Update on Iraq: September 17

This report from Iraq (via Operation Mobilization) speaks for itself and highlights the need to continue praying and supporting all those affected by the actions of IS in Iraq (especially as we seem to be distracted by the Scottish referendum at the moment):

“I no longer have any words to tell the people,” the local pastor says, with an overwhelming sense of sadness. “After all that has happened and all I have heard, I have no words left to give them.”

The Pastor, a strong-looking, tall man in early middle age, takes time for us in his office in northern Iraq. A security monitor in the corner shows the road outside the church, a silent reminder of the ever-present threat of increased insecurity.

Inside the office, a quiet air conditioner makes the room much more comfortable than the corridor outside, where several people mill around. Guests of the church fill the rooms and floors night after night. They are guests because they no longer have a place to call home, having been chased from their cities and their villages by the Islamic fundamentalists of Islamic State, or ISIS.

The Pastor states, “We try to prioritise the most needy, but how do we turn people away? How can we do that?”

We sit together, and I ask him about the challenges he is facing, wanting to know more so that that people can be informed and stand with him in prayer.

A few days earlier we had sat together and talked about the church’s planned activities to support these internally displaced people (IDPs) from elsewhere in Iraq. The Pastor had outlined the plan to hire a wedding hall to house and feed another 50 families. He had listed the differing departments the church had designated–some overseeing the provision of food, some the distribution of clothes, still others the essential items for sleeping night after night in a hall full of people.

This local church in northern Iraq is a compelling example of a church putting love into action.

During this meeting, the Pastor spares more of his precious, much-demanded minutes to give an update on the progress of plans to start a school for IDP children–plans that just got approval in an astonishingly quick two days. He recounts a more troubling development. “A key leader is leaving,” he says resignedly. Not a major problem, in normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances. Right now the church needs all the leadership it can get, as it struggles to minister to a multitude, who are traumatised, despairing, and facing an utterly uncertain future. But it is impossible to blame the leader for wanting to leave. Utterly horrific stories are emerging of cases where fleeing people have had a child grabbed from them by ISIS.

This is how bad the situation is. Many Iraqis are trying to leave, hoping to reach a bordering country, and then, if they can, countries beyond. And church leaders are amongst them.

“I’ve had to think: if [ISIS] can do that to people there, they can do it here,” another church leader explained to my colleague. “I’m starting to wonder if I should send my wife and daughter somewhere safer.”

“What’s your biggest challenge? How can the [global] Church pray for you?”
I’d asked these same questions the day before to another pastor, in a city close to the border. The same answer came: “So many of our people are leaving. They’ve lost confidence in the country; they don’t feel they can live here.” 

Late the previous evening, I’d stood on the curb in a hot, dimly lit town street as I waited with another pastor for our vehicle to have its leaking fuel line fixed. “It’s only by God’s grace that I keep going each day,” he said. “I’m so tired.”

We met with dozens of families who filled block after block of unfinished concrete building shells. The pastor was surrounded by people pressing in to tell him their needs. Caught up in a sea of bodies, his face was shining with a tangible sense of the presence of Jesus. Those I’ve worked with, who walk most closely to situations of despair, who minister to the needs of the most desperate, are sometimes marked by this joy. Not bleakness or a sense of world-weariness, but a sense of God’s presence that is unstained by the vileness of this life that washes over them in their daily encounters. The presence of Jesus was amongst those people that evening, as the pastor moved amongst them.

Yet he, too, spoke of key people leaving. In the book of Exodus, Moses holds his arms up, and the battle favours his people. Yet when his arms drop from weariness, the battle turns against them. Victory comes when those around him–his key lieutenants–hold up his exhausted arms. There’s no clearer picture of Christian leadership in situations where the task is so great. No leader can minister alone; they need their team around them. Right now across northern Iraq, at one of the church’s most crucial hours, leaders are being abandoned. Alone, they can only stand for so long.

Please pray for these leaders.
Pray that despite the despair they face every day, and the huge needs they are struggling to meet, they would be able to keep going.
Pray that they would find, somewhere, words of hope to speak to people who have lost everything.
Pray that their co-leaders, where they can, will stay.
Pray that others will rise up, even those young in faith, who will stand with them.

The early church leaders only had, at most, three years of discipleship before the task of building the church was turned over to them. This is an incredibly important time for the church in Iraq and in the Kurdish regions. And yet its leaders face being abandoned at the height of their struggle.

In response to the current crisis, OM has launched a relief project that is currently being implemented in four locations in North Iraq, helping thousands of people from Christian, Yazidi and minority Muslim backgrounds, with basic food aid, hygiene kits, mattresses, and blankets to help with immediate needs. Just $100 will provide a FOOD PACKET to feed a family of six for one month. $200 will feed two families. It will make a huge difference to Muslim refugees who are terrified and trying to survive.

The situation is very fluid, and the response is adapting in some places on an almost daily basis.

Please pray and think about other ways you might be able to help

Sea Sunday and Abandoned ships

Yesterday our church celebrated 'Sea Sunday' - an opportunity to look at the work of the mission to seafarers (and those engaged in the wonderfully broad world of merchant maritime activity).

The focus of the the service was that of 'abandoned ships' - not something that results from a 'Women and children first' scenario but something much more sinister and concern making.

Let me explain:

Depending upon source we live in a world where 86-90% of the goods and foodstuffs that enter or leave our nation (the UK) do so by means of shipping. One result of the financial downturn has been an increase in owners abandoning their vessels, often because of expensive failures or just because the cash has run out.

Imagine the situation when a land-based company folds. The management come in and tell the workers that they've gone bankrupt and then they turn off the equipment, send the workers home and then lock the building up.

Now transpose this to a maritime setting. What happens when the fuel oil runs out and the engines and generators fail? No propulsion or electricity, air conditioning, pumps and stuff to support life on the vessel! Even if do have enough fuel oil to make port, when you get there there's no money to pay for the pilot or a berth, so you're stranded and holding off. There's no money for food or water and you're not being paid - so what do your family live on - and if you do manage to land, if you're on a vessel with a 'flag of convenience' you will probably be blown off by your own consulate or embassy staff too. The situation is hopeless.

The ILO's 'Abandonment of Seafarers Database' contained almost 150 abandoned vessels a couple of months back - and this is a shocking and often unknown situation if you aren't in this world (or have relatives who are affected). And this is where the Mission to Seafarers comes in foir the visit ships, provide Bibles, support for those in abandoned vessels, help for those who otherwise wouldn't be in contact with family and friends for months by providing mobile (and internet) communication, assist with medical emergencies and more beside.

So, can I encourage you to have a look at their website and perhaps consider:

Support them financially  - because this is people taking God's love to those who work at sea.

Pray for seafarers - because it's an area many of us take for granted and are ignorant of.

Give them an invite - to come and talk, lead a service and help you (and your congregation) become better informed.

ILO - International Labour Organisation 

Tamworth Street Angels - God's love on the streets

I was so immensely proud of all the people who don orange jackets and go out onto the streets of Tamworth to care for those people who need a friend for a variety of reasons (because people are vulnerable and in need of a friend for many reasons - not just because of the popular myth that it's all about alcohol!) for the reasons this letter gives:

Taking a Gap-Year For God

I have to say that I never thought I'd encourage people to give anything but their lives on this blog but I am keenly aware that there are a bunch of young people who have given up a year of their lives to learn more about their faith and themselves by embarking upon the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) 'Year For God'.

This has taken one of the young people from our church (and I have to be honest and proudly admit that they are ours) and has opened up the opportunity for five of them to work In Romania with Roma people. An opportunity that will yield more than the financial costs - and they've already raised money to get out to work where they are now - but still means that there are costs.

To this end they've set up a site which tells a little more about them and gives people the chance to be part of the work by supporting them. The site can be found here and reckon that if everyone who visits donates a solitary pound then they've probably got enough to change the lives they seek to work with and their own too.

And for those who don't feel called to give - can I encourage you to contribute in a much more important and effective way than mere money: Please pray for them and their journeying, the work they do and the changes to their own lives that the experience will bring. Changes that will live with them and make them better citizens.

Thank You

Mental Health? We've all got it!

The reality is that mental health is something that everyone possesses and whilst many might consider theirs to be sound, the reality is that squalls can appear on the most tranquil of waters at the most unexpected times. Some years back I watched a science programme which billed Uganda's LakeVictoria as the stormiest place on the globe with Italy taking the most consistently good prize - and I don't know it that's right or not, but the same goes for people - some are known for their storms whilst others for their constancy or tranquility. That said I've experienced sunny days on the shores of Victoria (bilharzia and nasty snappy things too) and had raging storms in Italy. Climatic squalls and brainsqualls can affect us all and with some they pass and others they remain to act as limitation, debilitation and curse.

It seems to me that here are a number of taboos in our society today but that which tops the league is to be found in the area of mental illness and even though it cannot be caught, it is treated as contagious and those who suffer from it are often treated much like mediaeval lepers. What I find is that those who should seek to keep the faith with the mentally ill and tolerate the excesses that the illness brings, rarely do.

I know that sufferers can be embarrassing - but so can we at times and we don't have the excuse of  any illness, and yet we seek understanding and continuing love, don't we?

I know that those who are shackled by mental health issues live lives that often exist in solitary confinement - trapped in walls made of brick, perceptions and responses (theirs and ours).

I know that those who care for those with mental illness are sufferers too! They live in the perennial fear that the next crisis might be the last the focus of their love might have. They find themselves shut in as they fight to keep their loved one stable, supported and, often, alive.

A man I worked with years ago, speaking of his psychosis said that he, 'Lived a death sentenced waiting to be carried out!' Sadly for him, that sentence was never commuted and he eventually took his life. The 'Black Dog' made so famous by Winston Churchill, eventually delivered a fatal bite.

So I'm writing this as a bit of a plea, asking that we - theist or atheist - take a moment to think of those we know who have issues with their own mental wellbeing or perhaps those for whom they care; asking the questions:

How do we care for those who care for people with illness (physical or mental), and do we deal equally between the two?

How do we regard the two? Are they regarded equally or do we have prejudices and blind spots?

We are called to love and provide places of security for the weak, the marginalised, the oppressed, the acted against and disenfranchised. All things that can be found residing in one blanket term:

 Mentally ill.

What are we doing to help others become as well as we might like to think we are?

What are we doing for those with mental health issues to help them, and those who care for them,  to help them live in a supportive and caring place?

Pax

Fathering B*sta*ds

One of the saddest things I have encountered over my many years in the Christian faith is the ability of churches and various groups to put on events which see 'people coming to faith' causing much rejoicing and a sense of achievement. The problem was that it didn't take long to realise that whilst hands were raised and 'sinner's prayers' prayed, those whose conversion we celebrated left never to return or perhaps slowly trickled away.

Those who raised their hands and prayed and left were generally the people who'd travelled in for the show - and there we so many of these. They came to see the big names and sung the songs and were (I have no doubt) touched  by the evening's happenings. I am sure that they, caught up in the event, really meant what they'd prayed and really intended the experience to be the beginning of a journey - but then they got home!

One of the potential strengths of the Billy Graham guys with regard to mission events was the fact that they engaged in a rigorous administrative process whereby people who'd come forward were effectively 'clerked' (the old term for what happens when a patient came in) so that they could be referred to one of the subscribing churches near to them to ensure that the faith journey was supported and nurtured.

Of course many of the churches near to the new convert were not members and so it was often the case that the 'named' church might not be near enough or of the same mindset, nationality or worship style as that which they'd fit in with and so they were soon lost. Other churches just failed to engage in the follow up because of poor admin', error and general 'naffness' and this, again, meant they were lost.

Many of those who came forward at one of the churches I was part of were prayed with after the service and encouraged to return and yet those who did soon found themselves drifting off because they were not nurtured - something some at the time I was with the church might deny but the numbers proved the sadness to be true.

The real issue is that some of those I have encountered who were struggling and far from Church have often told me how they were Christians because they'd put their hand up somewhere and were therefore 'Christians'. The problem with this is that whilst someone has told them that, they have not taken on board the responsibility of parenting them and so, churches with allow people to raise their hand and then leave never to be seen again are no better than those around me who father children and leave.

In Hebrews 12. 7-8 the Bible tells us :
'God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.'

One of the things I struggle to do is to help those who make a commitment to Christ (wherever I am) turn it into a mature and disciplined discipleship. Not always easy and when you consider some in the Church who have been Christians for years and yet remain largely unconvicted or discipled it easy easy to see the challenge before us (but at least they still come I hear people say).

I am drawn back to a sermon preached by Billy Joe Daugherty at an Elim Convention in the late eighties/early nineties in which he proudly proclaimed that he was 'not a B!!!'. It shook the old dears with their handbags and hats and cause men to tut and shake their heads and yet he was right.

If we are to take upon ourselves the task of fathering spiritual children then we need to also take upon ourselves the task of discipling and disciplining them too. Imagine the headlines in the Daily Fascist about those 'single-parents and the way their children turn up because they are not properly parented'. Have you ever read them and found yourself agreeing with the sentiments contained?

Now ask yourself the question: 'Have I ever done that with God's spiritual children - led them to a place of commitment and then left them, never to see them again?'

If you (like me) can answer 'Yes' to that can I ask this question:

How are we going to make sure that doesn't happen again?

Selection: Not just the Candidate!

I have had a rather charming, and challenging,  conversation with someone who has supported their spouse along the road to selection and had to pick up the many fragments that scattered the route back after they received something other than a resounding 'yes' at conference.

They highlighted the pleasure and the pain as doors were opened and then, in one final and dramatic act, apparently slammed shut. The frustration at the time it took to reach the endpoint and the ways in which the news was communicated and them feeling abandoned and betrayed. The upset that having looked for a job near to the intended college the plans were not only dashed at the 'possibly going to' end but caused issues with the 'possibly leaving end' too (telling your head that you might well be leaving and then not and finding they have already tentatively found a replacement apparently goes down quite badly).

The preparing the children for a change of home and then having got them excited about going, having to tell them you're staying!

I don't know how we can do it better. Perhaps we need to ensure that successful candidates at selection are given a year's shadowing their home church clergy before college to provide a naturtal gap should selection fall apart. The fact that the candidate feels abandoned is something that we, the church, must get to grips with; the support for the spouse and family of a candidate who returns with altered timescales or direction is equally (perhaps more) important too!

I've started a new section on the cavedwellers forum (goes live tonight) for people to share, explore, discuss and bleed over the issue of discernment, calling and selection. If anyone would like to come and contribute please feel free to either go to the forum and join or mail me and I'll set them up with a login and password.

We need to discuss and learn from our mistakes so that we can provide a positive and supportive environment for those exploring ministry (in all its forms) and those whose direction has changed as the process progresses.

'No one get ordained alone if they are married and it's not just the candidate that feels the pain if it falls.'

Thank you to the person who gave me that thought - may God bless you and yours as the process to be in the right place continues.

Selection: Not 'No' but 'Not Yet'

Amazed at the amount of conversations I've had regarding the can of worms that is offering oneself for ministry and the selection process.

Stunned by those who have heard, 'No, now go away,' even though often this response was indeed tacit (and yet was supported by the actions and attitudes of those who should most assuredly know better).

Sure, that when the response has been 'No' or 'Not Yet' the response of sending churches ( and especially the incumbent), DDOs and others should be (in my best Michael Caine voice and sensitive to gender considerations):

'Hang on lads, I've got a great idea . . .'

Some of my greatest joys in my ministry life have come from having worked with people who have returned from a BAP or DAP (hereafter referred to as 'selection') with a 'Not yet' or 'Not this calling'.The reason for this is greater that the sum of the parts but contains these elements:

Wrong language: Where submission, sense of calling, collegiality, collaboration and humility are to be sought, selectors have heard the opposite or mixed messages.

I always seek to get those I work with to explain what ordination will enable them to be, do, or do differently. One person who had come after a 'Not Yet' took great pains to explain that the honest answer was 'Nothing!' A response that demanded the questions, 'So why have you applied?' and 'How did you end up at selection conference!'

The response showed someone who was already in what was, dog collar and label aside, a ministry role. The key wax to unlock the passion for that calling and provide the words that invited exploration and revealed the calling (already recognised but needing to be ratified ).

Wrong Ideas: Quite a few people think that they should be ordained because , 'I don't have enough time to do what I do in church and do my job outside!'

This could well be calling to ministry but I could also be the result of being someone who can't say no or possesses poor time management skills (or both). I tend to regard 'doing' as something that shows commitment to the body and evidence of discipleship, but there are some who see it as the establishing of a track record and supporting evidence, The ' why' is more important than the 'what' for me - it's often a clincher in discerning vocation!

Just wrong: the dog collar who sends someone because they are doing and this needs recognition and reward in ordination or a Lay Ministry role. Ordination and ministry roles are not rewards, they are who we are released to be!

Wrong; Not investing time and effort in those who come forward before and regardless of outcome if selection conference is met, afterwards too. As discernment process moves on, opportunities and avenues of ministry should be walked along with an eye for the right fruit for those who accompany you. It's not what the role is, but that it fulfils and mutually defines the person seeking and the role itself.

NOT YET indicates something that is both ongoing and being actively engaged with. If you are the proud possessor of o e of these then you are still very much engaged in the discerning of joy vocation and so should others be!

So get out there and be a blinking nuisance!

Chivvy your clergy ( remember the widow and the magistrate?).

Chase your vocations people and challenge them to help you find the right shaped hole for you (and worry if they eventually meet you late at night in the woods with a shovel).

Talk to the pointyhatted ones and explain where and what and why (absolutely serious step - not to be taken lightly and realising they are busy, but ultimately have the cure if your soul as their charge (and remember what happened to Thomas å Becket!!).

Carpe diem (which auto text corrects to 'carpet firm') - grab the opportunities, listen to the witness of God (internally and from others) and don't lose sight of that which you feel called to. Talk about it (but don't become a bore!), prayer about if(and don't forget to listen), read about it (the more you understand the clearer your conversation can be) and be tenacious (stubborn).

Seek out those who will listen, advise (critically) and live you on your journey - for we are family and brother-in-arms and must Luce as such.

Pax

Selection, Rejection and proper responses

When I said that whilst some who had not been selected felt that they, 'Weren't wanted' and made the remark that, 'This is not what selection does, says or is,' I should have added, 'Or at least shouldn't be!'

One of those who has experienced the dark side of the Church of England's selection process writes:

'I'm sure the church believes this is true. But the system that is in place makes it very difficult to experience being turned down after a BAP as anything other than a rejection, and a violent one at that. If you spend up to two years carefully and often painfully working through a discernment process with your DDO, get recommended to the Bishop, go and see the Bishop and get recommended to a panel, and then are turned down (in my case) primarily on the basis of a single interview with a vocational advisor who you have never met before, it's difficult not to take it very hard. They say it's not rejection, but it sure feels like it.'

One of the things that has impressed me greatly is the support that our DDO has put in place for those who have received a 'No' (or perhaps 'Not Yet").

The other thing that we have is a process whereby potential candidates are met with by Vocations Advisors who help with the discernment and, being one I know this to be true, will say 'No' openly and honestly and work with that person to help them find the niche that exists for their particular form of ministry.

That said there are some whom, if anecdotal evidence is to be believed, send people up the chain because they don't want to be the person who says 'No'; an act which is duplicitous and damaging to the person and the well-being of the church and its ministry. After all, as Matthew 5. 37 tells us, 'All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. I'd add to that the  'Not Yet' and tell them what they need to do to gain experience, prove abilities yet unseen and the like - anything outside these is fudge or side-stepping the reality and this will lead to more pain and lost ministries in the long run.

Rightly or wrongly, I do have a great deal of confidence in the selection process and whilst when I went through it I found myself in the company of some who knew everything that was coming (even the questions which they'd learnt answers to beforehand!) I have to say that I knew enough to know what to expect in terms of format but everything was pretty much a surprise, a real benefit, as the selectors saw me and not someone else's answers. There is much to discuss concerning preparation, and we will be looking at this (and the fact that no one gets selected, or not, alone - it is a journey and an outcome that affects more than the one who goes off for the conference).

Pax

Care: Mental, Social and others - CHAMPIONS

I would just like to set the record straight regarding what I feel about those who provide care for those who suffer from various needs of the mental, social, housing, medical and benefits kind. For those who devote their lives to addressing the needs of those with problems I have nothing but respect and admiration. I chance across many who are committed to their role and see them struggle against decreasing budgets, diminishing staff numbers, increased workloads and restrictions that would make a saint swear like an East End docker and they deserve, no demand, applause and respect by the bucket load.

BUT (has to be a but) to reflect on 2013's experience to date:

I have seen first hand those people who make decisions long before they've engaged with their client and the reason for this has nothing to do with proper or effective care. The reason is merely a desire to make the problem go away. The reason for this is the fact that they are no longer doing what they joined up to do (and most of the social workers did join to make a difference) but are merely pumping out the clients in an effort to keep their own heads above water. The need to rationalise their own jobs means that many who are client-facing are no longer proving care but merely attempting to contain things.

I happened across a case where someone was presenting serious mental health issues but when one of the family called their local unit for help they were told that they'd been 're-diagnosed' and so they were no longer on the unit's list. 'But they are a danger to others and themselves,' pleaded the family member. 'In that case here's the other team's duty crisis number,' said the voice on the other end. The number duly given, they hung up. Worse than useless as the number they were given turned out to have been changed last year! By the time they found someone from the 'right' team the person with problems had been picked up by the police (who could do nothing but bring them home to be a problem to the family and not the community - not a knock at the police, they had no power to do anything else as the local team wouldn't come out!).

I found a child who had been removed and placed for adoption before conditions such as getting support and undertaking training had even been started. 'Best for the child'? I hope so because it looked like it was simpler for the caseworker and the team involved from where I stood. Another example of what might well be poor outcomes coming about because it required less effort and energy from those who are supposed to be supportive and caring.

Another case meant I found myself coming into contact with involved someone about to be made homeless with their partner and children. There were health issues and yet when they went to their local housing people they were told that they were at the very bottom of the pile because one of the couple had some income from a part-time job. The answer? They were made 'redundant' by the person they did five hours for and now at least they are moving up the list. Not so the person who left the army and was told that they 'were someone else's problem as they'd lived in married quarters in the SW and so were that council's problem!' Of course the rules regarding priority (mental and other health issues, released from prison, left the armed forces) are rarely considered because of the 'yes/no' game that many play to mitigate their workload and protect a non-existent social housing stock (yes - it's great selling houses to people but the money should have built new social housing stock!!!).

A plea to my clergy colleagues regarding the creation of 'Champions' in their congregations:

Build up a group of local 'champions'. People who can become experts (or at least be informed) regarding the various areas of need, which I suggest are, as a minimum:

1. Mental Health - one of the greatest and least addressed needs that face us.
2. Housing - Not just homelessness, because many who are housed will soon be homeless unless they find champions.
3. Debt - Debt coaching courses and support are essential parts of the pastoral care role of Church and yet, amazingly, few are equipped to come alongside and engage with it!
4. Family Issues - Yes, I know we do this as pastoral care but we need to know the law and the ways of protecting people at risk and we need to do it intelligently.
5. Old Age - one of the areas where provision is being withdrawn and where, even though people think the 'old' are always complaining, little is said as services disappear.
6. Addiction - and not just drugs and alcohol. It's amazing how sex and gambling often fall below the radar and how compulsive spending and other issues just don't feature at all.
7. Relationship and Reconciliation - can cover so many areas from providing a neutral place for engagement through to training and counselling
8. Health Issues - and this can include preparation for death, palliative and bereavement issues (including how to fund a funeral when the bereaved have no money!).

Eight areas which I reckon takes at least ten to twelve people to engage with if a church is going to offer support to the community outside (and within) its walls. It needs coordinators and someone who will keep the minister in the loop without making them the sole point  of contact.

When I have broached this with some clergy the response has been, 'Well that's what CAb and others are there for!" And indeed they are but I have to ask whether or not we have given up our pastoral birthright for a mess of 'other agencies' potage and I fear that the answer is 'Yes!'.

So feel feel to disagree (or add areas that you feel I've missed) but if you've read this then take it back to the church or team and see who and what you have to meet the needs for as money becomes even more tight the services will feel even more of the squeeze and clients less of the care and support.

Pax

Church Report (3): sets low standard - fails to achieve?

I'd like to consider those churches who serve the poorer, needier and more deprives communities in our land for it often here than numbers and money combine to bring forth an inherited poverty that inhabits (and perhaps controls) both spiritual and physical worlds.

Confused (then, job done, perhaps I should stop now whilst behind)? No, of course you're not - well I hope you won't be:

A church I happened across was in an Urban Priority Area (UPA); one of those places that exists somewhere in every city, town and village. The people were lovely - they were the sort of either lived to work and worked to live or were what they called 'government artists' (a local euphemism for those who 'drew' benefits). Like many from churches that are in UPA or 'Estate' settings many of those who were drawn to gave more than perhaps their income or lifestyles might have led you to expect and not only did they give pound notes but they gave of their time and themselves too. This is a reality that makes some inner-city, UPA and estate churches such a blessing - people where living is hard and living as a Christian is harder still - and yet they do admirably.

So what am I talking about, because this billing doesn't appear to have anything to do with 'inherited poverty', does it?

I'm talking about the fact that even though they gave, many assumed that they'd struggle to pay their share and so, accordingly, they did! In fact that hadn't managed to pay all or much of the share for a number of years and when the issue was raised, so too were their voices as they said (in unison), 'But we're a poor church, we can't afford to pay!'  They were so convinced that they were poor and couldn't pay that this became something they tried to ignore - for rather than bless and be a blessing it became the hallmark of poverty and defeat.

What I think was going on was that the church was under a curse they had pronounced over themselves. This course was, of course, poverty and from this poverty they found themselves unable to pay which confirmed the curse they were under and one fed the other to leave them impotent as a 'poor' church.

They looked up the road to the big successful church (whatever happened to 'Giving as Ministry' ?) and saw in their success further confirmation of their inability to pay and of their poverty in terms of numbers (and yet, oddly, both were evangelical and occupied the same beliefs and attitudes) and ability to 'be or do' church.

Then along came a new minister. Not young and flashy, not full of tricks, gimmicks, buzzwords and a 'drop dead gorgeous and talented 'worship band' (isn't it ALL worship?) but committed to breaking the cycle of poverty that had limited the congregation. They set about paying their share and amazingly, they did!

Now this will have done many things:

i. It says to the people -'you are not chained by poverty but have been set free' (and free indeed!); now live like it,

ii. It says to the diocese - 'We are committed to being part of the diocesan family',

iii. Invites renewed (visible) commitment from the diocesan as they recognise the achievement, and

iv. It beggars the question of the other churches around it - 'Were you helping or praying when they were failing or merely content because you weren't? '

It is so easy for poorer communities to believe that they are too poor to reap the benefits of God's Grace and too poor to meet their church's commitments.

It is easier still for those churches with money (and numbers) to sit back comfortably and pay from what they have whilst celebrating the many people they have who are able and active and forget about the poorer church 'up the road/across town'. Because even though this is about them - they don't stand in isolation - Do They?

Malachi's entreaty that we 'bring all of our tithe into the storehouse so that none may go without' doesn't stop at our doors but continues to the whole family.

If a man falls into a hole and has no friends, he perishes; but if he has friends he will be saved.

Who's going to help break the chains that surround so many of our vulnerable and essentially placed churches I wonder?

Clearing the air (4) - Mental Health

I've saved this for (almost) last as it is one of the most contentious issues I get to deal with on a regular basis. But, as one of those who have a history of mental health issues so accurately put it: 'The mad will always be with us and they will be our friends, colleagues, family and . . well, probably . . us!'

The spectrum of mental health issues is wide and generally misunderstood. If you don't believe me find someone with depression and ask them how many people have told them to 'cheer up'; find those who have different issues and you'll find that they've been told to 'pull themselves together' (or better still, to 'ignore it and get on with life').

I am privileged to be in a place where a great many of those around me have mental health related needs and rather than limit the ministry of, or from, the Church I find that their experiences (and troubles) are nothing but beneficial. That said, around me I see centres closing and services 're-aligned' such that they are in effect removed and this is something that the Church must stand against and also take up the challenge and stand in the gap.

I have sat in the corner of a room whilst the 'caring professional' before seeks merely (or so it seems) to find that caveat which excuses them from offering care. An example of this being a series of questions aimed at a man suffering from depression which, as the interview went on, descended into questions about smoking and alcohol. When the answer to the question, 'Have you ever drunk chemical-based cider?' was in the affirmative the 'professional' stopped the assessment and, handing over a leaflet for the local drink and drug support agency, told their would be client that they couldn't help and terminated the assessment.

I later asked the same person why this was the case and they said that any indication of alcohol abuse meant that they could 'pass on' the person to a different agency (even though this person is obviously suffering from the effects of quite bad depressive illness).

To make things even more interesting, as their symptoms increased and the illness deepened, the same person found that they were no longer eating or sleeping, to which one of the GPs merely proscribe a three month supply of sleeping pills and told them to come back in a couple of months!

Now I understand what it is to have a heavy workload and know that the cuts means that care and post-care support services are overstretched, underfunded and hard to find,

BUT

i. I am no longer prepared to walk away when I hit the brick wall that the mental health 'professionals' put up when they wish to neither be accountable or discuss the situation (and I always have a letter from the patient asking for disclosure and dialogue),

ii. I am not prepared to see those who need support services left to their own devices, but will move heaven and earth to create a safe space and find ways of providing what the system doesn't where I am,

iii. Mental illness cannot be 'caught' (as one moronic minister once said) and it does not create a bar to being a fully functioning member of the Church (except of course where behaviour and stuff does - and even then there are ways of making it work) - We have within our walls (Church universal) people with damaged bodies, missing limbs, cerebrally controlled limitations and, of course, mental illness. It is just another illness and just as I don't give sugar to diabetics or ask those with the effects of Polio  remaining in their bodies to 'run over to the shops', there are considerations when dealing with the mentally ill (have, are or perhaps will be) and this is to realise that it is merely just another illness with its limitations and considerations accordingly.

So, 2013 is knocking at the door - so are those with mental health issues; one you can't stop and the other you surely can't ignore. Can you?

Clearing the air (2) - they shoot horses don't they?

Another of the issues that has caused me great problems this year is the fact that those who now form part of the 'older' generation of our land appear to be regarded as merely spent and expendable. After all, they have little to offer in terms of revenue generation and are another burden that demands time, money and attention from both the state and their own families.

But of course this isn't true and if you start to think about it logically, many of those who are the older generation have many years of work (and paying of taxes and National Insurance) behind them. Not only that but there are many who have paid out for the nation in another way, that of having served it in some form of military (or other) service!

So let's look at what the older people have on their CVs and consider how we should be regarding it:

Eighty (and over) - b. 1933 - 1900
There's the second world war - growing up in a time of depression and many other hardships that were faced by this group. They know the value of family (and are often the glue of their families) and generally worked hard to pay their way. These are the people who paid financially and with their own lives and the lives of those they loved to make the sixties the libertarian and relaxed age that it was. They paid in and now it is surely their turn to reap the respect and care of the nation.

The Seventies - b. 1943 - 1934
Still wars, but not to the same scale as those before them. Still knew the value of stuff and still exist as the focus of the families and communities in which they live. Paid more in many ways as the NHS and other social care and concern provisions became available for everyone in a real and established manner. Accepted that paying NI and taxes meant a lifetime of care both medically, in social housing and in old age.

The Sixties - b. 1953 - 1944
'Sixty is the new forty' (or so I'm told) and this group are now looking at paying, and working, for longer before they get their go onto the provision roundabout, that is if we still have a social health service and anything that looks like 'old age care' by the time the youngest of this group actuallty reaches seventy. Many of these will have paid and worked all their lives (but not all as Thatcher's job cuts and the various trough, trough and recovery have played their part) for something others wish to deprive them of. Trendy and living on credit is a greater reality for this bunch but they've still (in the main) played their part.

What do they have in common?

Unlike horses and other beasts of burden (which used to be shot but now find themselves in 'sanctuaries') these people have worked and contributed to the well-being of our society. they have produced children, been in gainful employment and paid their taxes and National Insurance to provide for those before them.

The State told them that they were entitled to 'cradle to grave' care and support, but no one told them that the grave might just be enticed that little nearer to reduce costs; neither did they realise that services and places of care would mean that we would end up with a 'can't pay - can't live' society (such as that I saw many years ago in a certain Western nation where there was wealth and health and poverty and early demise on the menu).

The Bible tells us that 'we don't muzzle the ox that treads the grain' (Deuteronomy 25) - meaning that when you do the work you should also benefit from it. Well those in the three groups above have done (and in many cases are still doing) that and they have a right to expect the best in care, provision and support. In fact, I would argue that legally, having paid in to the system, if services are withdrawn there must be a case for reimbursement of the financial components for them as they have paid money for something that isn't on offer (it's called 'fraud' when it doesn't relate to the government!).

One of the things that defines a nation is the way that it cares for the poor and needy; well if some of my visits to places around the country are anything to go by, we are to be judged as wanting. If some of the stories I hear (and have seen for myself) are anything other than isolated exceptions then there is a cynical streak that seeks to save money on the lives that actions designate as 'worthless' because of the age of the person.

Be warned - 2013 is the year when I will shout loud and make a stand for the older folk around me and where services are not forthcoming then I will be making this known; where charities fail to uphold their end of the bargain (a bargain which the giving of others has made possible) I will waste no time in pointing to it.

1 Timothy (chapter five) talks about providing for our relatives (and members of our households too) and it says that those who fail to do this  have denied their faith and are 'worse than unbelievers' - sadly in a land where unbelief is applauded and financial probity is championed as a reason for poorer standards in old-age care, these words are appearing truer every day - another reason that we need to make this land a place where faith is applauded and reason, truth, love, justice and mercy are valued.

I close with the words of the apostle Paul as found in Galatians (six) - my words:

"Brothers and sisters, if you find someone acting wrongly, those of you with faith in God (and living by His Holy Spirit) should correct them gently. But take care  that you are not tempted to do that wrongly yourselves.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

We need to care for the older people of our nation - it is their right and our duty!

If it isn't being done then we need to start doing some 'correcting' (the right way) - don't we?

Clearing the air (1) - the disabled are a burden

Having a chilled day and thought I'd pin a few colours to the mast over the few days between now and New Year. I have done it with 'Happy Holidays' and now I feel the need to respond to people like Geoffrey Clark, a man who was standing as a candidate for UKIP's National Executive Committee, until he opened his mouth and put his foot squarely in it by calling for the compulsory abortion of all foetuses that have been identified as having the potential to be born with Down's syndrome or spina bifida.

As if it might make things better the man supported his opinion by stating that the reason for the views he held were merely 'financial' for he was concerned that such children would be 'a burden on the state and the family'. Mind you, the man's amazingly sad utterances didn't stop with children born with health issues for he also (apparently) thinks that the state should re-assess the care given to over eighties as it was 'extraordinarily costly'.

Now whilst I am happy for the man to hold his views, and happier still that he voices them, because that is what democracy does - for it gives minorities and people with different views a voice and the right for it to be heard - it also demands the right to dialogue with the views and to engage in rejoinders. So here's mine:

I write this as someone who has, for as long as I remember,  been 'pro-life'. This is a position that has attracted a fair amount of conflict in the past as I have been engaged by those who wish to demote babies into 'just a mass of cells' and render them to be an abstract 'foetus' as they support what is often little more than social engineering! [I invite those who support the aborting (not 'termination') of a child because it interferes with holidays and changes careers, lifestyle and financial circumstances.

Over the years there have been many who have accused me of being able to have my views based on their premise that: 'it's alright for you because you haven't got a handicapped child'.

Well, this is probably a food time to 'fess up and explain that I have not only held my views for a long time, but that I held them long before I became the father of a severely handicapped child who was with us for just under ten years. Ten years that taught me a great deal about the value and place of the handicapped among us and only confirmed my original views regarding the value of live and the contribution that some of the most damaged can make to the lives of the most able.

There are times when tough choices regarding life and death are forced upon us, and when these appear, the Church needs to be present to offer pastoral and moral support. There are times when the continuance of an obviously non-viable pregnancy that threatens also to take the life of an otherwise healthy woman come knocking at our doors. At some stage we may well find ourselves engaging with others who have the spectre of an abortion somewhere in their life story. What do we do when this is our reality?

I would consider that the first word to think of is always 'Love' regardless of the reasons or outcomes before or behind them.

I have decided that 2013 will be a year when I seek to turn those with 'righteous anger' away from it into a place of 'righteous love'.

The second thing to think of is the fact that in Exodus chapter Twenty we are told that we must never take life 'feloniously' - by which I mean, 'do not murder' - but where life must be taken (and it seems that there are times when the word 'must' is very much a reality, but reliance upon man's laws and the assumption that they overrule the requirements of God's is a flawed, and dangerous, state of affairs.

The third thing to remember is that God calls us to protect the weak, the vulnerable, the widow and the stranger in our midst and that we should do this courageously and without counting the cost. Too often we bring discussions regarding life down to one issue, 'quality of life', but what is really meant here is more often than not one of two things:

What will it cost - financially, emotionally, practically

or

What can they contribute - financially, emotionally, practically

I have seen a cerebrally palsied child, unable to speak, feed or toilet themselves communicate and contribute so much to the life of those around them.

I have seen the very best of people, sometimes in what appears to be the very worst of people, brought out by their encounter with frailty and helplessness.

To  consider only the difficulties that children with major disability and handicap will bring to us in terms of negative numbers - be they financial, emotional or time - is to see past our own humanity and reduce us to nothing more than components. It is to remove the heart and soul from our society  something which (with apologies to those humanists and secularists this might offend) is becoming more commonplace and more acceptable as our netion distances itself from being a people of faith.

So Mr. Clark (and those who might support your views) all I can say is that I am grateful that there isn't a 'Geoffrey Clark test' for those children who are yet unborn, and am glad that it wasn't on offer when you were as them, for each of us regardless of flaws and disability have within us that image of the invisible God that we need to treasure and that ennobles us and makes us and our society all the richer (regardless of financial cost).

Pax