Road Trip!

What goes on at Synod Day, stays at Synod Day...

Excerpt from The Secret Diary of Matt the Elder aged 34 ¾

Saturday 8 June 2013

Synod Day

0615: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze. Bitterly regret having 'one more for the road' at last nights Beer and Cider Festival.

0625: Hit snooze.

0635: Alarm goes off again. Forced out of bed by the Big Fella (OH) mumbling something about interrupting his weekend lie-in.

0700: Shower and dressed. First cup of tea of the day. Feeling slightly more human.

0715: Toast and peanut butter followed by a power smoothie. Feeling invincible!

0730: Stomp around upstairs hoping the Big Fella will cave in and give me a lift to City Church. Running v late.

0738: Plan worked! In car and on my way to get the bus.

0741: Aaaaghhhh! Forgot my sandwiches! Too late to turn back.  

0749: Stuck in traffic! Panic sets in... they'll go without me! I'll never make it to Synod Day.

0753: Hit several sets of red lights. The day is turning into a disaster. Convinced I'll miss the bus.

0755: God hears my prayers and lights turn green. Whoo - hoo! Road trip is on!

0801: Arrive at the meeting point one minute late. Spot the City Church crew. Minister is wearing a very fetching canary yellow t-shirt. Both of us are dressed in shorts and summer gear and looking more like we're off to Torremolinos than to the Royal Welsh Showground. No sign of the bus.

0807: Bus still hasn't arrived. Is it too early to open the flask of tea?

0810: And we're off! Bus arrives and everyone piles in. Last one to the back is a rotten egg!

0820: Ate banana and drank half the tea.

0845: Polished off tea, cereal bar and apple. One banana left.

0858: Ate banana.

Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells

1010: Woke up to find we have arrived at Builth Wells. Wondered why there are so many more people on the bus than when we started at Cardiff. Apparently we stopped in two places along the way. Must have dozed off!

1020: Hand over £5 in return for a wrist band and programme. Sign up for two workshops; one on digital storytelling and another on social media. How very "Church 2.0".

1035: Cup of tea with the South Wales URC members. Regale all with tales from last nights Beer and Cider Festival. Minister's wife tells us that she didn't go last year as she had to pick Adrian up. I jokingly ask whether she meant 'off the floor?" *snigger*

1055: Five minutes until opening worship and it occurs to me that apart from junior church I may very well be the youngest one here! 

1058: Scramble to the main hall starts! Lots of jostling and elbowing to get the best seats. Decide to follow the Minister and his wife. They've been before and know the best way to bag a decent seat. 

1100: Opening Worship kicks off with a couple of jaunty Christian rock tunes. Puts me in mind of Eric Cartman's Faith +1 band... (NSFC*)

Christian rock... Eric Cartman style.

1115: First icebreaker and an opportunity to bond with those around you. We all have one piece of jigsaw and work together to put the jigsaw together and make a body! Because we are all of one body... the body of Christ. Geddit?! I love group activities. I also like to win. 

1117: Competition is rife and we struggle to find the missing piece of the jigsaw. I send someone from my team out to scour for the missing right arm. They return with claims that they found the missing jigsaw piece. This person had one job...

I'm not convinced my team understood the rules...

1125: More songs. A member of City Church gets up to do a reading. How lovely that a member of our church was asked. 

1130: Ice breaker No. 2. Hidden around the room are socks and we have to go and find them. Me and the Minister's Wife get a little too competitive and leap across the chairs like a pair of gazelles! We are determined to win! 

1145: All socks found. Minister's wife returns looking dishevelled and teary after crawling under displays and climbing across tables in a desperate attempt to find a sock. We return empty handed and defeated. I'm suspicious that the only people to find said socks are members of junior church. I question the Christian ethics of insider information.

1150: Next up is the keynote address by Rev. Dr. Michael Jaggessar, Moderator of URC General Assembly. I grab my notepad and pen. I take my blogging responsibilities quite seriously.

1210: Rousing address by Dr Jaggessar. He challenges us to model our lives on a generous God. Being there for one another is the essence of church community. It is challenging. It takes us out of our comfort zone. But isn't that what Jesus asks of us? Yes indeed, Dr J! A thoroughly inspiring address and a wonderful call to action! I'm all fired up!

1215: Lunch break! Perfect time to refuel and reflect on a wonderful morning!

What happened after lunch? Stay tuned for Road Trip part 2...

(* NSFC - Not Safe for Church)