Hi and happy Sunday! What a week it’s been.

Update on the 6 week lurgy: it’s still going! But it seems to be worse at night than in the day, which means I can still get lots done.

The major thing for me this week was the funeral I took on Tuesday. It was of a long standing parishioner who was very involved in church life, the wife of our lay reader, treasurer and Parish Rep (amongst other things).

We couldn’t actually hold the service at ASSF because we feared we wouldn’t be able to fit everybody in. We weren’t wrong. There were well over 350 people in attendance and the absolute maximum at our church is 180. It was, without a doubt, my biggest funeral to date, and it was such an honour. All funerals are a privilege, but I was so honoured to be asked in this instance, especially because I’ve not been in post long and the family knows many excellent people who could have done it.

In a weird way, this funeral was the highlight of my week. It was sad, it was tough, I was a bit nervous, but funeral ministry is a beautiful thing and I know I did my very best.

I am so grateful that people have taken the time to get in touch and tell me that they think I did a good job at the funeral. I’m not in ministry for compliments, of course, far from it. But I really don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’ve had more nice comments on my preaching and leading in the past 5 days than I had in the last two years put together. It makes a difference.

I’m also grateful to a local retired priest who offered to preach a couple of weeks ago, saw how tired I was, and told me that he’d take the whole service so I could rest today. Thank you.

God moment. It’s a long story, but yellow roses mean a lot to me. Yellow roses with gypsophila in particular. Among other things, they affirm my ministry, especially my funeral ministry, and make me have a bit of faith in myself. As I was walking through church to collect my robes for this huge funeral, I spotted a flower arrangement of yellow roses and gypsophila on the organ. It was like God had sent a reminder that said, ‘I’ve got you, it’s going to be fine’. And it was!

The challenge for me this week has been Anglican Twitter. In my peripheral vision, I’ve been aware of, as +Jill Duff said, a storm brewing. General Synod (the national church council) is next week and some big stuff is going to be debated, including Living In Love and Faith which is about gender, sexuality, relationships, etc. My Twitter feed is an ugly place right now, and it’s not comfortable.

In case anybody was in any doubt, my colours are nailed to the banner at the top of the page.

Anyway, my Ta-Dah Moment this week was getting my car cleaned.

Last week my Mum moment was Sophia offering me chocolate as I exercised. This week she gave me a sip of her water! Maybe she’ll be a PT or a motivational speaker?

We also had a lovely time out shopping yesterday and we decided to buy Sophia a new chair. She loves chairs, especially little ones she can sit on by herself! So here she is, checking them all out.

Sophia’s new words are: school, park and pear.

More next week.