40Acts 2016 - Day Seven ' All Ears '

It's tempting sometimes to make our conversations a tool for self-expression rather than genuine consideration for what the other person is saying. Remove interruptions and that natural inclination to queue up

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’ (Luke 8:8 NIV)

I love exploring places and writing about them and during the last two years some editors have graciously published my work in their magazines. I have visited some amazing places – mainly in East Anglia – and have met some amazing people. If I stop to listen I hear some wonderful stories and God has a way of setting up divine appointments.

In a country lane an elderly lady straightened up from her weeding and chatted over the hedge. She told me about her home and how it was once a pub called ‘The Bell’.

In Norwich market I met Malcolm Snelling, who has been selling fresh fish there for 55 years. He had some stories to tell! In a Norfolk town I even prayed with a retired butcher who had Parkinson's disease. People in my village also love to talk about their memories. There's Tom, who saw a German plane crash in a field on his farm. Later he found the pilot's brown leather shoes (they fitted him perfectly). There’s Margaret, with wispy white hair, who sang on stage with Val Doonican; and there's Eric, whose dad was a blacksmith and preacher who was buried with his Bible.

Closer to home, my mum told me how her grandfather trapped sparrows to feed his hungry family, and sometimes she talks of her beloved brother, killed by touching an unexploded bomb. There's a saying: when an old person dies a library burns to the ground. In fact, each of us has a unique story to tell if we’re given the time to tell it.

Jesus always had time for people. From the trembling woman who cautiously touched his clothes to the father desperately worried about his child. Nowhere in the Gospels does he ever say, 'I'm a bit busy at the moment.'

Whoever we are, whether young or old, we all long to be listened to. Let someone know that their words are valued today.

Today's blog was written by Angie Jones.
Find out more about her and support her chosen charity here.

To see today's challenge in full - Click HERE

This is my Son ...

Listen to Him!

These words from the transfiguration, and those when Jesus is baptised ("This is my Son in whom I am well pleased!") are two of the greatest statements I know when it comes to affirming Jesus.

The problem is that the people I meet, those who claim to be Christian that is, neatly seem to split into three main groups:

• Those who do listen to Him (Jesus) and, acknowledging Him as the Christ (His job title)the prayer, read their bibles and try to live as He would have us live (which means taking up our cross, denying ourselves and following Hiim - a topical thought being Lent).

• The next bunch might listen to Him but they also listen to every TV evangelist and every mega-preacher that's out there. When they consider the words of God to fall short (because of their own attitudes, lifestyles and  the like) they turn to whatever teacher they are following at the time and look to them, repeating the mantras and claiming their promises (rather than the those of God) in the hope that they will magically get them off their behindside and make the dross that is their life turn to gold. Their lives are beset by peaks and troughs and the muttering of, "I do, I do, I do believe in fairies!" OR whatever it is their current spiritual worthy has told them is true.

• The final group listen to God and to everyone around them with little use of Scripture or reason to temper things. They are tossed by every breeze of opinion and the only consistent thing about their faith is their inconsistency in this area. They wobble along and ask why God gives them such a tough life. Those who know them sigh (or snigger) behind their backs and mutter about them and their life, shaking their heads as another positive start, which is usually accompanied by some new mantra ('God wants you to claim ......; Everything you wants it yours all you need do is ..... ; Don't accept anything less than what you want - you deserve it!' ) appears.  These are the one's you avoid when out shopping.

Is it any wonder the Church gets such bad press?

The flakey people (not just the lunatics as Richard A Rowlands had it) are running the asylum and those watching from the safety of a fallen world see no consistency, little reason and even less opportunity for positive engagement - and so, the keep us (Christians and the collective Church) at arms length.

Many of us, those with dogcollars and pulpits, seem to have given up the fight to bring some consistency in their people, being taken up with the issues of parish share and numbers and the resolution of decline through the putting on of 'Worship Bands' and other crowd-pullers. I end up taking with more venue managers than pastors these days - more concern about footfall and being appealing than preaching the Gospel (sorry, but it is true of the small number who are still trying to 'draw people in').

Whatever happened to preaching and living the Gospel I wonder?

When did that stop working?

Pax

40Acts 2016 - Day Four ' 999

Today's act is incredibly practical and simple: find a need and meet it.  Now.

‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

(John 13:34–35 NIV)

Last year was a tough one for my family. In January 2015 my wife, Niki, was diagnosed with breast cancer and our life was turned upside down. We experienced a whole series of challenges as she faced surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. There were occasions when we cried together and other moments when we laughed. Throughout it all we found great support from family and friends. We knew that many folk were supporting us in prayer, but what was also really touching was the small practical ways in which people showed they cared. Some people sent cards and flowers. Others provided meals. We appreciated the occasional invites to go out to dinner in friends’ homes. Some people sent kind messages of encouragement to our daughter, who was living away at university in Nottingham.

We discovered that kindness is often an under-appreciated gift. And so-called ’random acts of kindness’, no matter how small, are always appreciated because they show that someone cares. In John 13:34–35 Jesus says, ’A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference. And sometimes it doesn’t have to be a practical gift. During a difficult period of Niki’s treatment one guy at church, who I didn’t know very well, took me to one side and told me the story of his mum’s struggle with cancer many years earlier. His empathy and kind words were really touching and reminded me that others understood our struggle.

So look out for those God-given opportunities to live out Jesus’ command. There’s no shortage of needs out there and today you might be the ‘emergency service’ someone needs.

Today's blog was written by Lloyd Cooke from Saltbox.

Find out more about them and support their chosen charity here.

For today's challenge in full - click HERE

Behind every piece of music ...

... there is often a memory and a meaning to be found lurking somewhere near.

This morning, which engaged in the delightful task of administration (yes, I do admin' thank you very much) I clicked on something and found the room filled with the sound of Mendelssohn's Violin concerto (E minor - Op.64).

Immediately I was taken back to the 15 year old me and my embryonic record collection - for this was the one of the first two pieces of 'classical' music I purchased. The  other being Myra Hess playing Jesu joy of man's desiring (BWV 147).

They say that the olfactory sense is our greatest organ of remembering, and this is perhaps true for recently I met a woman who wore Je Revien and was reminded of my mother; the smell of certain tobaccos reminds me of a grandfather who has been departed this life for over half a century.

We lay up for ourselves many memories. We treasure the good and are sometimes misshapen by the the bad but memory is a important thing indeed. We hope that people will forget those things which show us in a poor light, and it seems that all of us have some of these, and that our good bits shine through the dross that might be found. In this I find the words of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) Communion service  always hits home, for I am never untouched by the words:

'And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice,
yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service;
not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences,'

So here we are at the close of another year and I wonder what highs and lows spring to mind for each of us?

Too often I find myself surrounded by wish-filled people. You probably know some yourself - folk who wish they had done something (but never have); people who wish they hadn't done something (but usually have). The sadness is that some will never make that step to do, or stop doing, and will live lives limited by their sins of omission and commission: The 'what we have done and what we have failed to do' things.

As the year draws to an end, rather than make hollow promises and rarely kept resolutions, why don't you just decide to start making the right choices more often and leave the wrong choices to others?

Take the time to think of the things that have blessed you, others and (most importantly) God and just decide that you are going to do the,.

Think some more and consider the things that have been wrong (to God, neighbour and self) and just decide that they are going to be set aside during the next year.

Perhaps you are one of those who takes the path of least resistance and gushes forth with nice words rather than the words people need to hear -if you are 'STOP IT'. Now this isn't permission to be cruel or hard of heartless, that is never right, but it is permission to be honest and to speak what needs to be spoken. I'm going to be giving that a try next year, be warned) to enable others to live and serve as they should (and for those who dislike such 'directive' terminology, can I say now that that is just tough, because I'm not playing your Bible denying doublespeak - I will be speaking the truth in love, but the truth will be heard.

Time to sing up and get in to make the kingdom of God know where you are and in those around you. When we see people caught in sin we must act to restore them GENTLY, but we must act, or else those around us will fall and we will be complicit in their downfall. Time to be fully inclusive and yet never permissive. Time to stop the politics of power (which other than the power of God have no place in our sermons anyway) and star preaching a message of reconciliation to God and to right living (and that means living by God's word in case people are wondering). Sin is a right and proper term to be using (even though some who consider themselves to be Church don't like it).

We don't change the word of God to be popular in the world, we change the world by being faithful to it.

Now, do I need to make things any clearer?

Hopefully not - so now there's no excuse.

Have a blessed and enjoyable New Year's Eve and a godly and enabling 2016.

Church? Is like a box of chocolates...

Bringing before you a slightly modified quote from Forrest Gump: 'My momma always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get,' I was talking to someone today about Church and the various varieties, flavours and experiences that it brings to us all.

Many years ago, not long before 'senior school' beckoned, I can remember one of my Aunts bringing round some gifts; one of which was a box of chocolates which bore an image of a kitten. I found the image on the box rather lovely and imagined just how lovely the contents must be if the box looked that good. But I was warned by my Mum that they were to be saved for a special occasion and so they sat on the shelf in the kitchen waiting for a suitable day, and someone special enough to have one, arrive.

And at last that day came!

They were brought down from the shelf and unwrapped and offered to whoever it was who had been considered to have been worthy of such an honour. I couldn't wait! I stood there waiting my turn, which being the youngest and therefore most insignificant of the bunch meant last, to select one of the wonderfully shining chocolates for myself.

As I was about to bite into the treasure which had at last been made mine there was a rather sharp  'crack'  which came from the direction of one of the 'grown ups'. Silence fell and a broken denture and two bits of the 'unmelted' confectionery were ejected in one swift spit (so much for being the favoured guest!).

Upon inspection it transpired that the 'sweets' were in fact shop window 'dummies' made of plaster of Paris painted to look the part (which was why they looked so shiny and appealing I guess)! My aunt had bought them off a market trader who she (if I recall correctly) had never seen before - no surprise there I guess!



But the more interesting thing for me as I recall the goings on is that this is what so many people find when they encounter the Church for themselves. Take away the pretty wrappings, heralding something so delightful, and what you find is at times just not fit for consumption! 

What was promised and what was delivered  turned out to be poles apart  - and this is something many people I chat with love to tell me in the following format:

"Ooh, we went to 'St Namewitheld's' and found ourselves:

i. Totally ignored,

ii. sighed at because the kids were making a noise,

iii. standing up when they sat down and vice versa,

iv. totally confused by person who read something at the front  (think he was called 'Mark!')

v. asked to move because we were in someone's seat,

vi. bored,

vii. looking forward to coming again next week,

viii.  ........... add your own comment.

Now I would like to challenge you with this blog entry to do a couple of things:

THE FIRST THING
    Read the 'Ooh, we went ...' and decide (honestly) which of the eight responses (yes, you     
    can add your own) you would select for your church (or better still get someone else to do 
    that for you) and then collect them and discuss them with your church council.

THE SECOND THING
    Enlist the help of someone who is unknown to the church family (a 'Mystery Worshipper') 
    and get them to come on their own or with others  (a noisy baby is fun if you can find 
    someone to bring one) and get them to give you a report which answers the following 
    questions:

• When was the service? (date and time)

• Were you greeted or welcomed by people?

• How many in?

• What were your first impressions?

• Before the service started .. I experienced, noted ...

• How easy was it to keep up with the service? (Leader, hymn books, projector, etc.)

• Comfort factor (warm/cool, comfortable, could see and hear stuff?)

• Sermon? (length, theme, content, boring, interesting, Zzzz? rate from 0-10)

• Music (choir, music group. What style? rate from 0-10)

• What was good about the experience?

• What was bad about the experience?

• Would you go again (or recommend to a friend?)

• What did you find out about: the people, their ministry, vision, aspirations?

• After the service ended .. I experienced, noted ...

• If any, who came and engaged with you

• The high and low points of the day were?

And having done that, bring these along with the self-assessed paperwork and start to see whether what you have is likely to break the teeth of those who come through your doors (and your hearts).

We'll be doing this where I am again soon - it is worth doing as you'll learn so much when you see yourself through the eyes of others.

Seeking to bring one person to faith - A Church growth model to be ...

Applauded?

                                          Sneered at? 

                                                                                Stunned by? 

                                                                                                                    Made your own?



Which response would you choose if I came to you and your church and told you that was what required in your church over the coming year was this; 'Just bring one person to faith'?

In conversation with a Methodist minister this week I was surprised by their claim that the 'man at the top' (their description) had called on each of the churches to bring one new person to faith over the next twelve months. Surprised because of the tone and the nuanced speech which accompanied the information.

As niggardly as this number might seem (just one person a year? Pah!) Revd Steve Wild, President of the Methodist Conference, made this call to this Church (as a member of, not the owner) with the desire for the church to 'take God seriously and put mission back onto the agenda and take God seriously'.

I was surprised at the almost sneeringly 'just one person a year' observation because when I pressed them it seemed that 'just one' would have been a major leap forward for the churches in their circuit as all they had to offer was many venues and declining members. So was the bump in the road that was troubling my companion caused by the paucity that 'one person' presented or by the mountain that they perceived it to be?

I am often troubled by the big mission campaigns with their big name speakers* because try as they might (and here we find a very variable feast) the transition between 'seeing that hand' and leading the person on the end of it though a meaningful 'sinner's prayer' and beyond is an immense journey requiring some sound administration and committed pastoral skills.


When Billy Graham came to London in 1989, apart from getting what I thought was a bogus call from his office because the church plant I was leading was the 1,000th church to sign up*, what amazed surprised me most was the way that people were processed after they had put their hand up, come to the front and prayed.

Their names and address were taken and, unless they had a church connection beforehand, they were pointed to their nearest church (from the list of those who had signed up and sent people to be part of the whole thing) and then prayed for and talked to and listened to (doesn't always happen) and off the went. The receiving church was then contacted and the details of the person was passed over for them to hook up and sickle.

Contrast this with my experiences where the people raised their hands, said THE prayer and were sent off - never to be seen again! This makes up the majority of my church mission experience and I saw hundreds apparently make a commitment never to return or become part of a church elsewhere. Talking to someone where I experienced this it appears that this continues as the practice to this day: The claim the scalp but never do the parenting and one day (make it soon Lord) the Boss will want a word in their ears over that I am sure.

Bring one person to faith and spend a year disciplining them and you have a convert. Steve Wild has pegged it just right I reckon. He does say that the Holy Spirit might just bring in more than one - always good to err on the cautious but give prior warning of revival just in case it frightens the faithful!

When I mentioned this to another minister (not Anglican) they muttered something about just seeing one person come to faith in their church would be akin to revival and started moaning about ageing congregations, poor attendance, lower giving and a host of other ills which were making church hard work. I was about to say that if we who were in leadership (in any form) made Church a bit more hard work then perhaps we'd be seeing less of the problems but, seeing they were already having a bad time, decided against it and instead lent them a book on renewing vision and an invitation to the Mission Shaped Introduction course which is being held here beginning Wednesday 23rd September (7:30pm) - All are, of course, welcome!

So let's pray for Steve Wild and his vision and for the churches he is working for, and trying to help 'get serious about God', and let's pray that they do.

And perhaps we could pray that for our own churches and the churches in our towns and even further? Couldn't do any harm, could it???

* Talking of the mega evangelists we have; am I the only one to notice how many use the same jokes, anecdotes and stuff that I was hearing thirty years ago. Where's the new material and the spontaneity, the fresh and contemporary 

Church Growth strategies: 'That 'Back to Church' thingy!'

As always we start with a reminder of Hauerwas' comment:

Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way. 

The problem with many strategies is to be found in the fact that they involve making a conscious decision to do, or use, something to bring about a desired outcome. One of the things my management and Industrial Engineering training taught me was that whilst it is possible to learn how to cluck and purchase a chicken suit: Unless you can learn to lay eggs, you'll never really be a chicken!

And that, people, is the problem with so many of our churches (and other institution and clubs): Looking and sounding like that which you wish to be is useless if it isn't what you really are! Being 'authentic' is the only way because people see through the posing and the masks we all wear.

Yesterday I found myself engaged with by a cleric who was making grumpy noises about the 20th September and the planning required for this year's 'Back to Church Sunday' (B2CS) - although they referred to it as, That 'back to church thingy!' 

I listened as they moaned about having to organise special stuff for the day and how the 'members'* are so keen to have it but struggle to think of new and excitingly attractive things to put on as they seek to 'bring people back' to Church.

Because this is perhaps some people's only church growth strategy I thought I'd interrupt websites for an hour or so (but part the third will be here soon) and reiterate a few points regarding 'bringing people back'. So here we go again (hold tight):

How can you bring people back to a place they have never been to before?

What we are really talking about in the effectively post-Christian age (second generation post-christian where I am!) is bring them in for the first time. The problem is that the 'BACK' bit is a something of a red herring and perhaps it's should be called 'Bring them to church for the first time' Sunday!

The second problem is that whilst it is brilliant to lay on barbecues and bands and other great attractions., this is a bit like: 

(Sorry Martin)

In case you're wondering, I am a big supporter of B2CS and think it is one of the better things that we can do as a means of reconnecting with those who might have left and a really positive way of attracting those with no previous history too.

BUT

We need to make sure that the situation above never becomes reality! 

We need to have some integrity in the way that we present ourselves and in the way that we 'do' our church services. Yet when I made this point to the colleague who was moaning they just moaned louder about the people that they called Church and the unattractive services that they put on.

The answer is simple:

a. Remedy the naff services - gas the choir, shoot the music team - exile the organist - learn to preach - right the wrongs - cure the ills - rejoice in the changes!

b. Get rid of 'welcomers' (because all too often they ain't at all welcoming) and build a congregation who are not just welcoming but the sort of people who will bring people in as well. This is what brings people back on the second week!

Not bands

Not barbecues

Not the false stuff 

Jesus calls us to be authentic and real people: That's what those outside would like to find when they come in to our buildings.

And if they do - the tend to stay.

__________________________________

I'd like to recommend a 'Season of Invitation' as something that those who would wish to see their church engaged in bringing people might consider. This offering from B2CS tells us that it takes a few throws before the new people begin to stick and so it works on a series of engagements that build relationship and help people to be comfortable (just make sure that you're bringing them in from your own patch rather than those of of others ;-) ).

Pax

* Anglicans don't have members, we leave that to the other churches. We have 'parishioners (they live in our patch what we call a parish). and we have communicants (those what take communion) - simple innit? So why do we so often talk about our members then?

Church Growth strategies: 'Bringing them back!'

Having taken Stanley Hauerwas' wonderful observation that:

'Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.' 

I've found myself considering the variety of 'church growth strategies' that tend to haunt me as I go about my daily round of engagement and conversation. 

One of the more intriguing of comment, although once the province of churches without clergy (what we now apparently call 'vacant' rather than 'interregnum') is becoming increasingly common  among church members where they still have a Vicar* in post too! But let's confine it to the vacant post scenario and spare the blushes of some who might read this and see themselves (and you know who you are I'm sure).

In churches with a vacancy I often hear the comment that the new Vicar will 'Bring all the old members back to church.' 

Only church member asked me whether I thought, 'All the old members might come back to church one day?' response? 'Not unless I can come round to expecting a Zombie apocalypse!

There are some in church who maintain the belief that those who have left a church will come flying back the minute any cleric they might have disagreed with leaves and although there might be some mileage in this thinking if the period between their leaving and the cleric going is short, I don't generally see changing the cleric to be a valid or viable church growth strategy - especially with the drop in attendance that usually accompanies the vacancy period.

One church I know of boasted nine or ten people who vowed never to return to the church building until the incumbent had gone. That blesséd day eventually arrived and so, at a safe distance, watching to marvel at the expected return of the diasporic masses (a bit like bird watchers waiting to see overflying birds come to ground for a night on their migrations) - but, as you might expect, it never happened! 

The reality is that those who have gone either find a new home or lose the habit of going to church and so the hoped for return never occurs. Many of those who leave because they don't like the Vicar are destined to become 'unchurched' and whether or not these newly minted dechurched folk become positive or negative about Church is often down to the strength of  relationship with those who continue in the church. So here's a little tip for those who wish to stop those fellow worshippers from becoming 'part of the challenge':

'When someone leaves: don't try to drag them back but don't stop being their friend either!'

Some people I engage with like to talk about people as being in three camps:

Churched: not the old purification rite after childbirth but meaning 'coming to church'!

Dechurched: basically means they used to come to church and now they don't!

Unchurched: means they don't have a history of going to church themselves (or in the familial sense either)!

The problem is that whilst the labels might be accurate as mere descriptors they have the potential to become rather unhelpful too as with them we can lose sight of the person and find ourselves dealing with labels rather than people.

I find it more helpful to think along the lines that, with regard to church we have three types of people:

Those who come to church

                                   Those who used to come to church, and

                                                                  Those who have never come to church. 

Those who come, last time I looked, were split, equally, into habitual attenders and committed attenders. Sometimes the former don't have an altogether joined up understanding of the what, why and how of being Church whilst the latter are those 'fanatical' types who sing and pray and read their Bibles and are generally the excited types! The 'Coming to church' types make up 20% of the overall population.

Those who used to come are split equally, and quite neatly, into those who are either positive (or ambivalent) or negative (or antagonistic) with regards to Church and they make up 40% of the population.

Those who have never come are, like those who used to come, split into the same categories where they are positive (or ambivalent) or negative (or antagonistic) with regards to Church and they make up the final 40% of the population.

This afternoon I was talking to someone who was discussing friends of their who after 'having fallen out with their church' had not only vowed never to return but were negative and quite dismissive of the whole 'Church' thing.

This happy idea that a new Vicar will bring back the dechurched is sadly not, in any short-term way, something that I have generally considered to be a reality.  While the dog collar might be influential in bringing back the dechurched from other places - it is, in my experience, the members (the people with whom they had a relationship when they came) and so it is the congregation, the members, the church (which term do you prefer? It's yours, now get out there and (re)connect with the dechurched.

We'll be looking at the unchurched as a separate entity before long - but hopefully this is enough to stimulate thinking (and comment) with the rantings thus far.

Pax

* Here 'Vicar' is used to describe anyone wearing any colour of shirt (except of course purple) with a dogcollar attached!

Church Growth strategies: 'Bring on the Holy Spirit'

The key quote to reflect on comes from Stanley Hauerwas:

'Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.'

We have considered, thus far,' the issues of worship' building  and the bus continues to move with us today considering the Holy Spirit. This is an area where I feel the need to be very honest and admit that I am what others describe as (so it must be true) an open evangelical, charismatic Christian (there, that's my problems aired and owned). I have, at some time in my Christian life, lived and worshipped in the pentecostal side of the Church.

The very first problem to be encountered is that those who think the  Holy Spirit is the general panacea to all the needs of the Church and totally correct and yet, as I will try to show, also very often wrong too! Let's do a quick bit of theology so we can clear this aspect out of the way with two quick points:

i. The Holy Spirit is not an 'it' but a 'He' (sorry if that offends anyone, but that the way the theology crumbles). 

That said, in John 14. 15-17 we do find the Holy Spirit described as an 'it' for one brief moment (this is done as I understand it to show that John knows his genders with regards to pneuma (spirit) being a neuter but having done this he then uses (the wrong) masculine to refer to the Holy Spirit. Generally our translators stick to 'he' to avoid confusion, but I think knowing this is helpful;

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Advocate, guide), to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him (it) nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

That the Holy Spirit is a person (as if 'He' wasn't enough) we also find reference made to 'grieving the Holy Spirit' (Ephesians 4.30) - you have to be a person to be grieved!

ii. The Holy Spirit, being one of the members of the Trinity is, by definition, God.  This means that He is one is who exactly the same of Jesus (homo ousios - 'One and the same substance) and He enables us to worship and to keep our walk (and talk) on the straight and narrow - and so much more, but I'm going to try and stay on track and return to the topic in hand for now). Suffice to say that whilst many seem to think prayer is about shopping lists ad telling God what to do, actually we serve Him because Jesus came and, serving us, reconciled us to God. 

Where the Gospel is preached then 'sign and wonders'  (this is the stuff those who go on about the 'Holy Spirit' are often looking to see manifested in their dying, failing or even dead church and experiences) - and the Holy Spirit doesn't 'leave churches' but can step back from the stones that make up the church: So if you are one of those who complains that, 'The Spirit has left this church,' then I have to caution you to examine yourself first and then repent and restore the relationship by remedying whatever it was (or is) that caused the breach. (or to put it simply: Get on your knees and sort yourself out!).

It seems that many Christians, in pursuit of the blessing, engage in the singing of naff 'worship' songs and take up the 'calling down fire' path to church growth. Now whilst this does indeed have the potential to be very entertaining I have to say that, when it comes to building Church, that we need to check back in our Bibles and remind ourselves of the fact that 'signs and wonders' follow the preaching of the Word. If you've forgotten this then take a quick look at Mark 16.20:

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

How I wish others would realise this and put off the methodologies and Sadly though, many of those who want to promenade along the charismaniac route often appear to give the most cursory, and often trite, attention to the word. That said it doesn't mean that if we give the monkey a peanut it will send down fire either: methodology and structure (or tongues and endless musical dross) are not the answer! 

We don't need to manufacture or fake it - there's more than enough on offer if you just put out your hands!

The answer is:

holiness (not a popular option for some it seems)

prayer (another apparently not too popular option)

preaching of the word (with integrity and belief perhaps?)

being lost in the love of God (now that can't be hard can it?)

worship (see the previous entry)

The Holy Spirit is not some amazing additive to Church but a vibrant and influential everyday member of it.  When we 'welcome Him' we are not bringing Him in but offering ourselves to be influenced by Him as He moves in and on us and sponsors us to lose the things that condemn Church to a mere ritual as being truly living stones. Mind you, I am certain that I'll encounter someone this week who will tell me that their church is dying and needs the Holy Spirit to reignite it :-)

Postscript: Just a quick niggle I need to leave somewhere before I bring my gift to the altar.

I really struggle with the attitude of some who make such a big deal about Pentecost! Each and every year they run around and spout about fire falling and gifts and tongues and other such stuff; the speak expectantly as if they expect it to happen because it is Pentecost. The reality is that Jesus having ascended (remember that?) meant that the Holy Spirit descended (again can I remind you of the 'If I don't go, I can't come passage?' and the 'I will not leave you as orphans, comfortless and alone,' bit?)

All those who are living today were born in the 'age of the Spirit' and the Spirit dwells in us and enables us giving gifts and manifestations of God's love so why do we act as if on that one day (Pentecost) we expect fire to fall and the dying embers before to burst into fire? The Spirit is in us and we are called upon to kindle the gift of faith that we have each and every day. We are called upon to pray and read and worship and be expectant and pray (yes, we pray a lot) every day - Pentecost is a marker of a new phase (the one after Jesus physically walked the earth and the one before His return) not the one day Black Friday-like affair some make it. We should be living in the reality of Pentecost every day and keep Pentecost as a celebration and a time for cake (although there's always time for cake isn't there?). Live in the power of the Spirit every day and people will be reconciled to the Father through Jesus, the Christ, and communities will be changed and Church will grow because of the manifestations of God's grace and love.

How hard can that be for goodness sakes?

More than 'Just a service' - Funerals

Again I have been reminded of just how wonderful it is, and how amazingly privileged I am, to be involved in the ministry of conducting funerals. For although people often look at me as if I have a screw missing when I tell them that, 'Funerals are the best bit of my job,' but this is the God's honest truth.

I don't think we can do anything more meaningful and important than to ensure that the last opportunity to be in the same place as a loved one is made as positive and as smooth as possible, especially in these days when we don't seem to grieve or mourn as well as we used. I meet some people who fail to grieve in any meaningful or restorative manner such that, as witnessed by the death of Princess Diana, when tragedy strikes elsewhere - all the pent up grief is expended in one outpouring. An outpouring that is rarely proportionate or healthy.

One of the tasks of the minister is to point to the (realised) hope that we have in Jesus, the Christ, and as we do this we assist those who mourn to celebrate the life of their loved one; laughing and celebrating where it is appropriate and weeping where it is inevitable and (and it is) essential. The problem is that often, listening to the service before that which I am to do,  what I hear is still plaster sainted, wrongly placed and plaster removing deliveries.

I reckon every funeral takes (at least) a day of work from first encounter to the end of the service and there have been some that stretch this beyond that (especially when there's travel involved). Looking at the year thus far I can confidently say that funerals have taken up over a quarter of 2014 and so, as I reflect on a year almost passed' a plea:

Please remember that a funeral service, be it church, graveside or crematorium, is something really important and much more than, "Half an hour at the Crem!" ( as one person dismissed it).

The energy and engagement, the emotional demand placed on the minister and the intellectual  challenges - where wisdom, gentle guidance and finely honed counselling skills are all demanded - is something to be understood and supported by church members. Supported by prayer and understanding that when people find themselves in a place where they need a neighbour - the neighbour that is Church and the hope that is the Christ, is our primary and of the utmost important role.

Funerals - not a service but a ministry where we come alongside the bereaved - truly an opportunity to make resurrection and parakletos (the 'coming alongside' that is the hallmark of the Holy Spirit) a reality in the life of those with a need.

Weddings - A consumer fest?

Discussing the number of weddings that some of the clergy have, and the associated stresses, I am beginning to think that I might need to be happy that I occupy (as a colleague with a splendid church building once called it) a 'tiddly little place!' This, combined with the fact that (as another colleague put it) 'It's not pretty!' all adds up to us having very few - in fact almost none (I've done one wedding in the place since I started here`!).

It's true that the building we occupy is not large (we have but the one room) but that merely means that everything we have is used to the full. There are no rooms reserved for 'best' here - what we have is versatile and pretty well utilised (eucharist - room change - tea. coffee and lunch - room changes again and .....) all the time as we do services, social stuff, community stuff, kid's club, support groups, stuff for then older folk, crafts, courses and more besides in the one room (we have no choice).

Add to the one room aspect of the building the fact that it's not a 'proper' church building and you will understand why we don't get people asking to get married here. See for yourself:

'Home'

In fact a few years back, one of our near neighbours decided to get married and they did so in the wonderful building that houses the parish church. Another couple just up the road from us decided to get married in the pretty little village church building round the corner and this is the pattern for those who decide on a church wedding (a small number in a growing market in that we have some 30% of the wedding business these days). They want the pretty buildings for their big day and that's fair enough, after all they want a good backdrop for the photo's and stuff.

My 'problem' comes in the fact that all too often people will tell me that I should do the wedding in their church if they come from my patch because of the 'pastoral engagement' and it is here that I will find that my real struggle begins.

After all, it's a fair (empirically sound) assumption that those who marry in St Blogspots will also have their sprogs baptised in the same place, as they assume it's 'their church' - an assumption that is not supported by attendance or any semblance of relationship with the church (meaning the people) or the clergy but is based purely upon it having been the venue for a wedding. In fact they may even come to the same building when death comes a knocking on that same assumption.

And this is good - but it means that those who have the attractive, wedding rich church buildings have to realise that they also have the privilege (and duty) of engaging and building relationships with the couple, introducing them to Jesus, the Christ, and continuing that relationship (as best they may) once the wedding day has passed. They, having become 'in loco parentis' to the emerging family have a duty to pastor and pray for them. They are happy to collect the cash and do the deed, but there is much, much, much* more to it than that.

If we provide a building without discharging our duty then as much as this is wrong, that is your choice, but having provided the venue - you need to also provide the pastoral and spiritual input that goes with it in the before, during and after phases.

I have spoken to a few couples (seven of them to be accurate) with the result that 100% of the population 'enjoyed' the day but were not minded to be engaged with Church again on a regular basis. The reasons for this were that they regarded what they had was not spiritual but all about the venue and that they 'weren't religious' but wanted a nicer building than ............ (names omitted to avoid venue wars!). They didn't want 'church' and even though. 'The service was nice and the Vicar made us laugh,' it wasn't what they wanted after the event. 'But it was a nice day!'

Having been brought up with the understanding that the occasional offices (AKA: hatch, match and dispatch) were a source of engagement and potential growth. My experience is that this is not the case (we don't do many baptisms or funerals outside of those with whom we have relationships or are perhaps members) but find that we grow quite consistently through real engagement and the making of friendships.

I've written this to clarify some of the issues that came up in a conversation with a colleague who thought that, as they had a popular building, the local clergy should come and take the services for those 'from their patch'. At first I wasn't sure about it, but having given it some time (and thought) I have to say, 'Nah, crack on with it!' (or perhaps that should be, 'No thanks old bean, you carry on doing them in your building - you book them, you cook them!'). Your wanting to advertise and attract people to your buildings for weddings is a great thing to be doing - and if you are successful at it (and enjoy the wedding fayres and the conjugal/matrimonial consumer fests) - crack on and reap the blessings that are to be found within it.

As for me, I'll stick to funerals - something I find much more rewarding pastorally and more effective evangelistically!

Happy Daze

*sorry rampant Police Academy gene issues this morning

Baptism - stirring the pot again

I have purposely left the issue of baptism for a couple of weeks to let the dust settle and to give some of those dialogue with me to the opportunity to have a think and, where necessary, regroup.

There are a few areas we still need to consider and these cover such things as the sacramental nature of baptism (for there is more going on than the mere image before us might suggest.

There is the part that baptism plays in the single atoning and salvific act of Jesus, the Christ, on the cross.

There is the stuff that some have made it (baptism), elevating it to the point where it becomes the source of eternal life, forgiveness and much, much, more.

There is a need to try to understand whether we are restricted to something formulaic or free to just 'go, dunk and celebrate' (a quote from a colleague) as some seem to think, What makes a baptism valid and who is fit to receive it (adult, children, all - those who understand*)

The last are to finish this part of the journey is, for me, that of language. A colleague recently (proudly) proclaimed that they, 'Left out most of the words from the current service because they didn't apply.' I have to say that, generally speaking, I think they do apply and the error is not to be found in the words but in the preparation of those coming forward for baptism and the manner in which the service is enacted. The words provide a great opportunity for informing those present and since in my experience, there is no sermon in the short Sunday afternoon slot, this is a gift to the person doing the service.

The journey so far has led me to think of baptism as something that confers membership of the Church and opens the door to the person becoming a Christian - a rather loose term that implies that having that badge confers something that it doesn't. Being 'Christian' is about being a disciple and since I have met many (from ALL church groups, denominations and affiliations) who have been baptised and have never made good their baptismal calling and are certainly not easily recognised as being disciples I have to say that (using the lyrics to a favourite song) that when it comes to baptism: There must be more than this!

I fear it is arrogant, ignorant, or perhaps merely foolish, to presume that a church with those who were baptised as infants are 'unbelievers' in exactly the same way that others see them as 'saved and redeemed' when lifestyle, commitment and their own words prove them not to be. Salvation comes by hearing and doing and unless we preach Christ in and out of season and 'encourage' our members to grow in the faith and become fully-fledged, equipped and released followers of the Way then we condemn them to something less than fullness in their faith and stand condemned in our ministerial inadequacies.

You know - Justin Welby was right about 'Good Vicars' - we need to focus on bringing them in and through to baptism as the 'Go' of the Christian Monopoly board and then along the squares that confer understanding, commitment, engagement, calling (and we are all called) and through to the final square (marked 'eternity with the Boss') rather than all the really important issues that we dissipate our energies on (you know the causes, the rights and the issues I'm sure). Yes, I'm sure they are all 'really important ' and that we do need to make a stand - but we need to get out priorities right and what's the point of getting freedom for people to like (or dislike) Marmite if at the end of the day the bigger issues have been left unattended to and they are doomed because of that shortfall?

So - roll up you sleeves - be prepared to engage and dialogue and respond in a positive and challenging (for we all like to be challenged, don't we?) manner. For this is an issue we need to deal with.

And then we need to ask - what about the person from across town who comes and asks for baptism because their local church wants them to attend for three months - or the person who wants a baptism in a club because 'it will save them having to travel to and from it to the church for the service' ?


Let's play :-)





* If understanding becomes a requirement then few would be baptised or receive communion and fewer still would be baptised!

The Church's greatest enemy ...

Is not the irrational and bigoted rantings of the high profile 'modern atheists' nor is it the secularists; nor is it to be found outside its doors in the shape of modern 'post-Christian' society.

The greatest threat and most effective means of attack come from, and through the 'enemy within', from the very people who we might otherwise think of as part of the family and they are to be found in all places (ordained and lay) at all levels!

Over the years I've been in churches of varying flavours where the biggest block to the church (meaning the local expression) growing or becoming more effective has been provided by members who resorted to the following tactics:

We've never done that - We've always done ..,
Ironically this was perhaps more prevalent in churches that were not CofE! But there are always those who are happy to oppose any attempt to do stuff differently on the grounds that it destroys church as they know it! Many people assume that this is the province of the five stalewart members who doggedly force the BCP evensong service upon churches but this is merely the visible minority (and why have we let the BCP slip into the 'old people's service' category?). The danger is in those who fight to keep church as they want it to be - perhaps better relabelled as 'My Way'.

We've tried that before . . .
And I/we managed to scupper it that time too!

We need to be popular - Let's look like the world!
And before anyone thinks I'm canvassing here for a 'non-inclusive' church, I have to offer a rebuttal of that from the start because I am convinced that the Church is a place of welcome and acceptance. The problem comes from  the fact that there are many attitudes outside our doors and inside them are some who want to attract them. Their thinking goes like this:
'If we make the Church a place where people think we approve of them, their life choices and attitudes then they will no longer see us as a threat or source or as a disapproving body. The more we approve and are seen to be like them, the more they will approve of us and will come!'

But they don't come - they merely ignore what was a source of conflict because the itch has gone away; whilst the Church, having laid down its integrity and Bible position remains weaker and broken. Inclusive does not, and should not, mean lowering our standards or putting off the things that have formed, and underpinned, the Christian faith for some time now (and 'yes' I know about slavery and other stuff in the history books).

The Protectionist
Sadly these folk work harder at protecting their 'ministry' (what a cleric on R4 this morning spoke of as 'their career in the CofE) or their authority. The people who are obstructive and negative about everything that doesn't give them what they want. This week I've encountered people across all the strata of Church who have undermined things because it compromised them and their role, position, status, department and viewpoint. The protectionist is the opera-singer of the Church, singing 'Me, me, me!' rather than, 'Him, Him, Him!'

The Wannabe
Possibly the most wounding of all the life forms to be found in Church! This is the person who undermines the efforts of others, knowing where change needs to be made and understanding the need for people to listen to them. They are the voice that is always discordant amidst the notes sung in unison - knowing best and yet unwilling (should that be unable?) to deliver what they fail to see in others. My view is that those who act thus are given every opportunity to exhibit the potential they (for we all have potential) feel they have and this had seen great success and terrible failures come from it, but there is no way anyone can say they've not been supported, can they?

So here we are, four areas of activity that can damage the Church and yet if understood and managed can also be of great value. The problem is that whilst we all exhibit one or more of the above traits at some stage they, unless they (and us) are managed, given the blessing of honest dialogue and understood, are the means by which the Church is weakened and eventually destroyed.

Leaders - listen. dialogue and gleaning take that which is good and embrace it. Support those who otherwise could become the cancer that destroys. Help those under your cure to grow and fulfil their baptismal calling and those calls that take them beyond that into the blessing of being family.

Church members - examine yourselves to be sure that you are seeking what honours God, blesses people and makes for family. Do not let the sun go down on your anger - if you have a niggle then sort it by prayer, dialogue and more prayer (using the Bible rather than personal desire as the foundation upon which all is built).

We listen to all - welcome all - embrace all as brothers and sisters - tolerate all

We rejoice in the act of reconciling all people to God through the one atoning act of Jesus on the cross

Simple really isn't it?