Last night "thing in a pub" (it does have a real name, I just disguise it to protect all parties) had a speaker from Christians in Science who was truly excellent.  My only disappointment, an ongoing one, was that the publicity had been loused up and that no one brought anyone along.  That said, there were nine of us plus a couple of eavesdroppers.

His main theme was Richard Dawkins' writings which he handled with repsect and sensible critique, as he did the various responses to them.  His main thesis seemed to be that Dawkins' book is unscientific in its approach; Dawkins' views may, at least in part, be correct but they are not supported from evidence - if an undergraduate submitted the book as their dissertation they'd be given it back with a poor mark!

When we got to the open forum, it was telling that the only person who really engaged was the person most on the fringe of the church, and her question was about evolution and how because we haven't found the missing link it must be wrong.  Theistic evolution, it seems, is more something that ministers know about, than people in the pew.

I asked him what he thought the current issues were for the science/faith interface.  He felt there were three: -

• The Dawkins-based type of debate - which can be stereotyped as religion in evil, science is good
• Conservation and 'creation care' vs a kind of 'the quicker we wear out the planet the sooner Christ returns' approach (scary!)
• Medical ethics, especially in relation to genetics and stem cell research, embryo research and questions of when life begins.

Our speaker was a man of deep faith, attends both Methodist and FIEC churches and preaches in the former.  A zoologist by training, he teaches both science and RE in secondary schools.  He was deeply respectful of other faiths, and none, willing to engage with people of any persuasion in honest debate.  I, for one, enjoyed and was entriched by the event.

Sounds like a good organisation to direct any scientists/technologists/engineers towards, and I get the impression that all hues of Christians would be welcomed and respected - plus they attract top speakers to their conferences from both theology and science.

Next month we are doing 'Sing Christmas' with Radio Leicester and hoping to match last year's 50+ folk.

Matt 10:34 "I did not come to bring peace but a sword." (NIV)

I am contemplating using this (in its slightly wider context) as part of my Remembrance Sunday sermon.

One commentator, offering a reasoned interpretation suggests it means, roughly, in my paraphrase, "my coming is not the beginning of the reign of peace, that's still in the future, rather my role is like that of a sword, cleaving flesh from bone."  Well, OK, but I'm not quite sure how that gets me any further on.

Any thoughts?  (Greek words allowed if you explain them - not everyone who calls by reads Greek or has a lexicon to help them; Hebrew I don't understand at all so if you use that I'll definitely need help)

Every once in a while, my mother would become exasperated at her four children becoming incredibly noisy and announce in her best Glasgwegian accent 'desist!'  I wish she'd been with me tonight, at the local Christian jamboree because after half an hour of singing getting louder and louder and showing no sign of abating, I sure felt like shouting it!  In fact, if I'm honest, I felt God was probably saying it but the noise was so loud that hardly anyone could hear.  Psalm 46:10 - desist!  I AM God.  Mark 4: 29 - shush, cease, desist.

As time passes, I get more and more confused about the applause that follows songs and hymns - who or what is being applauded?  Not sure it's actually God.  Desist!

Also, I'm finding more and more that music is led by musicians, even professional musicians, who have as much liturgical sympathy as a brick through a window.  How Great Thou Art is for me a song sung fairly quietly, marvelling at God's creation... tonight with a heavy rock beat and syncopation beyond the norm it was belted out at max volume... Desist!

Reaching 20 years of age, this jamboree has done some stirling work, raising over £70k for Christian charities along the way.  It seems to remain fairly popular (though attendance was notably down this year) and I know that for many people it is something very special.  It is all too easy to criticise something jsut because it doesn't tick the boxes for me. 

Just that tonight it seemed to me God was saying 'desist' - stop all the noise and listen to me.  1 Kings 19:12 'after the fire, the sound of sheer silence.'

Once again it is the "what shall I do for Remembrance Sunday" time of year.  Looking back over the stuff for the last couple of years, and having had one or two requests for more info about stuff I've used, I have cobbled together a PDF file of the last two, which people are welcome to use or adapt.  I do not claim to have acknowledged all the sources, and you won't find prayers of intercession because in my church these are led by folk on the rota.  What you will find is a couple of attempts to do something a bit creative.    The down side is you get my 'reflections' (complete with typos)

 I've also included part of a PowerPoint from last year (which still has our CCLI number included) of some photos I set to run automatically while a CD played in the background - I used the Barber Adagio for Strings, but plenty of other things would be suitable too; it would be a small matter to edit the embedded music hyperlink thingy.  Again, sources are not acknowledged, so please don't sue me if I've breached some long forgotten copyright.

In return, does anyone have anything that I could pinch?

services

mini remembrance.ppt

Today I met with a few other female ministers, and female para-churchworkers living and working in and around Dibley.  It is a very 'ad hoc' grouping, meeting when we happen to be able to get enough of us together and is slowly evolving into a tea-shop gathering (all very good Baptist stuff, coffee houses were where they met to work out their theology in the early days).  'Vicars in Knickers' (VIKs), also known as 'Girlies' is a place where we talk about church life, try not to whinge too much, and end up swapping funeral horror stories.  This week I managed to trump my own 'the coffin got stuck' with 'the hearse got stuck' (It did, yesterday, and I had to go the front of the crem chapel and ask if the owner of vehicle registration blah blah blah could possibly move it as it was causing an obstruction...).

Today we were pondering what it is that women bring into ministry that is 'good' and what is 'good' rather than bad about being a woman minister.  We commented that our approach to preaching is (possibly) different from that of men - though that may be as much about personalities and preferences in style (are those gendered?  Discuss!).  Then one of the VIKs started to share how a recent sermon had been very personal for her, as she reflected on Acts 21 and her desire to take her congregation onwards when people advised caution.  It was one of those odd moments when you know beyond a shadow of doubt that God is talking to you - and I now need to spend some time reflecting seriously not on what she had been preaching, but on what that passage is saying to me. 

Posting this in cyberspace is slightly risky, but I feel that if I post it, I might actually spend time working with what God is saying to me, rather than simply ploughing on regardless.