Mike's musings

Finished

Last day of ERMC. A final Group D worship session, breakfast, a 3rd session on global Christianity: Cathy did a fascinating presentation on Indian Christian spirituality. I'd really like to find out more, actually. So would she, after doing the research, apparently. A round-up Q&A session with staff, then photos, then the final Eucharist. The choir sang the Stanford in G Nunc Dimittis, and I did the baritone solo. Half-way through, I was shaking so hard I could hardly hold the copy still, and nearly threw up. But I kept it together. And it went well.

Sad to see people go. But it's done. Nearly 3 years of my life, and the next step is ordination in 3 weeks. I was talking to someone about this last week, and it's a little like before I married Moo. Of course I'm apprehensive, and of course I don't know exactly what I'm letting myself in for, but it's the right thing, and I don't have any doubts about that.

Got home, took the girls out to the local playground, and a little later did a barbecue for a family supper. Ironing in the evening.

Labels: ERMC, singing

Last weekend

(backposting) Well, I didn't stay up too late last night - in bed by 1230 or so. We had a couple of interesting sessions on global Christianity last night. We also had an Exposition of the Sacrament service, which I'd not been involved with. The choir sang Byrd's Ave Verum, which was great. We sang pretty well, I think, and got lots of appreciation. Today we had sessions on the sacraments: detailed ones on baptism and the eucharist, and a more broad one on the sacraments in everyday life, which didn't really gel for me. A final session with Ian, the course director, telling us, mainly to take time off and look after ourselves. Went out to the pub with Sally, Simon and Gary: three folks I'm going to miss. But on the other hand, we all Facebook a lot, so we'll definitely be in touch.

Then back to the bar. I'd intended to get to bed around 2200 or 2230, but it ended up being more like 0130. Silly me.

Labels: ERMC

Today, I shall mostly be ...

• ... sleeping in (but not as long as Jo and Moo)
• ... taking the girls swimming with Moo
• ... spending more money than I meant to in Waitrose
• ... clearing the dog poo off the lawn
• ... mowing the lawn (first time this year, if you exclude the two strims it's had)
• ... stepping in several instances of dog poo that I missed
• ... barbecuing with Si
• ... drinking beer with Si
• ... eating the barbecued food with Si, D, Morgs, Boo, Moo, Jo and Miri
• ... drinking wine with Si and Moo
• ... geeking with Si
• ... whilst drinking more wine with Si
• ... going for a walk with the girls, Moo and Buster
• ... having a bath with the girls (but not Moo and Buster)
• ... putting Jo to bed (very quick!)
• ... clearing around a bit
• ... loading the dishwasher
• ... doing some washing up
• ... and ... finishing my last essay for ERMC. YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!

Labels: drink, ERMC, family, friends, geekery, swimming, walk

I give in

Yup, I've done it. The new barbecue arrived today, and it's a gas one. It's just going to be so much quicker to have barbecues, particularly for the girls, who aren't great at waiting for food. Tried it out for Moo and my supper, and it worked very well. Put it together all on my own, as well.

Started on my final ERMC essay tonight. 6,000 words. I've got the first 1,000 or so done, which I was dreading. The next 3,000 or so shouldn't be too hard, and we'll see after that.

Labels: ERMC, essay, food

And then home (again)

It seems that a goodly percentage of the posts I'm writing at the moment involve saying that I'm going home, but I don't have plans for any more trips in the next couple of weeks. This morning we had a couple of excellent sessions on Child Protection, which were very useful. Talked, among other things, about how paedophiles groom adults as well as children. Also about ways to make children safer from predators at the same time as making adults safe from false allegations.

Got home a couple of minutes before the girls and Moo. We got the paddling pool out, they splashed, we all had a barbecue. Good stuff.

Labels: children, ERMC

Ethics

(backposting) An excellent, excellent couple of sessions on Christian Ethics with the Rt Revd David Atkinson, the Bishop of Thetford. Arguably the best sessions on any topic over the past 2 and a half years at ERMC. During the afternoon the choir rehearsed the music for tomorrow, and then looked at the Stanford in G Nunc Dimittis. We'd really hope to do the Magnificat as well, but unluckily there's not going to be time to fit it in at the June weekend. I felt for Susannah, as she was going to do the solo for that, but also felt a little guilty, as I'll be doing the solo in the Nunc. However, it's shorter, easier, and fits better with the service we'll be doing it in.

We had the ERMC Ball in the evening, which was fun. I even danced. Question: should we have "The Spirit in the Sky" for the Leavers' Service at the June weekend?

Labels: ERMC, singing

ERMC penultimate weekend

(backposting) Yes, our penultimate weekend with ERMC, and the last one at Ditchingham. Stayed up till 0200, which didn't feel that late, as I was still a little lagged.

Labels: ERMC

Last seminar

Today was my last ERMC seminar. It was on ethics, including deontology (we follow do what's right, no matter what) vs consequentialism (the end always justifies the means). Obviously it's rarely as cut and dried as that, but many entrenched ethical arguments often boil down to these two approaches. Also the question of whether we can be told to love, and what laws and commandments are for, came up. Weird that it's the last seminar.

Went to Infosec 2008 during the day in Olympia, one of th emost difficult places in London to get to for an exhibition in my experience. Some leads, but not very much.

Labels: ERMC, work

ERMC day 3 - "And we shall be changed. We _shall_ be changed"

We had one session yesterday on ministry in schools by on of the people on the course, who's an expert in this field, and we had two more today. Managed to stay awake: they were very interesting, and I know that I'm going to be doing at least one in the next month or two, so paying attention was a good plan.

A good service, in the charismatic tradition - the quote (which, in that form, is from Handel's Messiah) was my response to the weekend. Some good songs/choruses (I'm learning not to refer to them as "hymns"), and I was administering one of the chalices today. This was fantastic: it can be good administering the chalice anyway, but it was such a privilege today, when I know those receiving well, and know that they are staff or ordinands like me. It was just very special.

Labels: communion, ERMC, theology

ERMC day 2 - Resurrection and Ascension

A very enjoyable day, with three sessions on Resurrection (Christ's and ours) and Ascension (Christ's). Really got me thinking, and firming up exactly what I believe. Might get round to discussing this at some point, but I ended up being more orthodox than Gary had expected!

Stayed up rather late (0300) discussing many things. Must remember these books for the essay I discussed yesterday:

• Celebrating Christian Marriage by Adrian Thatcher
• The Family in Theological Perspective ed. Stephen Barton
• also found this when searching Amazon: Life Together: Family, Sexuality and Community in the New Testament and Today by Stephen Barton

Labels: ERMC, family, theology

ERMC day 1

Got there in the afternoon, had a good session on preparation for essays a number of us need to write on Christian Belief and Ethics. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to write about: it's a reaction to Edelman's No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, which I've mentioned before, in terms of eschatology. Only just getting my head round it, but we'll get there.

A hint for anyone planning to walk into a nun's bedroom in the middle of the night, assuming it's the bathroom because you've not bothered to check, and you're looking at a copy of Thomas à Kempis' "De imitatione Christi": make sure she doesn't wake up, and get out very quickly.

Picked up a free copy of Thomas à Kempis' "De imitatione Christi" today.

Labels: ERMC, friends, humour

Incoming!

ERMC weekend, that is. Done some prep work. Need to do more, I guess.

Labels: ERMC

Essay posted

I only have another 6000 words of essays to write for ERMC now: one of 4000 words, and one of 2000. They'll both be on ethical issues, though the first one will be looking at some issues of belief and doctrine as well. Three more weekends.

The paperwork's beginning to come through, including Crockfords yesterday and the diocesan directory today. It really does feel like things are actually happening.

Labels: ERMC, ordination

Essay on Psalm 137

So, I decided that I _could_ use David Gray's "Babylon" as a reading of Psalm 137, and I frankly don't care if I get marked down for it. I think I made a good case for it, so we'll see how it goes. I've sent a copy to Sally, contrary to my usual practice not to send anything out until I've seen a marked copy. This decision is mainly because I can't face bothering enough not to, and because I suspect that Sally will have some interesting things to say about it.

Very excitingly, I got a letter from Crockford's today, asking for my details so that they can put me in their publication. This means that I really will be a _proper_ priest at some point. One of the things they asked for was an email address, so I've given them a new one, which I now feel happy about releasing: mike [dot] bursell {at} anglicanpriest *(dot)* org. You can take out the relevant bits and pieces to make that a real address, and see why I've not felt happy about using it until things looked pretty certain.

Miri can now say "cat" pretty distinctively - to the cat, or about it, when she wants to go and see him - and has a sound that she associates with dog (but doesn't sound much like it). She also has a hysterically funny face she does that has been labelled "hippo", where she puts her hands out, opens her mouth very widely, and vibrates her head from side to side. You have to see it. What's particularly amusing about it is that she looks very much like Jo when she does it.

Labels: ERMC, essay, Jo, miri, ordination

Seminar yesterday

I forgot - I had a seminar yesterday. Richard, the staff member, was leading it: on the atonement. We had quite a discussion on the nature of sin. I take the view that sin and evil are pretty much synonymous, and without conscious humanity, there would be no evil. His theodicy is rather different to mine: he sees a broken creation, whereas I see a broken and fallen humanity. Christ dies on the cross, for me, to atone for humanity's sin, but for Richard, he atones not just for moral evil, but for the "evil" he sees in nature: the pain of a dying animal, and the death of an innocent neonate human baby.

I don't see evil in this way. For me, the phrase "the lion will lie down with the lamb" is allegorical, not literal, but if you take a view of creation that it is broken, then the Atonement must, I suppose, include this. My concern with this view is that I believe that God's grace is strongly shown through the natural world, and that any intervention that breaks the rules of that world - of what we call scientific laws - would be a denial, by God, of his grace and love.

Labels: ERMC, sin, theology

Steps

Miri learnt how to do steps today: upwards, that is. So that means we need to be yet more vigilant.

Oh, and I've decided that David Gray's "Babylon" _can_ be a reading of Psalm 137 for an essay I'm writing. I ate enough Krispy Kremes, obviously.

Labels: ERMC, miri

Difficult decision

If I eat enough Krispy Kreme glazed donuts (sic) (sick), can I pretend that David Gray's "Babylon" is a reading of Psalm 137 for an essay I'm writing?

Labels: ERMC, humour

Title post

I've not been able to talk about this until it's all be approved and agreed, but at 1940 this evening, I handed over my letter of acceptance to Rev. John Blore, who will be my training incumbent in the Halstead Team Ministry, which will be my title post when I'm ordained on June 29th, God willing.

I'm immensely relieved - it's been a long slog - and very happy, as I really like the team, what they're doing, lots of the worship (I've attended a number of services across the team parishes over the past few months), and the members of the team have lots to teach me.

I have three essays left to write: around 9,000 words. And three more weekends. And that's all. Things are feeling close now.

Labels: ERMC, title

Psalm 78

(backposting) Not sure why I mention it particularly, but it's my very favourite psalm, despite being the longest one set for a single morning or evening in the old BCP. We used to sing some great chants to it at both Christ Church and King's, and it's lots of fun. It's set for the evening of the 15th, so I had it for evening prayer tonight. I also did quite a lot of reading about sin - particularly the original type - for the "Christian Belief" module that I'm doing for ERMC at the moment. That and the nature of grace.

Today I also met the churchwardens for the church at which I may spend my title post. A good meeting: we got on well, and I think it's important to have the sanity-check of a non-clergy view in these cases.

Girls to bed even quicker tonight, and Moo was back by 2130, so not too bad. Had a really nice long chat as we went to bed about her day away - she's doing a course - and what's going on with the girls. We don't often get the chance, as Miri's requiring attention, but she managed to stay in her own bed until 0400, which is almost a record at the moment.

Labels: church, ERMC, Moo, sin

Moo's away

Put the girls to bed pretty easily, though Miri's suddenly really, really mobile. Turn your back, and ... she's gone. I followed her to the step down from the bathroom, and it was very interesting to see her turning back from it.

Lots of work done today, was hoping to do some ERMC work, too, but it was not to be. Need to do some tomorrow, as I have a tutorial on Wednesday.

Labels: ERMC, Jo, miri