It’s Friday – the one day in my diary with no meetings! Most of the clergy are off today, and I’m working from home – free from the noise, buzz and people that fill the church office every other day. I’ve had a mad week and there’s still a long list of tasks to be done before Saturday brings a well-earned rest. First on the list is the UCAN newsletter article. It’s now 11:40 and I’m only just getting going. Being at home doesn’t shield me from interruptions! So far this morning, the emails have been pinging, my phone has been ringing and Microsoft Teams has been doing what only Microsoft Teams can do. Not only that but being at home means washing to hang up … and cats demanding cuddles. So much for a quiet day! Click here to read this full article

What does the circus, an orchestra and the secret service have in common? Or to put it another way, how would you describe the role of a church administrator? Intrigued… then click here to read on.

“I’ll meet you at the end of the tunnel. Just keep heading towards the light and I’ll wait for you there”.

Words of encouragement from my teenage son as he sped off and left me at the mouth of a long and very dark tunnel. I’d already endured the many ‘family jokes’ as I had tentatively mounted a bike for the first time in almost 4 decades a few minutes earlier. “Do you need stabilisers Mum?” “Shall we run alongside you and catch you as you fall off?” I’d put on a fairly convincing show so far and they thought that I had conquered it, and I’d be fine if they went on ahead.

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Find out more about our newly launched HR Support Service

How do you speak to yourself in January? Have you ever thought about it? Following the excitement, busyness and disruption of Christmas, and then the post-festive lull it can take time and effort to once again motivate ourselves for the next season. I’m writing this opener in the first week of January. By this date, are you already raring to go for the spring term or still wanting to crawl back under the duvet for further hibernation? To be honest, I’m somewhere in between, but probably close to the latter.

Looking ahead towards the end of the year, there is one inevitable feature of the festive season that I’d rather avoid, but it is coming my way like a unstoppable freight train. It’s the Christmas cracker. Now you may choose to cause me Ebenezer Scrooge but out of all the seasonal traditions, I’ve never understood the cracker. Pulling them isn’t ‘fun’, there’s nothing worthwhile inside and the paper crowns are just annoying.

You may have heard the exciting news that we now have a new board member, Mark Parsons from Christ Church in Bristol. We are very happy that he is joining the team and we wanted to make sure that we were able to introduce him to you all properly so, we interviewed him. Take a look at the interview here.