Hi

To post just one blog per week isn't asking too much - is it? Yet here we are, nearly ten days after the last episode.
Does this mean nothing happens? No.
I guess it is rather that I don't always remember to do it. Apart from that there have been meetings and meetings....
Some of the churches on the Lisburn Road hold united evening services - every Sunday through July and August and also on the last Sunday of the month. So one of the meetings was planning that programme. I wonder though - do the people who live in this area even know that this happens? And if they did - would they be interested enough to attend? Perhaps the function of this series is to support the already interested and there has to be a fresh way of making a connection with those who have no history of being involved with the traditional churches.
Another group of churches in a slightly bigger area of South Belfast meet to plan a Lent Course. This is a popular annual feature - just four big events in the weeks running up to Easter. And another expression of unity in a society that is still very divided.
Yesterday was Synod - the Connor Diocesan Synod. It was a delightful mixture of the formal and the relaxed, serious and humourous. And it was short!
Tonight is Select Vestry - and then the series of meetings is over!
I guess they are all necesssary. It is essential to meet to make plans. It is useful to reflect on work that has been done. And the ongoing ministry in a Parish needs direction and reflection. But the real work in all of it is developing relationships. Getting to know people and meeting one-to-one. And that is best done at the fireside, in the street, during the normal daily activities - so - keep the meetings in their place but - get on with building relationships face to face!