One of the features of the Church’s Year which I try to avoid having
after Easter is the Annual Parochial Church Meeting - and with it what used to
be called the Easter Vestry. They’re both very necessary - the APCM to look
back over our last 12 months and forward as we elect members of the Parochial
Church Council and Deanery Synod representatives; the Annual Vestry (as we name
it now) for the election of those critically essential people, the Church
Wardens. We’re well served by all - thanks to all who have served during the
last year and for those who will move us forward in the months to come. It’s
not the meeting itself that causes me the problem when it falls after Easter -
it’s all the paperwork, which can sap the energy even when it’s done
electronically!
But it’s all done! Except there’s always more to be done… St. Paul
wisely wrote that some disciples had the “gift of administration.” Such people
are to be treasured along with those who exhibit pastoral skills, who can
preach, sing, lead worship and evangelise. The problem is nearly everyone
(certainly of who are ordained) seems expected to have it these days.
So reading the Acts of the
Apostles as we do in the days and weeks after Easter is always a corrective
for Christians in general and clergy in particular who feel that they are
losing their way in discipleship and mission. It shows the early days of the
Church. Without the physical presence of Jesus which they’d previously relied
on, how were the first Christians to move forwards? There are instances of
courageous preaching, effective evangelism, miraculous healings and astonishing
conversions. But also the need for planning; for plotting a course - sometimes
in the midst of disagreement; for people who would take on the care of others
and folks who would just do their best to keep everybody together. And all of
it undergirded by prayer - knowing Jesus’ promise to be with his people to the
end of time, strengthened and guided as we are by the Holy Spirit.
The Acts of the Apostles is a rather neglected book - find it straight
after the Gospels. And ask - what is it saying to you?
Martin
Jackson
