Before falling ill this week I had a fabulous time at another church's "Holiday at Home" for those of the Third Age. There was a great turnout, lots of new faces, and a huge variety of things for people to try. We came back buzzing with good ideas to try ourselves.
But... there is one thing we won't be copying - as indeed the church we visited wouldn't again.
In the afternoon they had booked a retired actress - in her seventies? - who came and lead some singing and did some dramatic monologues and recited some poems. Her brief, I later found out, was not to do anything risque. Even without knowing that I was a bit surprised about the poem about the vicar having his hands in a woman's knickers. The one about the prostitute in Portsmouth was even more surprising.
It was truly bizarre, completely out of keeping. I'm pleased to say I've not seen anything like it before. My one comfort is that this happened to such a great church. As and when something like this happens where I am, I will try to remember this and remember that it happens in the best of places.
And why did it happen to them? One reason is that they wanted to love and serve the elderly - often marginalised in our society and to tell them some really important news. They weren't prepared to just stay open on a Sunday and leave it at that.
All told, I would rather make some mistakes through trying than make the mistake of giving up.
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