Sometimes small changes make a big difference... and sometimes the Holy Spirit blesses us with beautiful surprises.

This week I made some pretty small changes to the cafe style service... all the colouring and puzzles were put out on the tables before the service, with only the quiz and the questions being handed out during it.  I allowed a little longer for the quiz which seemed to be appreciated.  But what really blew me away, after the 'reflection' time  was the engagement with the questions and the quality of what people chose to share in the plenary bit... everything from someone asking why the New Testament was written in Greek, to the significance of Ruth as a foreigner being one of Jesus' foremothers, to the sense of welcome they had experienced in the UK/Railway Town/This church by people who had arrived as migrants, to the fact that we don't have to look back too many generations to find migrants in our own stories... wow!

For our prayers we threw an inflatable globe to invite people to find their lands of birth, or places in the news, or places where people they know and love live for which they wished to pray... prayers for the integrity in public office, for people who are homeless, for elections, for the those most impacted by climate chaos... it was profound and beautiful.

All this inspired by the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who lived in ancient times...

Next week it's Daniel, and some ideas emerging for thoughts around exile, about church and state, about civil disobedience and peaceful protest, and maybe more besides.  A reminder that Sunday School favourites can be thought-provoking if we dare to engage with them as grown-ups. 

In case it's of interest, here are the questions...

You don’t need to work through these in order, or to cover them all, just pick out a few that interest you.  Try not to settle for simplistic ‘Sunday School answers! – we are grown-ups and need to wrestle with complexity and contradiction.

• What comes to mind when you think about the story of Ruth:
  • What do you think she was like as a person?
  • What do you think it was like when she married a foreign man (Mahlon or Kilion)? How might her family and friends have reacted then… or when he died?
  • Why do you think that Orpah and Ruth planned to go with Naomi? Why do you think Naomi tried to discourage them?
  • Did Orpah make a good choice to stay in a place she knew?
  • The story of Ruth and Boaz is often portrayed as romantic love story, do you think that’s correct? How else might you understand it – perhaps thinking of the risks taken by Ruth at various points in the story?
    
    
• Thinking about migrants more generally:
  • Can you imagine how it might feel to leave home for a new land to give your family a better life?
  • How do you feel about the arrival in the UK of either economic migrants, (or refugees and asylum seekers)? Does it make a difference why or how they came here?
  • Since Windrush the UK has relied on people willing to leave their homelands to fulfil essential roles, whether that is bus drivers, care assistants, cleaners, plumbers, builders, or nurses, doctors and teachers. How do you feel about this and why?
    
    
• Thinking about those on the margins
  • In the story of Ruth and Naomi, widows were totally dependent on the good will of others to take care of them. What care is available in our country (state benefits and otherwise) for widows or people with no family networks?
  • Who might slip through the net in our country? e.g. homeless single men are often the lowest priority for social housing.
    
    
• Thinking about churches
  • How many different nationalities are represented in our church?
  • What practical things can churches do to ‘welcome the stranger’?
  • How alert are we to our own privilege and bias, especially if we are white, British born and have/had good jobs?
  • We have registered our Coffee Morning as a Warm Hub for 2025/26, how can we make that a place where the ‘Ruths and Naomis’ feel safe and welcome?
    
    
• Personally (mainly for private pondering)
  • In my own story, have there been times when I have left home to seek a better life? How did that work out?
  • How many work colleagues or friends do I have who are very different from me, e.g. nationality, religion, interests, etc.?
    
    
• What do you like or dislike about the story of Ruth, and why?

Love it or loathe it, cafe church, like Marmite, is a thing, and a thing I try to do during the school summer holidays so that all the hard working volunteers can get a few weeks 'off duty'.

This year I'm taking a theme of 'Sunday School Favourites' and trying to encourage people to add to knowledge of the stories of these characters, and to make links to contemporary issues.

Today we looked at David, so, after a quiz, we began with the story of the young boy picked out by Samuel, and the defeat of Goliath, before racing through the rest of his life to name some of the key relationships and elements of the plot(s).  With a choice of craft (decorating 'kindness rocks'), colouring linked to the psalms,  reading or writing psalms, or reflecting on some questions relating the story to contemporary issues, it's perhaps not such a surprise that most people happily opted for colouring and crafting.  We also shared a very informal communion and sang a few songs.

I think the questions I came up with were worth pondering - and maybe could feed into a sermon some other time - so here they are... 

Questions to Consider

You don’t need to work through these in order, or to cover them all, just pick out a few that interest you.  Try not to settle for simplistic ‘Sunday School answers! – we are grown-ups and need to wrestle with complexity and contradiction.

• What comes to mind when you think of David:
  • What roles did he have?
  • What were his gifts and skills?
  • What was his character like?
  • What about his relationship with God?
  • In what ways was David a flawed, or sinful, person?
    
    
• Thinking about the recent General Election, the US Presidential Campaign, and people in public office more generally
  • In what ways are politicians and those in public office like David?
  • What are reasonable expectations of those in public office, especially in relation to character and behaviour?
  • Should someone with a significantly tarnished past be allowed to hold public office?
    
    
• Thinking about churches
  • How do we choose those we entrust to lead us?
  • What accountability structures could we or should we put in place?
  • How should we respond if/when leaders fail or ‘fall’? Does it matter what kind of crime/sin it is?
    
    
• Personally (mainly for private pondering)
  • Where do I fit in my own family and how does that make me feel?
  • What gifts or skills to I have that no-one knows about?
  • Do I try to be like other people (putting on Goliath’s armour) or like David (a few stones in a sling)
  • Do I have skeletons in my past that I am glad no-one knows about?
    
    
• What do you like or dislike about the stories of David, and why?

That was a very full day, and a good one.

Much food was consumed at the barbecue (and the rain held off)

Much fun was had decorating candles for those who we were valedicting

Much formation was celebrated as we said farewell (-ish) to another cohort of MiTs

Much faith was expressed, in God, in each other, and in the churches/communities we serve

I am tired now (as I am sure are my colleagues) - good tired, and the kind of tired that knows it was well worthwhile.

This week we've been getting ready for the vicar school valedictory service, which takes place tomorrow afternoon.  'In my day' as the saying goes, it was on a Tuesday evening, because most of us were either based in Manchester or would be staying over.  The book I chose to buy (an inclusive language NIV at a time when such a thing was fairly new and exciting) is decidedly tatty 21 years on, and although it rarely gets used nowadays, sits on my desk at home.

This week, as I've been taking time to recall those with whom I trained, and who were in the years above/below me, and to wonder where they are now.  It was sobering to discover, with a bit of online searching, that, of my cohort, I am the last person still in active Baptist ministry... there were six of us valedicted that year, three have now retired, two are no longer in accredited Baptist ministry, and me.  I think that of the two no longer in ministry, one made it to 20 years , and the other to around 15, so between us it's the greater part of 120 years service, which is no small thing... certainly several thousand sermons, as well as hundred of Deacons and Church meetings.

Tomorrow we will celebrate another cohort, women and men who have responded to God's call, have tested that time and again, and who are still committed to serving among these crazy people called Baptists.  I give thanks for A, D, G, N and S with whom I was valedicted, and pray for B, C, C, J, J, K, P, P and S who we will valedict tomorrow.         

On Sunday evening, we hosted a General Election hustings on behalf of Churches Together in Railway Town.  It was good event with some level of representation for seven of the eight candidates, and a written statement from the eighth who was unable to attend or find a deputy.  It was was all pretty good natured, and we even explored some of the complex and divisive topics without major tensions.

I was proud of our little church for the hosting, proud of the wider churches for participating, grateful to the candidates/representatives for engaging, pleased that members of the local community came to listen.

Next stop election day when we are a polling station and have been given the green light to hold our weekly coffee morning provided the two are kept separate.

Much prayer needed between this and then as the whole political landscape is, in my opinion, decidedly worrying.