I have to be a little bit careful lest someone might get the impression that I go into schools purely to convert people. That would not be true; I still believe it is God the Holy Spirit who converts. I am though convinced that schools are a vital part of any local community and have the potential to set people free; pupils, parents and staff alike.

I am delighted to have schools in the Parish where I am vicar, who want to engage with the Church. As one Head puts it, ‘Church and School are the two constants on our estate; therefore it is important to work together’. Of course, this means being wheeled out to do collective worship, participating in school governance, and learning to give opinions on things that I know relatively little about and going along to school productions. When there are several schools on the patch this is something that takes committed and attentive time.

Committed, attentive and generous time is something that I will return to. For now, all I want to say is that this is not an area that I am a specialist in. I am a product of the instant generation. Born in 1967, I am accustomed to things being done quickly; this is why every year I have a habitual struggle with growing tomato plants. I start with good intentions: grow bags, proper feed and the intention to water twice daily. Sometimes I forget to go outside and water them, I am then overcome with guilt and drench for 2-3 days. The end result is that I do get some toms, but the plants are twisted and the fruit themselves, although truly scrumptious do not conform to what a tom should actually look like. I want things too quickly at times; and therefore do not spend enough time making sure the plant can grow, even if in theory I know all that should be done. Of course a key part to success in any school is committed, generous time.

Generosity is at the very heart of what Christians believe (should believe) God to be like. The parables told by Jesus of Nazareth are mostly to do with generosity. An excellent example of this is the Parable of the Sower, which is found in Mark 4

¹Again^(A) he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him,^(B) so that he got into a boat and sat in it on
the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²And^(C) he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen!^(D) A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed  fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And^(E) when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root,^(F) it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among^(G) thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and^(H) a hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, ^(I) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now, partly because of Mark’s explanation of what the Parable means, most interpreters and preachers have concentrated on responses to faith. I wonder though whether in the example of the Sower, we have a model of overwhelming generosity. Farmers in the Ancient Near East depended on their crops for survival. Unlike me, who if the tom plants finally give up the ghost am not unduly concerned, those farmers had experienced enough of hunger and want to know what would happen if the crop failed. Thus it is very odd just to accept the fact that the farmer scattered his seed in a haphazard way, unaware of what would happen to seedlings growing on rocks or among thorns. Perhaps what we have is not a Parable about faith responses, but one about the generous farmer who is constantly lavishing us with care; regardless of whether that care is rejected. Other Parables such as the Good Samaritan or the Lost Sons also point to generosity. Indeed of the latter, a lay leader in my last Parish was incadescent with concern (he was an Anglican) over the father’s welcome for his son: ‘too much generosity; too much grace; it is outrageous’ he was often heart to murmur.

Generosity, grace; indeed outrageous grace are the foundational stones of bumbling. Bumbling with intent to attentively listen and build relationships. So much for the theory, how does it work it practice; particularly in relation to schools?

First, bumbling can be misunderstood. We live in a society where time is precious, and people do not usually have time to just be there; listening. It takes time to overcome such misunderstandings. It is one thing to be there for collective worship and for the odd RE lesson; to go on a trip or be at a meeting to do with governance; but another to listen to the secretary, receive a prayer request from a pupil or earn the right to enter the head’s study and talk as two professionals caring for the same people. Time is not something that is seen as being on offer in most growth manuals or packages that will change a church or organisation. Indeed it is crazy in my context. More people attend church now than they did two years ago; however we are not growing fast enough to cover all those who will ‘be promoted to glory’ as William Booth once put it. Talking to the secretary or hearing a pupil’s prayer request seems to be quite passive when action is required. That is however to misunderstand the outrageousness of grace.

Second, there needs to be some constancy. This means being willing to be there ‘in season and out of season’ to quote the late John Stott and of course the ever so cuddly Apostle Paul (there I have often wanted to put cuddly and Paul in the same sentence). In my context, the head tells me often that church and school are the two constants on the estate. We therefore need to prove it. This will mean the usual involvement, but waiting patiently for other opportunities. An example of this has been a transition project where the church paid for an artist to work with every primary school child transitioning to the local secondary school. This was funded by the Church Urban Fund Mustard Seed Grant programme, which has in turn led to creative involvements with the Church Flower Festival(!) and the acceptance by the schools of a Lee Abbey Team going into work with their pupils in early 2012. More surprisingly, 2-3 of the Heads are clear; come into school ‘to do God’. That is your area of expertise. We have taken 2 years to get to this place; which is longer than the usual growth strategy.

Third, you need not to expect results immediately. However what is a result in Christian terms? Is it more bums on seats. Yes, I know I want my name in lights (for good reasons) having doubled the congregation. Perhaps not entirely. Is it more confident rounder people, who are sometimes confident and committed followers of the generous God? Yes, think that is true.

To bumble means sometimes looking like you do not know where you are going. That is unnerving and uncomfortable. It is also about being prepared to be misunderstood and allowing people to wonder what an earth you are doing. That in itself can be quite liberating.