By the wonder that is live-streaming I was virtually in Paisley listening to a lecture I couldn't get to in Manchester!

The Whitley Lecture is an annual Baptist celebration of scholarly theology (or sometimes history) and this year involved some fascinating inter-textual reading of scripture with a lens of reconciliation.  Especially interesting was the reflection on the Magi story in Matthew 2 and its links to the Abraham story (but that maybe because I was already familiar with the textual connections of the other case studies from John 4 and Luke 19).

Sometimes it is good simply to sit and listen to someone sharing the fruits of their research, and to glean a few ideas to store up for another day.  I am grateful to have been able to do so.

The sun shone brightly...

The roast dinner went down a treat...

The worship was thoughtful...

The conversations were deep...

It was a good day - and what's not to like when you get to sing one of your favourite hymns in a renewed version?

This morning I have been working the services for Holy Week and Easter, choosing readings and music... and being taken to so many times and places, remembering people and congregations... As part of this, I have once again tracked down the recording of the Manchester Passion (it was BBC 3 and isn't on i-Player, but can be found on You Tube) which I will watch in its entirety on Good Friday afternoon.  But... how can it be twenty years since I sat in my living room in 'Dibley' watching it live?

You can watch it here, and I challenge you not to be moved by it - even if, like me, you have watched it twenty times (or more!)

Language is a dynamic entity, and what is edgy and in exciting in one time becomes dated and inadequate in another.  I have long loved and used versions of the Shirley Erena Murray hymn 'For Everyone Born' which small emendations to increase its inclusivity. This week I happened across this version which gently moves the language on a little more...

For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,

And God will delight
when we are creators of justice and joy,
yes, God will delight
when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!

For woman and man, a place at the table,
And all those between, beyond and besides
Expanding our world, dismantling the power
Each valued for what their voice can provide

For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong,

For gay, bi and straight, a place at the table.
Invited to wed, to baptise and preach
A rainbow of race and gender and colour.
For queer, trans and ace, God’s justice in reach

For bodies diverse, a place at then table.
All manner of speech and movement and minds;
Enabled to lead and teach us new language,
For bodies diverse, a church redesigned.

For just and unjust, a place at the table,
a chance to repent, reform, and rebuild,
protecting the wronged, without shame or pressure,
for just and unjust, God’s vision fulfilled.

For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free,

Original words: Shirley Erena Murray Words © 1998 Hope Publishing Company;

Additional and revised words, vv2,4,5,6 © Avery Arden at binarybreakingworship.com 

Today, by the wonders of t'internet, I will be able to attend the first part of the funeral for Revd Gwen Mattock, who has died at the age of 89 (meaning I now discover she was the same age as my own mother).  Gwen was my 'ministerial advisor' for my final two years of training back in 2001-2003 when she was a well-respected retired minister with much wisdom to share.  Gwen's day job was as an educator in the field of primary education, alongside which she was a non-stipendiary Baptist minister, having completed the BU Exam as it then was.  I guess nowadays she would probably have been an RLM.

Gwen was a Sunday School teacher - when I lived in Glasgow, I knew someone who had had Gwen as their Sunday School teacher in Borehamwood, and last week I met someone who had been in her class after she moved to Manchester.  The quiet influence of Gwen's ministry spreads far and wide, as a teacher and as a minister.

The last time I saw Gwen was at my MPhil graduation in 2011 see brief post here and in recent years we had lost contact, though I continued to send her Christmas cards until a couple of years ago.

I am grateful for having known Gwen, and some of her wisdom remains with me to this day (though I still have several years until retirement will allow me to spend a year lying on the settee reading trashy novels!).  May she rest in peace and rise and glory.