One of the great joys of slowing donw has been reading novels!  In the last fortnight or so I have read two and half stories. 

One of them I had been slogging through since early in the year; it demanded a lot of determination to wade through and to be honest did not really repay the effort, save to say that I'd read it.  Interesting then, that this week a book has been identified as being pseudonymously penned by the same author, and deemed excellent within its genre.

Another of them was what my mother used to term a 'penny dreadful' - an easy read, women's magazine style story set mostly in a twee version of highland Scotland and ending happily.  An easy read, ideal for a long train journey and utterly undemanding.

The third was one recommended to me by another minister as a good read: Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Musuem, combined ease of reading with an interesting approach and a reasonable plot.  I enjoyed reading it, and in the closing pages found a couple of quotes worth pondering...

'"The past is what you leave behind in life, ..." "Nonsense ... The past's what you take with you."'

'...words are the only things that can construct a world that makes sense.'

Kate Atkinson, behind the Scenes at the Museum, pub. Black Swan, 1995, Kindle edition

The second quotation struck me, I guess, because it states much of what theories of semantics and semiotics refer too, and which the Post Modern philosophers get all excited about as words are 'slippery' and their meaning is determined (only) in context.  Words construct a world that makes sense - true - but arguably they do so best, or potentially only, in a specific context.

More interesting is the first one, which seems to me to recognise an important truth about the ways we may relate to our past, indivudally or collectively.  Is it what we leave behind, completed, finished, done with, or is it what we carry with us, shaping and informing our future?  My MPhil research was predicated on the second perspective, but maybe needs a bit of unpacking/unpicking?  Is our past a 'burden' or a 'shackle' that holds us back and prevents us from becoming who we are meant to be?  Or is it a 'gift' or a 'resource' from which we can draw insights and understandings that will help us become the people we are meant to be?  Or is it siumltaneously both?  Or is it neither, being simply neutral. Nothing I haven't already spent loads of energy exploring, but quite interesting to see, clothed in fiction, explorations that were not a million miles from my own ideas.

I have no idea what the title of the novel has to do with the story, save that it cleverly uses a series of artefacts as prompts for excurses to tell tales from the 'past'.  I did half expect it to end up with a set of seemingly random artefacts in a single display case and that the book was the underlying story, but no.  The link is, it seems, the facades of houeses from past times which form part of the York Castle Museum... so, a story of what may have lain behind the scenes inone such house.  An enjoyable read, and a bit of food for thought too.

It is a decade now since a church, to which I was convinced God had called me, voted not to do so.  A few months later, I was called to Dibley, where I spent just shy of six good, mostly happy, and certainly formative, years.  That church called Neil.  I was pleased for them, and for him, and hoped it would be a happy partnership.  Sadly, news reached me this morning to say that Neil had died, very suddenly, leaving a wife and four sons.

My heart aches for this church - this is the seond time their minister has died 'in harness' - and for his family, coming to terms with his loss. 

I only met Neil a couple of times and can't say I knew him, but his story and mine intersected, however briefly, and I am saddened by the news.  No platitudes about calling home, no nice explanations, just an aching ache and reminder that all we ever have is 'today', so must make the very best of it.

RIP Neil, embraced in the love of God and the hope of Christ.

Way back, when I was about a quarter the age I am now, we were given a load of Roman names for cities and towns to learn - I have no idea what purpose this was intended to serve, but it does mean I have Eboracum and Aquae Sulis engraved on my memory!  Too much reading Rosemary Sutcliffe stories, probably!!

I spent a lovely evening with a small group called Students Together (or ST) on the Friday evening of my visit.  Three women of retired age are at the heart of this work, ensuring that there is always food to share, a warm welcome and someone to listen.  Because it is out of term time only three students were there - two overseas post grads and one former stduent who hangs on in there, being a similar age to the others (and he had cooked the most divine chicken and roast vegetables!).

The University of Bath is one of those 'at the top of the hill' so some distance removed from the centre, and all students have to travel in to church.  At the same time, the church is just about as far from the railway station as we are from our local SPT Subway, albeit that they are in a straight line and we aren't.  Rather than actively going out to find students, the church has 'spotters' who look out out for younger people who happen along, especially overseas students, for whom they so clearly have a heart.  Listening to the students' stories it was interestig to see how they had ended up at this specific church... from a missed train to being brought by a friend.  It was as interesting to hear why they stayed... something they experienced in the worship (very different from what they had known elswhere) and the fact that they felt they were valued and belonged (people knew their names, their courses, their personal concerns, etc).  It was equally clear that the three women who undergird this work enjoy and benefit from it too, building strong bonds with the students.

Students Together is about food and friendship/fellowship; an allied group ST2 is a Bible study and discussion group that operates on what was described as a 'spiritual direction' model... what is going on for you now (or in the world that concerns/inpsires you), what might the Bible say to this (and through it, what might God be saying) and where next.  So actually also pretty much a pastoral cycle/theological reflection approach.  It runs regularly and attracts a mix of committed and curious, and where appropriate more 'introduction to this thing called Christianity' is explored.  Any who come to faith are encouraged to consider Baptism only once they have returned home and are settled in a church community.

Good practices we seem to share include:

• Spotting young people who come to worship with us (though we don't have official 'spotters')
• Introducing young adults to other young adults
• Offering something that attracts and keeps some students - of which 'stillness', depth in preaching and honesty/authenticity seem to be a significant part
• Knowing our students, more than 'just' their names (though they were better at this than us, I feel)
• Delighting in the students and young adults who want to share with us
• Having 'alumni' who return for visits
• Recognising the transience of student life, and the need for rootedness in a fiath community

Things we might want to consider include:

• A slightly more regular/structured pattern of student social gatherings, over food, not always on a Sunday but possibly midweek
• Developing a student/young adult Bible study/reflection/exporation group in a non-directive model that works for us

Things where we are doing especially well

• Actively reaching out to students, epsecially in and around freshers' week.
• Awareness of, and attention to, individual needs e.g dietary, (dis)ability, etc.
• Involvment of students in worship life of the church
• We do a mighty fine freshers' tea!!

Lots more good stuff to think about - so thank you Aquae Sulis BC for allowing me to glimspe the excelllent student work you are doing, and to learn with and from you.

Reflection on visit to Bath (1)

Whilst in Bath I took quite a lot of photos.  Some were of noticeboards or signs, to remind me of information.  Lots were of buidlings, or parts of buildings.  Some were things I *might* one day, if I remember, and if a suitable theme ever crops up, use in worship.  Some were touristy.  These four are of banners made by people in some way or other linked to the church I was visiting as part of their millenium celebrations - a teenager's lifetime ago now!

The banners represent, as is surely self-evident, the four seasons.  Each is composed of individual panels which have been skillfully joined together to form a coherent whole, a set of four wall hangings in four alcoves/recesses in the wall of one of the many rooms in the vast premises this congregation enjoys.  People of all ages and abilities completed anything from a small square (or rectangle) in a simple striped design, to a large and complex representation of a tree.  Some were part of the church fellowship. Others were 'service users' of organisations that use the faciltities on offer.  And still more were simply drawn in to the vision of creating the tapestries.  The church is, rightly, proud of these tapestries and what they represent, but there was a sense that they reflect a season now past in the life of the church.

That isn't wrong, indeed it is inevitable - the progression of seasons cannot be halted; it is part of life's "rich tapestry" if you'll pardon the dreadful pun.

There are numerous ways in which I can - and probably will - use these tapestries and their associated story as a resource for my own reflections... the diverse participation, the choice of theme, the decision on where to hang them and so forth being just those which immediately spring to mind.  But today, I find myself wondering in which season that congregation perceives itself to be, and why, and what that means for them as they move forward in to a time of significant change.  It feels wrong to post on here the content of what we shared in the evening service on Sunday, save to note that I reverted to one of the Biblical images/stories/parables that has most significantly impacted my own ministry and spirituality, that of the vine in John 15.

For that congregation, and for my congregation, and indeed for any congregation, there is value, even wisdom, in pondering in which season we find ourselves and what that means for now, and for the future.  For surely the cycle of seasons will move on again, we cannot prevent it.  The challenge, the opportunity, is, I guess to discover our part within it.

To everything a season

A time to design

A time to delegate

A time to stitch

A time to weave the errors inbto a new design

A time to gather panels

And a time to stitch panels together

A time to complete

A time to display

A time to delight in displaying

A time to celebrate

A time to return to the everyday

A time to look back nostaligcally

A time to look forward hopefully

Or apprehensively

Or excitedly

Or sadly

To everything there is a season

And a time to every purpose under heaven

God of all times and all seasons

God of this time and this season

Hold us in your love

Renew us in hope

And lead us in faith

For the sake of Christ

Amen

I have no idea if sabbatical can be used as a verb, but I am not concerned about grammatical idiosyncracies right at the moment.

I had a wonderful weekend in Bath, was shown generous and gracious hospitality by the church I visited and have plenty upon which to reflect over the next couple of days.  For now, though, just a few photos that capture something of the lighter side of the visit...

The beautiful, vaulted ceiling at Bath Abbey - look closely and you will spot a tiny saltire in the right hand boss: I only spotted it when I uploaded the photo from my camera to my laptop, and it made me chuckle.

In the quire at Bath Abbey, above the two ranks of choir stalls, are beautiful ornanamental angels.  Diametrically opposite the conductor is a bagpiping angel.  Another bit of humour.

Lastly, this little candle snuffer, which I bought in the gift shop at Bath Abbey and which was one of those "saw this and thought of you" moments, expect it wasn't you, it was me!  The 'Rev Cat' now has a place on my bookcase at home, and will serve as a reminder of a wonderful weekend.

Many, many thanks to everyone at MSBC, you gave me so much, and I am truly grateful.