Pentecost roughly coincides with Shavuot, and I could spend time reflecting on the giving of Torah and the giving of Spirit, but I won't.  We are having a very Succothy Pentecost in so far as it will involve lots of tents/booths (gazebos); this kind of amuses me, but I am easily amused these days, something to do with disappearing under an unfinished essay and juggling too many balls...

So, Saturday, Community Fun Day called a Pentecost Party.  Lots of little tents on the green outside the local 'Manor House' housing lots of things to look at, try or buy.  Face painting and lots of cutting and sticking for children; Christian tat and Fairtrade gifts; bobbin lace, local history photos, flower arranging and card making for adults.  Money off a cuppa in the tearooms and a good time to be had by all.

Sunday, open air service - all three traditions together come rain or shine, with our little tents in case of need, and the option of the 'great hall' (which isn't very) if it pours.  Two worship bands and a pianist, a drama group; dangly skeletons, streamers, ballons and not-to-be-lit tealights presented in red or gold party bags... oh, and four ministers, a couple of lay readers and a partridge in a pear tree (OK, I made up the last bit)

Monday... sleep?  Alas not, I still have a large chunk of essay to write from scratch.  Still, the forecast is pretty grim so maybe sitting tapping away at my PC is relatively attractive.  It all seemed such a good idea back in September...!

Enjoy your Pentecost celebrations, whatever you are up to.

In the last few weeks the saga of the Spring Harvest, UCCF and Keswick 'Word Alive' week has been unfolding in the Baptist Times.  Now it seems lawyers are involved.  I realise I'm in danger of becoming a Biblicist Baptist, but doesn't the Bible say something about avoiding lawyers and courts...?

Perhaps a little less falling out over Steve Chalke (and others') views and a little more Christ-likeness would be helpful?

Or am I just missing the whole point?

I have just heard the long range weather forecast which says it is going to be very cold and very wet on Sunday.  We are due to be holding a community open air Pentecost Service so I'd prefer it dry!

Do I

1. assume the weather forecasters will be wrong
2. abandon any semblance of decent theology and pray for a dry day
3. allow the sceptics to say 'see, we should have opted for an indoor service'
4. make arrangments for a larger indoor alternative (the one we've been offered may not be large enough)
5. Conclude that God/Satan is/are testing me
6. do nothing

Answers on a helium balloon to the usual address

Not much blogging this week - I am desperately trying to get my essay written.  I'd like it done by tomorrow, which won't happen, it is physcially impossible with everything else that's happening but I have to get it to my supervisors early next week...

Anyway, here's the question - is there any Baptist theology in the Church Health field?  Or are we just parasites who feed on the work of other denominations?  Given we're happy to nick their liturgies, songs, etc, it would hardly be novel.  Whether or how it matters in another issue.

I have two things....

Baptist Union of Great Britain Journeying Through Conflcit

Baptist Union of Victoria Fit4Life Manual, which as far as I can ascertain in Britain/England is available/endorsed only in East Midlands Baptist Association of BUGB.  And I can't find any mention of it on the BUV website.

My main concern is, am I missing something blatantly obvious?  Googling gets me nowhere.

I suppose that someone else's PhD can be why Baptists don't seem to do much theolgocial writing and if they think it matters that we pinch things from traditions with very different ecclesiologies etc.  In the meantime, I will beaver away in my little corner juggling generic and specific questions.

Any ideas please...

Well compared to the last post anyway.

Today's service went remarkably well, and even got a few bits of feedback.

From around 30 people, I got back 16 BMS 'In Transit' postcards to send off, a few signed by couples.  I could have predicted which people wouldn't complete them, but overall I was gladdened by the number who did.

My one black member thanked me for addressing the issues raised by the recent election of local councillors, and the person who had been worried that I might get 'political' seem to cope in the end.

One person thanked me for using the idea of 'Christ is my friend' at some point in the service - probably as part of the communion liturgy, as I usually refer to the disicples as Jesus' friends when I do the institution bit.  I think I said something about us as Christ's friends too.  Anyway, it spoke to her, and she found it helpful.

Lastly one person thanked me for tackling the Romans 13 passage and drawing the distinction between 'authorities' being of Godly intent - i.e. that God seeks to provide structures for justice and freedom - and 'real authorities' which are composed of finite and sinful human beings and get things wrong as well as right.  This helped him to understand how it might be possible for something to be legal but not just or 'gospel' (in his case thinking about the USA death penalty).

So, a good day one way and another.  One or two crises are abating, things are coming together for next weekend's Pentecost events (even if enthusiasm, human or divine, was absent this afternoon when we spoke of it) and I may even get my essay writing fitted in at some point this week...