In the introduction to Chumbawumba's 'Tubthumping', from the film Brassed Off, one of the characters says:

Truth is I thought it mattered
I thought that music mattered
But does it? B*****cks
Not compared to how people matter

In the context of the film, that's true, but in the context of public worship, I'd want to rephrase it...

Truth is it really matters
I thought that music mattered
But does it? Absolutely!
Because people matter.

A bit of context... I love Baptist Assembly, and I love our diversity, but every year, every single year, I find myself feeding back the same reflection on the sung worship and the language that is used within the context of worship.  Perhaps I am now a grumpy old woman where once I was an eager theologically informed critic.  And, I need to give credit where it's due rather than simply critique/moan, this year's musicians played skillfully and at an appropriate volume.  After failing to do so in the first session, they also included 'as you are able' in the instruction to stand.

So, some general thoughts before my explicit gripes...

• Leading Worship 101 (we din this into our students) make sure that the first and last hymn/song is really well known and non-contentious.  There is nothing worse than beginning or ending with something you have never heard of - and the worship leader said of many songs 'you probably don't know this one'. 
• Invite don't instruct (another thing we din into our students).  I am a rule-follower, I comply... if you tell me to stand, I'll stand; if you tell me kneel, I'll kneel... Not everyone is able to stand/kneel/raise their hands... not everyone is comfortable turning to their neighbour, touching a stranger's (or anyone's) arm... not everyone likes being told what to do, and for some it can feel controlling... 'I invite you to...' 'If you are able and comfortable to...' Ask... don't tell.
• Words are powerful, can liberate and energise, can hurt or harm... (Yes, you've  guessed, our students get told all this too...).  Check the words of hymns, the writers/contexts from which they came... Are there versions of hymns that are more inclusive (or less excluding) that could be used?  Might it be wise to omit certain verses that could be problematic e.g. for people with disabilities, people who have experienced abuse, people who are not white, cis-het, etc etc.  Nothing is perfect, and this isn't political correctness gone wild, it's pastoral sensitivity... 
• Does the hymn/song do the job it needs... to gather, to praise, to confess, to teach, to dismiss, to bless?  Is there variety and/or movement in the 'feel' and style of music... if we can do everything with three to five chords and a capo, or if everything is 86 86 D, then there is scope for better!

So, to some specifics from this years Baptist Assembly...

The Good...

When we sang 'When I survey the Wondrous Cross' and 'Be Thou my Vision', and when we had 1970s Sunday School choruses ('This little Light of Mine' and 'Higher, Higher') everyone sang, and sang lustily.  We need more of that.

Mostly we were asked 'to stand as we are able'

I understand that a song change/adjustment was made in response to feedback from Deaf delegates; I applaud this as an example of good practice.

The Not-so-Good, and the Bad ...

This relates to specific examples.

Not so good...

• The total absence of non-English language or 'world church' songs... there are oodles out there, and in a multicultural, multi-ethnic, outwards facing context, we should be choosing some of them
• The use of exclusive language versions of out-of-copyright hymns were there are good inclusive language versions, notably 'Be Thou my Vision'.  To be clear, I am not one for changing words willy-nilly, but sometimes the newer versions are better - and some writers even issue updated words they'd rather we used.

The Bad... some specific lyrics that were meaningless or offensive

• The line 'Praise is the water my enemies drown in' is, frankly, abhorrent and even, dare I say it, antithetical to the teaching of Jesus... 'Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.'  When people fleeing persecution or abuse are forced to use small boats, and some drown as a result, when some political activists speak of drowning people who don't look like them, there is no way any Christian should ever sing such words...
• The line 'let praise be a weapon' is no less troubling.  I admit that 'spiritual warfare' is a theology that many find helpful but I don't.  Irrespective, if we see praise as a weapon, I feel we have our priorities wrong... praise is about honouring who God is, not beating up another, whoever.
• 'You've got a lion inside of those lungs'... Just what does that mean, even in context ("Come on my soul, don't you get shy on me, you've got a lion inside of those lungs").  If it doesn't make plain sense, or if you have to explain the metaphor, it's failed even before it begins.

To be clear - I do not expect to like or agree with everything that is chosen for worship, it's not about me and my preferences or my theology, it's about honouring God...

• I struggle with singing 'Ten Thousand Reasons' because I encountered at a time when the reality of my own mortality was in especially sharp focus, and I could not - and cannot - be confident that in my last moments I'll be singing 'bless the Lord oh my soul'.  But I will still choose it for worship because it's a song worth singing.
• There are lines from 'In Christ alone' I either don't sing or sneakily tweak, because vicarious pecuniary atonement and election/predestination are things I find difficult, but it's still a good hymn, well known and I'll use it (interestingly at Assembly the problematic verse was omitted...).
• There are some songs were I just won't sing the bits that are wrong 'the father turns his head away' erm, nope, check Psalm 22... 'David rebuilding a Temple of praise' nope, God told David that a tent was just fine... but I get that others love them

So, yes, I am a theolgically, pastorally and liturgically aware grumpy old woman... who I hope does her best to honour the God who love her, calls her and continually transforms her.

I love Assembly... I love the gathering and greeting, the listening and learning, the commemorating and celebrating... it is good to be together as part of this this crazy, diverse, mixed-up, sometimes quarrelsome, sometimes frustrating, family of Jesus-followers.

And this was a good Assembly, with a feeling of warmth and welcome, openness and acceptance.  We heard good key note speakers (Helen Paynter and Leone Martin), we shared times of prayer and worship, times of food and fellowship, times of catching up and - yes - times of whinging.

Having been to Assembly almost every year for more than a quarter of a century, I find that the same themes recur in new guises, as new generations ask the age-old questions... Is that a good thing? Maybe.  It's good that younger people continue to bring energy and enthusiasm, but sad that the same old injustices and inequities are perpetuated. 

Overall, it was good.  I came home good-tired having had lots of conversation, having met new people and reconnected with people I've known for ages.  My Assembly 'bingo' card of words/phrases/irritations/celebrations was a full house - and that, too, is good... my Baptist family in all its fullness, doing its best to follow Jesus, each congregation, college and association at liberty under the guidance of God's Spirit to discern what it means for them to be speaking and being Good News in a broken and disordered world... I'm glad to be part of that.     

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated to my charity walk.  So far, in seven days, I've walked just over 58 miles (my secret goal is a lot higher than 100 miles!)

Since I began walking, based on average figure, something like 1120 people will have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and around 220 will have died. 

Should you wish to donate and haven't done so, the link is here but please don't feel obliged to do so.

How do you measure the size of a church?  As Baptists, we tend to count the number of people in formal or covenanted Membership, plus or minus those we have on the associate or non-active lists, who we may or may not retain as full Members for pastoral reasons (and who we may or may not count in the census data used for per capita subscriptions, fees and licences).  Then there are the Friends or Non-Members who are regular in attendance and active in service, who never get included in subs/fees/etc calculations and who may or may not ever choose to Covenant formally with a congregation for all sorts of reasons.  Lastly there are the under 18s... young people, teenagers, children, babes in arms.

Today, one of my tasks has been updating and consolidating the lists held by Railway Town Baptist Church.

By the time I leave at the end of August, we will have welcomed 5 (possibly 6) people into Covenanted Membership.  During the same time, two have died, and one has withdrawn from membership, suggesting a net gain of 2 or 3... or, growth of around 10%, based on the 'active list'. (I've excluded myself from those numbers, as I am a 'net zero')

When we closed our Sunday School, we were down to 'maximum of two, and sometimes no' children.  Since we began our new model, we have anything up to a dozen, rarely less than six, and with fifteen names on the role... or growth by a  factor of around 7 (or around 600% more than we started with).

Our Non-Active (mostly elderly and housebound) and Friends lists add as many again as the Active and Children's lists... if everyone arrived at once (which won't happen) we would be nearly 80; Sunday-by-Sunday we are around 40-50, which moves us to the 'large' end of 'small' churches.

As I reflect on almost three years, I feel that we have, together, done a good work, that from small-small we are, at last practically speaking, large-small, with a lower average age, greater demographic diversity and new faces emerging among those who take on leadership roles.  It's not about numbers, it's never about numbers - but even so, the numbers are encouraging (and the spreadsheet is complete!)  

It's now May, so I officially start walking my 100 miles from Breast Cancer Now.  Having (foolishly) linked my Fit-bit to Just Giving, the webpage claims I do very slow strolls at less than 2 miles an hour, whilst also recording me walking three miles in fifty minutes and other equally daft things!  The step count is more reliable (maybe...)  Ah well, it's all in a good cause.

Should you feel moved to sponsor me, the link is here: link