Games on the Glebe

Yes, "Games on the Glebe". As you all know by now, the Church in England is largely an ecumenical one, with LEPs (Local Ecumenical Partnerships) being quite prominent. Well, one of the Anglican churches in our LEP held an event for the whole partnership on their "glebe". As best as i can tell, it's the church lawn where people might possibly be buried in the future (most parish churches are surrounded by cemetaries). The evening started with a relay race of sorts with a champion crowned. Other events included the "slow bike race" where the prize goes to the one to takes the longest to get to the finish line; the ski race where four people comprise a team and stand on "skis" and try to walk together from one end of the field to the other; and finally, my specialty (I came in second), the "Wellie boot toss" where participants compete to see who can throw the wellie boot (rubber boot--kind of like galoshes) the furthest. I even got a certificate of achievement for my efforts.

An interesting thing occured to me while at the "Games on the Glebe". I'm a pastor now. While I have no doubts that my welcome would have been just as warm had I just been visiting, I was often singled out as "the new minister". Quite the humbling thing, actually. My official start date isn't until Thursday, but events will really begin tomorrow. In all reality, I'm relieved that I'm finally starting. Its been a long time since graduation in May and I've been thinking and stewing long enough. But for today, the bank holiday, members of my congregation (Methodists don't like to be called parishioners...too Anglican) are taking me on a picnic to the Norfolk coast. I'm taking my camera--it should be pretty cool!

(For those of you excited/dismayed by the frequency of these posts...I'm sure once I get started, they will diminish greatly...so enjoy for now!)