Last night, due to a misunderstanding, I had downloaded directions to the wrong Baptist church of two (notionally) in the same town, and we arrived to discover it all shut up and no lights.  We set off to try to find the second one.  Unsure of our bearings we stopped to ask a group of late teens and 20 somethings on their way for a good night out.  "excuse me, can you tell us where Watnall Road is?" we asked tentatively.  "This is it" they said, without laughing, sneering or making us look utterly stupid.  "You don't happen to know where the Baptist Church is?" we added.  They gave us good directions to both the Baptist churches, smiled and went on their way.

Ah me, the youth of today, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, whatever happened to those nice louts we could fear and shun?

Oh, and a PS as we neared the venue I spotted a church with lights on - the RC Saturday Mass was spilling out.... then another - now a Community Centre - open and buzzing before we finally reached the Baptist church.  The great thing for me was to be in town on Saturday night and see no less than three church buildings (two if you want to be pedantic) open and active when people were out and about.... oh, for more of this.

Tonight I went to see Paul Field's musical 'Cargo', which is his response to the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.  It is powerful stuff, and combines his great singer/songwriter talent with some powerful narrative.

I don't suppose he is saying anything that, say, Riding Lights or Saltmine or a dozen others aren't, it was just that he happened to be saying it locally.

For me, one of the most powerful things he did was to compare the money involved with consumer goods - a child sold for the price of a Big Mac, for example, or a young girl sold into prostition for the price of an inexpensive second hand car...

Twenty million people currently in slavery is a massive number - too large to mean much.  About the same as 40% of the population of England, or around the whole population of Australia (assuming things like Wikipedia are roughly right.)

"Nothing changes because people think there's nothing they can do - but we can all do something, however small"

"No-one is truly free until everyone is free"

These seem to be the two messages of today - and they are good ones, I think.

(This is a bit of an aside but still...)  One of the big themes this year is about saying sorry - and it's one I find slightly bemusing and bewildering.   Saying sorry without acting differently is rather hollow.  I also wonder where the apologies start and stop - not because I don't think they are worthwhile, but because my ancestors have been both victims and aggressors, sometimes on the same issues (not least, somewhere along the line having both Campbells and MacDonalds; both Jews and Christians; to say nothing of French, Dutch, German and Spanish (I'm not actually all that English really!), soldiers and contientious objectors.... the list is endless).

I guess I end up concluding that how I behave in the here and now is of greater import than who beat, bullied or burned my ancestors.  There's only one person whose actions and attitudes I can control - and that's mine; my challenge is to do my little bit to learn from the past, allow it to inform my present and hopefully contribute to everyone's future.  (Adn that, I think, is called Practical Theology!)

... no, not the old chant at Greenbelt (or so I'm told) when they had insufficient numbers of portaloos, but the title of our Association Day, from which I have just returned.

It was a good day, much munching of demonic sandwiches in our packed lunches (an in joke, sorry) offset by a few fully sound jelly babies!

Seriously, though...

We began by saying 'farewell' to Peter Grange, our retiring Regional Minister a man with the incredibly rare gift of zany humour and deep, deep wisdom. loved by pretty much everyone and a real blessing to those ministers and churches he supported and encouraged.  With characteristic humour and wisdom, he set the assocation free to move on to a new phase, and rightly, received a standing ovation.  Many other Regional Ministers and the like had travelled specially for this day - a long way to a school in Dibley plus 6 north (as distinct from D+6 which is west-ish!).  God speed Peter, we'll miss you loads.

A good keynote speech from BUGB racial justice man Wale Hudson-Roberts on 'do justice, seek mercy, walk humbly with your God'.  Black theology at its best - offering the holism of ubuntu within profound Christian faith.

Confession time - I skipped all the seminars!  As I was helping out with a bit of organising, and kept getting asked for directions to this or that talk, I got some space to chat to other people involved in organising -and to share minister jokes about demomic foods.

I had the immense privilege of leading the closing worship - and I had a fun time, I have to confess.  There was a superb atmosphere that seemed to move through dfferent moods almost seamlessly.  From the Revelation crowd of people from all races and nations we moved into singing 'Jubilate' and then 'Uyai Mose' (Come all you people) - the latter sounding wonderful as people found the harmonies.  A lovely Iona prayer, a reading from Galatians 3 & 4 (one in Christ) and we moved on again to sing 'I give you all the honour.'  The children came on stage bound in paper chains to share how they had learned about Joseph and his "multi coloured jumper" and how he was sold as a slave; the young people shared some thoughts: a sketch on people trafficking (think of that video clip of the unacceptable cargo - broken and damaged - that is actually people) a fantastic graffiti banner and then sang Amazing Grace - which people joined in with spontaneously.  We made a chain of 'paper people' - wee mees of ourselves, to symbolise our unity in Christ and our commitment to be 'one people united in mission.'  Our prayers of intercession picked up themes from the day, interspersed with the Taize 'O Lord, hear my prayer.'  We ended with all seven verses of 'Cry Freedom' - the Baptist Assembly hymn of 2007, which started life in Leicestershire in the 1990s, and a prayer from the Latin Amercian Council of Churches:

God of mercy and hope,

In the struggle for freedom grant us strength;

In decisions about freedom grant us wisdom;

In the practice of freedom grant us guidance;

In the dangers of freedom grant us protection;

In the life of freedom grant us joy

And in the use of freedom grant us vision

For your name’s sake

Amen.

Listing all this out probably looks like showing off - I hope it isn't.  It was just a great privilege to be part of the day and to share with so many people in praise, prayer, rededication and - to all intents and purposes- commissioning.

Check this out!  If only...!

In one of those cringeworthy emails that circulate (I get at least two most days) came this which at least made me smile...

The strongman at a circus squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands. He then said to the audience, "I will offer $200 to anyone in the audience who can squeeze another drop from this lemon.

A thin scholarly looking woman came forward, picked up the lemon, strained hard and managed to get a drop. The strongman was amazed. He paid the woman and asked, "What is the secret of your strength?"

"Practice," the woman answered. "I was the treasurer of a Church for thirty-two years!

 

And then this one I heard last week, which is a little more profound...

As of swimming pools, so of churches, all the noise and splashing comes from the shallow end.