Much of Parish ministry is to do with bumbling. In August, I blogged particularly in relation to work in schools, but for now, I want to become a little more general; parish ministry per se.

First, I want to be deliberately uncool, and say I am a massive fan of Parish ministry. I think it is one of the gifts of outrageous grace that the Church of England offers to the nation. This does not mean that there are no shortcomings at times, and indeed other models which could be used. But Parish ministry done well should, I would suggest, lead to spiritual growth within a Parish.

A day in the life of this vicar may or may not set out what I mean.

06:20 Out for a walk with the hounds, to Woodgate Valley Country Park – an amazing place, as the sunlight begins to dance over the trees. I meet a bereaved widower. Stand and chat whilst the hounds eat him out of dog biscuits. He always carries dog biscuits, even though he does not have a hound. We have smiled at each other, well sometimes, for 2 years. He knows who I am, and he talks about his late wife.

08:00 Phone call from Head of VA School. Ofsted are in. It is raining. Harvest assembly in school rather than church.

08:45 Take son to the said school, talk to other parents on the way. Greet children. Respond positively, or try to, to every ‘Rev Kev’ type greeting.

09:00 Assembly

10:30 At the local shops, stop and talk to shop keepers about nothing much. I think they like me doing this, because they complain when I just whizz past without so much as a smile. In my training as a curate, my Incumbent said, that a stipend frees you just to look like you are doing nothing.

12:15 Lunch with other clergy

1:30 Meeting with vice-chair of the governing body, we are going to meet an ofsted inspector. Hope you are praying, he says, I say yes; but wonder why he thinks it necessary, being our resident athiest.

2:00 Ofsted interview – I will blog later when results are public

2:30 Back in Bartley Green. Brief funeral follow-up chat with someone on the telephone

3:00 Meeting with the Bishop of Birmingham

4:00 Meeting (another) with council officials and history group about the old church graveyard, and a memorial stone that is to be dedicated in honour of the centenary of Bartley Green becoming part of the city of Birmingham by Bishop Andrew. There are some discussions about an adjacent piece of land, and an ashes garden.

5:00 Fifa 11 wii game…. and entertainment for son, friend, friend’s brother, friend’s sister, and another friend. I greet one of son’s friends with the words ‘peace be upon you’ in Arabic. ‘Are you a muslim?’ he asks. Bumbling can be taken to extremes, one thinks.

7:00 Community Chest money meeting. An interesting hotch potch of people; councillors, police, ward officers, invited members of the public and me.

Of course, other days… might feature… trying to read the Scriptures, responding to an emergency call. It could be lots of playing on the wii or watching a DVD, reading (or not reading) a book, playing with the boy, hounds, dinner with the boss, doing rotas, going to a funeral or baptism visit… standing in the rain… visiting… drinking tea, coffee or something else.

I think bumbling in terms of Parish ministry requires commitment and the ability to be with people. If you are like me, you will need also to create a bubble of bumbling lonesomeness which will innoculate you against being with people most of the time.

Good consistent being there for others cannot help but allow the church to grow and blossom.

I wonder when such an idea might catch on.