Inky Fingers
The Diocese starts this year with a new Communications Officer and we wish David Watson well in his challenging post. We also thank Jeremy Dowling for his stalwart and invaluable service in this and several other roles too over 25 years.
This set me thinking! I wrote in the last issue about listening, but there is also skill and timing in talking too. Not just nodding a perfunctory response to something we don’t like or which doesn’t really interest us, nor only recklessly telling someone what they want to hear or what they “ought” to do. Periodically circumstances arise when no favours are actually done in not “telling it as it is”. At these times a close and trusted personal friend can be as valuable as a trained independent counsellor: a confidante who is neither judge nor mentor as such but simply truthful. One who is mindful that each person has the right to and responsibility for their own conduct and choices.
But this need not be onerous or awesome however – conversations between friends and colleagues reflect mutual understanding and appreciation. Even shared silences can be a precious experience: just “being there”. Yet even here the point is that communication is 2-way: the “hearer” recognises and responds, even in keeping quiet too – it’s real or it is nothing. It’s a timing which in itself speaks volumes. Talking does not have to be “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”: what is communicated is support and encouragement, that is what matters as much as any verbiage – then you can proceed to unpack the real issues. Listening and talking – equal partners. With prayerful wisdom – when to speak and when to shut up!
The new Communications Officer will doubtless oversee many 2 way dialogues – but between whom? There are various networks in this – obviously to and from Diocese and people in the public (eg Press) and church (eg parish) families. But to be lively and effective these networks surely need to be interactive too? Between parishioners (and not just in P.C.C.), between churches (making best use of Deaneries in common cause). No more cliques, no more parish pump politics! It is OUR church, all of us, and the clergy (including at Diocese, with its support staff) are its enablers and mentors! Telling it like it is, kindly but openly and truthfully.
As Reader and local resident here, David will already have a taste of our Cornish geography and character but he also brings a cosmopolitan experience and understanding. Being a vet and a journalist may not be prime qualifications – but they are fascinating attributes! I look forward to hearing the wires of all networks linked in any way to the Diocesan one truly buzzing – with friendship, encouragement, hope and sharing! Listening and talking!
Yours in fellowship
Peter H. – Editor