Chester and Stoke-on-Trent ~ with thanks!

Hello again! The thanks are to Eunice who has already given you considerable insight into our visit. And to John for his excellent photos.

It will not surprise those of you who know me, or have been following this, that Saturday for me meant leading a Quiet Day. We reflected on pilgrimage and choices - and I was as grateful for the space as others seemed to be!

A great combination of prayer possibilities (If you haven't seen the Vice President's post, the first picture is the Beacon)

Sunday's worship, and conversation about the world context, was a joy and a delight - though a very full day. It was good to spend time with such a range of Methodist people - and various others! - with the combined focus on God and God's world. We prayed and reflected and considered our responsibilities in the light of God's love.

And we celebrated together 50 years of preaching and leading worship

Monday was my rural day. A combination of Cattle Market ~ which includes a wide range of animals and other products for those of you who have never been ~ a farm cafe lunch (which was excellent!) farm visits and conversation with many of the folk involved in Farm Chaplaincy work and support for farmers and farm workers. It was both informative and inspiring.

And then Tuesday gave me the opportunity to share face to face with a group on ministers, when we talked about spiritual growth, prayer accompanying, the importance of learning to say no at appropriate times, and Ignation Spirituality.

I still regret that in having to move on from one task to another, my reflection days become catch-up days and the blog is both later than I would like and more of a travelogue than a reflective place! But then it is not possible for either the Vice-President or myself to put all our reflections in the public domain!

Next stop is Beds, Essex, Herts!