On the Frontline.....now and then

We are so short staffed here just now....Dave Steell my boss and senior minister of Church.co.uk is currently leading a team in Uganda. Pete Brierley my boss and youth and community pastor is on holiday in America. Tim Broadbent who coaches the football programme alongside me is away in Zimbabwe talking about our football project. Andy Flannigan the worship leader and personal mentor is also in Uganda and Jill Rowe the Oasis Frontline Director is on holiday. We are thin on the ground in terms of experienced staff. In fact we're thin on the ground in terms of staff over 25.

On Sunday the service was lead by Hannah Li, aged 23, the Church administrator. Worship led by Dan Nolloth, age 23, the church caretaker. Finally Andrew Nelson, age 23 was the speaker for the service. So as you can see the magic number was 23....quite literally the church congregation was left in the potentially capable hands of three 23 year olds. And how did we do? Well the feedback was great. I was told that i didn't come across as if i was preaching at Church.co for the first time....an old pro was another comment. What was great was that many of the people who've started coming along to church because of the many programs we run throughout the week were the first to speak to me afterwards. I did worry before hand that my message would not be relevant to someone new to the church.

Once it was over it felt as if I'd conquered a huge milestone....perhaps now i can retire i thought to myself. But no, Bank Holiday Monday offered well required rest and Tuesday was a clump of mixed tasks. In the absence of the senior minister I'm dealing with the people we support. One after the other i met with people in the morning then it was straight into school to mentor Oliver twist and then straight back to lead 8-12 year olds football. After the fighting mass of fighting and crying (and that's just the leaders) that resembles football coaching i arrived back to the Church to help out at the launch of Danny Smith's new book 'Slavery now and then'. Natasha Bedingfields mum was there and i considered making a comment to her about how much i admired her daughter.....but you'll be sad to know i didn't. At 11:15pm the event was cleared up and over....at last i could make my way back to Brixton.

That's a long day and today started again at 9am but before when i used to really struggle with the long days i now find them easier. But that's due to a greater comfort with London, the better weather, the lighter nights and a passion for my work. Not that i didn't enjoy work before but everything becomes easier when you feel at home. Scotland is home but London feels more like home. It's like when a footballer starts playing for a new club. It takes theme time to settle in before you will begin to see their best form. I don't think that's anything to do with their ability it's about a frame of mind that in turn affects the way they play