‘Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.’  Hosea 10.12

Every church has seasons in its life, and every minister in her ministry.  What an adventure to begin this next season together with you at Ealing Green, and in the Circuit! 

I have had a sense of holding back in these last months leading up to September, as if accompanied in my weekly round by a gentle companion whispering, ‘not yet -’  In our Methodist system of stationing, I continued in my past station for a further eight months after ‘matching,’ so my sense of professional anticipation has been high.  I suspect there are things in the life of this church where there has been an equal sense of holding back, of preparation.  And not just among those faithful people getting the manse in such a welcoming state!

Finally, it is time to begin: ‘Now is the time to break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord,’ says the prophet Hosea.  The context of Hosea’s call is the festival of Sukkoth, a celebration of Harvest and of the memory of Israel’s time in the wilderness.  For me, arriving here and beginning work does feel like a time of harvest, having waited and planned for so long to come.  But even with the focus on the good things at hand, the prophet reminds us to look to the future.  Now is the time for looking at ourselves, our surrounding community, and our church life to see where God is calling us forward. 

Where is our fallow ground?  What patches of unused, unseen resource have we among us, what talents and ideas, what hopes for the future?  What tiredness or anxiety?  This process is not about the scrutiny of inspection, but more like a child shaking wrapped gifts under a tree on Christmas morning – and we should approach it with equal joy, and gentleness. 

Make no mistake, breaking up ‘fallow’ ground is hard work, as anyone who has cleared a disused allotment will know.  It is especially hard as there are not immediate outcomes, but only the promise of coming years’ harvest.  It requires we hold our nerve when backs begin to ache and hands blister.  But God’s promise is sure: the rain of steadfast love and righteousness will come. 

I look forward to this first season with you immensely. 

A bit more about me: 

I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1971, and my parents still live outside Boston in the US.  My younger brother Andrew lives adjacent to the beach in southern California, with his wife Alison and their daughter Clementine.  My parents are active members of a congregational church in the United Church of Christ, in which denomination I was brought up; I became a member of the Episcopal Church during University in Charlottesville, Virginia, and came to the UK for a teaching job in 1993.  During the time I was married (to a British fellow) I finished doctoral studies in politics, for which I studied the development of religious liberty in the ideas of Roger Williams, a mad but loveable sometime-Baptist who founded the colony that would become Rhode Island.  I also joined the Methodist Church in Leicester, where I was working at the university.  I still keep a hobby in 17^th century ideas, though they are not as central now as they were when I was lecturing.  Many will find this a relief!

I trained for the ministry at the Queens Foundation at the University of Birmingham, writing and MPhil in theology that concerned more contemporary issues of urban church life in the UK.  I do occasional research and teaching outside of Circuit to enrich my pastoral role, and I’ll be coordinating teaching and discipleship in the Circuit from September as well. I was stationed in the Kettering and Corby Circuit (Northamptonshire) in September 2005, and ordained in 2007.  For the second year I will travel this January to lecture with the Cliff College International Learning Centre, teaching ministers and Bishops in the Methodist Church Nigeria.  Aside from that, I have a long time affiliation with the Nigeria Health Care Project and the Uzuakoli Support Group, two UK charities that support work in Nigeria. 

Most importantly, I am engaged to the Revd Dr Keith Riglin, who works in the parish of St Clement and St James Norlands: I will look forward to introducing him to you, and he has offered some evening services to our Superintendent so you may meet him in worship as well.  He has two grown daughters, Lucy and Anna, in University and on a GAP year respectively.