Try, try and try again...

It is probably high time that I found a few moments to write something for the Ministry Team blog so here goes...

Having just returned from a week-long break in Egypt marvelling at the wonders of the ancient world, my head is spinning from the amount of information about the achievements of the Egyptians that our tour guide tried to impart.

One thing that does stick firmly in my mind is the persistence of the engineers who designed the pyramids as they tried get the formula correct that produced a perfect pyramid.

Standing on the plain at Gisa it is possible to see the early attempts and of course the final perfect creation of the Great Pyramid. I'm sure at the time there was much head scatching amongst the geometrists as they tried to discover the perfect angle at which to pitch the pyramid in order that it would not collapse under the weight of the giant stones lifted one on top of the other.

When one thinks that these great engineering feets were undertaken many centuries ago one has to wonder at the craftsmen's skill or was it simply the realisation of a dream with a good helping of luck?

In church life, as probably in all life, we spend probably spend much time head scratching trying to decide the best way to achieve our own aims and dreams. At Bloomsbury we have for sometime been working hard at finding the formula to find ways of being better engaged with the community. Like the Ancient Egyptians we have experimented with different ideas and spent time in groups discussing what we hope we might achieve.

By chance, certainly not by design, we have been invited to start conversations with friends at St George's Parish Church (Bloomsbury) and St Anselm & St Cecilia RC Church (Kingsway) and a group of representatives from all three churches have met to start a process of getting to know one another better. Ruth and the priest's from the other churches are meeting soon to look at possible ways in which we might share and collaborate on events and activities.

These early discussions are exciting as they clearly come out of a desire from each community to share together and be seen to be in dialogue with each other.

As I reflect again on the persistence of the Ancient Egyptians and the results they achieved which have stood the test of time I wonder whether our own persistence may be rewarded with results that will last as long. Perry Butler - Rector of St George's - remarked at our recent gathering that the greatest potential for church unity comes from co-operation and collaboration at the grass roots. As we embark on this very local initiative let us keep trying together to make something that will stand the test of time, something which others might marvel at like a pyramid.