A couple of weeks ago the loo at Dibley manse began to leak - not a pleasant experience, but after four days we finally got a plumber who fixed it.  The carpet (who in their right mind puts carpet in bathrooms?) was not exactly pleasant by this time, so the good people agreed to pay for it to be replaced with vinyl, and that I could redecorate the room (which was last done for my predecessor's predecessor).  The ceiling in said room was papered and in several places the paper was hanging down rather unattractively.  Before I opted to rip it off (which took under 2 minutes) I checked with the person who last decorated the room why he had papered it - evidently to hide some staining where the damp "used" to come in; the ceiling itself was, he assured me, sound.  Well, sound in so far as it didn't cave in on top of me, but it looks like a map of a drought parched river, with great cracks and an uneven surface, to say nothing of patches of copydex, superglue and goodness knows what where someone had tried to stick the paper back up.  The corner where the 'damp used to come in' was palpably wet...  Another call to the property team, I'll be so popular, I don't think!

But isn't it a parable of church life?  Or even personal discipleship?  The 'papering over the cracks' metaphor is widely used in many walks of life, and I guess Jesus' comment about whitewashed tombs is, in some ways, broadly similar.  I also wonder how much patching up we do with the wrong kind of glue, how much we cover up stains without dealing with what causes them, how easily our carefully constructed facades could be ripped down?

I have the paint etc all lined up to refresh this room, but first it needs the rot to be addressed.  All this takes time and is costly.  The quick fix is simply to re-paper the ceiling, and leave the problem for someone else to discover, something I concede may be the option we go for - I wonder how often we fall into the same trap in dicipleship and mission?  Building on sand or rock?

Tomorrow's plans to do some painting have now gone out of the window, but hopefully in the longer term it will prove worth the wait...

At our minister's conference we were told the news that Eddie Askew had died in hospital in Nottingham (one of our number is a hospital chaplain there).  His role in The Leprosy Mission and his paintings and meditations were recalled, then we prayed for his family.

The good people of Dibley, like many other Baptist churches, have faithfully supported TLM for many years, and will be saddened by this news.

Well done, good and faithful servant; rest in peace.

I'm sure you know the old, corny, joke about 'worry' which ends up with the line - and if you go to hell you'll be so busy shaking hands with your friends you won't have time to worry. It's a lousy theology of hell, but it came in handy over the last couple of days!  Not because they were hell or even hellish, but because, from some of what was said, it could be deduced many of us are booked in there...

Being on a conference planning team is a big responsiblilty, and I know how much thought and time people put into making it happen.  It is also quite tiring as you have to, at least to an extent, 'work' while you're there.  And, inevitably people share with you how they have found it.

Just before I left today, someone came to chat to me.  He told me he had found the event difficult, one speaker had been difficult to engage with, the other patronising.  Yet, he observed, 'this is my family' in a way that church is not - this disparate group of ministers formed for him a community where he felt loved and supported, and that was worth the struggle.

My own reflection is that many people found it a bruising event; whilst a few lapped up everything, each guest speaker managed to alienate and wound at least some of the delegates.  These wounded folk were incredibly gracious as they shared their feelings with me, assuring me that they did not blame or hold responsible those who had booked these speakers.  Yet, I know that some of them went home nursing bruises that will take some time to heal.

There were some good moments in the event - largely those led by our own folk.  Our retiring Regional Minister spoke with his customary humour and wisdom - a real reminder why he is so deeply loved and respected.  Our Missioner, approaching his own retirement spoke of the importance of mission - OK, his style is a tad prosaic, and I might see mission a bit more widely than he does, but he was 'bang on' in what he said.  Our BMS rep showed us some material on the Israel/Lebanon situation which was humbling and challenging as well as informative.  The only frustration was that the discussion groups he used only lasted 5 minutes.

The Quiet Room seems to have been well appreciated - and we had some helpful suggestions for ideas to enhance it further.  One of the things that struck me, as I was packing it up and bringing it home, was how the threads we had chosen for the 'foci' seemed to engage some of the needs of some those who used the room - a place to take their pain to God, to use psalms of lament or 'Prayers for Impossible Days' or to annoint themselves for healing or service.  Often I wonder about the depth of my spirituality (i.e. do I have any at all!) - that some people found a need met by this room, offered me some reassurance too.

The closing communion service was a very special part of the event - a tad sacramental for my taste, granted, but a space to make peace, find release and be encouraged to go out again.  The closing song of blessing was one of my favourites - and the words are below; I am uncertain of origin or copyright, apologies.  I first encountered this song on a CD I have of Dartmoor Prison Worship group/choir.  There is something incredibly profound about accepting this blessing, prayed over you by a lifer who after the recording will return to his cell...

Dartmoor Prison Worship Band

© Daybreak Music Ltd

May your life in this world be a happy one

May the sun be warm and may the skies be blue

May the storm that comes your way

Clear the air for a brighter day

May the saints and the saviour watch over you.

As you make your way through this old world of ours

As you see the beauty of the morning dew

As you smell the summer flowers; as you pass away the hours

May the saints and the saviour watch over you.

May your life in this world be a happy one…

(Instrumental bridge)

As you spend your life with friends and family

As you feel the warmth of love they have for you

As you see the wars and hate that others radiate

May the saints and the saviour watch over you.

So, may your life in this world be a happy one

May the sun be warm and may the skies be blue

May the storm that comes your way

Clear the air for a brighter day

May the saints and the saviour watch over you.

May your life in this world be a happy one…

... spoken in jest.  As stolen from the ASBO Jesus site...  Enjoy!  And thanks to Jon Birch for posting it in the first place -check out his site for more great cartoons, see sidebar.

I have just been playing that lovely 'hunt the hymn' game ready for the service a week on Sunday at which we will be rededicating and recomissioning those of our folk directly involved in outreach activities.  Naively, I decided to use the subject indexes in Mission Praise and Songs of Fellowship and the contents pages in Baptist Praise and Worship and (shock horror) Baptist Hymnbook to try to find things that fit the theme of mission.  Just as well as I had a few ideas up front - it's not a popular heading in newer books.

Mission Praise had an 'evangelism and mission' section in its thematic indexes which included some great mission hymns and songs; the dreaded green book has a section on 'witness and worldwide mission' - including a few treasures that have fallen from favour over the years.  The least bad heading in BPW was 'witnessing' and SOF has 'proclamation and evangelism,' though again, each of these include some superb material.  Only Common Ground has a thematic entry specifcially titled 'mission.'

What strikes me most is that categorising of hymns and songs seems to have shifted a lot in the last few decades to be very much centred on 'me and Jesus' (or even, in some cases, separate themed sections for 'me and God the Father', 'me and Jesus' and 'me and the Holy Spirit') - yes I know the grammar is bad, but I think it often so ego-centric that the bad grammar is the more honest ordering.  The work and purpose of the church has somehow got itself relegated to section D4 or some such.

It will be interesting to see how the next generation of hymn resources (I guess they may not be real, paper books by then) goes about categorising its songs and what that actually says about how the church sees itself.

In the meantime, it is looking as though it will be to golden oldies that I turn, such as this from the Overseas Mission Fellowship: -

Facing a task unfinished,

That drives us to our knees,

A need that, undiminished,

Rebukes our slothful ease.

We who rejoice to know Thee,

Renew before Thy throne

The solemn pledge we owe Thee,

To go and make Thee known.

...

O Father who sustained them,

O Spirit who inspired,

Saviour, whose love constrained them

To toil with zeal untired

From cowardice defend us,

From lethargy awake!

Forth on thine errands send us,

To labour for Thy sake.

Frank Houghton (c) Overseas Missionary Fellowship

And in case you want to use it, it is in Mission Praise Combined (and so, presumably, Complete with or without supplement)