... for the rest of the week

Off shortly to St Andrews to spend three days with a lot of Baptist ministers.  Much catching up, much chatting, lots of listening to talks, some notetaking and hopefully a bit of free time too.

Then a swift turn around to dump the luggage, repack with less and head back to Perth ready for the Pink Ribbon Walk on Saturday... weather forecast still not very favourable so it might end up as head down and yomp!  Stll, I did get my back signs printed and laminated yesterday, so I'm just about sorted.

This photo looks all nice and civilised!  We had a fun morning (or at least I did!) not least when I opened my 'bottled Holy Spirit' (diet lemonade) and it sprayed everywhere!!

By the end of the service we had a wonderful bowl of fruit salad combining the characterstics of the fruit of the spirit, a sticky floor, a heap of peel and pips, and lots of happy faces.

All in all a good morning's work - and I am now suitably wabbit!

...and it's chucking it down with rain.  No thunder and lightening here but very wet - arks may be being built even as I 'speak'.  Final preparations for tomorrow's Pentecost service are just about there, and thankfully it won't matter what the weather does as it's all indoors.  But I have to admit to a little bit of disappointment, in my mind's eye Pentecost should be bright and sunny, characterised by joy and happiness, however fleeting, a sense that all is well and all will be well.

So what was it actually like, the day before Pentecost?  Somewhere between a dozen and 120 people gathered in the safety of a house or room, waiting and wondering just when this promised paraclete might show up... how long it would be before the great consumation... It was just another day in Jerusalem, the season of a minor festival for sure, and lots of tourists and visitors arriving.  Maybe it rained, maybe it was stormy.... who knows?

It all put me in mind of this Abba song(!):

Maybe there's something to take from this expression of the shift that arises from a new human relationship... the 'before' is forgotten, even though its form can be reconstructed from memory.  After Pentecost no-one was concerned with the day before, what mattered was the days ahead...

... or in this case an adult, or maybe it was a child, given that my Dad subjected us to years of long walks after tea and probably set me on the path (!) to walking for pleasure (contra my sibs who all seem to hate it)

Anyhow, today in brilliant sunshine and with a light pack, I yomped just shy of ten miles at just under 16 minutes a mile, so I think I can declare myself to be well and truly trained up.  I think my total distance walked this week (including to/from work) is about 50 miles, so I am feeling quite chuffed with myself.  Now I just need to work out a 'tick over' walk to do at St Andrews when I'm at the ministers' conference next week...

This week as I have prepared for our Pentecost service I have had a lot of fun, but struggled with the middle reflection of the three, partly because of the incredible diversity of people in the congregation and my, sometimes stifling, fear to offend and desire to be liked!  I wrote something yesterday but woke up today sure it wasn't right, not because it was wrong, but because it detracted from what I wanted/needed/was led (you decide) to say.  But what to do with it?  After much rumination I've decided to post it here, one step removed from reality, one step away from those who might poo-poo the charismatic/supernatural angle, one step away from those who feel that the trajectory BUGB is following is too slow/fast/inadequate/incorrect.  This is my blog, these are my views, no-one else carries any responsibility for them and, whilst I hope this does not offend, it is what it is.

So, with a few annotations and emendations, here's what I wrote:

In 2013 the BUGB/BMS Assembly met in Blackpool and devoted a significant period of time to small group discussions on the topic of human sexuality and, specifically, in the light of changing legislation, how churches might wish to engage with the topic and to respond in practice.  It was a good conversation, characterised by generosity and grace, and as the chair person summed up what had been sensed by the ‘listeners’ as the mood of the gathering, a pigeon (a rock dove) overflew the auditorium.  Some, myself, among them, wondered, was this a sign?  Was this a manifestation of God’s Spirit?  Or was it coincidence, a pigeon nesting in the roof had just flown by at that moment. [I wrote about this at the time here]

A year went by and I forgot all about this moment.  At the 2014 Assembly someone read out a statement from BUGB on “where we are up to” on the topic which, significantly included this:

 As a union of churches in covenant together we will respect the differences on this issue which both enrich us and potentially could divide as we seek to live in fellowship under the direction of our Declaration of Principle ‘That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His Laws.’
 
Upholding the liberty of a local church to determine its own mind on this matter, in accordance with our Declaration of Principle, we also recognise the freedom of a minister to respond to the wishes of their church, where their conscience permits, without breach of disciplinary guidelines.

[I wrote about, and linked to the BUGB website, on this here]

For BUGB accredited ministers this is huge – pastorally and professionally, removing the fear of loss of employment, home and pension for saying or doing something that breached the rules for accreditation.  For some it is a step too far for others it is nowhere near far enough.  But it is part of a new understanding, a new way of being…

[this next bit wasn't in the sermonette but is part of the story, so I've written it initalics]

Last Sunday I was handed a copy of the new edition of the church magazine, its cover resplendent with a striking piece of artwork depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove:

(original artwork Celtic Flame (c) John Stuart)

As I admired the cover suddenly my mind was flooded with remembrance of the pigeon overflying the Assembly and the (to me anyway) significant shift that had occurred in the year following that... I felt, well, how did I feel?  Kind of shuddery as if something 'highly spooky' was afoot; kind of 'wow' as if I was privy to something special, kind of dumb-struck and nearly tearful and awe-filled and, well I dunno, feelings are not my strong suit to describe but there was a real 'a-ha' or 'hmmm' moment, perhaps a pentecostal/charismatic/spiritual experience...

and yes, if only retrospectively, I think I am convinced that the pigeon, the dove, in Blackpool was God’s Spirit manifest in physical form.  And if that makes me a bit bonkers so be it.  And if that makes me an irredeemable heretic so be that too.

So there you have it.  I can't prove it was God's spirit.  I can't demonstrate or reproduce any of it.  But as far as I'm concerned it was real ... All of which means that, to quote the old adage, I must be mad or bad or it was, afterall, God.