The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 100 years old apparently.  This year I attended the most - apologies - monotonous and boring united service for this purpose I have been to in many a long year.  The ecumenism extended to the readings being done by myself and a retired Methodist, whilst the current Methodist preached and the vicar did everything else.  The service itself was incredibly wordy - printed liturgy at its worst - and the creativity and mutli-sensory activities we've used in the last four years were conspicuously absent.

Looking at it another way, ecumenism was lacking in terms of numerical representation - around half a dozen Methodists, half a dozen Anglicans (in their own building for goodness sake) and a couple of dozen Baptists.  That's sad too.  My people are starting to comment quite a lot - and rightly - that everywhere we go we out number the hosts.  What does that say about us and about others?

I'm not an advocate of organic union (i.e. one single church with one way of doing church organsiation) because I'm not convinced that at this point in history - if ever (I'm not convinced it existed in Bible times) - that is helpful or healthy.  But I am quite passionate about ecumenism, I do think that we honour Christ more in unity than division.

Overall, then, I am disappointed in today and not at all convinced we made any inroads in answering Christ's prayer of John 17.

In my capacity as almost tame risk assessor type person, I came across a useful document on fire risk issues for 'small and medium places of assembly' - which includes churches.  It is downloadable free - or you can buy a real copy for £12.  It's quite a big thing to plough through, but for all that it is in normal English, and has some pictures!

Should you want to check out, for example stuff around room occupancy, how many fire exits you need or how your chairs need to be fixed together, it is helpful.  Not worth losing sleep over, but at the same time helpful for those odd occasions when you need to cram people in (when I checked retrospectively the needs for our carol event last year I found it was compliant because it eventually becomes intuitive and is, at the end of the day, just good old common sense).

Anyway, if it is helpful take a visit here or, for other issues that might face you and your church check the main website here

Anyone who has read this stuff for any length of time will know that our church's children's club on a Friday has been a source of concern and frustration for about a year.  For quite a lot of the autumn term I gave up my Friday evenings to go as the 'parent' helper because the parents simply would not volunteer.  The children were incredibly badly behaved and discipline was a real problem at times.

Since Christmas one of the regular leaders has been unable to come along because of serious health problems, so I have been acting as No 2 leader, with one of my deacons taking on the 'parent helper' role.

Tonight we had thirteen children, and what could so easily have been a disastrous night with a fair amount of name calling and refusal to join in.  Then, after the drink break, I sat them down to make cards or write messages for the leader who is ill.  This was when it all felt worthwhile.  Every one of them industriously set about making something - cards, pictures, collages, poems - expressing their love and concern for the absent leader.  Sometimes last term they psuhed her almost to breaking point, and it was really touching to read in one of the messages "sorry for all the things we've put you through."

We are just beginning to have real conversations with the children, starting to do a few activities that allow us to build relationships rather than simply containing and channelling their energy.  I don't claim to understand boys - despite growing up with two brothers and always working in male dominated environments, virtually all my children's and youth work experience is with girls - and I am still learning that, as a rule of thumb, they need to loud and boistrous.  Yet one of the most beautiful sights tonight was to see one of the lads sit down, announce 'ooh colouring, I LOVE colouring' and create a super three-dimensional card with a 'boingy bit' and a kind-hearted message.

I think these children know how far they can push me, and I had to smile when I overheard one comment to another "it's a good job Catriona didn't hear you say THAT word" - nice to know I am still head dragon (my old GB Camp nickname) after all these years.

I really hope that more church folk will choose to get involved over the coming weeks or months, whatever it turns out to be, because for most of these children  this is the nearest they ever get to church.  I'd love to begin to introduce something more in the God-slot line, but it isn't yet the right time.  For all that, perhaps tonight, when for 15 minutes they thought about someone else and expressed love and gratitude for what they receive, they were closer to prayer than they - or I - realised.

A trusted, old friend is very special -someone who knows you really well yet still loves you; someone who you can rant and rave at, who takes it and then makes sense of what ever it was that wound you up in the first place...  Can books be old, trusted friends?  I'd like to think they can.

The book - or letter - of James is one my favouritest (most favourite) parts of the Bible, and I like to think it's an old friend.  It talks an awful lot of sense, has its own humour and if the traditional assertion that Jesus' kid brother wrote it is right, well then it must be pretty darned fine.  And, as it's a good friend, I got cross with it last night.

My Bible notes had just led me through a very disappointing exploration of Genesis 1-11 and I was really looking forward to spending some time with my old friend James.

Then he said this...

 

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

And I was not amused.  For some of my congregation life is frankly, 'pants' at the moment.  In fact, it is worse than 'pants' it is more like 'excrement' though they are showing remarkable decorum in how they deal with it.  "Consider it nothing but joy" my foot!  I certainly had a good rant about that one.

Calmly James waited, and then said,

 

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.  But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

It seemed as if he was saying, 'Catriona, this is pants, you are quite right, but what you need here is Godly wisdom, so ask for it, and trust that God will give it to you.'

Too often I have heard passages like this one used to bludgeon people whose prayers for healing or deliverance from trial appear to go unanswered, but that isn't what James says, he says we must trust when we ask for wisdom within the situation.  As I calmed down a bit, other verses surfaced in my mind, verses that speak of joy and sorrow, of God present in the hard places not lifting people out of them, of the kind of solid, sensible, real theology I associate with this trusted old friend.

To read what James says when life is going well is one thing, to read it when things get tough is another.  I'm not sure I'll ever view 'suffering' or 'trials' as 'nothing but pure joy' but the potential to grow in wisdom and grace within such circumstances is a helpful perspective.  I'm hoping we won't have another set to tonight, but then as a true friend, I guess James will just shrug and let me rant a bit...

(Or however one may choose to spell said foodstuff)

Shock horror!  Yesterday I ran out of porridge oats (I have some lovely jumbo ones for flapjack but they don't seem to 'work' for porridge) so nipped to the local convenience store to get some.  All they had was the Oat So Simple lazy person's variety aimed at microwaving your porridge - sacrilege!  However, there were instructions for proper stove-top cooking so I followed them and made a bowlful of just about passable porridge.

What fascinated me was the marketing that allows a firm to put 1/3 cup portions of porridge oats in sealed paper sachets and then put ten in a box and sell it for far more than a box of the identical oats would cost (check the ingredients list!) and then give different cooking instructions for the same stuff.  According to the Quaker Oats box, you add the oats to cold liquid, bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes (authentic Gorton porridge as made by my Glasgow trained mother!); according to the cheats porridge, you boil the milk, add the oats and simmer for 2 minutes.  Intruiguing.

Anyway, for the record, Gorton porridge is dead easy - one part oats, three parts liquid (water, milk or a mixture, to taste; I use skimmed milk), put in a pan, bring to the boil stirring all the time, simmer for 4-5 minutes and serve immediately.  I like it as it is, but you can add salt, sugar, golden syrup or milk, or anything else that appeals.

Now over to the real Scots for the finest porridge recipes... and of course a theology of porridge (and please no one quote that grace about cornflakes!).