When I started this blog, it was with the intention of sharing up-to-date information about what I was up to on my study leave with members of my congregation, friends, and anyone who might be interested. But I found that I took so many notes of conversations with those I met, I wanted to transcribe them carefully and thoughtfully before the appear on this blog. But there has been so much travel, so many events, so many conversations- and the weather’s been hot- so that I find there is now quite a time lag between events and the blog entries. With my last post, about my meeting with Michael Livingston of the NCCC Poverty Initiative, I came to the end of writing up my meetings in Washington DC. But that was back on 13 June, and this is 8 July! What’s happened in between?
Facebook and Twitter provide a good way to send instant news and reaction about what I’ve been getting up to (you can follow my adventures on the Old High St Stephen’s Facebook page without being a Facebook member). These social media have also been a way for me to interact with folks- it’s been interesting to learn about how best to do that, and what are the possibilities and limitations of them.
Writing the blog has been much more time-consuming than I thought it would be. However the bulk of the long interviews are now over. Although I have a few more ‘one to ones’ to record, much of the rest of this trip can be described in a bit less detail (I hope!) as I write less about meetings and more about impressions. Certainly it would be impossible to record every conversation with folks I have met over the last few weeks, as there much have been literally hundreds of conversations. But there are various overarching themes which I plan to share here.
However, I do plan to try to get more out of my notebook and onto the blog in the next day or two, before I start on my holidays. Coming up will be:
- reflections on Cincinnati
- Community Organising course in Columbus, Ohio
- meetings at the Presbyterian United Nations office and the Poverty Initiative at Union Seminary, New York
- the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
