When I was planning my sabbatical visits, I had hoped to visit St Andrews Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, a church in which two Gatherers were in membership at different times, along with numerous other people I know through the wonderful world of Baptists.  This proved impractical, as their minister was due to retire at the end of June, and indeed he did.  I was disappointed, but could clearly see why the Diaconate would not want some random minister turning up to ask about their student work.

As I noted earlier today, the minister of another Cambridge church died suddenly at the beginning of July.  Truth is, had I been scheduled to go to Cambridge, I would have arranged to meet with friends from that church, and would then have been drawn in to trying to support them in their grief and loss.  And, harsh though it may sound, that would have been the wrong thing to do.

I do not, cannot, believe in some form of predestination or fore-knowledge that allowed the circumstances to work out as they did... but I do feel that somehow, the mysterious God is active in these situations, if only at a macroscopic level.  There is a lot that makes little or no sense, humanly speaking; a lot that seems like rather an ugly coincidence, but I do feel that it 'was not meant' for me to visit Cambridge this summer.

God of this place, God of all places;

God of this time, God of all times;

God of life, God beyond death:

Embrace in your love those who mourn

Restore those who feel overwhelmed

Bring new hope and new energy,

New vision and new direction

To these two Cambridge churches

To the EBA of the BUGB

And to all who have been part of the story

Past or present

And all who will be part of the story

Present or future

Grant your peace

Amen