We are looking for new team members to join the Cutting Edge team, who bring you bi-monthly virtual roundtable events and host the annual Cutting Edge conferences.

Super early bird bookings are open for Cutting Edge 2022 and will be on sale until 31st January 2022. Find out all the details here.

It’s an all too familiar story. We spend so much time, at this time of the year, planning how to ‘deck the halls’ that what we do after Christmas can become an overlooked afterthought. Last year, I kept my Christmas tree up to mid-February, to the enjoyment of my neighbours! If this email reaches you in time, please receive it as a cautionary nudge to ask these three questions:

1. What is the purpose and vision for our Christmas events and services this year?

2. Will there be a call to action at each event / service?

3. What needs to be in place to facilitate this call to action and to follow-up post-Christmas? How will these services and events be ‘successful?’

On Thursday this week (18th Nov, between 12.30pm and 1.45pm), many of our UCAN+ members are coming together to hear Gavin Smith (from the churchoffice.co.uk) speak to us about Biblical Productivity’. There is still some space, so do click here to sign up https://ucan.churchsuite.co.uk/events/rdnxgja7

The other day, I took a trip through the biscuit aisle of my local supermarket and stopped dead in my tracks. Sitting there in front of me on the middle shelf, on special offer, were several boxes of a new flavour of Jaffa Cakes – cherry! I stood there in astonishment – cherry… What a flavour! In my mind, cherry is equivalent to bacon, chorizo and beer. It tends to make anything it’s mixed with better. After a short interval for consideration (roughly 3 seconds), I relocated a couple of boxes from the shelf to my shopping basket and continued on my way towards the checkout.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan you’ll be familiar with the franchise’s instalment that involves the mythical phoenix – the bird whose fiery death results in sudden and unexpected re-birth. I’ll resist the parallel with resurrection, but in church administration there are many times when something has to die in order to be reborn.

UCAN Director Penny Clarke spoke on thechurchoffice.co.uk podcast with Gavin Smith on the challenges we face with volunteer levels in churches.

To help keep you focused in your work, John Truscott has just a published a new article on the concept of a ‘To Do Diary’.

Never before have the UCAN Board found themselves as ‘at peace’ with a decision whilst simultaneously being absolutely gutted. The only explanation is that this must be from God. With our great thanks, enthusiastic support but also genuine sadness, we have to announce that Julian will be moving on from UCAN at the end of this year.

As a planner, I like to be in control and have thinking time to react and bring the strands of running the different processes of the church together in harmony at the same rate – a bit like bringing the horses in front of a coach together in harness to run at the same time and in the same direction. I liken the phrase “Hold your horses!” to the instruction given to the charioteer or coachman to bring the horses that you need working together, to the same canter and rhythm and to ensure that they are working together.

That’s a terrifying thought isn’t it? Just over 90 days to Christmas with very little visibility about what the season may look like or where on the country’s ‘roadmap’ we’ll have reached. Are there ‘U’ turns or ‘T’ junctions ahead or will be going via Spaghetti Junction? We don’t know. However, time is linear and the clock is ticking so Christmas does need some thought.