Dear John,
I certainly wasn’t given any instructions about what to leave – it would be
useful if there was a standard small list. When I moved from my first
appointment last summer I was fortunate enough to be physically near enough to
meet both my successor and the minister I was succeeding and we could swap
information as requested.
In my first appointment the previous URC minister had left 10 months before I
arrived, the house was cleared and decorated in order to rent out, which didn’t
happen in the end – there was literally no paperwork or information left
behind. Actually it was really liberating – pastoral lists were easy to get
hold of and CC Secretaries gave information when necessary and in many ways it
was actually good to not know what had gone before because I came in fresh with
no assumptions.
God bless
Wendy <><
From: methmins-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <methmins-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of John Barnett (Redacted sender "jpbarnett" for DMARC)
Sent: 02 August 2021 08:40
To: methmins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [methmins] Re: What have you found in a Manse?
Along with lists of members and suggestions for priority visits I used to leave
a complete set of maps of all the places covered by the churches in my pastoral
charge, showing hard to find locations like members' farms. I would also leave
ecumenical contact details, like Churches Together and fraternals, and other
hopefully useful bits of information like hospital visiting hours.
It would be handy if Methodism were to publish guidelines on information to be
passed on when a minister leaves; it can make such a difference to the incoming
one. Perhaps it does now, but I can't remember receiving any kind of "official"
instructions or suggestions in the past.
John Barnett
On 01 August 2021 at 10:58 raygarfoot <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
Can anyone beat dog poo all over the garden and a flea infested living room
carpet? That was in the olden days of 1985, but in 1999 our front bedroom
smelt of dog wee for ages. And yet in a couple of my manses there were no
pastoral records with lists of members to be seen.
Raymond Garfoot.
