At various times I have posted photos of the demise of the 'Dibley' Baptist Church building.  This scanned photo (albeit a bit skew-whiff) gives a hint of the inside as it was before we gutted it.  Superficially it looked lovely - a bright sunny sanctuary well loved by the members.  Who would have imagined when I arrived on 1st January 2004 that within six years 'not a single stone would be left standing'?

Who could have believed Jesus when he said the same of the Temple c. AD 30?

Jesus Christ, stone rejected by the builders, cornerstone, capstone, true-point for our own building, show us where our trust should lie.

So, here I am drinking tea in a little chapel in Wales whilst walking Offa's Dyke in 2008.  The members supplied a kettle, bottles of water (no on-tap supply here) and drink making facilities; there was a box for donations and a few cards for sale.

When Jesus entered the Temple the sight of buying and selling must have been a familiar one, something he had observed regularly for three decades, but on this occasion, humanly speaking, he snapped.  As coins scattered, pigeons fluttered and sheep ran amok, who could possibly have found stillness to pray?

As I drank tea in the stillness of Welsh chapel, was I somehow at prayer?  I like to think I was.

Angry Christ, furious at the things which separate us from God, overturn the tables of our hearts, our 'sacred cows', our barriers to prayer, and disturb our complacency.

When I was training for ministry, I spent a year working with a Roman Catholic priest in Swinton (Salford Diocese).

On Palm Sunday we gathered outside the Presbytery door and processed with our palm leaves into the church.

The photo was taken Palm Sunday 2001, which means the two children are now ~20 years old!

Where are they now?  What difference did Palm Sunday make for them?  What about us?

Jesus, lover of the young, who said that if they were silenced even the stones would speak, enliven our praises

This found its way to me via the head of ministries at BUS.... enjoy!

I have just been reading the Baptist Times report on the BUGB Council at which the thorny topic of women in ministry, even in leadership, was discussed.  There is a lovely, one sentence, paragraph (reformatted here for effect) which somehow says it all whilst saying very little...

Obviously, the reasons why

women are less likely to sense a call to ministry or be encouraged to pursue it,

find it harder to settle in churches when they have concluded their training,

tend to minister in smaller churches or as junior team partenrs in larger ones,

are under-represented in senior roles across the board,

and almost all have stories to tell abour being sidelined, denigrated or insulted,

are very varied.

Mark Woods, Baptist Times March 26 2010 p.8

Obviously!

Scary isn't at, almost a century after Violet Hedger held a pastorate in Derby.

Scary when we have almost a century of being blessed by women holding pastoral responsibility, planting churches, training our men ministers (!), etc.

Scary that 'almost all' tell such tales.

So, what can be done the article asks... not a lot seems the loud reply, lest we appear heavy-handed or limit the independence of local congregations.

What is truly sad, for me, is that we don't hear of the majority of male ministers who are so incredibly supportive and encouraging of/to us girlies.  My own story bears witness to support of my college tutors (mostly men), Regional Ministers (predominantly men), peers (at least half of whom are men) and ordinary members of ordinary churches.  To them especially, I'd like to say 'thank you.'

Of course people must be free to disagree, and I have deep respect for some individuals I know who oppose the ordination of women, but overall as a tradition that proudly boasts how long it's been ordaining women, BUGB really 'must try harder' (something I can say now I'm BUS accredited, and on so-doing boosted their percentage significantly!)