Heritage Weekend and Service Thinking

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 07 September 2012 17:31:33

We're part way though the national Heritage Open Days (running Thursday - Sunday) and one of the attractions in MK that's joining is Bletchley Park which is giving free entry to those who live in the area. Seeing as our annual ticket has run out at the moment I was grateful for this chance to go over, have a quick smile at the room we're getting civilled in next year and relax in the sunshine, as well as do a bit of service thinking.

I've referred before on this blog to the way I like to write sermons/ plan services on trains and in pubs or coffee shops . Today I enjoyed doing a bit of the initial service thinking outside Hut 4 (the cafe) and beyond.

For those who aren't familiar with the way it works for Methodist Local Preachers a bit of background. The preacher gets a plan of services given to them quarterly showing where/ when they are preaching over the next three months. There is often a note also given of any special Sundays which apply (for example this Sunday is Racial Justice Sunday and 11th November is obviously Remembrance Sunday). There are then a set of lectionary readings which give an indication of what bible readings should be used, (although these aren't intended as a straight jacket and in reality it is usually a case of choosing a selection rather than all of them).

Whilst every local preacher approaches the preparation process in their own way I have a way of working which involves looking at my services/ readings at the beginning of the quarter and then letting thoughts, etc develop over time - seeking to be open to what is called the prompting of the Holy Spirit. In English this means that if I am open God will help guide my thoughts / inspire my imagination alongside the study of the passages / topics that I do as the services get nearer and I get to the point of formally planning the services/ writing the sermon.

Today I took my bible and the list of lectionary passages I have for each service and read through them with a can of Pepsi, in the sunshine. One reason for doing this was I have Remembrance Sunday as one of the services in the next quarter and Bletchley Park is good for getting in the right mindset for that type of service.

After I'd finished doing the reading and getting some initial ideas about what I will / won't be using I went for a wander round some of the site. Hut 12 which includes an exhibition about Ian Flemming and his activities as a spy was useful because it also contained an exhibition from a group of local re-enactment enthusiasts, the Allied Forces & Home Front 1939-1945 Living History Society. Their exhibition included some war time wedding dresses and other 40's fashion alongside home front memorabilia. They were also giving out handouts detailing standard rations and some war time recipes -which I may or may-not tryout.

Hut 8 contains a Ghost Station Exhibition  at the moment with some interesting pieces on display including some automatic writing which has been transcribed and the obligatory picture of Turing. Unfortunately the Station X room wasn't open today. This hut also contains the pigeon room which is one of my favourite in the whole museum. It outlines the way these birds that we often view as flying rodents played an important role in the war.

The final hut I popped into was the Churchill exhibition which always makes me smile because it is just so wonderfully eccentric.

So all in all a productive and fun afternoon.