Monday, January 28, 2008

Spiritual Capital project - snail's pace

After a fairly routine Sunday, it turned out to be a busier than usual Monday, with a meeting about Cardiff Business Safe at lunchtime, followed by the re-start of 'God on Mondays' in school. Then it was back home to prepare for the first steering group meeting of the Spiritual Capital research project since November. The research workers seem to have been at a standstill, or at least there's been little visible sign of progress over two months.

The rate of return hovers around 35%, and despite the chasing up I've done, the returns are disproportionately low in Anglican responses. That's part of the data too. People will complain if this is reported, see it as a criticism, knocking the church, but the facts are there to be read as people will. The biggest 'fact' is the poor state of morale. Another of our worries is the lack of responses from Muslim communities, probably a sign of suspicion. Also it's possible that the questionnaires were received by people who really didn't know what to do with them, unable to understand the objective. The same could also be said for the churches that didn't respond.

After the meeting, I had to dress for dinner hurriedly and make my way on foot to the County Club, for a supper to honour Hazel Lewis, PA to two successive Priors of St John's Wales. It was an excellent occasion, at which both former and present Prior spoke warmly and praised Hazel's excellent organisational skills. It's good that a Christian charity should make an effort to value people in support roles that to some would seem unglamorous and insignificant - but in reality, nothing could be done without them, the grandest most imaginative plan would not even end up on paper.

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