How will we pray this week?

It seems to me that so often people regard prayer as an opportunity to tell God what they want!

For many, prayer is the opportunity to return to the childhood days - when you wanted something, all we needed to do was . . .

Climb on his knee and tell Him what we wanted!

And for so many of us, this is the model of prayer we've adopted and used in our Christian lives.

The question has to be: How will you pray this week?

God knows our needs before we even ask. We pray to remind ourselves how important people and things are, not to tell God what we want Him to do.

Perhaps, for many of us, having lost sight of this can best be explained by this . . .

There are others of us who will be totally bound up in the formulaic ACTS - a great thing to teach people to pray, moving past the 'gimme, gimme.gimme' praying. But so often ACTS is the end point, not the starting point - so if that's what we think prayer is, then we need to grow our prayer life a bit more.

And of course there's that prayer we ought to be saying every day:

Let's try to pray for people and things in a different, more engaged, less demanding way this week and perhaps, where we can be the answer - we will determine to be the answer!

A whole day of funerals Reflected

Today was a 'funeral day' - got up and said my Office at about 03:50 because I knew it was going to be an long, interesting and potentially challenging day but in the end there was none of the possible issues and bumps in the road - just joy!

Service sorted I arrived at the venue with just over an hour to spare to ensure that all was going to plan; and it was. Even had time for a brew :-) There were a significant number of mourners (always a blessing for the bereaved) and the service flowed just as it should. Those who spoke brought an added mark of respect and their exhibition of love and courage provided, as ever, an amazing epitaph to the person whose life we were celebrating.

The timing was such that we were at the crem' with (once more) time to spare and the time spent afterwards with the family was varied and covering the life of the deceased, the family, and an apologetic encounter - what more can you ask for?

Then onto a funeral visit and another chance to meet the deceased through the eyes, and lives, of the bereaved: A privileged position indeed. Conversation engaged, stories unfolded, and love made evident - this is the dream made real for the funeral enthusiast (and shouldn't all clergy wear that badge). It was my idea of heaven: No fighting to draw out stories and no rancour or bitterness, just people allowing the deceased to pop in and tell their life story.

Then back home to find that I'd been out of the house for just over seven and a half hours - and there was still work to be done in writing up the notes and putting the arrangements together, editing some of the music for the next service and the like. A day of different pastoral encounter - and it's easy to forget that with the pressing needs of the mentally ill, the confused, concerned and contained all sitting at the doorstep waiting to be dealt with; and yet as much as I seek to stretch time (think it drives those around me a bit mad to be honest) with fourteen hours on the time card I clocked off and unwound a bit.

Well unwind is perhaps the wrong word as it took me into a football game where my side were two goals down at half time - an opportunity to behave as a man of god rather than the fanatical supporter who would have necessitated the kids being ushered elsewhere not all that many years ago. By midnight though it was Mariokart with the family - yep, as usual managed to come in at the back of the pack - but it was fun and I'm getting the hang of it at last - just as it goes back to university with our son!

It's tough being a gobby, passionate, full on type - the opportunity to conceal Jesus behind the energy and the ideas and the enthusiasm is always in danger of being taken up such that the still small voice is ignored. Engaging in the wind of passion and the earthquakes of dissent is so simple - it's what we do in the flesh life of ours - but to stop and to reflect and pray and assess and call the boss with a sitrep and just 'wait out' until the Chinnook of Grace is heard in the distance and the realisation that salvation is at hand - that's my gradual experience and my fervent (yet gentle) prayer.

Lord help me to not be or do in my own strength but yours. To stop and pray when I'd rather run and fight, to consider and reach out in love rather than fix bayonets and address the wrongs such that I end up sinning too. Make me a man of God rather than a child of the company I work for.

And the bereaved?

May they be blessed by the ministry I bring and may you be the blessing they encounter, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Balancing the books - Mixed Economy Church

Over the weekend I found myself engaged in a number of conversations, all of which ended up on one of two issues: Leadership and money - two areas where, if what I heard was true (and I have no doubt it was an accurate portrayal), the Church is lacking!

When Rowan Williams introduced the term 'Mixed Economy' - that wonderful world where Church (established and new) stood side by side as ONE:

The vision was a bunch of believers who saw each other as family; a source of celebration and collaboration: The reality is (for many) something quite different.

The intention was that new communities of believers (AKA 'church') created by those who otherwise would not be 'doing Church' coming into relationship with Christ in new, vibrant and accessible 'Fresh Expressions of Church'.

BUT (Yep, there it is, there's always one somewhere) the reality of the whole situation is (in my humble, perhaps naive and uniformed opinion) that, reminiscent of that when Saddam Hussein was removed from power, the next step hasn't been properly thought through and this is where the problems are beginning to bite.

The problem is that many of these Fresh Expressions (FE) have come into being and when the celebrations stop and the fireworks are but distant memories we find ourselves facing a few real, and yet not show-stopping (but potentially fatal) issues unless we stop, draw breath, and work out how we might make it all work. To do this we need to deal with expectations, assumptions and what prudent management really looks like - and here's my thinking on it:

'Bringing them to church' Four little words that highlight much of the discontent that exists within the traditional churches where a Fresh Expression has been established. The problem is that the idea of a Fresh Expression is to create a new fellowship not 'bring them back' (a rather silly expression that reflects on what never was regarding a people who have never been Church) and so many in PCCs are wondering why they spend money on something that doesn't add numbers to their local expression of Church. This is perhaps best seen in the area of Messy Church - for far too many (including clergy) are really seeing this as Messy Evangelism, a means of bringing them in to our church congregation - the key is in the word 'church' for it implies that those who become part of the Messy thing will form a new congregation. Now this might be in the same building but it's not, as a colleague said, "An introduction to the building and some of the people in it so that they get comfortable and transfer across to the proper services,"  but the establishment of a new expression of Church that celebrates diversity and sees a peer, not a child (and how often do we use the term 'church plant' or 'daughter church' as a  statement of superiority and as a possessive? and the growth of the Body of Christ.

This frustration finds its voice in the minutes of a friends Church Council meeting, "We keep paying the bills for the phone box plant* and yet we see no benefits for us here at St Bogsplats* so why should we keep paying when we have our own challenges and needs?" What many see is a modified heading 'Bringing them back to our church' and this thought leads us nicely on to the next area.

Finances
Perhaps the biggest threat to the whole mixed economy model is the reality that many traditional churches are struggling (which is why Fresh Expressions came into being) in terms of attendance and finances. Now, when money gets tight PCCs seek to conserve spending and this means that some Fresh Expressions are finding their support cut or even stopped. Change the lens on the microscope to focus at the diocesan level and you'll find that the same is true again; many diocesan Treasurers are also struggling and so, in order to pay their bills, expenditure is reduced and Fresh Expressions (and other areas) are finding themselves with less (or no) financial support. This means that some are finding themselves without a 'paid for' leader, a situation which although very New Testament is also interpreted as abandonment by those within the FE and as prudent by those on the corridors of power.

The Poor old Bishop is faced with more going out than coming in and so, Micawber like, looks at the budget and opts for the path of institutional happiness rather than misery. The problem is that, as sad as it is, the cutting (or removal) of funding for an emerging church that meets in a pub is a simpler and less visible (and therefore contentious) option than that of removing the dogcollar from St Bogsplats,  merging benefices or closing churches.

Prudent (Biblical) Financial Management
I am a firm supporter of the practice of getting people to pay for whatever it is that is being launched as a Fresh Expression. I think it is right for Church (at all levels) to 'cast its bread on the water' - to be generous in funding the start up needs of a group such that capital costs are met and to fund the minister for a set period - because this is what we're called to do in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is a call to prudence and a stand against inactivity; a call to do something that will, in the end, bring rewards that other will consider 'lucky'!

Once the initial costs are met there needs to be a sliding scale of support as the new church begins to take upon itself the running costs (which includes some contribution towards the Parish Share/Common Purse payments from the start). It looks a bit like this:

It is important that we don't give birth to new communities that are parasitic in that the expectation that they can do the stuff at the expense of others and yet I have met many who complain that they have been 'dumped' by the funding agency (church, diocese or other body) because funding has stopped without any warning, something that has resulted in:

+ Disenfranchisement from the body who used to fund them

+ People leaving the plant because they felt unloved and 'done to'

+ Negative perceptions of the Church as greedy, uncaring and money-grabbing hypocrites

+ All involved being rendered bitter, broken and impotent as a result of being associated with failure

The reality is that we (local church, diocese and Archbishop's Council) need to be planting and funding things that expand the Kingdom of God in a balanced and business-like manner.

We need to have plans in place with financial and spiritual models (that's why the Mission Action Planning (MAP) is so very important) considered and firmed up.

We need to understand that every plan looks great until the enemy is engaged and then lines, goals and plans of action need to be revised and changes implemented - and that this is not failure but proper and prudent behaviour.

We need to realise that prayer is not reserved for the times when it's all going wrong - it's the action we need to have at the beginning and at every step along the way - it's the covering fire and the means by which we advance.

And so, twenty-five minutes into this splurge, I leave you with some food for thought and my brain slightly quite as I rush off to do visits, funeral stuff and engage with wonderful people on the way through today.

This is not a subject that is finished I'm sure (and we never got anywhere near the leadership issue, did we?)

Pax

PRAYING - PLANNING - PAYING - PRAISING - PROCLAIMING - PROSPERING

*Apologies to any FE that is a plant in a 'phone box and if there is a St Bogsplats :-)

General Synod - Please Pray

For those of you who are praying types (for which this should read 'everyone') please pray for those who will be debating and making decisions that affect the Church of England and it's policies and public ministry.

Here's a little help if you're stuck for something to pray:

Use Words

This Pentecost the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling on the Church to pray for those who have not yet encountered the love of God in Jesus Christ. They are calling on us to:

USE WORDS           (click on link)

It's a great initiative because so many people tell me how concerned they are about new people coming and yet they are rarely seen acting upon this concern. Some will tell me how they just can't share their faith and get all wound up with self-condemnation and guilt. The response to this is always that the most important thing is the desire to see people come to faith and see this combined with intelligent, persistent prayer.

So I can't tell you just how pleased and excited I am that the 'Use Words' initiative has hit my screen especially because (and I quote):


The word ‘evangelism’ means sharing good news.

For Christians, it means sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ – what he has done for us, and what he continues to do in our lives.

What does that mean in practice? 

It means introducing the people around us to Jesus. We do this by how we live our lives and how we relate to one another. But we can also do it by how we express our faith in conversation.

Jesus did all of this so well, and he invites us to share the gospel not just in actions but in words too.

The website (http://www.usewords.org/) has been created to help Christians find those words.  It’s being launched with a call to prayer for evangelism by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York – please find out more and think about joining us.

But this is not a one-off, or a campaign, or a PR stunt.

It’s about praying continually that more and more people will become followers of Jesus Christ – and asking God to work among us to bring about this transformation in other people’s lives. If you’ve never prayed for evangelism before, there are so many ways you can.

Whether you’re praying alone, with a small group of friends, or with your whole church, you’ll find prayers for asking God to bring the knowledge and reality of Jesus Christ to all kinds of people.

How amazingly cool is this?

According to many* around me, St Francis' of Assisi told us to go and evangelise - using words if necessary, and whilst I have tried to live by this principle words I am aware that many around me have taken them to be an excuse for silence rather than as a spur for less words and more action. Hopefully and actively engaged AND praying Church will come out of this exciting move from the blokes at the top of the tree.

Pax

* he never did by the way!

A verbal mural of the things people say

Ever wondered what Church is all about?
What the label 'Christian' means?
Why we go to church on Sunday?

Or better still . . .

Why we don't go to church on Sunday?

Is Sunday there to serve us, or us it?

Do we have to go to church?
Should we have to go to church?
After all, if you're Christian, surely that's enough.

I can listen to 'Songs of Praise'
I can read the Bible for myself
I can pray on my own
of course I don't do any of those things
but I could!
If I wanted to
I just don't want to!

Why doesn't the Church do more in the community?
I can't understand this
After all there are so many needs
So why doesn't the Church act to meet them?

Of course I'm not going to get out there and do it with you
I'm just pointing out what needs to be done
I wasn't saying I wanted to do it
It's not what I'm 'called' to do
(I think that's the proper term to be able to walk away from it)

Why do you expect me to give up my time when there's so little of it
There's the shops
and the Garden Centres
And you know how I love Merryhell
(or whatever cathedral to shopping I choose to attend)














And there's family
and Sunday lunch at the ...

Of course I'm a Christian

I'm just not a very good at it!

Pride, Sorrow and Prayer

As this morning we set off as a family to see off our eldest daughter as she embarks upon a TWAM (Youth With A Mission) 'Year For God' (YFG). The surprise when she came back from New Wine last year and told us she was thinking of taking a year out and doing 'something' was  increased when she decided that this was what it was going to be. But here we are, she's raised money towards it (about half) and been inoculated against most of the diseases I've heard of and has packed, re-packed and then packed again to get everything into her bergen and we are ready for the off.

Yesterday, as I looked at photographs of her steering the boat as a really tiny thing through to the latest images of a grown woman I couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow that our first born was to fly the nest. I know it had to happen some day, but surely fifty is a good age for that :-)

So here I sit thinking about the journey to Heathrow with the words of Psalm 121 banging in my head and resounding in my heart as the prayer I will be praying for her and those she works with:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you-the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

God on the Waterways

Having just completed a couple of weeks on the inland waterways and found myself even more impressed than I was before with the early Victorian motorway system that is the British canal system (Spaghetti junction is nothing when you realise you're on a mainline relief canal or going over, and under, other canals in the same way that motorways do these days). The engineering, the brickwork and the toll houses and other industrial architecture all conspire to make for something that is in reality a national treasure.

Add to this the flora and fauna and you suddenly find yourself in incredibly urban and industrial settings with such a plethora of wildlife that you forget the locality and become lost in the immediate. The many Grey Heron that grace the banks and the blur of iridescent blue as a kingfisher hurtles by combined with the Canada Geese and Magpies (were we really worried about them both all those years back?).

I've found in the waterways, standing on the back of the boat (no it's not a barge - it's a narrowboat ;-) ) steering and praying, thinking and enjoying being family - playing card games, listening to the children play guitar and the odd pint of black sheep and the like (weight stalled just above the  90kg mark, wonder why?), to be one of the most relaxing things ever. The recharging of batteries and the seeking confirmation of current directions and hints of new has been wonderful and yet I've missed the church family and am chomping at the bit to get prayer, study and opportunities engaged with and can't wait to be back.

And so it strikes me as I think of the encounters I have had this holiday to talk with people, hear their stories and see needs unmet (like the people, largely ignored, begging on the streets) which spur me on to think about how we might act how fortunate we are in this nation of ours. How privileged we are to have the relative wealth and opportunities, the social welfare system (which we need to fight for) and the many blessings that surround us.

So, as Sunday beckons I am drawn to the call for us to be salt and light - that none will be in the darkness and that we will bring flavour and benefit the world we inhabit.

Please pray for your community this morning (and every morning) - resolving to be the difference in it and to make it a better place because you can (regardless of faith or lack of it).

Living the Word - Changing the world

Pax

Holy Saturday - 'It's a day off then!'

Every tried explaining that after the eight services and stuff that demanded one's attention as the road to Calvary came to its conclusion that 'Holy Saturday' (AKA 'Easter Eve' or 'Black Saturday') is not 'a day off'.

When I tried to explain that Jesus is now in the tomb and so we, the Church, spend this as a day when little is done (outside of ministry to the sick and dying) because without the vision of hindsight I guess we're now all grieving the loss of the Teacher.

But Sunday's coming and that (just happening around the world) brings new life, new hope and the great news that Jesus, having taking sin's weapon (death) and having broken it (resurrection) had defeated sin and death and rendered it powerless.

Day off? No!

Just not doing much :-)

Waiting, watching, hoping, praying - just the usual :-)

Thought for the day (you gave us)

The sun is setting and I'm back behind the desk I left some ten hours ago reflecting upon the ministerial role and, like a good port, savouring the words, situations, experiences and people that have made the day:

• The person who has lost their partner and wonders how they will face the days ahead on their own.

• The struggle with cancer that is masked by attempts at a blasé attempt to appear that all is well.

• The news that we have lost six of our own and understanding the pain for those who serve with them; The earth-shattering, life-changing despair of partners, family and friends; Confused at those who want us to cut and run and render 404 lives lost in vain.

• The old sweat who proudly tells me of their wartime experiences and proudly shows me a photograph of a grandson serving somewhere dusty and dangerous. The comfort of a prayer and the ignoring a wayward tear that escapes and betrays all that is within.

• A conversation with someone who patiently listens to my jumbled accounts of academic confusion, listens, contributes and ignores my membership of the british Albatross-shooting team!

• The sadness of being in a world where sympathy exists when it comes to diabetes and yet feels no compassion for those who experience the debilitating reality of being mentally-ill. How odd that both can be conquered by pills and life-style changes.

And so - the sun is setting and the high (and low) lights of the day have gone and they lead me to ask the question, "How have I made Christ known in what I have done today?"

If you read this:

Please pray for those whose stories appear.

Please pray for those who have lost loved ones today in conflict and those who have had loved ones taken away by illness and accident.

Please pray for families and marriage; For fidelity and dialogue rather than conflict.

Please pray for those who minister the Gospel that they might be faithful to their calling and honest in all their dealings.

Please pray for peace in a world ravaged and made cruel through hatred, greed and self-serving people.

For those who struggle with illness in their own bodies and in the bodies of those they know and love.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Pax

Council Prayers - Feeling Left Out?

I am in great danger of decking the very next person who asks me what I think of 'not being able to pray' anymore!

I think by pointing the bone at the Christian prayers the humanists have done the Christian cause an extremely good turn thanks to Mr Justice Ouseley's ruling that praying wasn't an infringement of another person's human rights but was misplaced within the terms of the Local Government Act (sect.111).

Leaving aside the people who are screaming about 'no longer being able to pray in this country' (and I've had more than enough emails calling me to act on those grounds) what we have is the situation whereby prayers can be said before a council meeting (and in fact, extrapolating this, any formal meeting) as long as it isn't made mandatory (i.e. which in the council setting was as it was the first item on the agenda.)

I have to laugh at the bleating humanists claiming they felt 'left out' or 'excluded' whilst people were saying prayers and felt 'marginalised and different' because some 'felt sorry for them' because they had no faith and how this meant their human rights were infringed!

I would defend the right of anyone to live dancing to their own tune and to die in the knowledge (and hope) that at its end what they'd had was all they were going to get. The problem is that those who hold those views would actively canvass to make sure that my right to pray and exercise my faith was denied me. To prevent me from being Christian in all that that means is surely an act against my human rights and yet this is secondary in the minds of some (no surprise there - chap on the this morning was only concerned with his 'humanist and secular' voice and 'his' rights against, over and above anyone (and everyone) else)!

So ladies and gentleman of faith, please make sure that no one you meet is in any doubt of:

a. the fact that you are a person of faith. This doesn't need to be a loud, in your face, proclamatory act that upsets those who strive so hard to have faith in no one and nothing, but you have no need to weaken, restrict or modify in any negative way what you believe - this is your human right (and more importantly, your calling).

b. the reality that we can pray when and where we like and, sensitivities of others noted and acted upon, those who wish not to be part can merely absent themselves.

c. we live in a world where, should the majority so decide, democracy is still supposed to be a virtue and a strength. As I understand it Bideford Council voted twice on the issue of prayers and decided to retain them but Mr Bone decided that his rights subverted the majority view. Civil liberties are at stake here but not in the way that some might like to promote them - seems many are more than just happy, but actually desire the presence and focus of God in their dealings!

Be proud, stand strong and remember that no one has stopped us praying in public places - after all we're not America are we? :-)

And their money says 'in God we trust' but it's against the law to pray in schools . . . . . (Larry Norman RIP)

When the going get rough

Regardless of what our calling is, we all have one and the greatest of these is our baptismal calling which having confirmed us as members of the Church calls us to reject rebellion against God and takes us into the world.

In the world we are called to tell, teach and make disciples.
In the home it calls us to be students of the Word and to be diligent (i.e. do it) in prayer. Everywhere we are called to be witnesses to the atoning power of Christ's blood and to live our new life.

Life is a variable and has many peaks and troughs, highs and lows. We all have times of darkness and despair and sunlight and joy; Easy water and wild water which hides rocks and hazards to the soul.

Being Christian is easy when we are living in the pluses but when the minus signs begin to accumulate we tend to cling to that which we know and sadly this is often the opposite of the 'Fruit of the Spirit' in Galatians five. Instead of the 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness' we find instead varying degrees of 'division, sadness, despair, impatience, cruelty (in word and deed) and wickedness'.

It seems that when the 'going gets tough' some stop coming,
Some start swearing, kicking and fighting,
Some open a bottle and look to a different spirit,
Some take their eyes off God and look to the world and its distractions,
Some crawl into their caves and refuse to come out.

People often tell me how 'lucky' I am that I am immune from the above options. Would that it was true for when we the going gets tough, we ALL have the potential to select one (or all) of the wrong options. Then I have to tell them that I try not to slip into one (or more) of the wrong choices and that I do this by:

Reading my Bible - Conversing with God (Prayer) - Selecting the right company (Yes, I try to avoid those who will make me worse when I'm wobbling) and keeping my mouth shut (always a tough task, but the potential to say the wrong thing in the wrong way or use the wrong words is something we all have).

And when they ask what I do when things are going well?

Reading my Bible - Conversing with God - Selecting the right company and keeping my mouth shut (still a tough task).

What about you?