Journal: visiting a new old place

This morning started with heavy frost and the sort of beautiful blue skies that Winter often provides as I climbed out of bed and made my way to a new place of worship for an 'early' Book of Common Prayer (BCP) Communion. The morning may have been cold but the welcome, and the building, were warm - and that's always a blessing!

Today's service was a straightforward BCP service in which we reflected upon The Presentation and Jesus coming into contact with Simeon and Anna. The people alongside me were keen to make sure I had what I needed to get through the service and as I was about to leave the altar rail a hand grabbed me to let me know that we stayed where we were until everyone was communicated.

When the service was done I had a quick look around the building (and having been pointed to 'something of interest' I paid an interesting tomb a bit of a visit before mooching for a few minutes before heading for the door, only to find myself engaged with by one of the people who'd been at the service and offered tea and toast!

What made this nice was that I got to chat to people, and the local dogcollar too, and learnt much about the building and the changes, glimpses of the ministry and the 'messy church' like children's work to be engaged with the following week (please pray for those running it and those who might come to St Hilda's). The pews in the place had gone and they'd installed effective heating and the warmth of the place bore testimony to that - But the sacred space that this building is and the rubbing shoulders with saints past was made special by rubbing shoulders with those present.

I can honestly say that this has to be one of the best church visits I have made for ages.
The building was welcoming and obviously cared for,
The liturgy was straightforward and thoughtfully presented without deviating or distracting us from the particular form that is BCP.
The Church made real in the living stones alongside me was engaged and welcoming - the offer of tea and toast was earnest and hard to pass up as the person asking me, having ascertained that I was merely passing though, didn't walk away as they realised I was a scalp but persevered as if they valued the fact that I was family.

So I stayed for tea and toast and engaged in making koinonia a reality - and am sure that the next time I'm in that place I'll be visiting again. And until I do thee will be prayers offered up for the work of the Church in that building that doors would be opened and lives changed by its ministry, history and the work of the people there. A real bleeding and great start to my day.

And the day continued to be just as good - a new addition to the family engaged with, and the in-laws looking good, and the new family unit being everything one could pray for - Lord, bless them and surround them with your love and your presence. Sadly though time was such that before it got going the road to Tamworth beckoned and we had to depart.

Lord for our families, for new life (and for old life too) I can but thank you. Keep us united and help us to see the strength and value that each one of us bring to, and the importance that thee is in, family.

Thank you for the places of worship, and the welcome, warmth, and family that is to be found within their walls - bless the family of St Hilda's and strengthen their arms that the battle might be won in that place.

Thank you for my own places of worship - help us to look to You and stay authentic, tolerant, selfless and open-handed. Help us to not see the fault in others but to see the feet of clay that impede us in our journey through this life, and thus enlightened, bless those who might otherwise be cursed by our own folly.

I pray for the day ahead and the opportunities a new week will bring - help us to do nothing in our own strength and to pray, consider, and obediently go forward - in Your name and for Your namesake.

Bless our families, biological, ecclesial, and gathered by means odd and otherwise and make us a blessing in them also.

For the bread today, the forgiveness and the presence of you love I give you thanks and looking expectantly to another day, bless you for all You are to me, and in me.

Jesus, I thank You for the cross and the ability to proclaim that You are risen indeed!

Journal: Not a laughing matter

The end of the week has arrived and to be honest, insofar as having had a holiday goes, it's not gone well. One of the problems of 'living over the shop' is the fact that unless you go away, you're a captive audience. This week saw three days lost to various issues and a fourth taken up by Holocaust Memorial Day - so I'll admit it, as a week off it sort of failed.

BUT (and there's always a but isn't there?) I have managed to sleep and have realised what a normal week for many of my colleagues looks like and now I know, I'll try to make one like this again next week.

But this has been a very positive week overall and there are so many things to thank God for in the opportunities to stand with others and to make a difference. I've also realised that I have a different way of praying emerging from my daily office and the journaling (which writing makes more formal in some strange way A just like posting my morning office) - and that has to be good, doesn't it?

This week has also made me very aware of the ways the Church in it's local arrangements and organisations can turn people away through the petty squabbles and Machiavellian activities. Praying about it the daily Office came rushing to my rescue with some words from St Paul:

"I hear you have divisions; and I believe it. They make clear those who among you are genuine."

Tough words, but then again perhaps being tough is not something Church does well anymore and needs to be doing more of. Looking at the trail of carnage left in the wake of some people I realise that they are very much like twisters, those devastating, swirling, winds that create so much havoc in the US, and to be feared. But just as nature causes the twisters, so too does human nature cause those who twist words and create havoc in the Church and in the world.

I am at a loss for words at times (yeah really, me for whom words are some of my very bestest friends) and all I can do is drag the dying embers of what was recently a healthy blaze to the foot of the cross and pray that God's breath - His ruach- would rekindle what is before Him.

And looking to HMD - help me to teach the children that genocide and intolerance are never a laughing matter.

Over to You God!

Church - More than services

It is a truth that should be universally acknowledged that Church is about much more than our mere presence on a Sunday or being engaged in the mere delivery of the normal round of services... and yet this truth is not, for some, a reality. The trap is set for so many of us in Church in that we become so bound up with church services and so taken up with our own voices and opinions, being so caught up with whatever Cause célèbre rings our bell, that we lose sight of the very Gospel itself.

Now these are hard and harsh words I know; words that will cause some to suck in their breath and lean upon their indignation and self-righteousness - and in doing so make what I write more true than I would ever wish it to be.

It is so terrible that we might find ourselves occupy a world where we are more taken up with numbers, sexuality, gender issues and politics than we appear to be with the Gospel. So awful that we could turn our pulpits, our eyes and our hearts from the cross of Jesus, the Christ, and preach the world and it's views as holly writ.

The trap of being so caught up with delivering services and being so bound up with emails and meetings and being approved of that we become impotent with regard to the ministry to which we are all called: That of making Christ known and through this knowledge reconciling the world to God.

As we begin our Advent journey I have come to realise that, looking in the reflection that I see of myself in the lives and activity, I need to draw a line and commit myself to preach the only thing I know for sure:

Christ, and Him crucified and risen; for Church is this first and foremost and upon this rock we build.

Not the pathetic struggles over sexuality - not the championing of talismanic approaches to ministry for calling is about being called, not recruiting the young or the BME or women or any other group we might see as good marketing. If we preach the Word and proclaim the Christ and reconcile people to God though Him everything else will surely come together. We may not always use words to do it - for our actions, our witness, and our passion often speak louder than we ever could.

But when we do use words we need to ensure that the profane, the unprofitable, and the usurping of the privilege we have through Christ is not usurped by self.

Why (and for whom) are we doing 'church' ?

It seems to me that regardless of who you are the time comes when we need to stop and ask ourselves those vital question: 'Why am I doing it?' and 'Who am I doing it for?'

Recently I have encountered situations where these questions needed to be asked and they needed to be asked of those who 'minister' (with and without dogcollars), regular and irregular attender and even, perhaps especially, those who don't come too!

It seems to me that the answer to the first question, at least in the case of those who profess to be Christian, goes something like this:

1. Because it's Biblical
2. Because it upholds Biblical standards (if it's not to be found explicitly)
3. Because it's the right thing to do (includes 1 and 2)
4. Because it blesses, edifies and builds (and fits with 1to 3)
5. Because it makes us live, look and think like Jesus (fits 1 to 4)
6. Because I want to help others understand and grow and have 1-5
6. Because I want to do it because of points 1 to 6

Where I have struggled is that place where I find myself with people who claim to be Christians who manage to miss some, or even all, of the points above. Of course this simplifies the answer to the 'Who am I doing it for?' question because the answer is obvious - they're doing it for themselves!
Mind you, the reality is that often they don't have the honesty, integrity or courage to give that answer. Stop for a moment and ask yourself who you, if you are Christian*, do things for. The answer might be multipart for often the first answer is different to the reality. The options I've recently encountered (which might mean stated or concealed) have been:

1. I'm doing it for God but Family/work/hobby make me do something else!

(AKA the 'Someone else excuse')

2. I'm doing it for God but don't have the time to give what I would like to
3. I'm doing it for God - is there anything else I can do to help?
4. I'm doing it for God and noticed this needed doing!
5. I'm doing it for God and noticed that there's more you could be doing (combine with 2)
6. I'm doing it for God and know exactly how church should be done

(just don't expect me to be there or do it - I'll merely point stuff out and criticise!)

7. I'm doing it for me - it's all about me, me, myself! (can be accompanied by maniacal laugh)

In case you think I'm wrong (and of course I could be +) here are a few examples from real life (across a variety of church groupings and denominations) so you can make up your own mind:

A. The people who have wanted to preach or lead but were annoyed that God got the applause not them - after all it's all about them being 'leaders' and up front

B. The people who have changed the way services were done because they didn't like the theology or the format or the music or the .... (add your own bit) - because it's about me being happy not about the people who have come for years and the place they're in (innit?).

C. The people who were always ready to complain about the things they didn't like, demanding change, but were never willing to actually offer to do anything themselves - because 'church' has to meet their needs (often they didn't know what they were, but they wanted it to satisfy them).

D. The people who come infrequently and complain that they don't feel at home (no surprise there) and they don't like the changes the new people have brought (because we have to keep it ready to please them whenever they decide to visit) and wish the children would be 'kept under control' and long for the days when 'church was done properly'.

E. The people who come when there's nothing on the box and Dobbie's (a garden centre) aren't doing a cheap tea and scone and discount day on a Sunday - because after all, it's about picking the best entertainment available to them.

F. The person who comes and prays and stays to help and comes back again to help with the Kid's Club and comes again and does it stuff the next day and the next and the next and the next - Yeah that's a '3 & 4' from the second list!!!

G. The people who comes almost every Sunday and ensures that even when holidays arrive the minimum of Sundays are missed because they want to be there - church is an important part of their life and they live in ways that make that obvious.

So there we are - take a look at the person in the mirror and see how the two questions are answered by them and then play the game with others and see where they sit on the scale. I was amazed when I tried this with a bunch of people who thought themselves to be the movers and shakers - the power base of their local church - and yet by the time I finished realised that they were not and this perhaps explained the difficulties the church in question was having.

All of them were out for whatever it was that made church what they wanted - and yet oddly, although some were great at loading guns and pointing them - few had the courage (or application) to get out and do what was needed to make the church fly!

A challenge indeed :-)

(or as one colleague said when discussing this - 'Too provocative - better to just get on and do it yourself - less stress and hassle!')

Pax

* 'Christian' is a variable rather than constant for many I meet who claim this label appear to be anything but for a myriad number of reasons!

+ But I have to add that I'm not (wrong that is!!!) ;-)