First of all thanks to Fat Prophet for your interest. I see from your blog you are having trouble commenting. To get back to my assessed service. Criticism albeit constructive is harder for some to take than others. I felt a little crushed after my assessed service but then remembered I had recorded it on my dictaphone. I listened to it all through and although my assessors were quite right about me speaking a little quickly and rushing from item to item, I was actually very pleased with the content of my sermon and how I presented it. So I have decided to take heart. I highly recommend other trainees to record your services. You can hear your good points and your bad and there is no argument about it, it is all caught on the recorder.
I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event. In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself. In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates. Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting. We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteHopefully I will be able to post this comment.
I do worry about the terminology that we use in the case our trainee local preachers and I really do think there could be a better name than 'on trial'!
I had read your previous post about the service and made some comment but was unable to post so here goes again.
I note you said you were running out of time and I am never sure how we can be running out of time as contrary to public opinion there is no set length a service should be. Our rule book (CPD) says nothing at all on the subject and this one hour that seems to have slipped into use is just something I believe has come through custom and practice. I take absolutely no notice of a one hour slot and will sometimes be shorter (50 mins on one occasion) or longer more often than not. I watch the congregation and if I think they are drifting then I will round it all off - but that comes with experience. I was concerned that you had felt the need to remove an element from the service as I believe that can alter the fluidity of the whole thing.
I think the important thing in your training is to sort the wheat from the chaff, take on board the comments that are helpful and ignore the rest. Remember too that any assessment has a degree of subjectivity about it - if the person assessing is a traditionalist and you choose all modern hymns you may come in for some criticism because they don't like modern hymns.
I remember once being taken to task by my assessors because I had not used a particular hymn (two were on the road to Emmaus)and they had the cheek to challenge my choice of hymns - I did tell them I had not chosen it because I did not know it and felt I could not lead worship singing a hymn that was totally unknown to me - I very nearly packed it all in!
In closing because I have just realised it's time for work, I offer some advice I once heard given by Clive Calver, who at the time was the head of Youth for Christ, and he said that you have to be yourself as that is who God made you!
Keep up the good work and I look forward to many more posts about your progress etc.
Thanks FP this is a really helpful comment. I think I have learnt a lot from the experience and from you. Also I have since spoken to a member of the congregation whose husband is a local preacher and she gave me some very positive feed back, which was encouraging. I think I do need to go with my gut feeling more and stop trying to follow the rules laid down or imagined. after all I do have a lifetime of experience of being in the congregation which must count for something.
ReplyDeletePart of me wants to be naughty and say that what the ocngregation think is far more important than the assesors views except of course it is their comments that go to LP meeting and that is of course where you are judged so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI will watch your progress and may well offer further comment as appropriate.
I have seen the final report for this service and it is fine. My tutor let me see his first impressions and they were a bit picky, but the final report is OK. I guess I'm a bit over-sensitive too.Thanks for your support. I've just completed units 4,5 and 6 so I guess I'm on your territory now.
ReplyDeleteYou are and the strange thing is I found section B to be my least favourite part of Faith and Worship, especially unit 7 and when I volunteered to become a connexional assessor this is the section that I was given to assess. Some people tell me God doesn't have a sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteLiz, don't be discouraged. We have all been through it, especially the rather unpleasant niggles.
ReplyDeleteTwo observations: from my experience they are harder on people who take an Evangleical or Charismatic stance.
Just one last point. My chidlren decamped to another Church, a lovely group of people. But one has remarked that dispite all our faults, Methodism has a more solid base of lay preachers. Our system is envied by other denominations.
Secondly, I found that I emerged a better preacher for all the criticism however disturbed I was by the source and
Oh dear, that comment did not appear as written!
ReplyDeleteThanks David I've recovered now and my sense of calling is strong and will keep me going.
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