Flipping heck, Karl. Even I've been there!!

That all sounds so stressful and complicated. I hope the plan worked with as little drama as possible, and has the desired longer term outcomes. It sounds like you've got a good team in place, which is so important for this sort of mess

Yes!

I think we could safely add that to the list of "Things women very much do not want".

That was in my thoughts too. Friends who have done a similar course say it was excellent
#TheArchers

That looks like such a fun, creative session

That's really frustrating

I feel like I've often heard preachers speculate (or just assume) that they were a married couple. So it's weird that it's hard to find images of that.

I love herons! That's such a good sketch

I'm so sorry. I'm glad they had some time together

The pyjamas thing is wild, isn't it. What are men keeping in their huge pockets, all night long?

I definitely recognised that reaction 😁

Flyer on table with text: "Oh God, it's the Vicar!" Curious about Christianity? Want straight answers? One of these stand-alone events may be for you. Graeme is the new Vicar of Upper Weardale. Not only a priest in the Church of England: he has also worked for many years in IT, Analytical Chemistry, and Prenatal Genetic Screening. He's a keen cyclist, enjoys film photography and juggling. This invitation is for everyone who's curious about Christianity 20th April, Cowshill Village Hall 22td April, Eastgate Village Hall 26th May, Stanhope Church Hall 27th May, Frosterley Village Hall 1st June, St John's Chapel, Barrington Hall 7pm to 8:30pm No charge to attend - hall bookings paid for by your local church.

Oh God, it's the Vicar: advertising a series of straightforward conversations about Christianity... especially for those who are curious. Upper Weardale.

Truly excellent name for the event 😄

I argued for public, but the weight of opinion was strongly against me, so I relented. We grouped the sessions into terms and I think the first session each time was public, so new people could get a feel for it and see if they wanted to join, then it went private for the rest of the term.

I don't know if any of that is helpful! It felt quite experimental at the time, as if we were making it up as we went along. It was a fun and satisfying challenge to make it work.

The main site forum was open to everyone and entirely public. The home group happened in a private sub-forum. Anyone could join the private bit, but people liked the feeling that they knew who they were talking to a bit more, and felt safer to talk more openly.

Conversations developed, most of the time, as people responded to each other.
We had a pretty good group culture already, so I only did some light moderating, as it went on. Mainly making sure people felt heard and their comments got acknowledged, and ask questions to draw them out a bit more.

Each session lasted for a fortnight. I would post up several different threads at the start of that time, with different questions or suggested activities or ways of praying in. Some people would swoop in at the start and reply to everything all in one go. Other wanted to mull things over.

So quite a lot of us were regularly gathering on the forum and chatting there on a daily basis. That meant that the bible study group was right there where chatting anyway, we didn't have to go anywhere different or remember to check the messages

I've been thinking and reading other people's comments.
I think one of the main reasons it worked was the way it grew out of a community who were gathering online anyway. We were a forum for Christian parents, that my sister and I set up, in the early 2000s

There's a bar with the same name in Durham, in the UK, too.

I’m real tired of “resiliency” work being code for “here’s how to endure more” instead of the godly and just work of reforming broken systems.

I’m not doing that anymore. That not the God I serve.

Loud amens from over here

That looks so lovely and cozy

That's very exciting!

Thank you! It was extremely satisfying to do. Now I just need to get it back to it's owner.

Thank you! Yes, I'd be able to feel them breathing on the back of my neck, if they were that close, and I'd have other things to worry about rather than if they could see the mending or not!

The neckline of the cardigan, after it's been mended. There's a patch about a cm by a cm, where the stitching looks distorted, but otherwise, the hole is gone. It's not quite an invisible mend, but it's not far off!

Pretty pleased with how it came out. It's not quite an invisible mend - but it's not far off.

The back of the neck, of the pink cardigan. You can see the label, (which reads "Pure Cashmere" and "John Lewis"). The hole is just down the side of the label, where it is sewn onto the knitted fabric.

I think the damage was caused by something snagging on the label and pulling it, because it's right along the edge of it, and there's no thinning around the hole, so it's a tear, rather than gradual rubbing. The placement of the label made it a little awkward to darn, but it worked.