Swanning Around

Every two years the denomination whom I am a minister in (The Salvation Army) hold a conference for the 1,400+ people in "full-time" ministry. While my wife and I work as partners in ministry only one of us could attend because of our young children. I drew the short straw...and had to go.

My dad was also attending so I took the opportunity to fly over to Bournemouth and drive with him up to the conference centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. I enjoyed the drive for a couple of reason. First, because I am rarely the passenger in long car journeys so I was able to sleep a little. Second, it was a nice opportunity to learn a little family history - particularly my dad's childhood.

We took a break on the way up and stoped at a motorway service area to get a cup of coffee. As we walked in, who should be walking out but my brother-in-law also on his way to the conference! (Are you sensing a family business?)

I won't bore you with the details of what I thought was a disappointing conference. I don't tend to use this blog to evaluate particular areas of ministry within The Salvation Army - if you're interested in people who do you might find some here. Suffice to say, for me the best part was skipping out of an evening session to go out for coffee (and treacle pudding) with my dad and brother-in-law where we spent a couple of hours evaluating particular areas of Salvation Army ministry.