A Skinny Fairtrade Latte in the Food Court of Life

Sending to Coventry

2008-07-23T16:49:00+00:00

Today my wrinklies are off to Coventry - one of my favourite places in the whole world, not that I've seen much of the whole world you understand, but I love spending time in the two cathedrals. My dad always claimed that Bishop Gorton of Coventry was a relative of ours; I'm not so sure, but he (the bishop, not my dad) was there around the time of destruction and resurrection, so it's a good claim to stake!

There is an eerie beauty about the bombed out cathedral that refused to die, something powerful about the way that it has been preserved not in aspic but as a living place of quiet, hope and possibility. There is in the new building a sense of continuity and calm - it doesn't pretend to be an ancient building, is unashamedly of its time and yet has that same cathedral ambience of air heavy with a thousand prayer. Together with Paddy's Wigwam/Birthday Cake it is a fine example of twentieth century cathedral architecture, and I have been privileged to worship in both.

It is likely that many of the wrinklies will head for the shopping centres to snap up bargains. It is likely I'll end up with a little group of unwanted odd-bods to chaperone. But above all, we'll have a great time of laughter and love, and somewhere, when we're not quite looking, I reckon Jesus may just tag onto our group - I hope so anyway!

PS Comments relating the Reverends Gorton to building projects are not required!!

Newer Hymns Worth Singing

2008-07-22T09:09:41+00:00

If you don't have BPW then you won't have this hymn, which I recently discovered and think is worth singing. If you do, it is number 103 but I don't know the set tune, so I substituted 'Ellers' which is 624 (ii) (are you impressed? I am!). Chris Ellis, who wrote it, is currently minister of a church in Nottingham.

Open this book that we may see your word

Embodied in the drama of our earth -

Stories of people that your Spirit stirred,

Glimpses of hope and visions of new birth.

Open this book that we may meet the one

Who came as word-made-flesh for all to see;

Show us his life, all that was said and done,

That we might see ourselves as we could be.

Open our ears that we may hear you still;

Teach us to live as well as speak your word.

Open our eyes that we might face your will -

The word-made-flesh in those who call you 'Lord'.

(c) Christopher Ellis

Youch!

2008-07-22T08:52:23+00:00

Yesterday I met with my deacons to review the offers we'd received for sale of our building. Secretly, I was pleased we'd had any offers at all in the current market. We have now agreed to proceed with one of them (the highest, obviously). The 'youch' factor was that it was 23% lower than the valuation we had in April - an average fall of almost 2% per week. What use this sum of money (net of fees and repayment of advances from the trust company) will be remains to be seen, but at least (if it all goes through) it will allow us to close a chapter, to move on and put our energies into something else. I hope - and pray - that church folk will see it this way when we report back on Sunday.

Many thanks to those loyal readers who have offered practical and prayerful support during the process so far - hopefully the 'end' is now in sight...

Praying with Jacob

2008-07-20T17:47:06+00:00

Here is the prayer I used in Prague, inspired by the stories of Jacob at Bethel and Peniel, please feel free to use it if it is helpful:

We have reached a certain place, a physical place, a temporal place and here, O God, we seek to glimpse your glory.

We come to this place bringing with us all that has shaped us thus far, failure and success, fear and hope, doubt and faith, vision and dream.

We find ourselves in the house of God, at the gate of heaven, not because this place is more sacred than another, but because you meet us here, where we are, who we are, how we are.

We praise you for the mystery of your presence with us

We thank you for bringing us safely this far

And now, as we look ahead to the future

We seek a fresh encounter with you.

As we look heavenwards, we are aware that you reach earthwards

Reaching out to heal and renew what sin and greed would destroy

Offering hope and a future where fear and death abound

Sharing the pain and sorrow, vulnerability and limitation of our lives,

Walking among us, dying for us, defeating evil and destroying death.

Our future is as yet unknown to us

The challenges that will face us

The questions that will perplex us

The emotions that will stretch us

Yet, as we stand on the edge of tomorrow

We dare to seek the privilege of wrestling with God

Discerning your mind

Heeding your will

Following your call

So that we, like Israel, may limp towards eternity in the footsteps of Christ

In whose name we pray.

Amen.

Highs and not so highs

2008-07-21T11:02:44+00:00

Literally high of course, flying to Prague and back, but also a good experience in many ways. It was good to meet some new people and to listen to some good (and maybe even the not so good) papers. I guess it was good to decide mine wasn't the worst! In fact, I am still in a fairly high level of bemusement at the warmth with which it seems to have been received. One way or another, it is pretty likely it'll end up in print somewhere (three possibilities were mooted by different people) plus I've been asked to contribute a 500 word definition of 'practical theology' for another publication. Very bemusing, but in a good way!

The morning prayer session I led went remarkably well and the way people read the psalm and sang the hymn were AMAZING! If responsive psalms could always be like that I'd use them all the time. Quite a few people thanked me for the copies of the icon I supplied, and my prayer even got mentioned by one of the speakers!!

So I flew home if not on a high, certainly well content and enjoying the experience of being in such a positive atmosphere.

The reality - a short flight delay meant I was an hour or so late arrving at East Midlands. When I got home there was a letter giving the outcome of the sealed bids on our building, and it doesn't look too good (can't post details but you can interpolate between the lines). Switching on the computer to pass on this information to those who needed it reminded me that the rarified conference atmosphere was not reality, or not the bigger reality anyway (it was obviously real enough while it lasted). A very short night's sleep, a long drive, a guest preach, and a lot to think about...

I think that's where things are up to in my world. When I'm a little less shattered, I will probably post some more thoughts in the conference, which was a good thing (so thanks Sean for 'making' me offer my paper).

Offline...

2008-07-14T15:37:37+00:00

... for a few days as, along with countless other ministers and students of theology, I am off to a conference. This week I have a friend learning Greek from scratch in Nottingham, most of my Manchester peers are at a summer school in Bristol and I am heading to Prague to give a conference paper which has given me more headaches than enough! I'm trying to work out why it was never this hard work preparing to deliver to a load of engineers and scientists! (I have some thoughts on that one but they are too dull to share) Anyway, I'm sure it'll be fun with some interesting people to meet and/or catch up with - and a little quieter in blogworld.

That's Annoying...!

2008-07-14T15:28:16+00:00

This afternoon I went out to dismantle the sign outside our defunct building - afterall if it sells this Friday (please...) then this needs to happen. I'd had a look, noted the rusted state of the nuts and their varying shapes and sizes (typical chapel bodge job) so got out a nice big adjustable wrench, a hammer to whack it with, and psyched myself up for some fun.

Adjusting my trusty wrench to fit the first nut, I decided to check how hard it was going to be to loosen it - and it was barely hand tight! In under five minutes, with no hammering needed, I had the job done and simply had to 'walk' the offending article (which was too heavy for me to lift) along the side of the building where I abandoned it behind locked gates. I'm glad the job proved feasible, but I'd have like the sign to put up just a little bit of resistance! Why is it 5 minutes jobs takes several hours and those that ought to be a good challenge are trivial?

I'm not sorry the sign is down - the weeds next door as as tall as, if not taller than, I am - not quite the image we want to give of the church...

Triple Points?

2008-07-13T22:04:16+00:00

When I was a teenager, my brothers used to delight in telling me that I wouldn't get double points for going to church twice on the same day. They may well have been right, but I used to enjoy the very different feel of morning and evening services. Today I went three times, to three different churches, so I'm not sure what kind of point collector that must make me! It was an interesting experience, to be with three very different congregations with very different 'feels', and each one in its own way special.

The morning was at GB church (D+2) and was family worship. It is a very informal fellowship with lots of bits of drama and interaction with the congregation. There is a worship band, a wide age range and typically a congregation of around 50-60. It is a light and bright place to be and it's usually fun.

The afternoon was my own folk and a very different feel. The format was unusual for us, with sung chants without the words available and, as one person commented, the first time he'd ever sat down all through a service. A few people really engaged with the theme, and the atmosphere was quite good, though the familiar grumblers grumbled in familiar fashion! As it was the first weekend of the school holidays I began with 18 chairs so that people would sit together - and eventually got up to 30 by the time we began!

Then the evening with the Penties in town who I love because they are a very authentic group of people, who can share the highs and lows of life with one another. The endless 'ay-mens' don't quite do it for me, and some of the shouted exclamations are not my thing, it is a fairly comfortable place to worship. I find it odd, in this day and age, to have people take notes during my sermon, but they are always gracious and appreciative of what I offer them.

As I left the evening service I spoke to a couple of Anglicans who were visiting (from nearby) who commented that they like to go there occasionally for something a bit different from their routine. Going "visiting" does (at least) two things for me:

It reminds of incredible diversity of Christian worship

It helps to remind me of what I value in my own little church

But today, I have to give extra points to the Penties who closed by singing 'Immortal, Invisible' a hymn that brought back powerful, and positive, memories of some of my earliest experiences of leading worship as a 15 year-old when the older members of the GB and BB were sent to take services at the local old people's home (as they were called in those days). When it was GB's turn, two of us would go along, with my friend's boyfriend who played the piano for us, whilst she chose the Bible reading and I did the prayers! James' repetoire seemed to consist almost solely of 'Immortal, Invisible' and 'The Day Thou Gavest' and whenever I sing them I am transported back to that place and time when I wasn't earning points for extra attendance but I was learning skills I'd later need!

All in all, points or no points, a positive day.

A More Humane Talent Contest?

2008-07-13T08:05:47+00:00

I've enoyed watching the first two episodes of 'Last Choir Standing' which have felt altogether more gentle and more affirming than so much of what we see by way of talent competitions. Whilst we see the judges making some stern remarks, there is none of the outright aggression (even if it is allegedly pantomime) seen in other competitions.

I loved seeing the interview in the first week with the Filey Fishermen's Choir (left, picture from BBC website) - a group of very senior men whose biggest desire is that the choir survives after they are no more. They took rejection with dignified sadness and went home to make more music. I love the Open Community Choir from Northern Ireland whose members are a mixture of people with and without physical disabilities who make a very 'honest' (in the words of the judges) sound and clearly love singing. I am rooting, probably rather hopelessly, for Dreemz, a group of young black singers whose community mentor encouraged them to enter the competition and worked hard to find them a Musical Director in order that they could progress to the second round. The joy these youngsters get from singing and being together is palpable and what a fantastic contrast to all the news of guns and knives.

There are some truly amazing choirs - notably a couple of the larger all-male choirs - some who are quirky and there are some that appeal to that British love of the underdog. But what really shines through is that these are groups of people who do more than just sing for an hour once a week - they are intentional-communities, united by their love of music and engaged, to some level, with each other's lives. It has been telling how many of the older singers told of joining choirs after life-partners had died and how many others speak of the life line in times of crisis (though of course we don't hear from the ones whose lives go relatively smoothly). I'm not completely niave though - I know that choirs, like churches, have their share of awkward so-and-sos and can be places of dischord rather than harmony, but it is refreshing to hear uplifting stories.

It will be interesting to see how the competition pans out. I hope that the seeming underdogs aren't being set up to fail alongside the giants, I hope the judges don't turn mean (though I doubt they will) and I hope above all that something of the inherent good of humanity can be celebrated.

Measuring Distance Run...

2008-07-12T16:24:18+00:00

It is sometimes really good to step back and reflect on the distance we have come as a congregation here in deepest, darkest Dibley. When we moved out of our building almost four years ago we opted for an afternoon service time as a compromise to offend everyone equally and maximise the number who would continued to attend. yes, we've lost about 6 folk as a result but we've also gained two regulars and has a few who were 'in transit.' Despite everything, it has worked.

However, recently there has much grumbling among the 50-somethings who feel it takes too big a chunk out of their day, argue (without evidence) that it hampers mission and would like it reviewed. At the same time, being more charitable, we have become a far more frail group of people and somehow a little more open to each others needs as well as out preferences. Against this background, we've just entered out first service time review for about 18 months! When we left the building they were initially every 6, and before that of course about once every new building...

I had some very mixed feelings about how the discussion would go, because I knew there were strong views and that a few folk could dominate if given half a chance. So, I split people in to groups of 3 or 4 to discuss pros and cons of different sections of that day 'morning' 'afternoon' and 'evening' and then in a plenary got them to share what was good and bad about each. Some did not get the idea straightaway, in response to 'what is good about option x' telling me why they didn't like it, but we got there, with people telling each other why it might actually be good to have services at different times and why their own favoured times might not be so good.

Next I invited anyone to share any ideas, however daft they might be, of ways forward and one person suggested we could meet at different times on different weeks - on a planned basis - suggesting two weeks morning and two weeks afternoon (winter) or evening (summer). She did a great job, was really positive in describing her idea, and as one of the more traditional folk had more credibility than I'd have had making that suggestion. I'd like to say everyone was delighted and saw all the potential but they didn't. In local fashion, every possible pitfall and problem was quickly identified and voiced BUT - and this is the good bit - the idea was not dismissed out of court. Although most people present said they'd prefer a morning service every week, they recognised that they were not entirely representative of the full membership and that it would be good to canvass everyone who worship with us on their views before progressing too much further.

What really delighted me was the draft letter/poll prepared for circulation tomorrow by the person whose idea it was. Titled 'How Bold Are We As A Church?' it then goes on to ask 'As a church are we prepared to try something innovative and different?' WOW! I am fairly sure that five years ago no one would have ever said something like that in a church circular and now it arising quite naturally 'from the floor.'

Recently I commented to a friend that we've change from, when I arrived, being a church 'where don't do that' through being one where people asked me 'is it alright if...' to one where now people are starting to say, in an open but confident way 'it's alright if I do this isn't it?'

I'm not going to pretend everything in the garden is roses or that I never wish I could find that missing page from Leviticus that gives the appointed leader the mandate to knock heads together every now and then, but in terms of measuring something of the distance we've run, I reckon it's not half bad!

As for the service time review - I won't be surprised if it sticks at 3pm weekly for a good while yet! (Notwithstanding that we can't change anything before January due to existing commitments....)