Church letter

November 2024

Click for the church letter from September 2024

Maybe you’re too busy to, or too busy not to

Revd Ylva and I have just returned from a three-day Diocesan clergy conference ‘Together in Prayer’. About 110 clergy from across Canterbury Diocese gathered, with some of the senior leadership team, at Ashburnham Place near Battle. I went with thoughts of ‘this had better be worth it!’.We had not had one of these gatherings since before Covid, and therefore also with the previous Bishop of Dover, not with Bishop Rose. (There has also, in that time, been a huge change in the clergy in the Diocese - there were 20 ordained in June in our Diocese, including our own Revd Vicki Young.)

Have you noticed that when you head off to something thinking,‘this had better be good’ or ‘I’d prefer not to go’, invariably the event turns out to be enjoyable? I’m happy to report that was the case for me. It was good; really good.There were three guest speakers:

- Sister Gemma Simmonds a Roman Catholic nun which, being honest, didn’t fill me with ‘Wow, this is going to be great’, before I headed off. Gemma is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus, Director of the Religious Life Institute at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge where she teaches theology. Formerly a missionary in Brazil and a university and prison chaplain, she is a prolific author in ecclesiology, spirituality and theology. She was an amazing, engaging and inspiring speaker and human being.

- Bishop Hugh Nelson formerly incumbent at Goudhurst and Kilndown, now Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro; and acting Bishop of the Diocese of Truro and Bishop to the Forces. He was honest, open and encouraging.

- Lyndall Bywater co-ordinator of the Changing Lives Prayer Network in Canterbury Diocese, as well as a writer and broadcaster. She is champion of all things to do with prayer. An incredible lady and so encouraging; so natural about prayer - and ably supported at the conference by her guide dog,Venus.

The three-day event was a very worthwhile investment of time.There were two little things I want to share with you that I found helpful, and you might too. The first was a one-liner that Sr Gemma quoted from a Glaswegian she’d met: “If ya too busy, ya too busy!” A simple, perhaps throwaway statement; but it is true. If you are too busy, the thing you are doing doesn’t get done so well; you don’t focus properly; you become too tired; and everything, including your life- balance, suffers.

The skill, having recognised that of course, is how to become less busy. But the recognition is a good starting point. The second thing was: the parish is not going to fall apart by you taking 30 minutes with God in prayer. For a priest this is simple and obvious when it’s pointed out. So I will be spending more time with God in prayer.Why? Because I’m too busy not to. I hope you can find some quiet time, with God, in the busyness of your life.

Revd David Commander, Rector and Area Dean