tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5184338388412694681.post5877389307950647210..comments2023-12-04T23:00:36.715+00:00Comments on Peter Mullins' Blog: LeadershipPeter Mullinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07970212201798943640noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5184338388412694681.post-70763287222080212882009-01-23T09:26:00.000+00:002009-01-23T09:26:00.000+00:00Thanks, Sceptic, for your thoughtful and supportiv...Thanks, Sceptic, for your thoughtful and supportive response, with which I've only just caught up.<BR/><BR/>You are also right about one detail: with our new approach to united first Sundays we have allowed a designated 'Family Communion' each month (and also the cycle of united service on fifth Sundays) to lie fallow, but both are being talked about, and I'll certainly feed what you say about the pitch of sermons into those discussions.Peter Mullinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07970212201798943640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5184338388412694681.post-73983802038107037642009-01-19T20:47:00.000+00:002009-01-19T20:47:00.000+00:00When I wrote under this name following the first '...When I wrote under this name following the first 'First Sunday Thing'it was an attempt to express how I felt both before and - to a lesser extent - after the event. I thought perhaps it was the way some others felt as well but the fact that 20 or 30 people are comfortable with a pattern of worship they have lived with, in some cases, for many years doesn't make a genuine attempt to reach others wrong.<BR/><BR/>As I think more about this I realise how much I take for granted. I am quite happy with our established service but am becoming increasingly aware that many of the population find it either irrelevant or incomprehensible. Even people inside the church can find it difficult. I recently heard of someone who mourns the loss of the Family Communion not because they brought a family along but because it had a simple message instead of a 'complicated sermon'.<BR/><BR/>The Bishop probably observes correctly when he says that growing churches have strong leaders but that doesn't mean that churches that are yet to grow have poor leaders. I happen to believe that in West Grimsby we are particularly fortunate in the calibre of clergy and lay leaders we have.<BR/><BR/>Worthwhile achievements don't come easily and God often leads us along a difficult path. We are told that if we listen we will hear His guiding voice but most of us would wish he would speak a bit louder.<BR/><BR/>Keep trying. The work is far too important to give up on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com