It might not come as a surprise to you, but I'm an extrovert. It is, therefore, always a pleasure for me to see my calendar full of meetings and people, and for much of the past few weeks this is how my calendar has looked. One highlight was meeting up with SCM Friend and Council of Reference member Ann for our regular coffee catch ups. I find it incredibly helpful to steal her wisdom as I share my thoughts and plans.
It was also a privilege to attend the Welcome Service for Rev Raj Patta, an SCM member, as he starts his ministry in the Stockport Methodist Circuit.
Mondays are often full of meetings, and the last two Mondays have had different city focuses. On the 30th October PJ, our SCM Contact for Liverpool, joined me in Manchester for a morning of dreaming about Liverpool and writing in pretty colours on flipchart paper. Last Monday I was at the St Peter's House team meeting discussing everything from the SPH building users to death cafe, prayers to honey (more specifically, whether the honey from the SPH bees will be ready for wellbeing week). My time in Manchester also includes the Wednesday lunchtime Coracle gathering. Coracle describes itself as an 'emerging faith community' and includes a shared meal, worship and often communion.
I've also had some time in Birmingham, and spending time with colleagues is always a joy. It was great to meet Rob Chivers, the new SCM Connect Project Worker, and start to explore how we work together particularly with 3Generate coming up soon. I was also in Birmingham for the SCM Strategy away day, as members of General Council and Council of Reference met together with the staff team to find the way forward and the next steps for SCM - exciting times lie ahead!
After all that you'll be glad to know I've got a long weekend off! See you on the other side.
Rach
October final transport count - Trains 67, Taxi rides 2, Tram journeys 12, Bus trips 2.
November so far - trains 23, Taxi 1, tram 1, Bus 1.
Total trains since 1st September 2016 - 810.