Enquirers Conference (part two)

So now with part two of this series, having already done a middle, I'll go back to the start.

The Enquirers conference is one of the key stages of the whole Enquiry process. If God is calling you to become a Minister, Deacon, or Reader, then God is going to send you to an Enquirers conference. Or more precisely, He'll give you a rough direction then you find your own way to Dundee.

So the best way to approach an event like this is to do whatever registration is required of you, then find a person with a name badge. Slowly approach them, smile, and ask if they are here for the conference as well. They smile, say yes, and after you have exchanged pleasantries, discussed the weather and the large amount of Take That fans on the Glasgow train, you realise that the other party is here for a Star Trek convention. You make your apologies and go find your own species of convention goer. The green skin should have been a giveaway...

(Actually, when I worked for a large bank I was at a work convention at a hotel in Edinburgh. Part way through the evening I had managed convince the HR Director to add my beer tab to his account, and was trying to drink through the bank's 2001-02 profit margin. Looks like I am the reason for the bank bail-out. After a few too many free drams I went out to the lobby to recover. There was a convention of rail users in the next room, and one of their party tried to convince me to buy a train. Apparently all I had to do was buy the train from Canada, with finance from the far east, then lease it back to Network Rail for them to haul ballast at night. I think I signed something, so I may own a train. I hope Network Rail can hang onto it, as the driveway is a bit crowded for a class 66)

So a couple of Enquirers were gathered on the lawn, then the group slowly expanded as more and more people arrived. The usual pleasantries, along with some more probing questions about what we wanted to gain from the conference. This is the point that you realise that there are plenty of people there who are in the exact same boat as you. Knowing they have a call of some description, but wanting to probe it a bit more. It's the point you realise you are not alone.

Over the Friday evening and the Saturday morning you are sent in shifts round a series of speakers, from Mission and Discipleship, Ministry of Word and Sacrament, Crossreach, Diaconal Ministry, Readership and World Mission You do three 30 minute sessions on the Friday, and three on the Saturday. Along with this there is acts of worship and sessions from the key speakers. I was pleasantly surprised to recognise one of the speakers as a the husband of one of Mrs Gerbil's friends from her enquiry process. We had met up a year ago, so it was nice to be able to catch up again.

While there is a lot to cram in to 24 hours, at no point did it feel rushed, and there was always time to reflect with your fellow enquirers. There was also space left in the schedule to be able to have a private chat with the speakers.

The thing is, you will never get all the answers in the space of a day. This conference is only a beginning.

But what did I get out of it? More to follow.