Saturday

For the first time in weeks, I finished my Sunday sermon during the week and printed all the service sheets o­n Friday. This means that I can get o­n with some of the paper-work that needs to be done today.

On o­ne recent week I realised at the 8 am Sunday service that I had written a sermon o­n the wrong bible readings for the day and had to spend the hour between the services rewriting it completely.

I know that people are often surprised that clergy have so much paper-work. This came out o­n the Seaside Parish programme that has started running o­n a Friday evening, following the life of a new vicar in a group of Cornwall churches.  Last week's programme showed people (even a Churchwarden, who ought to have known better) moaning that the new vicar might bring some changes. There was then a sequence showing the new vicar going from church to church o­n a Sunday morning – in o­ne place o­ne person turned up and in another no-one came. If it is as low as that, then I think that just about any change is allowed.