Frost Free Freezer Repair

"I'm off to the General Assembly.  Feed the gerbils, and can you fix the freezer when I'm out?"  Is this the sort of conversation that is supposed to take place in a manse?

All we ask is that the white goods last until we get a manse.  Once there, either white goods will be included, or we can consider whether we need a replacement.  I certainly don't want to pay for a freezer that I'm only going to need until October.

So when the ice cream came out of the freezer a little softer than it should, we knew something was up.  Then the high temperature light came on.  Then it went out. Then it came back and went off again.

I checked it with a thermometer that I threaded through the door, and in the space of an hour or so, the temperature went from -18c to 9c, a 27c increase.  There was something seriously wrong with the air temperature inside, as if there was a heater running.  So it appeared that it was freezing, then occasionally getting briefly warm.

Bracing myself to have to spend £300 or so on a new freezer, I hit Youtube and found an instructional video showing me common problems.  It seems that for a frost free freezer to work, there is a heating element on the cooling element.  When the cooling element gets covered in ice, the heating element comes on briefly to melt the ice.  If the ice buildup is too much, then the heater can't cope, and the cold air won't circulate.

With nothing to lose, I emptied the freezer and removed the ductwork inside at the back.  Actually it took a bit of warming with a heat gun to get the duct off, the first sign that I was heading in the right direction.  When I looked inside I saw this...

Frost free freezer?  I don't think so.

A couple of inches of ice below the coil, and the bottom two rows of fins completely blocked. Air is meant to circulate through here, so I can see why it's not working.  An hour or so of gentle heating and a little dose of my magic spray and the whole thing looked a bit more normal.  Underneath that mass of ice there was a drain hole which is where the condensation flows out.  It looked like the drain hole had blocked, then progressive layers of ice built up to the point where it blocked the coil. I extracted over a litre of ice

Ice, Ice Baby?  Not here.

So a quick dry of all the internal surfaces, a check that the drain was now clear,  and a short reassembly later and the freezer is back to its normal -18c goodness.

So how many people replace their fridge freezer when, all it really needs is a complete defrost?  It might take a couple of says to melt out all the ice, but it's cheaper than a new freezer.

Am I too late to say do not try this at home, no user serviceable parts inside etc...?

Funeral Compliments.

Besides family funerals, today was the first funeral that I have taken part in where I have actually met the deceased beforehand.  The funerals I have been involved in have been parish funerals, where the family may have had limited contact with the church, and while the deceased may have visited the church at some point, they haven't been there during my tenure.

Simon was different.  It was actually during my first supervision session at the manse that there was a knock at the door.  Simon's had just moved into the care home down the street, and she wondered if we could meet with her to help prepare Simon's funeral.

And so later that day I met Simon.  We talked about the Six Nations matches with the optimism that only two Scotsmen can use when talking about sport.  He wanted to have the chance to see the local team, but that was weather permitting.

When it actually came to write his funeral tribute, it was easier having a face and a personality to link to the stories that are you hear third party.  I knew he had a full life, and it was easier that other tributes I had written.

The funeral was conducted with my supervisor doing the preliminaries, and me doing the rest, but it was only afterwards that I realised that I hadn't introduced myself or been introduced.  After the service, a man approached me and asked how long I had known Simon.  I had to tell him that I had only met him a couple of times.  HE told me that the tribute came across as if I had known him well, although I confessed that was mainly due to the incredible set of notes I had been given.

Tonight, it's a session meeting.  Parish life continues.

Waste and the General Assembly

Yesterday afternoonI paid a visit to the General Assembly.  While the assembly week is a great way to meet with my fellow candidates, some of whom have gone on to ordination. 

I am concerned about the amount of waste generated by the assembly.  As I sat in Rainy Hall, across from the pigeon holes stuffed with leaflets, my table also had a scattering of leaflets, some from the various councils, some from Christian charities, and a couple of leaflets from congregations looking for a new minister.  Add into that, a copy of the blue book which, according to my kitchen scales weighs 800 grams, plus all the material generated for Heart & Soul, and the various other events around the assembly, then I believe there will be a couple of kilos of paper waste generated for every person in attendance. So that must be a couple of tonnes of paper waste that even now has been discarded.  Whether or not this ends up recycled or in landfill depends on how it is disposed.

How many of these delegates have tablet computers?  It is becoming the norm that papers for business conferences are released electronically, so why can't we as the church do this?  One person who informed 121 George Street that they would prefer to use the electronic version of the blue book still got a copy sent in the post, with £2.50 for postage.

Can't we at least try to minimise the waste generated by the General Assembly, by abolishing the paper blue book and other documents, and making effective use of current technology?    We should not have to accommodate the additional costs and constraints of using paper documents for people who refuse to use established technologies.

Tomorrow's Calling

Do Not Lock Your Doors During Worship.

The title of this post should make it absolutely clear but in case you didn't read it, here it is again.

Do Not Lock Your Doors During Worship.

Is that clear enough for you?  I am not asking that you keep the church open 24 hours a day, just asking that, when worship is taking place, you make sure that people can get in.  Or, in the event of a fire, people can get out.

Here's a few reasons, based on real world case studies.

Brenda has  a history of substance abuse.  She lives a bit of a disordered life, and sometimes schedules can be a little fluid.  But the church has helped her in the past, and when she has her good days, she always mucks in with the life of the church.  Sometimes she arrives later than 11am.

Bob suffered from brain damage which left him agoraphobic.  Some days he has real trouble getting across his own door, so he can't always get to church on a Sunday, and when he does, he has to rely on other people transporting him there.  He usually arrives for the sermon, and stays for coffee afterwards, and always says how much the church community has helped him.

Bill was an ex prisoner who found himself suddenly homeless.  Bill's story was an unfortunate tale of a number of Government departments messing up and letting him slip through the cracks.  Seeing nowhere else to turn to, he saw a church door that was open, and went in and sat through the service.  Afterwards he approached the minister and asked for help.  Bill is now occasionally seen in the town and is working and doing well for himself.

Brian and Barbara have two children, one 5 years old and one 5 weeks old.  Two children equals about four times the work getting them out the door, and it wouldn't be the first time that the minister was waiting in the lobby to process into the church when they looked out and saw Brian, Barbara and entourage running up the path in a flurry of buggies and changing bags.  A short pause to allow them to sneak in the back means that there will be at least one child to talk to for the children's address.

Today I was doing pulpit supply, in a church that I have preached in on a number of occasions.  And every Sunday they lock the door during worship.  Today I realised that the door had been locked before I had even walked up the aisle and asked the congregation to stand for the bible.  In my sermon, I was telling the full story of Bill (above) and how, in his hour of need, he walked into a church and waited until after the service to ask for help.  So knowing about the locked door, today I added a little extra to my sermon to be deliberately provocative.  Today I told the congregation that they wouldn't be able to help Bill, because I could see from where I was standing that the door was locked.  And I said please don't do that again.

After the service, I was given an excuse of how an item was stolen the last time they left the door unlocked.  If security is a concern, then have one elder on door duty, not to prevent people from coming in, but instead to welcome them.  If you are a church that locks your door during worship, then you do not serve your community, but are instead just a social club that may as well hang a sign on the door that says "Members Only"

If I turn up outside your church and I find your door locked, then I will start banging.  It's not me knocking to get in.  I'm nailing up a sign to remind you that you are in Gods house, and the sign reads:

Mark 13:35

I hope you will get the  message.

But in case it has slipped your notice....

Do Not Lock Your Doors During Worship.

Evangelical Universalism continued.

To expand on yesterdays post regarding universalism, and in response to JohnO's comment, I was asked to evaluate the argument in the book The Evangelical Universalist by Gregory MacDonald (or was that Robin Parry?) as part of a university assignment.

The book itself introduced me to a topic that I had never considered before, the idea that hell may actually be a redemptive place, and is not actually a final destination.  Not surprisingly, this school of thought is not accepted by many people from a more traditional, conservative background.  My studies were an introduction to the topic, so I know that I have only just scratched the surface of what it means to be a universalist.  That said, I didn't find the ideas proposed in the book to be too uncomfortable to live with and too heretical. 

I can see myself returning to the book to give it consideration at a later date, as I feel there is much to explore.

However, I was glad to see the back of the essay. :-)

The Evangelical Universalist

In a strange turn of events, I have managed to go from not actually knowing anything about universalism to probably considering myself to be a universalist.  This took place in the course of about six days.  Well there are worse things to have happened in under a week.

It's funny how education broadens the mind.s