Dear Friends,
Being brought up in the Manse brings with it many advantages as well as some disadvantages. One of the disadvantages was that my father was always out, at meetings or visiting. As a curious child I would often ask him where he had been, who he had been with, but he would never say. If I probed further, he would tell me that he could not say because he knew enough about some people to hang them! Whilst I’m sure that was not strictly true, it does underline what we might call, the need for ‘the secrets of the confessional’. Some things just have to remain private.
But other things, usually involving the running of the church, do need to be shared. We do our best to share what needs to be shared through the pew sheet and the magazine and through speaking to each other. But still people complain that they did not know. Quite often people tell me they hadn’t known things that had been printed in the magazine and the pew sheet. It is so important that we respect what needs to be private and at the same time share what needs to be known and are sensitive enough to know the difference.
Good communication is the key to a good harmonious fellowship. There are now legal guidelines for all of this, but the real secret is for all of us to share what needs to be shared, and to keep to ourselves what we know should be private.
With love and blessings,
Marion
Categories: Minister's Blog