Touring …..

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Today we were let out of the college for a bit, though first we met up in our formational groups, which are groups to spend a bit more time with – the only college duty that we have to organise is chapel – the other college duty called ‘dishing’ is done on a different college roster (rota). I seem to have been volunteered for making sure our chapel rota is sorted out – I had no excuse to say no, though it will be a bit easier than the Cuddesdon worship rota I hope.

Our tour started at the Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery a beautiful monastery – an Anglican Benedictine house, the buildings used to be run by the Sisters of CR which are in the main part of Grahamstown. I shall be able to say more about the monastery and provide more pictures as I shall be on retreat there in a few weeks.

We then visited the 1820 Settlers Monument opened in the 1970s to commemorate the legacy of English in South Africa – some pictures will be coming soon… I was struck by the words around the fountain which were “That all may have life and live abundantly” which seemed to jar with the buildings that people in the townships are living in, we went to one of the townships to visit St Augustine the Parish Church, inside the church it is a bit surreal as it looks and feels like a 1960s English Parish Church yet is surrounded by razor wire. Pictures are coming to prove it

In the afternoon we were paired up with a returning student to go for a walk in Grahamstown, unfortunately my student was ill so I joined another pair. We went to the Cathedral, which in terms of size it is similar to Truro, but I could be wrong, but walking into it you would think you are back in England. It will be interesting to see how the space is used for worship.

I must dash as some of us a watching aptly Madagascar Escape 2 Africa :-)

 

 

 

Another quietish day

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Today we had our photos taken for Who’s Who – the internal college guide – the photographer kindly stood on a chair for me, much to the amusement of all around :-) We were introduction to Altar Prep which to be honest went on a bit too long and would have benefited from having a simple handout to explain things, but now I am nearly inducted into the mysteries of chapel duty here. Though one thing I think is a really good idea that CoTT have is the bell is a call to prayer for the whole community, not just CoTT, so bell practice has to be announced so not to confuse the community.

I sat down with the Dean of Studies to go through what lectures I will be going to. I will be attending Christianity in Africa, Mission and Parish Placements – so that I can deepen an understanding of theology here. Also I will be dropping into Gender and Theology and Biblical interpretation when I can. I also finally caught up with the Rector (what they call the Principal here) for a chat about what I hoped to get out of my time here which was good, he encouraged me to go to some of the historical sites of Grahamstown, which I will aim to do on my Saturdays. I am afraid to say that I did look at some of my outstanding essays which I need to complete in the next week to give me time to do the rest of the work, we shall see.

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of Grahamstown so time for taking pictures…..

A unexpectedly quiet day

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Today the original plan was to go to register at Rhodes University Library, but as they have an influx of freshers we couldn’t go. So went and got an International Phone Card – or as it turns out a piece of paper with a few numbers on it and the nice surprise that a R50 (Approx £4.10) costs R48.95 – I shall see how long that lasts. Also the planned afternoon activity was cancelled so free time to just be and to talk until evening prayer, the free time was an unexpected pleasure. I have joined the choir and it seems that this year choir masters are short of basses, so I am groping around somewhere at the bottom of my register. The sound that was being produced by the choir was very good considering some have never sung in a choir and the majority don’t have English as a first language.

Just before I potter off and try and work out what has happened at General Synod today back in England, I have uploaded some pictures for those who are not on Facebook. There will be more coming… but for now

The view from my room

With the Archbishop, ordinands chairman and the Rector

Home for a couple of months

Ramblings about today

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Today was a day that reminded me that you cannot have an Anglican Theological College that does not have groups and rotas. I am in Group A and we are on chapel duty next week. So I have been duly signed up for things to do. I think I know what I will be doing but the subtle differences in the wording is catching me out.

We were introduced to the academic tracks on offer at CoTT, currently there are 2 streams a Diploma and an Advanced Cert. in Theology, I shall be attending some of the lectures that go towards these awards. I am also going to going round as many parish churches in the area to experience the liturgy, to help me with my portfolio on Inculturation and Liturgy.

I now seem to have become the official IT support person in the college which was something unexpected. Talking about IT, the facebook access is likely to be blocked, though I will be asking if I can get around the block, it is quite easy to do.

Day 2 and 3 – otherwise known as the start of the term

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College started the year yesterday with a Eucharist, bells, smells and an Archbishop. It was truly a joyous occasion, I felt at home, even if I didn’t understand the words of the Mass setting – I knew what was going on because of the structure of the service – vaguely :-) After lunch I was taken out on a short walk around Grahamstown and viewing the various sights, the cathedral, Rhodes university. I didn’t take any pictures but was treated to some welcomed ice-cream.

The nose unfortunately leaked a bit more and caused some concern which I managed to allay. Evening Prayer was said, dinner then bed.

Today (Feb 6th) was the start of induction, as I said to Brent (president of the ordinand body) it was strange being back on the recieving side after the past two years of induction at Cuddesdon. The day starts with corporate meditation at 6:45, leading to morning prayer and the Eucharist.

After breakfast we had the ice-breaker games – some new ones that I will remember to use in later life. One of the sessions was a talk from an outside speaker, which I will write about later when I have reflected on the words, also I will reflect later on the principals address which we had in the afternoon

We are being encouraged this week to go to all the optional services (midday prayer and compline) which I shall. But the interesting observation so far about the acts of worship, is that it is so English, we have used Hymns Ancient and Modern at every service. This seems strange for such a diverse community when it comes to languages. That being said, the Principal did say the staff were looking at how to use the different languages without them excluding people – it will be interesting to see how things develop.

I haven’t yet worked out how to get my camera to talk to the computers, but I have an idea.. watch this space

 

Blood, sweat but thankfully no tears

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With a stinking head cold I set off for my travels, Pickles kindly gave a lift to Heathrow. The journey had begun, to be honest there was some trepidation as this was the first time I had travelled abroad by myself. things did not start out well with me nearly being defeated by the self check-in machines for Virgin, I swear the video showed the passport being put in one way, but it wanted it in the other. Bags weighed and checked in, cleared security quickly, went through duty free even quicker and got a snack and a drink and sat down. To save those who are squeamish I won’t go into details but I had a nose bleed after i had bought some Murray mints – I don’t believe the two are related. A very nice lady gave me some tissues and the flow was stemmed. Not much happened on the flight to SA – I watched Jonny English Reborn – if you haven’t seen it don’t bother – the food was good, but the excitement and the head cold meant that I didn’t really sleep, even though I had the blanket and face-mask on. The plane arrived at Jo’burg 10 and a bit hours after we had left Heathrow. the next challenge was immigrations, after what seemed an age I got the 90 days permit stamp and went to claim my luggage, the carousel was not correctly marked up, but fortunately the Virgin Atlantic Staff were standing near to one and looking at the tags I saw that it was for my flight. So bag in tow it was to recheck in, at this point I experienced SA hospitality, I was taken by a porter, who checked me in, took me to the correct desk to get my luggage sorted out and for me to get a boarding pass. The orange clothed porters were introduced when SA hosted the Football World Cup, I am lead to believe, I am just glad that they have kept them. Whilst waiting for my next flight, getting online defeated me and I discovered that my phone doesn’t have roaming turned on – apologies if you have sent me a text – I probably will get them in 2 months time :-) I hoping to get a SA Sim card soon. after some food I went to see where the gate was and to find a loo – cue next nose bleed. That was stemmed in time for boarding the next flight to Port Elizabeth which was an uneventful flight, I was starting to get rather warm. I found the shuttle service that took me to Grahamstown – what I saw of the scenery, I kept dozzing off, was stunning. So I have safely arrived at the College of The Transfiguration (CoTT) met old friends and met some new faces, so many names to remember. the room I have is larger than my one at Cuddesdon and that is not because I didn’t bring all my books. Though I have acquired the six chapel books, once I start using them I blog about them. That is probably a random list that has come out, but it will have to do.

Just to note I don’t have full access to the Internet at the moment, am borrowing a 3G modem so won’t be uploading any pictures yet.

Less than a month to go

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The plane tickets have been bought, the jabs have been jabbed. This time next month I shall be in South Africa waiting for a connecting flight to Port Elizabeth, before getting a lift to Grahamstown. What will I be doing in South Africa? Well, I will be at the College of the Transfiguration until after Easter living in with the ordinands there. I am looking forward to the experience, I will have to do some some work, finishing essays I have started in addition to some work based on my time in South Africa. But the main aim for me is to experience life in South Africa for 2 months. This blog will be updated with my musings whilst out there.

Leaving IT behind

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by the end of this month I shall have made up my mind (I have pretty much have done) where I will be going to college to train to becoome a vicar within the Church of England.

This means that I will be leaving the world of IT behind for good, professionally that is. What have I learned from my time in IT.

  • Working in small or big firms, it’s the people that matter
  • Things are getting faster and more complex and end users want faster, simpler and with more functionality
  • The web has become the lifeblood of most businesses
  • Agile methods are worthwhile :-)
  • Change happens, live with it
  • it has been a learning experience

So where to next…. whatever the college, it is three years of learning and formation….

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