Back to normal?! - Some initial topics from Sabbatical

This is simply a quick wee blog - I have realised that it's been before Christmas that I last blogged and so much has happened - in the past 3 months I've clocked up a couple of thousand KM's on the car as I travelled around Ireland discovering what God is up to in unexpected places, as well as completing a 15,000 word dissertation + appendices in total came to 64,500 words!

The past three months I've learnt quite a bit about ministry, mission and am back in Blarney with a deep refreshment from time in retreat and prayer.

There does seem to be a huge amount of learning from this time which I do think has implications for the way ministry may need to develop.

Topics cropped up such as:

- The Gospel what it means in Ireland today.
- Clergy Self-care / supervision
- Pioneer Ministry and support
- The Dialectic tension between 'cosy club church' and 'gimmick church'
- What success looks like in Ministry
- the balancing of the 5 marks of mission
- Being church in new areas of Ireland
- The Church which seems ready for new forms of ministry to be enacted
- Not forgetting what has already been done
- The need for implementation to happen in areas where the church has already reported on
- The grappling with change within church circles
- The need for adequate support structures
- The good news stories in Church need to be celebrated
- 'Going beyond the Church of Ireland community' in mission
- Being sensitive to our historical context whilst also realising that we are in a new era
- Appraisal of ministry
- Support and mentoring within current and new expressions of Church

Over the next while I hope to blog about many of these topics - as many of them are problematic and challenging to those of us who are in inherited forms of church and in doing so discuss and ponder  what the Spirit might be saying to church.

Whatever that may be ... its certainly an adventure!