This morning was the second of our services that emerged from the work of the Safeguarding Team, and explored, necessarily briefly, the challenging topic of forgiveness in relation to Safeguarding.  I was very grateful for the BUGB Level 3 participants' course notes to ensure that what I said cohered with the expectations.

We had two Bible readings... most of Psalm 51 and a chunk from Matthew 18...

We began with some photos and stories from this week's news: Axel Rudakubana, the man sentenced to life in prison for the Southport murders; Pamela Hemphill, the women who declined a pardon from Donald Trump for her part in the capitol riots; Bishop Marion Butte, who preached at an interfaith service for unity; Martin Luther King, who was recently commemorated; and an anti-racist Jewish group excluded from Holocaust Memorial Day events this week. 

The purpose of the stories was to prompt initial thoughts about the complexity of what forgiveness (and alongside that confession, repentance, redemption) means, and I think, overall, it was successful.

After sharing some insights from BUGB and MOSAC we turned our attention to King David.  I asked people to share words that came to mind when they thought of him, and those offered were:

• shepherd
• harpist/musician
• part of Jesus' family tree
• man of God
• Goliath (who he defeated)

I then offered some additional words from the wider story...

• womaniser
• adulterer (some might argue, rapist)
• murderer
• liar
• man of war/violence (this from God as to why he wasn't allowed to build a Temple)

We briefly explored some of the consequences of David's actions before exploring his confession and repentance. 

I pointed out that had David been part of our Church, he would have needed to step down from any leadership roles, and, if Bathsheba or any member of Uriah's family had been in the church, he'd have had to leave, and that we'd have needed to ensure he had a 'contract' in place wherever he went next.

Lastly, we turned to Matthew 18 and the words of Jesus to 'treat such a persons as you would a tax-collector' which I illustrated with a painting of Zaccheus in the tree, and left the question 'how did Jesus treat tax-collectors?'

I am sure this was not my finest ever sermon, it necessarily skimmed over a lot of ground, but it seemed to hold together some important truths about confession, repentance and forgiveness.  Noting, finally, that forgiveness is an incredibly complex process that is never going to be a quick fix, and may not always be possible in this life.

For our post sermon hymn, there was only one possibility, as far as I was concerned, and we sang of the God whose mercy is beyond anything we can understand or imagine...

There's a wideness in God's mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than in God's heaven:
there is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgement given.

For the love of God is broader
than the grasp of mortal mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,
we would take him at his word;
and our lives be filled with glory
from the glory of the Lord.

Frederick William Faber (1814-1863

The outcomes from Project Violet continue to unfold, and over at the BUGB/Baptists Together website there is an increasing number of resources.  Among them is this one, for use within churches.

In a few weeks the Symposium website will be made public, and a gently tweaked version of my paper will be available to read, along with an original composition for bagpipes or fiddle...

Hard to beat a good bit of psalm-inspired liturgy imo!

Last night I was back in a hotel for church for the first time since I moved south.  It made me surprisingly happy to be back in a place where the congregation had to set up and clear up week by week, where hotel dodgy coffee was as good as it got, and where a really tiny congregation meet together week by week (I know how much hotel room hire costs, and this was one very tiny congregation who somehow or other, in faith, pay for it).

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an opportunity to cross our denominational and theological boundaries and celebrate what we have in common... last night we may only have been 15 people (that made me sad) but we represented Baptist, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Quaker, Independent Evangelical, and Pentecostal expressions of Christianity (that made me very happy).

The tiny little church (apparently they regularly get around seven people... yes, seven, including the pastor and spouse) were so welcoming, inclusive and friendly, and at the same time so utterly true to their own understanding of following Jesus, that it made me proud to part of this strange thing called the 'Big C' Church.  

PS, it makes me chuckle that this hotel is called the 'Belvilla City Centre Railway Town' when it's right on the edge of a comparatively small town, so there are at least two inaccuracies in the name.

Another good, if very full, and very thought-provoking day (and still a session to go!).  There have been less stories (though still some) and more reports on practice, process and academic analysis.  My brain is a bit fried!

Anyway, the above screenshot resonated, and seemed a great sermon title for an ordination, as did this one, which echoes advice given to me... 'don't consider going into ministry unless you are sure you can do none other...':

I am hugely grateful to the organisers for what has been a tremendous couple of days.  So much to mull over, and so much to be thankful for.

Many years ago, someone gifted me this tee-shirt at a time when my confidence and self-esteem were both low.  At a ministers' conference in Scotland, it was deemed offensive.  Today I am wearing it at on online symposium, where it is one of the touchstones for my paper.

Thank you W & G who gifted me this joyful and encouraging garment way back in 2011 (I get my money's worth out of my clothes!).