Oh dear, the Vicar has not been in church for the past three Sundays. What has he been up to? Did he have a nice holiday?
In fact, the Vicar did have a very good time. But it wasn't exactly a holiday. I have been away visiting the Northelbian Church in northern Germany, taking part in what is called a 'Partner Consultation'.
The idea is that the Northelbian Church sent out invitations to all the churches with which they have partnership agreements, asking their partner churches to send a delegate to help take a close look at how their church is working and to offer suggestions as to how they should go forward into the future. For those involved with schools, it was a bit like having an OFSTED inspection, but for a whole church including three dioceses and 640 congregations.
In the event, some thirty representatives of the partner churches of the Northelbian Church took part in the Consultation. Most were Lutherans, many representing churches in Africa, South America, India and Southeast Asia which were established through the efforts of missionaries who had gone out from the Breklum Mission in Schleswig-Holstein where the final part of the Partner Consultation was held. Others came from Lutheran Churches in Russia and the Baltic States. There were also a Presbyterian minister from South Korea, an Orthodox archpriest from St Petersburg and myself from the Diocese of Ely.
During the first week, the consultation divided into three groups, visiting the parishes and social work projects of the Church in many different areas. I was attached to the group which stayed in Hamburg and looked particularly at the public face of the Church. A highlight of the week was to attend the annual MOGO service for bikers in St Michael's Church in Hamburg where inside and outside the church were gathered the riders of some 38,000 motorcycles.
At the conclusion of the consultation, the partners wrote a letter of encouragement to the parishes and other agencies of the Northelbian Church and followed this up with a document including over seven pages of suggestions and recommendations.
But, of course, it wasn't the paperwork but the opportunity to meet the people which was the real joy of the consultation. Some delegates had travelled from situations of real danger and difficulty, as from Congo and from Palestine. Others brought with them years of experience of sharing in the work and mission of the Church in their own countries. All had their own stories to tell.
Perhaps we may all see some of them in the future as they come to share their stories with us in our part of Cambridgeshire.
John-David Yule