ocean Road would be a disappointment.  But far from it - it was amazing.

 
Although it was windy and at times slightly damp, the ocean and the scenery were breathtaking and we stopped at every possible view point ............until it got too dark to see.

We had considered making a second overnight stop but decided to keep going. We stopped at Geelong at a MacDonalds for supper (first McD's meal for many a year) and eventually arrived at Lyn and Alan's home at about 11pm on Monday night.

On Tuesday we were taken out and about to see the local area. The weather in Victoria (and other parts of Australia) had been extreme and as we found to our cost quite afew trees had been damaged.  Graham and Alan had to keep getting out of the car to clear the road and slow progress was made....

 but then...............

 
 ...the only warning we got of this was a small sign which said 'road hazard ahead'  -' road blocked' would have beenmuch  more useful! There was no way of moving it so we had to turn around and go back the way we had come.  It was still an incredible journey ( a bit too exciting for me!) and we saw Emus, Kangaroos. Lyrebirds and deer. We also stopped for a coffee in a lovely bakery at Marysville - a town which is being re-built after being 90% destroyed by the 2009 forest fires. 

Today ( Wednesday) I preached at a local ecumenical service and then we went to a Wild Life Park - I have far too many photos that I'd like to show you - but this one, of a Koala eating his lunch, is probably my favourite

We came home via at the White Rabbit Brewery in Healsville where a very happy Graham got to sample some wonderful real ale....tomorrow we are going to explore Melbourne.

Today's wanderings took us into the city to meet David and Deborah for a de-brief breakfast.

 It was good to see them and have the chance to talk through our experiences in the parish and also thank them for the use of their house and car. David is looking much better and is on the slow road to recovery. He won't be back at work for a while still. we hope it wont be too long before he and Deborah will be able to make their trip to Europe so that we can try to repay their hospitality. We visited the Botanical Gardens for a final time before getting the tram home - then we packed. 

This evening we have been to an Aussie Rules Footy match at the AAMI Stadium.

We were taken by Virginia and Peter so like the well behaved guests that we are we cheered (or baracked as they say here) for their team, Port Adelaide who thrashed Carlton ( from Melbourne) 99 - 45.  It was a game of 4 quarters rather than the usual 2 halves and at time confusing with ( I think) 36 players on the pitch plus 5 officials, 2 orange clad runners who are allowed on to pass on messages to players from the coach and various drink carriers who seem to have free access to the pitch. Also the 18 on the pitch from each side swap all the time with other squad members who are 'on the bench'.  When a goal is scored the Ref has to wait for the telly adverts to finish before he can re-start the game! It was good fun and ourlovely hosts were good at explaining everything and they brought a super picnic - another example of the amazing hospitality we have enjoyed here.

A final St Oswald's pic..this was story time on Pentecost Sunday.  Honestly it was me telling the story...I think I had just stopped to listen to this lovely young lady who is the image of our Amy.  I feel that this photo sums up how lovely it has been for me to minister here in Adelaide for the past month. Thanks everyone.

It's been good to have a non working day. We went out early to our favourite place - Glenelg. It had been a whole day since Graham had paddled and he was having withdrawal symptoms.  We had coffee,during which we had plenty of time to debate whether having to wait 30 minutes for a piece of toast is acceptable and then cheered ourselves with a 'convenient' piano recital (see previous blog) which today was 'What the world needs now love sweet love'. All very odd.

Then we got down to the serious matter of the morning - the paddling. We walked through the shallows towards Brighton then turned and waded all the way back.  We were stalked most of the way by a now familiar Willy Wagtail who gets more daring and comes closer each time we meet him. Our Liverpool friends will appreciate this photo of this famous bird in a familiar pose  - s/he seems to have wandered far from home.

It is the first day of winter today and noticeably cooler. The water was warm but there was rain in the air and a rather ghostly yellow smudge all along the horizon - the fishermen however didn't seem to be bothered by the approaching yellowness.

The long walk gave us time for an equally long conversation about things we have learnt from our time at St Oswalds.  We have much to ponder as we wander. 

After eating our butties (the Glenelg Liver Bird would approve of that term - we Crowders don't eat sandwiches) we headed home with our paddling mission accomplished for another day.  We got back in time to  chat with Rachel on facebook - it was very early in her morning but she was very excited because it was Jubilee day at school. She was going to school dressed in red white and blue and looking forward to the 'Prom in the Playground'.  It's strange missing all the Jubilee celebrations - its hardly been mentioned here except for a few news reports.  I've enjoyed seeing video clips of last Saturday's Jubilee concert at St Philips  - it looks like it was a great night out.

Later we had a walk through the Parklands to the Japanese Peace Garden and then a quick drink before coming home to cook some Butterfish for tea.  Lyn and Alan have now arrived from Melbourne ready to supervise our next lot of wanderings.  I can not believe that our time in the parish here is almost at an end. We have been warmly and generously welcomed,  made loads of new friends and learnt so much. This Sunday ( Trinity Sunday) I will preside at St Oswalds for the last time and Graham will preach (clever that eh? I'm not preaching on Trinity Sunday) The service will include some of the liturgy that will also be used at St Philips and St Cuthberts that same day. We will also be singing the  'Ashgrove' Gloria and ending with 'For yours is the Kingdom' -  so even though St O's will be eight hours ahead the three parishes will effectively be worshipping together. 

It's been a good day - cheers me dears!

Graham and I have been wandering separately this week.

I have been in the Barossa Region for the past 3 days at the Adelaide Clergy Conference. It was certainly worth the trip.  It was interesting to listen to the Australian church debating 'Pioneer' and 'Fresh Expression ministries and I got a lot from the sessions - lots of ideas to ponder over. Archbishop Jeffrey was very welcoming and it was good to meet lots of Aussie clergy - mind you at least 5 of them were exiled 'Poms'. The Ministry discussions were led by Graham Cray, a Bishop from England who is our own Archbishops Missioner.  The provision of excellent local wine on the tables at dinner gave this conference the definite edge over Wakefield's equivalent!

Meanwhile Graham has been out and about with members of St O's.   Having seen his photos I am envious of his days out!

He has been south to Goolwa  (where he met the Pelly triplets) and to visit remote old copper mines at Burra in the mid-north of South Australia.

This is a Red River Gum Aboriginal Canoe tree  - you can see the scar from where many years ago  bark was stripped away to make a canoe.

On a much less cultural note we have, whilst wandering, come across some rather up market loos! First a very polite American voice tells you that you have 10 minutes max before the door will open..and then you are serenaded by piano music...I think the last one was 'you are the sunshine of my life'.. you have to wonder how they chose the tunes....?

It is getting cooler here - well it is the equivalent of  our November.  The palm trees next to the church are looking spectacular. We have two full days left in Adelaide. Tomorrow we hope the weather will be good enough for us to have a last day at the seaside and on Saturday we are going to an Aussie Rules footie match - then on Sunday Lyn and Alan Bromage (whom we first met at Elstow in 2001) will come to our final service and take us off on the next part of our wanderings. We will be heading for their home at Lillydale, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria.  We will be travelling along  the Great Ocean Road which everyone tells us is amazing.

Happy Pentecost everyone! We had a super service at St Oswald's this morning and the children made me a wonderful Pentecost headdress. The band was on good form  - it's the first time we have heard the full band and they are excellent.  St O's is fortunate to have so many talented musicians.   We had a BBQ after the service and said goodbye to Ellen who is leaving to return to England to a job in Cambridge. We were thinking of our parishes back home and hoping that the United service at St Cuthberts and Seren's baptism went well.   I can't believe that next Sunday is our last in the parish - the time has gone so quickly and we have made so many new friends. It's been really interesting observing another parish in action - such a lot to think about. Tomorrow I go to the Diocesan Clergy Conference in the Barossa region - I come all this way to find that the main speaker is an English Bishop!

Graham and I  celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary yesterday with a morning visit to the seaside and a long walk on the beach - we are soooo going to miss the beach! Graham looks like he is researching for is sequel to the Lonely Planet....the Lonely Paddler.

After church today we drove up to Mount Lofty and despite the cloudy weather there was a great view over the city.  This evening we drove into the city ( first time we've done that at night) and went to the cinema to see The Avengers - now I am looking forward to an in depth conversation about superheroes with my 4 and 6 year old granddaughters who are experts on the subject.

We were thrilled to hear that Huddersfield have won promotion - but they made hard work of it! We being taken to 'the footy' next Saturday afternoon by an Adelaide Crows supporting family. We've been watching it on the telly ( there's loads of footy on every night - nothing else on by the way - the TV is awful) and in the parklands. To the uneducated like myself,  Aussie rules  appears to be a mixture of football, rugby and volley ball. It is played on a pitch so big that 3 referees are needed. 

Today marks the start of Australia's National Reconciliation Week. It is the 45th anniversary of  a  referendum which resulted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples being recognised in the national census - and on 3 June  it's the 20th anniversary of the 'Mabo decision'  -  which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had a 'special relationship' to the land which existed prior to colonisation  - and still exists today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/06/canon-eric-james-obituary

This morning we read with sadness of the death of Canon Eric James.  He once came to tea when we lived in Bedford ( probably late 1980s) He was leading Holy Week meditations at St Andrews and we had been asked to entertain him.  We had been worried about having one of the Queen's Chaplains to tea - what with having 3 young children and tea time always being rather chaotic (understatement). But it was memorable for the right reasons! He was amazing, slightly eccentric with a massive red and white spotted hankie tumbling out of his top pocket, such fun and so entertaining. We had an amazing teatime - and the children thought he was wonderful.  May he rest in peace.

This has been a week of meetings and so very much like being back in my own parishes. The Church Council members have just left - it was interesting to find the agenda and discussions to be very much the same as back home...except that their parish share has not increased this year....and there's a possum in the church roof ( they are protected so cause similar problems to bats in England).  Worship leading at st Oswalds is getting easier as I am now better ( and quicker)  at finding my way around the Australian Prayer Book and I've also been to Emmanuel, Wayville to lead a BCP Eucharist. 

In our wanderings, we have visited an Aboriginal Cultural Centre and a memorial site which remembers Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their parents 'to be educated'. The story of these 'stolen' children is heartbreaking and the memorials are very powerful

In many places we have visited we have seen plaques expressing sorrow and regret for the sufferings and injustices imposed on the Aboriginal people since colonisation and the fact that they are the traditional owners of the lands and waters of that particular region.   It is humbling to read some of their stories.

Other wanderings have seen us on a river trip from Port Adelaide in the hope of seeing dolphins but they were rather shy - but we did see a pelican. And, we've been proper tourists and visited the 'Old Gum Tree' - the site of the proclamation of the State of South Australia - for a major heritage site it was almost impossible to find even with a local guide! 

We've been back to some of the museums and the Botanical Gardens in the city, to Glenelg for more paddling, supper and sunset................and on some super walks, during which we've seen some fantastic bird life, had a thankfully very brief encounter with a large red backed spider (ugh!) and met this lovely but sleepy koala ..

The weather has changed and it is now much cooler - mind you it is the start of winter.  It rained heavily the night (it woke us up as we have a tin roof) but we avoided getting wet on our travels today.  

We have music planning tomorrow evening and a BBQ at church on Sunday.  It's Pentecost on Sunday and I  am preaching at both churches and presiding at St Oswalds.  Then we will be into our final week in the parish. I am going to the Adelaide Clergy conference and will be away for 3 nights and on Sunday 3rd June our Aussie friends, Lyn and Alan ( ex Elstow Abbey), are coming to collect us and take us to their home via the Great Ocean Road. So lots more wandering in between working still to come.....

We are enjoying corresponding with Lilac Class at Balliol School ( Emma's class) and answering all their questions about Australia



It's been a good week.  We've made the most of any free time we've had and have been out wandering. We spent one night at our host’s house by the beach at Aldinga. We were able to indulge in some more serious paddling.

This was the view over the sea when we went to get fish and chips for our tea.

The following day we drove to Victor Harbour and walked across the causeway to Granite Island - it was another gloriously hot day. Not bad for the start of winter! We'd been told that this can be a great place to see whales but unfortunately we were a few weeks early and they haven't arrived yet.

Other wanderings have taken us out visiting the wine region of the Barossa Valley - despite the warnings about large red backed spiders and snakes all was well. We've been back to the Adelaide City Market for some serious vegetable and bread shopping. In the market Graham somehow got into a conversation about football with a stall holder who turned out to be an Aussie Manchester United supporter and his son who is a Liverpool supporter (so much so that he has a YNWA tattoo on his arm!) A long discussion about Kenny Dalglish's departure ensued and Graham ended up with a free bag of oranges! We got taken to the market by Dierdre, one of the assisting priests here. So, we had insider knowledge of a) where to park and b) where to eat.  We had lunch the food hall (which we  previously missed) where you can chose from the most amazing selection of  Asian food

We've also visited  Adelaide Cathedral - St Peters - they too are selling crosses made out of slate from their roof - but rather than 5 pounds, they are charging up to 40 dollars! I think we may have missed a trick there!!

Parish life continues to be very similar to back home - except its done in warmer weather and to the sound of parrots! 

I've found myself becoming very interested in Aboriginal spirituality  - I am only just beginning to read about it there is a tradition  of a rainbow spirit creator,  often depicted as a rainbow snake who lived deep beneath the earth and was the eternal source of life and spiritual power.  Long before the European missionaries arrived the Aboriginal people had faith in Yiirmal who created them and would save them. The missionaries assumed the rainbow snake to be Satan (as per the Garden of Eden) and condemn it as pagan and evil - yet the Aboriginal people now see that much of what they learnt from the missionaries about the Old and New Testament was very similar to what they knew from their own culture and that there are many connections between their culture and Christian faith.  Rainbow spirit theology assumes that God the creator spirit has been speaking through Aboriginal culture from the beginning of time. I am looking forward to learning more. 

I have been pleased to hear from home that the installations of St Philip's new Loo and St Cuthbert's new kitchen are both coming on well.  I've had some more lovely friendship messages from Pips and Cuths children to pass on - thank you everyone for doing that.

This has been my first 'working' Sunday. I preached and presided at St Oswalds this morning.  Everyone was very helpful - nudging me occasionally when I needed to move or speak! Reminded me of my early days as a Curate when I hadn't got a clue what happened next!  The children have their craft table at the front of the church - they have a couple of adults with them and they have craft based on a theme which today was 'friendship'. Before the sermon the preacher goes and sits with the children and tells a story based on the theme - this is something that everyone listens to. Today I had messages of friendship for them from the children at St Pips and St Cuths

The children read out the messages and then made a friendship display
 - the St Oswald's children were thrilled to get all the messages - so thanks to all who sent stuff through. I had to print it all out in black and white as there's no coloured ink in the printer here - but they all looked good. The children here made concertina people to add to the display. I am hoping to get more messages from the children at home which can be added to the wall. 
The rest of the service went well despite my mild confusion due to a very different order to things in the liturgy - afterwards everyone was very friendly - we've had a few offers to take us out to places. Someone is taking us to an Aussie Rules football game at the Adelaide Crows.  I've seen a bit on the telly, looks like a mix of football and rugby, except they can throw the ball forward.  Also Graham has a few offers of days out while I am away at the Adelaide Clergy Conference in a few weeks.
This afternoon we had this lovely visitor to the Rectory Garden - I think that it is a rainbow lorrakeet but am prepared to be corrected by my twitcher friends (you know who you are!)

This afternoon we walked to the second church, Emmanuel, to watch a play called 'The Road to Emmaus' the play  had been written by a member of the congregation and it was brilliant, with just three characters - Cleopas, his wife...and the stranger.  This was our first visit to Emmanuel and we were made very welcome.  There is a very small congregation and just has a BCP service on a Sunday morning - which I will be leading next Sunday.

This coming week we will be wandering a bit - spending a night at the beach house at Aldinga and we've booked a day tour to the Barrossa Wine district.

The wandering continues.... I went to the local Clergy Chapter meeting the other day (for my non clergy friends this is a regular get together of the clergy of a deanery) The Area Dean, Fr Simon  (my counterpart here) very kindly came to collect me.  This was a relief as I had no idea where the meeting was to be held! It was a surprise once the customary 'G'day' to detect an English accent. Simon is indeed English. He trained at Lincoln Theological College where our + Stephen was his Chaplain. He has served in Manchester and Bradford Dioceses...and has played cricket at Birchencliffe CC right next to St Philips!  It was interesting to hear much the same conversations as we have at our chapter meetings, ...money...fees...pastoral issues etc.  Here the clergy are paid by the parishes - like the Baptist Ministers in England. So no money - no Vicar - just imagine what that policy would do to parish clergy numbers in our Diocese! The Rectories are also the responsibility of the parishes - same as on the Isle of Man. 
I presided at the mid week service at St Oswalds yesterday - just 6 people turned up ( so I felt right at home!)  They were very patient with me as I weaved my way through much page turning.  I had spent ages the night before working it all out and filling the Australian Prayer Book with post it notes.  Despite all that, I never did find the post communion prayer so moved swiftly on to the blessing. I shall need to do better on Sunday.
I mentioned in a previous post the emphasis on gender inclusive language.  I read in the prayer book that ' Since 1977, the use of male pronouns as generic terms in liturgy has become unacceptable'  Since 1977! They are SO way ahead of us on this one.  Apart from that...parish life is much as it is at home. I've been to worship planning meetings and done lots of chatting to people. I called into church this morning and had a lovely chat with two ladies who were cleaning brasses and arranging flowers - it could have been England. I do have to open the church at 7:30am every morning and close it at 5pm which is something I don't have to do at home!
We managed to get the car out yesterday for the first time and we drove to the seaside. It reminded me of how much we enjoyed the easy access to the sea when we lived on the island - what a wonderful thing to be able to do after work - paddle in the Southern Ocean.

As for the driving.... I was quite freaked out for a while as this was my first encounter with an automatic car - and its a big car compared to our Honda Jazz. But I managed it and coped with the Anzac Highway reasonable well. 
If we go into the city we walk through the Parklands and catch the tram. We visited the market in Adelaide earlier today - and there you can buy everything from chocolate covered figs to good old Yorkshire Tea - presumably from the famous Huddersfield tea Plantations. We have also visited some of the museums and started to learn something of the culture and history of the Aboriginal peoples.  The local Aboriginal peoples are the Kaurna.   The displays about hunting and food gathering made us realise where the idea of 'Bush-Tucker- trails on the 'I'm a celebrity' series comes from!
My first Sunday is looming so I need to go now and search for more 'post it' notes..........................

Today has been a mix of work and play.  I had the privilege of attending the funeral of a much loved long serving member of  St Oswalds this morning.  It was a requiem mass and very well led by members of the team here - much the same as we do back home but with some lovely prayers which I will certainly keep for future use. 

While I was at church Graham was out searching for a medical centre - he found one and got excellent service ( at a cost of 69 dollars - which we can claim from the travel insurance) He has a sore throat and a viral infection - but as you can see he is soldiering on regardless - it's a hard life

After lunch we caught the tram to Glenelg and indulged in some serious paddling - taking care to first check there was no shark warning. We've  had fantastic weather again - slightly windy at times but very warm.  I am not malingering you know - I was erm...pondering beach missions!

Back home in time to lock up the church and cook tea . Tomorrow I have a Deanery Chapter meeting at lunchtime (someone is calling for me which is a relief) and a liturgy planning meeting to observe  in the evening.  Here they meet every 2 weeks to plan Sunday services - I can't imagine any of us at Pips of Cuths having the time to meet so often! It will be interesting to see what they get up to.

Now here's a thought... could we cope with a pronoun free God?  Australia seems to be way ahead of us in the use of inclusive language in liturgy.  God is gender free and never referred to as 'he' - always as 'God'.  I totally agree with the principle ....but as I am not used to the loss of the pronoun it takes some fancy footwork, some very long winded sentences and much  repetitive use of the word God. I think on Sunday, when I lead, even I am destined to offend!

...and finally on a less complicated and controversial note... I now have a local sim card for my mobile phone...I have put the correct bins out in the correct places ( they are collected by machine not by humans so placement is everything) .. I can find the light switches in church in the dark and I have written my sermons for Thursday and Sunday.

Still to do...find the second church, Emanuel..it would be a good idea to do that in advance of leading worship there and back the car out of the drive..and drive it ( never driven an automatic before! ) I keep looking at the traffic and thinking..how hard can it be?  Time will tell.

This is our third full day in Adelaide - and it has been very hot. Apparently it will be even hotter tomorrow - 26 degrees is expected. The house is cool and there are lots of ceiling fans if we need them. Graham is spending most of his time outside as always. Rupert the dog has gone on his hols so the constant need to throw a ball is over and so he has a more peaceful sit.  We went to St Oswalds on Sunday morning and got a very warm welcome - the children had all made us welcome cards and had written lists of things we should do while we are here. The lists included eating a frog cake and a pie floater (local delicacies - probably a bit like chips, cheese and gravy on the IOM!) They also want us to go to the zoo to see the Pandas ( must do that!) 
I've not had much work to do yet - but I have to open the church at 7:30am and close it at 5:30pm  - remembering where all the light switches are is a bit of challenge! There are some amazing trees in the church grounds and I am wondering if they have to have Tree Surveys. If so they would look rather different to ours which just seem to list how many sycamores we have...these two (I actually think it is one tree) seem to be very close to the Parish Hall....can I hear my churchwardens groaning?

They seem to have a lot of staff, including a lovely retired Bishop - they have all been very welcoming - so I will just be fitting in with them.  I will preside and preach on Thursday morning and next Sunday.  It's a bit like the old ASB days with lots of turning of pages back and forth during the service so I'll probably get in a muddle - should be fun! Makes me appreciate what a good idea seasonal orders of service are - both for those who lead worship and for everyone else, especially visitors.  The children and their parents all sat at the front of the church and there were activity tables at the front. Before the sermon one of the ministers went and sat with the children and told them a story - everyone listened to that - it all seemed to work well. The children were all extremely well behaved and seemed very at home and the parents were very relaxed.
We have been into Adelaide today. We walked in and got a free tram back. It 's a lovely city but  crossing the road is a bit of an adventure. There are plenty of pedestrian crossings  - but the traffic doesn't necessarily stop. We've worked out that cars can turn left and right across the pedestrian crossings - they are supposed to give way to pedestrians but I don't think anyone has told the drivers that!
We spent some time in the Botanical Gardens - that's two Botanical Gardens in three days - is this a record?

The bird life is amazing - we need one of our 'twitching' friends here to identify them all. There are loads of Pipping Shrikes ( white backed magpies) - no wonder it's the 'national bird' of South Australia, they are everywhere. They are aptly named - very noisy.  There are also lots of brightly coloured birds in the trees - some of them look like parrots - they are all extremely noisy.
It gets dark here are 5:30pm so the days seem very short. we've just been out into the garden to look at the stars ( to the accompaniment of a choir who are rehearsing in the parish hall) Quite a spectacular heavenly display - different stars to Yorkshire!

Well here we are. After much wandering we have arrived in Adelaide and are installed in St Oswald's Rectory complete with Rupert the Rectory Dog who is of the opinion that we have travelled all this way just to play ball with him.

 The flights were long but everything went well - Singapore Airlines certainly lived up to  their excellent reputation. Good leg room and super food.  Our day in Singapore was an experience - it was 27 degrees when we landed there at 7:30am and it got hotter and hotter as the day went on. We travelled into town on the train and did the tourist bus thing... it had air con so we were reluctant to get off!

We had breakfast at Raffles just so we could say that we had breakfast at Raffles - but as it was so early e gave the Singapore Sling a miss. We visited the Botanical Gardens but by the afternoon it was soooo hot and humid and we were exhausted so we didn't wander too much. We visited the Cathedral but were unimpressed.(Graham says to add that is putting it mildly!) We ended up back at the airport by about 5pm - lovely and cool in there! We left there at about 11pm and arrived in Adelaide at 8am, there had been so many time changes during the journey that we have no idea really how long it all took!  We were met by the church wardens, Kathy and Tony. Tony was brought up in Bedfordshire and knew Elstow Abbey, my first parish, well - that's some co-incidence!  David and Deborah have welcomed us into their home and are so disappointed that they've has to cancel their plans to visit UK.  David has been really ill but is beginning to recover - they leave on Monday for their Beach House.  The Rectory is lovely - big and old with really high ceilings and Rupert and his ball are keeping us occupied.  We have walked into the city looking for coffee shops (Karen and Kathyrn we've found plenty!) and Graham has found the local store so we know were to go for provisions.  We went and found the sea this afternoon at Glenelg - looks like a place we'll want to go back to.  In the morning we will go to church and will be able to sit in a pew which will be a nice change - then they are having a parish lunch to welcome us.  I have already noticed their 'children should be seen and heard' policy and the activity tables at the FRONT of the church and it will be good to see how that work tomorrow.  It's been a lovely day and so far no probs with jet lag - we are just about to have a BBQ, I expect the first of many. Then we will have to decide whether to stay up til 00:30 to watch the coverage of the Cup Final........as if there is a choice
For St Cuthberts folk ....our hosts were delighted with the slate cross which arrived in one piece. 

We had an amazing day yesterday when St Cuthberts was rededicated following the restoration. It was great to have Bishop Tony and our super new Archdeacon, Anne Dawtry with us - and to have the support of our MP, Mayor and local councillors.  The highlight was undoubtably the unusual sight of a procession - led by a crucifer (Graham wanted double pay for that).  At Cuths we tend to wander rather than process - but this was a special occasion, and of course you do need some way of getting your Bishop safely from one end of the church to another by the shortest route. Here, just for historical records is said procession..........he does seem to be keeping his distance from the Church Wardens. Please note our lovely newly restored floor - no high heels allowed!

Other memorable processions............................?

An odd one: tramping though a muddy field in Elstow with Bishop John Richardson (+ Bedford) in the pouring rain.  Me reciting a psalm while he consecrated an extension to the graveyard. This odd and ancient rite being observed by a selection of rather tipsy gentlemen who had just left the village pub.  It would have made a good scene for 'Rev'.

One I'd rather forget: an unfortunate day in  Peel Cathedral when no one would walk next to me in procession - what with me being a woman and all ( the only female priest in the Diocese at the time)

and lots of joyful ones....processing out of St Albans Abbey after my ordination and the end of each of my induction services since then.

My sabbatical has now officially begun and I am heading for Australia.... but not in a procession.

How scary! 7 followers already, so praps I'd better write something................Margaret my Curate colleague has just left after a long hand over session. These next 3 months are going to be a roller coaster for her as she takes on more responsibility. She is a star!  When I was a curate at Elstow Abbey my Richard, training incumbent, abandoned me in my final year by retiring so I know the feeling of impending doom that she must be feeling! At least I am only going for 3 months.


long ago and far away...when I was a Curate and before I was abandoned

In those days there were three of us in the Deanery without incumbents and we called ourselves the 'Abandoned Curates Society' - it was a good excuse to meet in the pub for and persuade the Rural Dean to buy us lunch.
I have three more days in the parishes before my sabbatical starts and the wandering begins (....mind you there's been a lot of previous wandering. Wallasey to West Yorkshire, via  Liverpool, Bedford and the Isle of Man)   But now we are heading to Adelaide in Australia to experience life and ministry in the Anglican Parish of Parkside - St Oswalds and Emmanuel.  The people there are already showing us incredible kindness and we are looking forward to meeting them all.    This was supposed to be an exchange with the David, the Rector of Parkside , and his wife Deborah, coming here to St Philips and St Cuthberts. But sadly David has had surgery on his back and he cant make the long flight so its a rather one sided exchange.  
But that's next week - lots to do before then including the re-dedication of St Cuthberts after extensive restoration.  Bishop Tony is coming - it will be a great celebration.  The torrential rain the in last few days has tested the new roof - and so far so good! 

I have often thought about writing a book about various parts of my life - nursing - midwifery - priesthood - but being a bit slow off the mark others have beaten me to it and I am left to wonder....
Why did I not write 'Call the Midwife' or 'Catching Babies'?
Why did I not write The Vicar of Dibley or  'Rev' (which was virtually a documentry on my life and ministry)
Probably a mixture of not having the literary skill or the time to sit and write
But I am just about to start a 3 month sabbatical so, to have time to write now, I never will!
I have never blogged before and am only able to start with the help of my son Michael
If no one reads this - at least I have the beginnings of my book and when I retire................it shall be written!