FINISHING UP IN LONDON
November 26 Monday 2007

How time flies - it's been exactly one month. I’d finally gotten back into the swing of updating my journal regularly and then my schedule at HTB became absolutely packed. When I share with some people how busy church can get, I’m often met with a look of disbelief borne from a common misconception that working for or in a church is a complete doddle. I assure you – it's not.

My final three weeks at Alpha Headquarters and HTB were chock-a-block. Apart from all the services, meetings, conferences, courses and lectures that were part of my schedule, I had to divide my time between a plant church in the East-End, my project and several other ministries.

Regards which areas I invested my time in the most, I think it helps to look at where I didn’t first. It would have been so much easier for me to have got stuck into ministries and departments where I'd feel most at home, most comfortable; such as worship, creative arts and media... but I didn't (not completely anyway).

With a desire to grow and be stretched, I made a concerted effort to pursue the pastoral, theological, specific ministry and administrative side of things instead; areas I don’t necessarily have the time or opportunity to explore when I’m at The Vine. It wasn't always easy, in fact sometimes it was darn right difficult, but having gone through the programme, I'm so glad that I did.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull a boy" to quote my Dad, which is true, and so I made sure that I took ample time out to regain my strength and reflect on my experiences. The HTB bookstore proved to be a real place of solace, and I spent many an hour enjoying the wealth of wisdom, knowledge... and staff discount!

The only other time I got to unwind properly, was when I managed to meet up with family who live in and around London: Sara, Fiona, Uncle Dave, Terry, Paula, Philip and of course my Dad who came all the way up from West Wales to hang out. I also got to visit my Auntie Irene and Auntie Liz in Cwmbran, which was really precious.

I'm going to miss the UK...