Time for a bit of reflection:
Communion celebrated (I preside and we all, as the people of God, celebrate the Eucharist - just saying) in a variety of settings (church, home and care home). A privilege and joy and, not unsurprisingly, one of the areas that has lifted my head, made me buzz, filled me with hope (realised in Jesus, the Christ) and put an added spring in my step.
Funerals conducted in church and Crematorium this week (realised that with 56 on the clock so far this year that it's been a light year and wonder whether that's good or bad?). This week's have seen some me working amazing people who were unsung heroes with so many things to commend them. Interestingly the average age of the four this week was greater than my overall average of 87 - also different from the norm was the fact that the men outlived their wives - usually the other way around!
Started the week with a stunningly joyful, fun-filled and celebratory funeral and the theme continued until the final trip to the crem' on Friday - good to have smiles and laughter as well as tears and solemnity making their appearance.
Engagement with people was, as ever, a mixed bag, and the ability of people to screw things up is always amazing - but the ability to bring clarity and Christ into situations makes the role of pastor and priest a joy - it is no coincidence that I buzz most when engaged with people, don't think I'm ever going to be in love with proecedure and paperwork so I'll leave it to those who enjoy it and thank God for them whilst I head in the opposite direction.
Cherry on the cake this week was someone coming to Christ and beginning their journey into the world of faith. Can there be anything better than seeing someone 'born again' and reconciled to God theory the atoning actions of the Christ? Realised how frustrated I am that I do so little real evangelism and so much of the treadmill. If I were someone who did new year's resolutions (only ever done one - resolved not to do any and kept that one) I'd say 2017 will be a year of winning souls - instead I'll say it more and look to making that happen.
So impressed with Hope - so frustrated with clergy! Why is it that clergy wait for someone to hand them a weapon when they are facing the enemy and merely need to stoop down and pick one up from the ground? When the enemy is before us we take up whatever weapon is to hand and engage them robustly and with overwhelming fire. But prayer is at a premium rather than commonplace and all around me I find people managing decline and reading from a spreadsheet when they should be populating heaven and reading the Bible!
So blessed to be part of the worshipping communities in Leyfields, Coton Green and Hopwas - Christmas Market, Ladies Craft, Friday Freiends, drop-In, Kid's Club and so much more have been a blessing this week. The school's work is just monster and the opportunities for engagement endless. Amazed I can find time to stop praIsing you Lord.
Sadness of the week has been the person who will never fail because they will never attempt anything - seems that's the way to be well-regarded by so many - seems to me that this is the reason Church is struggling :-(
Lesson of the week has been the realisation that I as much as I love reading and praying and growing in my knowledge of the word this is something that I have come to regard as something I do when work is done rather than something that's part of the work I do - so another note for 2017 - study, prayer and developing my theological and ministerial skill sets are going to be part of the working week.
Joy of the week are many but topped by Phillip's baptism and the gift that he is to the people of God. To work with people who eagerly desire to know Christ and to celebrate His death and resurrection in the Eucharist is sublime - what a week: Bath and Bread in the spotlight.
So much to thank God for - my paucity, His immensity.
Hallelujah
Showing posts with label populating heaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label populating heaven. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 November 2016
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
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:
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.
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.
Monday, 21 October 2013
Church or Parachurch?
It seems to me that some of the people I have engaged with today have a real struggle before them when it comes to the issue of 'Fresh Expressions' in that so many are labelled (by those outside) as parachurch rather than church. The question is, what makes for a valid expression of church?
Church, for me has to be Sacramental - this means:
Eucharistic - this is the reason that Church has continued to continue to exist because it met weekly to break break and drink from the Chalice.
Baptising - A super comment I heard on a course was, 'You can tell when a fresh expression's arrived as 'church' because it starts to baptise new believers!'
It also needs to be Proclamatory - which means they preach from the Bible, teach from the Bible, uphold Biblical principles and tell people why they are doing in, and in whose name, and that means Jesus gets mentioned - for it is in His name we go out to do the stuff.
The 'Parachurch Clubs' label is rather harsh and perhaps a little unkind but then again I find some telling me that Fresh Expressions and new forms of worship, understanding and being church are the only hope the Church has. The old traditional church stuff is strangling whatever growth there is and the clericalism of the past is nothing more than the clergy trying to maintain their monopoly and their veto on what would otherwise live.
The problems is that as rigid as the old structure is the new isn't for it presents a flimsy house built on little more than sand! The bricks might withstand the wind and the waves but they are emptying as the inhabitants grow old and die.
'Better to have a thriving parachurch than a dying established church,' said one person as they defended their new project, pointing to the people who were content to diminish in numbers as long as church could continue to be what they wanted it to be.
'Better to be faithful in our worship than be blown by every wind of change down at a coffee shop!' came the reply.
And you know what - they are both wrong and are equally right at the same time. The tattoos, piercing and all the trendy stuff mean as little as the grey hair, BCP services and traditional services when it comes to being a stumbling block, after all didn't Paul say that we must be all things to all men (except of course accommodating and accepting everything to the point of being permissive) and so this is surely a red herring.
And speaking of red herrings I was told last week that older people can't reach the young in the way that they, of course being young, can! so taking this to its logical outworking only black people can lead black people into faith, women likewise for women, redheads for redheads and so on. Wearing a clerical collar prevents us from being engaged in effective ministry with anyone under the age of thirty and unless you have a great worship band no one can really worship (which of course displays a paucity in the understanding of what liturgy is all about)!
We need to understand what being missionally minded and sacramentally sensitive is all about - after all it wasn't that long ago that I was taken to task because I wanted to see something billed as 'renewal' offered to the high church churches. Silly me, I had apparently forgotten that renewal was the sole property and right of a certain type of Christian!
We need to preach the Gospel in and out of season, in places where it is popular and unpopular and engaging with as many as we can to make it take root - bear fruit - be sustainable.
We need people who wear 'Pioneer' badges to encourage others to learn about what being 'missionally-minded' means and to encourage them to learn - there's a Mission Shaped Ministry' course somewhere near you (and if not, then there can be) - to be that person who works with others to build the Kingdom (note: This is dangerous because it might not mean building your piddling self-obsessed expression of church that you are so fixated with) of God.
So, pass this message on to the people you know - and don't know. bang the drums. Blow the trumpets. Bang dustbin lids together. Shout in your Chapter meetings and telephone your bishop and get people enthusiastic about sharing the Good News, making friends, winning family, plundering hell and populating heaven. Ring your Archdeacon and tell them to forget about the Common Purse (Parish Share) and remind them what the Kingdom of God is like (There's loads of those 'the Kingdom of God is like a .... ' stories in the Bible).
Who gives a monkeys whether clergy are pioneers or not - stop worrying about it and get pioneering!
Am I bothered that pioneer ministers aren't leading people to the water and offering them one of those wonderfully happy Eucharistic 'Happy Meals'? Blinking right I am - stop making friends and start thinking about how you make disciples - numbers are great but only when they're counting the people who can say they're saved - all else is froth and folly!
Now you have to remember that all the words above come from someone who is the minister of 'a church in a phonebox' - yes that's right, a small church in an interesting estate in and challenging place in even more challenging times. I'm not clever or accomplished or any of the things that others around me are or will be - but I'm a member of a church that is full of wonderfully broken, flawed, failed and redeemed people and this is what it's all about.
Loving, sharing, giving and living together as people who know they're loved, forgiven and fit for purpose.
Now stop, take a look and tell me what you can see around you and in the mirror - and then praise God, because you're loved, valuable, valid and ready for service too should you take a pace forward and volunteer.
Church, for me has to be Sacramental - this means:
Eucharistic - this is the reason that Church has continued to continue to exist because it met weekly to break break and drink from the Chalice.
Baptising - A super comment I heard on a course was, 'You can tell when a fresh expression's arrived as 'church' because it starts to baptise new believers!'
It also needs to be Proclamatory - which means they preach from the Bible, teach from the Bible, uphold Biblical principles and tell people why they are doing in, and in whose name, and that means Jesus gets mentioned - for it is in His name we go out to do the stuff.
The 'Parachurch Clubs' label is rather harsh and perhaps a little unkind but then again I find some telling me that Fresh Expressions and new forms of worship, understanding and being church are the only hope the Church has. The old traditional church stuff is strangling whatever growth there is and the clericalism of the past is nothing more than the clergy trying to maintain their monopoly and their veto on what would otherwise live.
The problems is that as rigid as the old structure is the new isn't for it presents a flimsy house built on little more than sand! The bricks might withstand the wind and the waves but they are emptying as the inhabitants grow old and die.
'Better to have a thriving parachurch than a dying established church,' said one person as they defended their new project, pointing to the people who were content to diminish in numbers as long as church could continue to be what they wanted it to be.
'Better to be faithful in our worship than be blown by every wind of change down at a coffee shop!' came the reply.
And you know what - they are both wrong and are equally right at the same time. The tattoos, piercing and all the trendy stuff mean as little as the grey hair, BCP services and traditional services when it comes to being a stumbling block, after all didn't Paul say that we must be all things to all men (except of course accommodating and accepting everything to the point of being permissive) and so this is surely a red herring.
And speaking of red herrings I was told last week that older people can't reach the young in the way that they, of course being young, can! so taking this to its logical outworking only black people can lead black people into faith, women likewise for women, redheads for redheads and so on. Wearing a clerical collar prevents us from being engaged in effective ministry with anyone under the age of thirty and unless you have a great worship band no one can really worship (which of course displays a paucity in the understanding of what liturgy is all about)!
We need to understand what being missionally minded and sacramentally sensitive is all about - after all it wasn't that long ago that I was taken to task because I wanted to see something billed as 'renewal' offered to the high church churches. Silly me, I had apparently forgotten that renewal was the sole property and right of a certain type of Christian!
We need to preach the Gospel in and out of season, in places where it is popular and unpopular and engaging with as many as we can to make it take root - bear fruit - be sustainable.
We need people who wear 'Pioneer' badges to encourage others to learn about what being 'missionally-minded' means and to encourage them to learn - there's a Mission Shaped Ministry' course somewhere near you (and if not, then there can be) - to be that person who works with others to build the Kingdom (note: This is dangerous because it might not mean building your piddling self-obsessed expression of church that you are so fixated with) of God.
So, pass this message on to the people you know - and don't know. bang the drums. Blow the trumpets. Bang dustbin lids together. Shout in your Chapter meetings and telephone your bishop and get people enthusiastic about sharing the Good News, making friends, winning family, plundering hell and populating heaven. Ring your Archdeacon and tell them to forget about the Common Purse (Parish Share) and remind them what the Kingdom of God is like (There's loads of those 'the Kingdom of God is like a .... ' stories in the Bible).
Who gives a monkeys whether clergy are pioneers or not - stop worrying about it and get pioneering!
Am I bothered that pioneer ministers aren't leading people to the water and offering them one of those wonderfully happy Eucharistic 'Happy Meals'? Blinking right I am - stop making friends and start thinking about how you make disciples - numbers are great but only when they're counting the people who can say they're saved - all else is froth and folly!
Now you have to remember that all the words above come from someone who is the minister of 'a church in a phonebox' - yes that's right, a small church in an interesting estate in and challenging place in even more challenging times. I'm not clever or accomplished or any of the things that others around me are or will be - but I'm a member of a church that is full of wonderfully broken, flawed, failed and redeemed people and this is what it's all about.
Loving, sharing, giving and living together as people who know they're loved, forgiven and fit for purpose.
Now stop, take a look and tell me what you can see around you and in the mirror - and then praise God, because you're loved, valuable, valid and ready for service too should you take a pace forward and volunteer.
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