Yesterday I attended the final day of my Working For a Charity Course in London. I recommend it! (My placement with Send a Cow will continue through the Summer.)
My purpose in doing the course was to gain, or regain, an overview of how the charity sector works, and the course has exceeded my expectations. This has happened not just through the content of the course, and enjoying the many different presenters, but also through enjoying the company of the other fellow travellers (the other eleven course members) and Elaine and Catherine who organised it so well.
It has been great to watch course members grow in understanding, skill, and confidence during the course; and I hope that we shall keep in touch.
As well as learning new facts about the charity sector, it has been good to realise how skills gained in previous voluntary and paid work will transfer into work in the wider charity sector. It has also reminded me of skills that I have that I tend to take for granted - for example in marketing, communications, presenting, and coaching.
Today I started work for Send a Cow in Bath. They are an interesting charity developing sustainable farming in Africa, and originally started by farmers from this area. I shall be doing some consultancy work for them, to look at the effectiveness of their fundraising to churches, and it got off to a good start today.
This is a voluntary placement for about 20 days or so spread over the next few months, tied to the Working For a Charity Course.
Take a look also at their fun Cowforce web site, with games and downloads, aimed at schools and children! The jokes are entertaining too.
The charity has diversified from its original work of (literally) sending cows to Africa to work more widely in sustainable agriculture and community development. Livestock, and initiatives such as keyhole gardens and economical clay stoves, help to support and build communites - whether extended families or those orphaned by HIV/AIDS. I like a quote in the Summer 2007 issue of Send a Cow's "Lifeline" newsletter, from an African Farmer: Without peace and love in the home, even meat is bitter!
Just been reading through friends' blogs. I have long understood that much of the way that we respond to any change comes back to the grief process (shock, numbness, guilt, blame, anger, depression (and so on, not in order) through to some kind of "integration" - that is a new understanding of what is going on). This often takes several years. This understanding was developed by Dr Colin Murray Parkes in the 1970's.
So this entry by Mark Berry, about the application of all of this to change in organisations - and "chaos in religious life" in particular - is fascinating.
Gerald Arbuckles "From Chaos to Mission - Refounding Religious Life Formation" (1996)
One of the things that I don't like about job-hunting is uncertainty, so I felt chastened by a conversation between John and Mother Teresa.
John has been on a three month pilgrimage to Calcutta to meet MT and to get clarity. He asks her to pray for this.
MT: "No! I will not do that. Clarity is the last thing that you are clinging to and you must let go of it."
John replies that she always seems so clear about what she should do.
MT: "Oh, I have never had any clarity whatsoever. What I have is trust. So I will pray that you trust Jesus."
This conversation, between "renowned ethicist" John Cavanagh and Mother Teresa was referred to in a talk by Peter Grieg of 24/7 Prayer delivered at an Alpha event at Holy Trinity Brompton Church. It was printed in Focus, an enclosure in the latest issue of the Church of England Newspaper.
I've enjoyed the last weekend helping to run a Cursillo Weekend locally - leadership development for Christians. Lots of participants, and we had lots of laughter as well as the joy of seeing people grow in their relationship with God.
Very moving, so won't say enjoyable. This is Riding Light's drama of the abolition of slavery, featuring Olaudah Equiano and John Newton. It brought home to me the conditions of slavery (more than the film Amazing Grace did, which I enjoyed), and made me continue to think about the way that slavery continues today in various guises. Bristol and Liverpool were compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. The play was all the more effective because all the actors were black, playing English and African characters, except one.
Most of all it struck me that the very fact for Olaudah of learning English, and the Biblical words justice and righteousness, started a process of examining how well they were (not) applied in the society of his day. The Bible is a subversive document.
A Snow is a particular kind of ship which was used for carrying slaves. The play was partly sponsored by CMS.
I spent today in these gorgeous surroundings enjoying a day of quiet. I have been doing a lot of networking lately, so amongst other things, it was an opportunity to reflect on what I have been Discovering.
I was impressed by John Wraw, Archdeacon of Salisbury, who led the short afternoon meditation. Although a senior leader in the church he came across very much as a pastor. Sometimes who we are says more than the words we speak.
I found myself remembering today that William Wilberforce committed his life to two objects: "the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners." Manners in his language may translate better as moral values today.
This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade (although there is still work to be done). What about the second object?
I feel a call to this. In Britain today people moan about bad behaviour, such as "road rage" and "binge drinking" while at the same time struggling to reinvent values to improve British society. I don't see that we need to reinvent values: the core Christian values, that we once inherited and developed, seem to appeal to all "people of goodwill" regardless of what religion they claim. What is sometimes called the Golden Rule summarises part of this, the way that people should relate to one another: "do to others as you would like them to do to you."
It seems to me that when we note what is good manners, or bad manners, we are well in touch with our own values and the values that our society aspires to. So it would be a good way forward to share Wilberforce's second object as well as his first: the Reformation of Manners.
This is not a crusade to change others: like all good leadership it needs to start with "me" and the example that "I" set. Let's go for it!
