WHAT a week it has been! For the first and probably only time in my ministry, I have been released from normal duties for a while in order to carry out research into what is happening across the country in the name of “Mission-Shaped Church”, after a report of the same name published in 2004.

I have been meeting some very committed and energetic colleagues involved in the so-called “mixed economy” of traditional and new ways of being church, in a wide variety of settings — a beautiful medieval cathedral in Somerset; an office at the centre of political power in London; a huge shopping complex in Bristol; a theological college in Wiltshire; a diocesan office in Essex and lots more.

It’s enough to make you dizzy. Last Saturday afternoon, I was at a tea and bazaar in the village hall of my home parish of Whitchurch, laid on by members of our two local churches, which raised money (more than £1,100 and counting) to help the victims of the recent disaster in Haiti. On Sunday morning, I was at an informal “Good News” service in the beautiful little jewel of a parish church in South Stoke. That same afternoon, I looked in at the Deton8! all-age service at St Tom’s in Goring.

On Monday, I went to the launch of the Oxford Street Pastors at Oxford Town Hall, the latest team to join 3,500 Christian volunteers in 125 towns across the country, going out on Friday and Saturday nights, with flip-flops (for girls who have kicked off their high heels), lollipops (to raise blood sugar) and water (for dehydration) for weekend revellers, and good humour to help calm things down and make sure those who are the worse for wear get safely into a taxi or bus home. On Tuesday, I joined a group of Christian business owners in Wantage, talking very openly about each other’s business issues and problems, and finding ways to meet these challenges while sticking to shared values and beliefs about fair dealing, honesty, and respect for others.

On Thursday I was in Cambridge meeting the county ecumenical officer and the director of the workplace chaplaincy, to find out how churches are working together within the local community to tackle the social and economic issues of the day.

And today, Friday, there will be special meetings and services all over Henley and district for the Women’s World Day of Prayer — but I shall be away at a national conference on Lincoln Showground, called “Changing The Landscape”, where keynote speakers including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the General Secretary of the Methodist Church will focus on “reaching those who are normally well off the churches’ radar.”

So if you thought Lent was only about taking the flowers away from church, not saying “Alleluia!” and giving up chocolate for 40 days, think again. Lent comes from an old Germanic word for Spring, and the Lenten tradition of restraint and discipline is just a time of preparation for the bursting forth of new life at Easter. But if the past week is anything to go by, it’s busting out all over, already!

Rev Dr Peter Steddon

Team Missioner, Langtree Team Ministry