Ruth's Ramblings;

 

A Minister's Blog

Archived Posts 2020 - 2021

 

Dec 22nd 2021

The angels' song.

 

The angels reputedly said to the shepherds; "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill to all".

 

 

Today, my blog starts with a quotation from a facebook post from one of our wise members...Christmas is saved! Not by any action or inaction by the government But by the young girl who came to our Saturday Foodbank collection with two cardboard trays of tins she'd collected from neighbours. By the woman of good will who has involved us in collecting warm coats for the Afghan refugees placed (dumped?) in our area, By the hats and scarves knitted for rough sleepers. And the list could go on. The Christmas story we tell is messy and chaotic but it is overflowing with love. Love doesn't need to be "saved". Love saves us.

And to that list I want to add the two wee girls, of 8 and 9, who saved up their pocket money to buy large donations of much needed goods for the foodbank. And the three car loads of goods taken to the foodbank following Saturday's giving (and the extra brought by the person who couldn't get there on Saturday, and drove to church on Sunday morning before the service to drop off three large bags...

And the box of pasta and baked beans that was delivered to another foodbank because they can use it...

And the people who turn up faithfully week by week, in rain, sun, snow, wind to reeive donations and deliver them...

And the hampers delivered via social services to folks who would otherwise be without, supplied through gifts from the congregation, and gifts from those who attend Youth Groups....

 

"Good will" said the angels; not proper beliefs, or correct theology. Not power or influence or high profile. Not force or winning or beating down the other, or closing the borders or defeating the enemy or using connections to win a large contract.

Good will. 

That's the Christmas message. 

Christmas doesn't need saved. Christmas saves us. Because Christmas is the promise that goodwill to all is the gift that goes on giving. 

 

Dec 15th 2021

An unexpected gift!

On Saturday, we discovered a tree outside the church - hardly surprising, given that we have wonderful grounds with many trees...but this was a Christmas tree, with the note "for church or for somebody who needs it". We couldn't find anybody who needed it (our contacts through foodbank had been able to supply all sorts of trees to people through other generous gifts.) And so we decided to put it up in the grounds, so it can be seen by those going past. 

A generous gift from people we don't really know, but to whom we are so grateful. And our gift, to share with neighbours, and join in the amazing lights that are illuminating the neighbourhood. 

What a lovely parable; we have been blessed by somebody's generosity, and in turn we can bless others....

It's a Christmas not exactly miracle, but definitely delight!

 

Dec 8th 2021

It's that time of year again....

The filling of hampers is as regular a part of a Grove Lane Christmas as the tree, the carols and the cards....boxes of gifts of food and treats put together, to be distributed through social services to those we will never meet, but who are in need of a helping hand. There is money given by adults and boxes decorated by amazing people to be filled with the resources thus purchased, and there are boxes decorated and filled with gifts brought to our Youth Group meetings...

I celebrate this - and it makes me angry! I am delighted - and amazed! - at the generosity, financial and otherwise, that makes this happen, and delighted that there is a way of ensuring that some folk who wouldn't have do have.....

And I am angry that in a country in which nearly 450 000 tonnes of food is thrown away each year, in which supermarkets throw away the equivalent of 90 million meals a year, we have families who are depending on this to be able to have enough to eat at Christmas time. We have approximately 36500 people living in poverty in Stockport....and childhood poverty has increased in all but borough in Greater Manchester in the last year. 

In the second week in Advent, traditonally the Church listens to the words of John the Baptist; the one who cried in the wilderness "make straight the paths" referencing the prophet Isaiah, who spoke of the day when "every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain laid low".

Levelling up was God's idea first....

Dec 1st 2021

A special day...

 

For today's blog, I am passing on a story that has been sent to me (passing it on with permission)

A day in Day Centre....

Last Tuesday some of the clients played dominos - while others finished off the woollen hats they had been knitting, during the previous couple of weeks – and we celebrated the ninetieth birthday of one of the ladies.  

Today, all of the clients played Bingo – and we celebrated the eighty-third birthday of another of the ladies.

 After their meal, the clients moved back into the lounge – and a little old Indian lady, accompanied by a young man, in his thirties, entered the building. Then I remembered that the wife of Nick Dahr, a long time Day Centre helper, who had died about a year ago – had been in touch a couple of weeks ago – asking if the Day Centre had started up again – and, if so, could she and her son come and have a look at the Day Centre, where her husband had “so much” enjoyed being a helper.

 Nick’s role had been to serve the clients with tea, or coffee, in the lounge before their meal – and again, after they had finished their meal. He was a quiet, gentle person who was clearly very proud to have been given the job of serving the clients.

 Mrs Dahl and her son were taken to the lounge – and introduced to the clients, many of whom recalled fond memories of Nick – and after a short while – the Dahl’s left, accompanied by Arnold.

 After seeing them off, Arnold told me that they had insisted that they pay for Today’s meal for all of the clients – explaining that this had been requested in Nick’s Will.

I ran into the car park to thank them for this very generous gift – but they had already left.

 Returning, with Arnold to the lounge – we explained, to the clients, that the Dahl’s had insisted on paying for all of their meals – as Nick had asked in his Will.

There was an overwhelming atmosphere that something very special had happened, here, Today.

 

There are moments when something happens, the Kingdom flashes forth, and, without making it happen, we know we have been blessed. 

 

 

Nov 24 2021

Things are afoot....

This Saturday, we have our Christmas Fair In The CarPark. It runs along side the foodbank collection we do every Saturday - and it is the beginning(ish) of Advent. On Sunday, wehave our service for the first Sunday in Advent, and even as I am typing this, various lightings-up, displays and general stuff is going on to get us into the beginning of the process of celebrating Christmas.

Every year in certain of the groups to which I belong, there is a general moaning that "it's Advent, not Christmas"...and I get it. It is good to take our time and prepare and notice that there is a journey to make from here to there. Advent has its own meaning and integrity, and we do miss out on something if we charge through it too fast. I appreciate moments to slow down, to think about the meaning of waiting, to wait for God's presence and promise and acknowledge that it isn't under my control, but in God's gift. I deeply value the moments of darkness and stillness that can come with our Longest Night service, which gives space to recognise loss and discover what it is to seek for God in that. I treasure the possibility of catching glimpses of the bigger story, the wider expanse of the purpose of God which is opened up as the journey towards the Christmas story is taken slowly and reflectively. 

But - especially after all we have been through in these months - there is also place for celebration, for lights and colours and jollity and sheer fun!

And the richness of being the complex people that we are is that we can be both reflective and daft, we can take our time and rush ahead and both can be true, even in the same day. 

So yes, bring it on; the Christmas Fair and the tree up for Advent Sunday and the Christmas music playing as I write the services for Advent - and the waiting, the delaying, the wonder and pause and sitting in the dark. John of the Cross, a mystic and poet of th 16th c wrote "the caverns of the soul are infinite". It's a phrase that holds all sorts of meanings, and I love it. And one of the meanings is surely that yes, I can be in two places, two states, to different approaches at once, and that is not a bad thing. It is part of the richness and delight of being human. 

Happy Advent!

 

 

 

Nov 10 2021

We will remember

This is the week of Remembrance Day and of our Remembrance Sunday service; the point in the year when we take time and offer attention to remember those who have lost their life in conflict, and those who can never not remember, as they live with the ongoing effects of injuries, traumas and seeing, hearing and doing things they will never forget. 

It is a complex day, with a great deal of emotion attached to it - and it has not become any easier in recent years with a certain kind of politicisation. 

But just because something is hard does not mean we should not do it. Indeed, perhaps because it is hard is all the more reason to pay attention, and to do it as well as we can. 

And so on Sunday, we will remember. We will use images, words and silence to make our remembering as honest as possible, to avoid any suggestion that we are either glorifying or minimising the memories.  And at the heart of it will be the prayer of all the people of God; they kingdom come, thy will be done - a prayer for a just peace, a sustainable way of life, and flourishing for all.

Nov 3 2021

COP26

In the run up to the current COP26 gathering, a campaigning group of which we are part, Cheadle Climate Action, has had a poster campaign running (The picture above is one of our posters in June).

It has been one of the ways in which as individuals, and some of us representing our congregations (from churches and from the Mosque) have been committing ourselves to the world-wide calls to those who have power to do something that will actually make a difference.

As a campaign, it has been effective; it has brought more people to join our group, it has brought us into contact with those in local government so that we can have useful conversations about policy in our neighbourhodd, and it has annoyed enough people, that in various places our posters have been taken down. 

And now we are into the gathering, and statements are being made, and negotiations are underway and all we can do is hold our breath.

Actually, of course, that is not "all" we can do. For poster campaigns, handing out leaflets, lobbying politicians, even offering our prayers are not enough.

The call here is not simply to campaign for change; it is to be change, to do things differently, to live in the way we are calling the world to live. 

I am proud of our campaign, and our lobbying of politicians, of our determination to influence those with power.

And I am proud to be part of a community that takes the issues seriously enough that individual are actually makign different choices, and changing how they live. May God grant us all the grace and courage to live what we speak, so that our love for our neighbours currently suffering the realities of drought, fire, flood and famine will not just be words, but will have real results. 

 

Oct 27 2021

Silenced

I have currently lost my voice - it used to be a frequent experience, but it hasn't happened recently. It's always an interesting time. I notice several things. 

Firstly, I realise how much I usually talk- maybe too much! It is an interesting moment to notice that the world carries on even if I can't say anything. Maybe what I say isn't quite as important as I think it is.  

Secondly, I notice how people either talk to me as if my hearing is also impaired, and so raise their voices, or feel that if I am whispering, they need to whisper too. I'm not at all sure what that is about....though it may be something to do with empathy; people trying to connect with what they perceive as my experience and enter into it. Either way, it always makes me smile, and that helps.

Thirdly, I discover just how tiring it is to commuicate in other ways. This is a very good reminder how much I normally take it for granted that it is easy to make myself heard. This is very salutory - the privilege to be heard is one I can very easily take for granted. Being deprived of it, however temporarily and partially is a just the slightet glimpse of how too many people experience the world - and then it leaves me wondering what I might do to change that?

And fourthly, I think that I might be thinking too much, and it's time to stop. But if I meet you in the next few days and don't speak, please don't take it personally! I'll be talking as much as usual very soon!!

Oct 21 2o21

Testing

These sets have become so familiar recently! Did you ever think you would be doing medical tests on yourself at home? I didn't! But I am doing this on a regular basis (so far, negative each time). And I know that several others in the fellowship are also doing it regularly - some because of work, some because of being ill and needing to know what stage things are at, some to feel safe coming out and about. 

It's not the most comfortable experience, but it is important. And the discomfort can be a helpful reminder that this is something that matters, something we do for other people's sake. Not that I want to suggest that discomfort carries some sort of moral value - if there was a comfortable test, I'd be right there for it. 

But given that it is uncomfortable, it is a reminder that caring for one another is not just a simple task. It will sometimes have a cost, it may make us feel awkward, or ask of us that which has a cost....as the poster says, "when Jesus said "love your neighbour", it was in the knowledge that your neighbour would be different, sometimes difficult, would not do what you want; but love them anyway....!"

And if that means taking a test that makes me gag, I pray for the grace to do it gracefully. 

 

Oct 14 2021

Harvest thanksgiving

We celebrated Harvest last weekend - back in the building. And a good time was had by all...

I remember as a child, Harvest was a straightforward festival; we brought plants and tins to church, and they were shared with others. 

As I grew older, themes of food injustice and unequal development began to become important; the famines in Biafra, and later in Ethiopia, the Brandt report and television pictures that showed the reality of starvation meant that the sense of celebrating plenty became infused with a recognition that it was not straighforward...

And in the last decades, as we have become aware of the dangers to our environment - and even more, our responsibilities for our environment, another layer has been added; giving thanks, offering to care, and repenting and resolving. 

Part of me is sad to lose the early innocence of just saying thank you. 

But I am also grateful for more understanding, for a wider sense of the world, a recognition of our interdependence. 

Not least, because now, as we celebrate, we do it with reality, in the real world, as real people. 

And where else are we going to find God...?

Oct 6 2021

Welcome back!

Over the last few weeks, things have gradually been restarting in the building; the youth groups are meeting, the Day Centre has recently restarted, and some one-off events have also taken place. 

This weekend, our Harvest Festival, is also our Big Return Weekend; we have a social on Saturday evening (all welcome - bring your own picnic) and on Sunday, our Harvest Festival service (again, all welcome, please bring a gift for Wellspring, and a mask)

It is really exciting. It feels like so long since we have been able to do this....and "this" that we will do will not be exactly "that" which we we used to do. But we will be together and play games and eat in the same space, and we will meet on a Sunday morning, and sing (seated and behind masks) and pray and listen and talk together....it is another step into the new world that we are exploring. 

So - if you would like to come, please do. It would be lovely to welcome you. And if you are not ready (or not able) to come to the building, we are continuing our zoom link, so drop us an email for that, if you don't have it and would like to join in. 

 

Sept 29 2021

A Mayoral Reception!

Yesterday evening I attended a reception for faith group leaders that was hosted by the Mayor of Stockport. It was a very pleasant and informative occasion. The Mayor, Adrian Nottingham, spoke with us about his hopes for the borough and his understanding of how the churches in particular might be part of the "building back" which as a community we are seeking to do in this new context.

Much of what he said, and what we discussed will become clearer over the next months, but my main impression as I come away is hearing the words in Jeremiah's call ringing in my ears; "Seek the welfare of the city...and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare". 

We are involved in various ways in "seeking the welfare" of our community - most clearly recently on  Saturday morning, with our various collections. And it is a delight that the reopening of Day Centre means that another part of our "seeking of welfare" is back in operation.  These are really important parts of what it means to be "the people of God in our place for our time".  As we plan our move back into the building (more on that next week) I believe it is really important that we carry on with our "outside" presence in the car park - and maybe even seek to develop it, even as we seek to do more with and in the building. 

And I am convinced that the call is not simply to do, but also to pray. So our praying for our neighbourhood, for the community of which we are a part, and for the institutions that sustain it are also important - not simply praying for people individually, though clearly that matters, but praying for our wellbeing together, the ways in which as a society we might live so that all can flourish and be safe.

One of the most significant aspects of that is our commitment to campaigning around climate care; for all of us, longterm, the changes that are needed to sustain our world are central. So - this afternoon at about 3pm, we will be outside the church to encourage those who are walking to Glasgow to be present at COP 26 - and we will be attending the meeting this evening in Cheadle Parish Church at 7.30. If you are able to be there, that would be great. Together, we can witness to the call of God to care for the world, and we can pray for the welfare of the city.

 

Sept 1 2021

How did it get to be today...

Three years ago this weekend, it was my induction service here. I had been around for a couple of months beforehand working my way in, but I started fulltime following the induction. 

And half of the time I have been here has been in this weirdness of lockdown and closed buildings and generally making it up as we go along....

It's been an interesting three years. 

And I wouldn't have missed it for the world! It has been a time of getting know people, and structures and stories; of saying goodbye in funerals, and hello as people have come to find us, and what next as we have tried to work out how to do the stuff that matters in a situation than none of us had any practice in. It's been a time of great joy and deep sadness (sometimes on the same day!), of learning more deeply what it is to be enclosed in a community, and supported by it, of finding skills - or trying to develop them - that I didn't know I had, and rediscovering bits of my brain than had been left too lazy for too long. It's been a joy to lead worship, and to be led, especially in prayer. It's been a wonder to feel ourselves welcomed and accepted just as we are - and Maizie-Dog in particular would like to say thank you for the welcome. It's been moments of despair and frustration, usually because I've messed up the photocopying again (or more recently, because zoom has not done what I expected!). It's been times of bewilderment, as I have wondered what I have to say or to offer in particular situations, of learning to react and adapt quickly as new aspects come to light. It's been a whole new thing of understanding what a garden is and how to care for it (or not!). It's been new friends, and good conversations, and settling in. 

So today, just to say thank you; to the congregation, to the community associated with Grove Lane, and to God. 

August 25 2021

The Sam Sharpe Lecture

As I was preparing to write this week's blog, an email arrived from the Baptist Union, giving details of this year's Sam Sharpe Lecture, and it seems to me a good thing to pass on this information. So, I quote the email...

The Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Jamaica Baptist Union are committed to walking the ways of God’s justice. One demonstration of this joint commitment is The Sam Sharpe Project.  Sam Sharpe was hanged in Montego Bay on 23 May, 1832 after initiating and leading a revolt for justice. Just before his execution he said: ‘I would rather die upon yonder gallows, than live in slavery.’ The revolt and Sharpe’s actions played a huge role in British parliamentary deliberations, and ultimately the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. It is this legacy the Sam Sharpe Project seeks to build upon by promoting his story and exploring his relevance in today’s context. The Sam Sharpe annual lectures, an idea conceived by Rosemarie Davidson-Gotobed, a Partner of the Sam Sharpe Project, remains its key educational resource.

This year's Sam Sharpe lecture will be delivered by Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, CEO of Christian Aid.

Lecture 2021 – Thursday 21 October

'Setting The Captives Free – forging the paths to freedom'

 

Please do make a note of the date - I will post a reminder nearer the time.  But this is important stuff.  Understanding the bits of history that we have often not heard about much is a significant part of hearing the truth of which we are a part, and more fully understanding the way the world is. 

It is about knowing the truth that sets us free; setting us free from misunderstanding, from only knowing half the story, from being limited to our own viewpoint, set free to live in a larger world. 

 

Do join in if you can.

August 18 2021

Lacking inspiration

There are some days when there is just nothing left to say; either life is too full of stuff (see the news at the moment, when so much seems to be happening, and most of it overwhelming), or there are too many feelings (we have had rather a lot of mourning going on in the community at the moment) or life is tiring (see - pandemic!)

And this is one of those times, for me at least. 

The problem with the times when there is nothing to say is that we tend to feel we should still carry on speaking...

If we are with somebody who is mourning, we can feel the need to say something - and if we can't find anything to say, it is tempting to avoid somebody's pain, rather than just giving the gift of listening.  As we hear of the horrors and griefs in the news, we - or at least too many people - seem to need to say something, and we can find ourselves involved in discussions that are not edifying or helpful, rather than simply taking time to hear and understand. And when we are overwhelmed with life and its exhaustion, we can find complaining and snapping at those around us is just too easy, rather than just shutting up and having a rest.

So - rather than say something unhelpful, or unnecessarily contentious, I am going to say very little. 

After all, as the verse says

There was an owl, lived in an oak

The more he heard, the less he spoke

The less he spoke, the more he heard

Oh that we could all be like that wise old bird.....

 

August 4th 2021

Thank you

We have had a message from Chelwood Foodbank to pass on their thanks for the donations that pass through our car park on a Saturday morning. One of the things that is most important about this giving is its regularity.

So- I am passing on the thanks in every way I can think of; here, and through our website and on our facebook page. If you are somebody who gives - either through the collection on a Saturday morning, through money gifts or via the Amazon link; somebody who makes it happen on a Saturday, and gets the deliveries to Chelwood; somebody who makes sure other people know about the need....indeed, anybody who is involved in any way, here is a huge

THANK YOU

for all that you are doing. 

Please don't stop. As school holidays approach, the need is ever greater - and at the moment, donations are dropping. If you can help, please do....and know just how much it means to people. 

July 28 2021

Well, you kind of have to...

Talk  about the olympics, I mean. After all, it is a pretty big thing in our world at the moment, and after all the delays and uncertainties, it is cheering to see it happening, and even more, to see how well so many of our team are doing. 

And then there's the ones who don't succeed - who feel like, for whatever reason, they have let themselves, and those who have supported them, down. 

I've been very struck by the distress that people have expressed when they feel like they have been less than they could have been, and the way in which that is spoken about in terms of apologising to those who have trained, have supported, have made sacrifices and have encouraged them. 

And I have been even more struck by the way in which those friends and families, on being interviewed, have never in any way, suggested that they are angry or let down - they are always more concerned to care for and encourage the disappointed athlete.

I think this is an amazing model of what it is to be one body; to feel that interdependence. The recognition that, when I get it wrong, I am affecting not just myself, but others who care and support and have encouraged me. And when somebody I care for is less than perfect, the response does not need to be anger or blame - but is more support, and deeper reassurance. 

Too often in congregations we have had a reputation of either not noticing when our failure to live up to our gospel calling has had an impact on the people around us - or of blaming (and excluding) others who have, we believe, let us down.

Watching the athletes who win has been inspiring (and has frequently made me ask "how do you do that??") But watching the responsibility expressed by those who have simply not been good enough on the day, and the love and encouragement of those who stand on the sidelines and watch has been deeply moving and challenging. 

What could our congregation look like if we were even more able to live these values; and what might we offer to the community around us as we make these values ever more visible?

July 21 2021

Hot weather

Yes, I know, it's very boring to comment on the weather; we all know it's hot, and we're all surprised, because it never happens, and there are many more interesting things to talk about. 

But, it's hot!

 I confess, I am not a fan of hot weather (What can I say; I'm a Scot....I did not grow up with lots of heat!)

And there are things to say here about climate change and our reponsibility to do something about it. 

But just at the moment, I am reflecting on something I heard on the radio that made me smile, and think... The person giving the weather forecast started by saying "it's going to be another lovely warm day"....which is a phrase that always has me shouting at the machine saying "I don't like it...", and the voice went on "at least, lovely if you like hot weather, which I know not everybody does".

It was such a relief. 

It doesn't change the weather, and Iam still uncomfortable. But it was such an affirming feeling to have it acknowledged that not everybody was delighted when the temperature passes 26 degrees. 

And it makes me wonder about our life together; there are things we disagree about, preferences we have, choices we would like to see made and are disappointed or frustrated when it goes another way.  I wonder how much attention we pay to at least acknowledging the differences among us, and paying attention to it. 

The weather person can't make the weather different; but by at least saying that there are those of us who don't like it, I (and others) are not left feeling ignored or silenced - or as if we are weird. And that really helps.

So, now, please excuse me while I go and find the shade.....

 

July 14 2021

It's been a long time.

We welcomed a visitor to the manse today; a friend was travelling through, and got in touch to ask if he could come to lunch.

What joy! We were delighted to welcome him and shared a fun time - and Maizie was delighted.

But, I confess, I woke up this morning and suddenly thought "I need to tidy up!" There has been nobody but us chickens in the manse since about a couple of months before lockdown started. And, it's not that I've exactly neglected the place, - it's more that I just haven't done anything. 

So, I got on with it, and did some cleaning, some tidying and some making it all reasonably welcoming again.

At one point, I realised that time was running out (there was also a meeting to attend this morning) and that all I was really going to be able to do was what my grandmother called "a lick and a promise".

I did make the place look ok, and tried not to notice that there were definitely areas I had skipped. And like the good preacher I try to be, I started to wonder what this might point out, and started to think about the tendency we all have to make things look good without actually sorting out the deeper issues and so on.

But then I had another thought; actually, getting the house (or, in illustrative mode - our lives, our selves, our organisations.....whatever it is we are reflecting on) to a position that is functional, even if not "perfect" is enough - indeed, is more than enough. The point is not to get it all perfect - the point is to get it (whatever "it" is) to a position that is functional and good enough to do whatever needs to happen, and then get on with whatever it is that needs to be done. 

As we move into a new phase, there is going to be a lot of anxiety about what is the "right" thing to do. And it is proper to pay attention, and take the best decisions we can. But it is equally important that we do not let ourselves get paralysed by trying to get it "perfect" - good enough is good enough. And God is not dependent on our perfection to be present, at work and bringing the Kingdom. 

 

June 30 2021

If you go down to the woods today....

...then I hope you won't get a big surprise, but might get a great delight, for in our bit of ground/woodland, we now have two bug hotels, courtesy of Deacon.... He decided where they would go and "furnished" them with twigs, wool and assorted welcoming "furniture".

One is high up on a tree, in order to welcome flying insects, and one is low down for those which crawl.

It is all part of our intention to care for the world we are part of and in particular for the little bit around our building. We know that we already share it with a fox, and a variety of birds, to say nothing of trees, grasses and flowers. There are of course insects already here - but we are hoping to encourage more, especially those whose habitat is otherwise threatened. 

We are grateful to Deacon for this initiative, as we are to those who regularly come and care for grass, wild bits, borders and trees. We are grateful too to those who keep us alert to the big decisions that must be made and the campaigning that needs to happen to raise awareness and keep the issues on the agenda of the powerful - and as part of our own choosing. 

We are stewards, invited by God to share in the care of creation. We are grateful for theways we have to do it, including these very practical ones.

June 23 2021

Talking together

Later today, I am taking part in a conversation with representatives of other denominations, in the board of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. It is one of our regular meetings, reflecting on what has happened and what the direction of the organisation should be. It is an important forum that brings together people across theological traditions andhelps us to do things together.

Yesterday, I spent some time with folk from several other local churches, in the context of Churches Together in Cheadle Hulme, as we began to plan a service together to mark both our sense of loss and our commitment to hope.

Both events are worthwhile, offering creative possibilities and bringing together people of wisdom and skill.

And they represent so much more than that. It is just about within living memory when congregations from different traditions had little if anything to do with one another, when mutual suspicion and mistrust was taken for granted, and when the convictions that separated us were much more important than the common ground which we shared.

We have moved so far in such a relatively short time - and it is easy to take it for granted, and even regard it as now unimportant. But our ecumenical relationships, our friendships with other congregations, our shared activities, commitment to be "with" one another rather than "against" one another, is hard won, and could disappear if we forgetto stay invested. 

So that is why I spend time at the board meetings and in the planning meetings...that, and the delight of sharing with people of wisdom, creativity and insight is a gift I do not want to lose. 

June 16 2021

Taking care and responding to need

Since the current weirdness began, we having been seeking ways to continue our involvement in serving our community. We have long been part of support for the foodbank based in Chelwood, and it has been important not only to keep that up, but o take it further; the need has increased during lockdown and shows no sign of diminishing.

By moving our collection to a specific time and place (Saturday mornings in the car park) and by developing our communication about it (though we could do more - suggestions always welcome) we have increased the amount of donations and increased the number of donors, since we have now developed quite a regular group of people who come to put something in thed car boot from around the neighbourhood. 

This is such a welcome development, and delight to be part of. Exchanging books, sharing coffee, patting dogs -it's all part of a Saturday.And at its heart is care for neighbours and mutual support. 

We should not need foodbanks.

But since we do, I am so grateful to be part of a church committed to supporting one, and so glad to live in a community where so many take time and effort to shar resources. 

And if you can spread the news, please do. And if you would like to be invovled in facilitating the Saturday collection, then please let me know; there's always room for more volunteers. 

 

 

 

June 9 2021

Talking and listening

Today is our monthly gathering to consider and reflect - and discern together - the life of our congregation. When we are using the building normally, we meet together for an evening, sit in a circle and converse. We call it church meeting. 

At the moment, when we can't meet in the building, we meet on zoom - and we hear reports, and discuss. We call it Not-the-Church-Meeting. 

We are doing the same thing; we are talking and listening in each other's presence and in the presence of the Risen Lord, seeking to hear and discern what our life together should look like. 

We need each other in this; we need to hear each other's insights, and listen to one another's points of view. We draw on one another's wisdom and experience, and give space to one another to speak. 

And at our best, in the leading of the Spirit, we come together to conclusions and make plans to serve, to worship, to follow. 

Church meeting (or even Not-the-Church-Meeting) can feel like so many issues on an agenda to get through, or a place of tension and the need to convince others, or win our position. It can feel like a duty to get through or a site of boredom.

But it is so much more than this - or at least has the potential to be so. It is a place and context in which we are seeking to work out on the ground - in our day-to-day community life, and as a part of a broader neighbourhood - just what our good words about following Jesus, loving our neighbour, trusting in God and responding to need actually mean. 

Following Jesus is a whole-life activity, as we know. The plans and decisions we make as a congregation are the context in which we explore how to translate wonderful words about faith, love and hope into activity, spending, building and meeting our neighbours.

Thank you for being part of it and taking it seriously. 

 

June 2nd 2021

Listing...

On a Saturday morning when we are collecting donations for the foodbank, we also have a box for people to put in requests for prayer. 

There has never been anything in it. 

Until this week.

I was handed a slip of paper that had been tucked into the box.....

A shopping list!

And so we joked about the way in which our prayers can sometimes be rather like a shopping list, and the way in which this slip of paper might make a good sermon illustration (though in fact, it is turned up in this blog instead...!)

But I've been thinking about it ever since. I've been wondering what was in the mind of the person who slipped it into the box - did they have an intention? Did they mean to put in a prayer request and put in the wrong paper? Were they making a deep point about the way in which prayer can indeed become a shopping list - and were they perhaps raising an issue about the model of prayer that this box and the invitation to leave requests actually portrays?

Or was it simply a useful place to get rid of a bit of paper that was no longer needed (in itself, an interesting model of prayer; the place and context in which we can get rid of things we no longer nee....!)

I have no idea what was going on - if anything - in slipping that shopping list into the prayer box. But it has been a helpful spur to think about what this prayer box is for and how it might work. I haven't come to any conclusions yet.If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know. In the meantime, the box will still appear....and we will look and see what is inside it with hope and expectation!

 

May 26 2021

How are you?

No, but really - how are you? 

It was a question a friend asked recently. The message had come through "how are you doing?" and I was all set to answer it with my normal kind of comment, "fine" or "fed up but fine" or even the particularly honest "actually doing quite well; lockdown is a way of life that suits me!" when it was followed up with "no, but really, how are you?"

And it made me stop and think. 

I thought about various things, and one of them was just how easy it is to give the simplest - not necessarily untrue, but probably incomplete - answer to this kind of question. Not because I want to deceive, or even because I don't want to be honest about how I am. But because I don't really know...I am not really paying attention. 

I'm paying attention to my physical health, of course; we all are. For other's sake if not our own, it is important to know how we are, and to notice where and if we are not well. 

And I thought I was paying attention to the rest of me too. But this made me wonder. I suspect I've just found a convenient way of answering this question for myself as well as others, that keeps us all content, and haven't paid too much attention since. 

And more significantly, I wonder if I might have stopped asking others properly; as long as somebody tells me they have not got Covid, and have recovered from vaccine side-effects, have I asked anything else.....?

Hmmm....

Paying attention takes energy, and it takes looking beyond the immediate. It is easy for it to slip, especially when life has been as demanding and confusing it has it been recently. 

But still....hmmm...

It seems to me that one of the things that people respond to in Jesus is that he pays attention; how often we read "he knew what they were thinking/what was in their hearts", or we hear him ask somebody "what do you want me to do?" - instead of assuming he knew. He notices. And he gives the context for people to be honest. 

Maybe it is as we dare to receive that from Jesus that we are able to offer it to ourselves and to others. 

So - how are you? How are you really?

May 19 2021

The start of something....

It may not look much - a circle of empty chairs. But it is the beginning of something. Some weeks ago, we had a photo of the youth group meeting in the space, and here is the layout for another set of meetings this week. 

And this moring, a circle of chairs in the building signalled the beginning of a meeting to discuss how and when to re-open Day Centre.

A survey out with folk who attend is exploring possibilities of restarting our main worship gathering in the building on a Sunday (or even in the garden, when it's sunny....!)

They are all small things - but they are all the promise of something big; not necessarily "life as it was", but "life as it is" - recognisable and also new, the same and different.... it is exciting, daunting, hopeful and scary. It is a gift, and one we can seek to embrace - thankful for those who will embrace it with us.

 

May 12 2021

Christian Aid Week

We appear to have lost our banner this year; but we will (shortly!) have bunting. And we are still

doing all the things we do to be involved in this week.... there are sponsored walks, a Big Brekky,

door to door delivery of envelopes - and this year an extra; a bucket at our regular Saturday

Foodbank Collection time. 

 

Why?

 

Because in the words of a previous Christian Aid slogan "We believe in life before death". And what's

more, we want to be involved both in living it, and in enabling it to flourish throughout the world.

There is a saying around at the moment about vaccination for Covid-19; "nobody's safe until

everybody's safe". We believe, "nobody is living fully until everybody is living fully" - and it is a

privilege as well as a duty to be part of making that true. 

 

May 5 2021

Walking.

One of my regular routines these days is my daily "delivery walk"; for those who are not online, I take a wander round and put the daily through the door. It is a good excuse to leave the house, and gives me a good time to breathe, stretch and keep moving (and during May, I am using it to raise money for Christian Aid - thanks to all who are supporting me. You can support here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ruth-gouldbourne?newPage=True )

It sometimes is quite a thought to go out - especially when the rain is bad or the wind is strong. So, knowing that it is in order to do something(deliver) not just exercise my knees is quite a good incentive. 

It is also good thinking and reflecting time, and space to let ideas float around. Walking can be very conducive to new things emerging. 

One of my most creative friends frequently uses the phrase "solvitur ambulando"; "it is solved by walking". It is a phrase that turns up in all sorts of places - and is apparently credited to St Augustine.

Whatever - whoever said it first, it carries a multiplicity of meanings, many of which are helpful at the moment.

When we can get out for a walk, the world can feel better, especially in our current situation; we solve some of our frustrations and closed-in-ness, and isolation by walking and walking in company.

Our minds do work differently when we walk - the exercise is good for thinking and there is also the benefit of blood flow and oxygen uptake which does affect our thinking, and if we can get outside, there are views, new things to see and hear, a different sort of stimulation.

It also has a bigger, perhaps more symbolic meaning - as we face multiple choices, decisions and uncertainties, we can feel paralysed. By setting out - doing something, however small, we start a journey, and all sorts of things can become possible. We can sometimes feel tempted to stay still until we know where we are going, what the decision should be, how things are going to turn out. All too often that simply results in nothing happening, as we get overwhelmed by too many possibilities and don't know where to turn. 

Starting - on anything - might just unstick us. When I am encouraging students who are stuck on essays, I tell them to write something; it may turn out to be rubbish, but at least there is then something to work on. And chances are, it won't be rubbish at all, and they are well on the way.

Solvitur ambulando - as we try to work out what next, how to be this people for this time in this place, lets take the first steps, and see where we end up....

Thank you for your companionship on this walk.

April 28 2021

A voice to listen to....

As a Baptist Union, we have elected Hayley  Young to be our President starting May next year. You

can read about the election, and about Hayley here

https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/607574/Baptist_Union_Presidency.aspx

The role of the President of the BUGB is a strange one. Service is one year as President, with the pre-

ceding year being Vice-President and the next year being Past President. Each of these years has its

own duties and encounters - and then it is all over....

The President's role is to speak to and for the community as a whole. But in just a short time - and

then other voices will be heard. 

In some years we have struggled to have any nominations as a national community - this year, we

had a choice of four nominees. Maybe it is because, with all the wonderful support and advice, and

so much time spent interacting online in ways that have not been necessary orf possible previously,

our sense of belonging together as aBaptist community is stronger than it has been? May be it was

anxiety that we were struggling to find nominees thatmeant more peoplethan previously were

willing to stand. Maybe it is just one of the unaccountable things that happen... Whatever the reason,

 it is surely a good thing that more voices are on offer, and more participation is possible.

 

And I think it is without doubt that as we isten to Hayley's voice - her theme is "Build a Bigger Table"

we will hear something important to listen to. So, I am grateful to her for standing (and to the

others) and I am glad that she has been elected. Lets pray for her and listen to her in the next

years...and discern what God is saying to us, here and now, about what a bigger table at Grove Lane

might look like.

 

 sApril 21 2021

A wonderful sight and sound

This is the picture of one of our youth groups meeting in the garden last evening...and there had been a similar meeting of one of the other groups the evening before!

Yes, it's still distanced, and yes, there are still restrictions on what can be done. 

But it is the picture of hope and promise. After a year when we couldn't do this, here it is happening! And it promises so much more - I'm going to resist the temptation to call what is happening a "return" to anything, and certainly steer clear of any word like "normality"....it is the promise of something new emerging, in continuity, but also new and ready for a different world.

For things are different, if for no other reason than we have gone through something huge and as yet un-understood. We are, none of us, the same people we were when this started. We would have changed anyway, in a year of experiences and growth and discoveries. But this has been a year that has forced particular experiences and growth and discoveries. And in a strange way, although so much of this year has been about separation, we have been united in new ways. Because we have all gone through this, and that is an unusual experience. We will have had different experiences and meanings and struggles and joys - but there is a binding together of those who have lived through this, not just locally, or even nationally, but world-wide. 

And so it is not the same world as the one we knew a year ago. 

Pray God we have wisdom and insight enough to take what is good and life-giving from all this and share it. 

And this picture is an image of that hope....the commitment and creativity of the leaders in keeping the groups going and the determination of the youngsters to stay involved. For all this, we give thanks. 

And for what is to come, we pray grace.

April 4 Easter Day 2021

Imagine a reminiscing

We went to the tomb to do what needed to be done.  It was our last gift to the one who had given so us so much. We got there just as the morning was breaking.

He wasn't there.

 

We told the others, but they didn't believe us, that a woman's testimony is worth nothing. 

But we know what we saw....and didn't see.

 

We went back later.

And we know what we saw and heard.

Nothing will ever be the same.

 

April 3 2021 Holy Saturday

Imagine you are listening to a reminisince

It was a day of walls closing in.

He was behind a huge stone in a hole, shut away, lost to us. 

We were behind the walls in that room, the doors locked, afraid, distraught, confused and without hope. 

How had it come to this?

What were we supposed to do now?

Were they going to come for us next?

Why?

After all he had said about having faith, trusting the Father, the Kingdom..... why this?

We sat and stared at the walls.

April 2 2021 Good Friday

Imagine you are listening to a reminiscing...

The crowd came from nowhere; we were in the garden that he loved, and suddenly it was full of people shouting and soldiers waving spears.

Judas  - he pointed him out; that man who had spent years with us, listened like we had, eaten at the same table, laughed at the same jokes, walked the same miles.....

And he just went with them.

The trial was a mockery - the witnesses were primed what to say, and there was no way out.

One of us went with him to the Governor's Palace - but I hear he kept himself in the background.

The rest of us - I'm ashamed to say...

The rest of us ran away. If he could be taken, then what hope for us.

And - I'm even more ashamed to say - we thought, if he's given up, why should we risk our lives. 

We did come later to stand and watch.

Have you ever seen anybody die on a cross.

Don't.

There is nothing glorious, nothing herioc, nothing humane about it. 

It is degradation, pain, exposure, dehumanising.

When it was over we went home....

 

April 1 2021 Maundy Thursday

 

Imagine you are listening to a reminiscing...

Early the next day, he sent us back into the city. We thought, well, maybe this was it. After all, it was the day of the feast, so maybe this made sense to be the day when he would bring the crowds together and - well, do whatever it was he was going to do to take back the Kingdom. Or whatever.....

Anyway, we were pretty excited, and when he told us to go and find somebody through a secret sign (a man carrying water - how weird does he want to be!) we realised he had been making preparations we weren't aware of, and that made us all the more convinced something was about to happen. 

We found the man, and he took us to the room that was prepared, and we got the meal ready.

The excitement was mounting. It was the feast of freedom. It was just the right time to rouse the people, and bring the Kingdom. 

We got really excited and started discussing (well, if I'm honest, arguing!) about which of us was going to have what job - again, if I'm honest, what honour! After all, we'd been with him in the hard times....so surely we deserved the good times to (which is a bit ironic when you look back on it)

It wasn't the friendliest of arguments. By the time we got to the mealtime, we were all a bit on our high horses. 

I suppose that's why nobody wanted to do the foot cleaning bit. We normally took it in turns, but this evening....

Well, there we all were, everybody uncomfortable and dusty, and nobody wanting to get the bowl, because that would mean accepting the slave's role, and we were out to prove to him that we were worthy of high office.

 

Then he took the bowl and the towel, and - well, we all felt a bit small.

Not that he blamed us or anything. 

He just did what needed to be done.

 

Then he took the bread and broke it,he took the wine and blessed it... 

And we realised it wasn't going to be what we expected.....

March 31 2021 Wednesday of Holy Week

If you were to listen in to a reminiscing...

It's kind of hard to remember the exact events of the week and the order in which they happened, but there was one day we didn't go into the city. We were staying at this house in Bethany - the folks there had been really supportive and always welcomed us in. Well - the brother had died, and then he wasn't dead, and it did cause a bit of trouble, but it's a long story....

Anyway, we were staying there, and we were tired  - and a bit grumpy, if truth were told.  And he was a bit - preoccupied is the best word I can think of. So the girls said we'd have a really nice meal, and a quiet evening, and maybe everybody would feel better in the morning. 

So we didn't do much during the day, and in the evening, it was a lovely meal.  And we were all relaxing and it was beginning to feel a bit normal again. 

And then....

She came in from nowhere. We didn't know her - well, we recognised her, but she's not the sort of woman you invite in. You know....

Anyway, she got this jar of ointment - they've all got them, keep them for their wedding celebration you know - she broke it open and started to pour it all over him. 

That stopped the party!

I mean....you don't do that sort of thing, not if you're a respectable woman. Which says it all. And you don't accept it if you're a respectable man! Which, now I come to think of it, is a bit more problematic...

The guy who cared for our finances spoke up "this could have been sold and the money given to the poor". Which seemed like a good thing to say...I mean, so much of his teaching was about how we should not hoard or build bigger barns or worry about saving, but we should feed the hungry.

Turns out it was entirely the wrong thing to say!

He started to speak about burial, and how she was anointing him now because she wouldn't be able to later, and how it was something people would go on talking about....

He was very strange that week. He took incidents we thought we understood (I mean, when a woman like that comes in and starts with the anointing, you know where it's going...!) and told us something completely different. 

We really didn't get it!

 

March 30 2021 Tuesday of Holy Week

If you were to listen in to a reminiscing;

After all that excitement  at the Temple, we thought the next day might be more of the same! Maybe we would go to the Governor's palace and tackle him. Maybe we would lead the people in a great uprising, and challenge the soldiers, and maybe....

We woke early, all ready to see where he would lead us today.

And sure enough, we went to the Temple.

But it was all very low-key.

He settled into one of the preaching platforms, and started to talk; about a vineyard owner whose slaves killed the son who came to gather the harvest, about what it meant to pay taxes, about loving God with our whole selves....

We'd heard it all before.

We thought we might get a bit more action if we drew his attention to the Temple again - a bit like yesterday. But all he said was it "will" fall - no saying when or how. 

If I'm honest, it was all a bit of an anticlimax. The parade, the riot - and now this.

The only really dramatic bit was when he pointed out some poor old woman putting tiny coins in the gift box, and told us she had given everything. 

And even that we could hardly hear over the fanfares of all the rich men parading in and out to announce their gifts. 

Then we went back to the house. 

We were rather disappointed. 

He looked disappointed too. As if he had tried hard to do something and it hadn't worked out.

What did it all mean?

March 29 2021. Monday of Holy Week

 

If you were to listen in to a reminiscing....

We thought we were going to the Temple to do the stuff you do at the Temple; present the sacrifice, say the prayers, wonder at the beauty, see people....

Turns out, we were there to be part of a riot. 

It started out quietly enough. We arrived and prepared ourselves and went in. It was busy in the outer courts - people everywhere, animals penned up ready to be bought, birds squawking, the queues of pilgrims waiting to buy their sacrifices, or change their money so that they could pay the Temple Tax in the right coinage.... 

We followed him in - not really paying too much attention to him, if I'm honest. More in awe, wonder, confusion at the buildings and the busyness.

Because why wouldn't we be. Here is what it's all about. We've spent these years with him, listening to him talk about God, talk about the Kingdom, talk about how all that is at the centre of everything and how we just need to open our eyes to see it. And he was right; here we were at the centre of it all, where all the stuff about God and Kingdom and our freedom and our identity was made real.And all we needed to do was open our eyes to see it; to see the security and the stones of it, to be aware of the strength and solidity of it, and to know we belonged there. This is the place where God dwells, and we were in it, and going to be at home here.

Then we noticed he was muttering. He looked so sad! As if he was in such pain.

He walked faster and faster, round the stalls, looking at people's faces, watching them - there was one couple in particular that seemed to attract his attention. They had not got enough to pay for the doves they had clearly intended to buy. They had a baby with them...coming to dedicate him, perhaps. And they couldn't afford to. 

That seemed to set him off. He shouted at the bird-seller. 

Then he grabbed a set of cords from the table where some ox driver had laid it and he went at it; tables went flying, cages burst open, animals ran the length of the courtyard....and men were yelling and women were screaming, and babies were howling.

And the attendants were dashing for the priests and the priests were shouting for the soldiers....

We got him out of there. He was shaking and speechless. 

And when it was all over, we asked "what WAS that?"

"It is written; my house shall be a house of prayer for ALL and they have made it a den of thieves".

You know, we haven't often seen him angry - but I notice a theme.

When people are shut out to make others feel safe, or let them make money.

When the religious get in the way of faith....

When the Kingdom is shut away.

March 24 2021

An anniversary we didn't want

This week we have marked a year since the first lockdown started. 

This week, we have paid attention to what it has felt like to live, for a year, with the weirdness, the isolation, the anxiety and all the stuff we have had to become accustomed to over the last 12 months.

We have noticed, too, the new things we have learned, and the encouraging aspects of living that we have noticed in the last 52 weeks. The new techy skills, the increasing capacity to sustain relationships without the normal props, the kindness and care that strangers have shown one another, the willingness of people to volunteer to do what needs to be done; did you know that A LOT of people have volunteered to give the vaccines in order to enable the roll out to happen as fast as it is.....

We didn't think, when this started, that we would be here a year on. (I had a wonderful dream of going back to services in the building on Advent Sunday, and hoped that I wouldn't be delaying people.....hmmm!)

And yet, here we are, and we can both mourn and give thanks; we mourn above all, the people we have lost. We mourn the people whose lives have been damaged by the ongoing effects of the virus. We mourn the harm to people's mental health and the fear and pain suffered by those trapped at home with an abuser. We mourn the lost events, opportunities, experiences and normality. We mourn the damage down to youngsters' education, the romances not had, the new friends not made, the adventures unexperienced. We mourn the exhaustion of those who have kept the world working for us - and we mourn that they are not properly rewarded (and indeed, in some quarters are abused) - actually, we do more than mourn that; we are angry about that! 

And we give thanks for vaccines, for treatments, for lives saved, for health restored, for new skills learned, for kindness shown, for time to spend with people we have all too often had to rush past in the busy-ness of getting stuff done. We give thanks for creativity to meet and solve problems we hadn't thought of 18months ago. We give thanks for moments of laughter that have delighted us, for letters sent and received, for phone calls that tie up the line for hours at a time, for waving to neighbours and sharing the shopping. We give thanks for the selfless service of so many. We give thanks that, gently, and wisely, we are daring to open up. 

We mourn and we give thanks. We cannot do one without the other.  One alone will not be healthy or honest. 

Our hearts are big enough to do both.

March 17 2021

St Patrick's Day

Today is the day when the church traditionally celebrates the feast day of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. He is a very popular saint, whose story - or about whom various stories - are known more widely than the stories of others.

He was a missionary to Ireland, for example, and used the image of a clover leaf to try to explain the Trinity; he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. And around him have gathered all sorts of the images of Ireland; leprachauns, the colour green, having a good party!

But his own story is much more complex. Kidnapped by pirates at 16 from England, he was taken to Ireland and sold as a slave. He was held in slavery for several years, and the story goes, eventually, in a dream vision he was told to go to the coast where a ship would take him to freedom. 

He got home eventually, and stayed...

Stayed until another vision drew him back to Ireland as an evangelist. 

There are many stories around his ministry - he stayed, and became bishop, preacher, pastoral carer....until he died of old age.

So much in his story to reflect on...

        the continuation of slavery, and the plight of those who are currently enslaved

        the capacity to forgive and be reconciled in service

       the centrality of theology in mission

As is so often the case, the depth of a story can offer us so much more than an immediate reading, or simply a celebration. 

Not that parties are bad thing....especially at the moment.

So, happy St Patrick's Day - celebrate well. 

March 10 2021

Mothering Sunday

This coming Sunday is Mothering Sunday - or Mothers' Day.

We tend to use these terms as interchangeable, but they do actually refer to different things. Mothers' Day - which is what we actually celebrate, is a day to celebrate mothers and mothering; saying thank you, giving gifts, making a fuss of mum....it can have complexities, but it does have a joy to it. And I am so glad that there are times to say thank you and "you are special".

Mothering Sunday - which is the older celebration, and is very specific to Lent - is the celebration of our Mother Church, and in particular the congregation which has nurtured us. And it is - or was - a break in the rigour and fasts of the Lenten observance.

Thinking of the church as our "mother" is not something that is much referred to in our tradition, but it is deep in church history. In the 3rd century, Ignatius, who was a significant writer and church leader argued that "he cannot have God as his Father who does not have the Church as his Mother" - by which he was arguing that being part of a follower of Jesus.

This might give us pause, as we are thinking about how to be a church, and what a church is about, as life begins to take new shapes, and we emerge from lockdown. 

What does it mean to be "part" of a church? We have a pattern of membership in our kind of church - when people join in, and undertake to share in the bearing of responsibility for decisions and activities. 

But is that all there is to it?

For Ignatius, there were two things he was particularly concerned about; gathering together and being united. What do each of these mean for us today? 

Gathering has become problematic recently, though people have been incredibly creativein finding ways to make it happen.

And we value difference, discussion, questions and variety.

So - what are the central parts of being a church, what is that marks us as a church rather than some other kind of  get-together of people who are interested in the same things....?

As we do all the wonderful stuff to celebrate Mothers' Day, it might also be a good time to think about "mother church" and ask "what shape does church take in our context, our generation, our situation.?"

 

March 3 2021

Use you eyes!

Christian community was a fundamental part of being a follower of Jesus. 

That phrase "use your eyes" was one of my mother's exasperated statements when, as happened rather too often my cry of "where's my......(fill in the blank with something I needed right now, to take to school)" echoed round the house. I was (and sadly remain!) all too prone to putting something down and then forgetting where...and if only I would take the time to look, it might be that I could have found it without the normally ensuing trauma.

In our reflection group during Lent, we are looking, with the help of a resource called The Visual Commentary on Scripture, at various art works connected to, or hinting at biblical stories. (Today's was on the crucifixion - hence the illustration on this post)

As we have talked about them, we have noticed things about the stories, and about our own reactions to them that have been fascinating, challenging and moving. 

And we have also noticed that, as part of a theological tradition which has not placed emphasis on images in our buildings or our piety - rather the oppposite - we have perhaps too often focussed on words and meanings to the exclusion of image and its power to evoke response.

We are fortunate that we have a member of the congregation whose skills mean we do have pictures in the space where we worship (when we can worship in a building), and that they lead us through the seasons and encourage our response to the story in more than just ideas.

But to take time, as we are doing through Lent, to study unfamiliar images, coming from contexts, forms of thought and theology that are different from ours, is proving a very fruitful discipline. 

I am hoping that, by the end of these weeks, with all that I have learned from the conversations and reactions in the reflection groups, using my eyes, as well as my mind and my words as a way of encountering the presence of God will be more deeply engrained, and will open me up to even more of the presence that transforms. 

 

Feb 24th 2021

Saying thank you

This is the front of the card that has been designed to be sent to keyworkers as a way of saying thank you and that we are praying for somebody.If you haven't already, you may like to think about sending for some (you cn get them from the Association Office) and sending them to people you know, family members, neighbours and others who are doing amazing work.

As I talk to those who have family or friends working in the NHS and other caring and supportive agencies, it is clear people are getting very tired. It has been a long road, and we are not yet at the end of it. 

A moment to say thank you, and we are praying for you might just give a lift that is really needed right now....

Feb 17th 2021

Ash Wednesday

Today marks the beginning of Lent; the period in the year when we prepare for the celebration of Easter. It is not normally a day that Baptists have made much of, but in some parts of the church it is very important as a day of repentance. Part of the practice of the day involves  having a cross marked on one's forehead and the words "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return" said.

This year, I have been introduced to this poem, which is a new take on these words, and I love it. So, I am sharing it with us, as a prayer for this day. It is written by Jan Richardson

All those days

when you felt like dust

like dirt

as if all you had to do

was turn your face

toward the wind

and be scattered

to the four corner

or swept away

by the smallest breath

as insubstantial - 

did you not know

what the Holy One

can do with dust?

This is the day

we freely say

we are scorched.

This is the hour

we are marked 

by what has made it

through the burning.

This is the moment

we ask for the blessing

that lives within

the ancient ashes,

that makes its home

inside the soil of

this sacred earth.

So let us be marked

not for sorrow.

And let us be marked

not for shame. 

Let us be marked

not for false humility

of for thinking

we are less

than we are

but for claiming

what God can do

within the dust

within the dirt 

within the stuff

of which the world

is made

and the stars that blaze 

in our bones

and the galaxies that spiral

inside the smudge

we bear.

 

 

Feb 10th 2021

The "new normal"...?

A few weeks ago, Jeremy wrote us a really helpful reflection on this blog about "building back better" and imagining a "new normal", and I have been thinking a lot about that since. Hence the image. Not - please note - that I am suggesting that our yet-to-come life as a congregation will be constructed out of marshmallows and cocktails sticks!!

And yet.... I wonder what it is we are looking to for the construction of our "new normal"? We are getting various things sorted out during this period...taking advantage of the building being empty to get our fire safety policies up to date, for example. We have not forgotten that we need to do some investigating about how best to care for the hole in the floor that is our baptistry....

There are other aspects of our life that we are reflecting on...how best to go on using the skills in and gifts of tech that we have learned; what other use we might make of our outdoor space, as we have been doing new things when ithas been the only space we have...? And then there are questions about the new patterns of fellowship we have developed - our various meetings that have grown up during the week as we have not been out and about; which ofthese might continue, and in what form. And of course, we have discussions to have about restarting our previous activities -and what shape these might take.

All of these questions matter, and we are discussing them in various contexts (in particular our not-the-church-meeting gatherings).

Underlying all these questions are the questions about the building blocks. That picture above comes from one of the meetings of the youngest of our youth groups. It is a popular activity. They are given cocktail sticks and marshmallows....and they come up with the wildest designs, the weirdest structures, and much delight and giggles. 

We have - a building; a tradition; a faith; a community; a garden and car park; a desire to serve; a sense of frienship and a willingness to accept one another....

We have - a history, both joyful and painful; a hope that the vision of the Kingdom does actually mean something;  a commitment to love and to be loved; a place in our lives for worship, for being connected to something bigger than our selves.

We have - a call from God. The promise of the Risen Presence of the Incarnate One. The gift of the Holy Spirit.

What wonderful, unexpected, delightful - and possibly slightly weird - life together might be built as our "new normal"?

 

Feb 3rd 2021

Signs of spring?

I saw these on my walk today, and they were so encouraging.

Any plant coming up at this time of year is encouraging...the signs that winter will pass, that spring is coming, that life is still active and "alive"...always hopeful, but after the last 12 months, even more so. 

And it is in the context of the last 12 months that these have give me particular joy! There are other plants around - I even saw some crocuses the other day, and their bright yellow was a smile in the border. 

But these - weeds, because they are in the wrong place, and probably causing damage by growing under a foundation though they might be - have given me real joy. Precisely because they are in the wrong place and are wild rather that cultivated. They are the affirmation that life is not neat, tidy, controlled - and that it breaks through...

I read a poem by RS Thomas some weeks ago, which contained the lines

 He is the wilderness imprisoned                                                                                                                                                 under our flagstones yet escaping                                                                                                                                                 from them in a haemorrhage                                                                                                                                                              of raw flowers

There will come colder days again, and there will be moments when I am frustrated and miserable, and feel like I am losing hope. There are plenty of times when I feel that God is imprisoned in my limted understanding, the constraints of trying to get it right, the un-knowingness of living in a context where the complexities baffle me.

But he escapes in a haemorrhage of raw flowers....and weeds growing through a wall remind me that there is hope, there is life, there is love...

And when the world is - and has to be for everybody's safety - so narrow and constrained, and when my own thinking gets limited because I am tired, unimaginative and trapped in worn out patterns...yet, still, life happens, and love emerges, and hope is born again. 

Thank God!

Jan 27 2021

Remembering in grief and anger

 

This is the front page of one of the orders of service for events that are happening around the country and around the world today. The day when we remember with grief, anger and horror the events that come together inder the title Holocaust; the killing, by mass produced murder of Jews, gay men and women, men and women with disabilities, Gypsies and others, by a regime that remains to many, thankfully, incomprehensible. 

The philosopher, Hannah Arendt, discussing the motivation of those who were part perpetrating this horror, spoke of "the banality of evil" - that is, somebody (in the situation she was discussing, Eichmann) who was not consciously "doing wrong", but was doing what he needed to do to be good at his job without - and this is the crucial point - actually thinking about the reality and the meaning of what he was doing. 

There is a great deal of controversy about the phrase and about whether it is a proper description of Eichmann and others - were they truly "unaware" of what they were doing? It wasn't that they didn't know the facts; they did. They knew that millions were being killed. But were they "unaware" because they had become so disassociated from reality that they could not be assigned a role as truly monstrous beings, but were simply ordinary, unimaginative, and unthinking people who did their jobs?

There is good reason to think that Arendt's understanding of Eichmann is flawed; his own documentation of his committed Nazi convictions makes it clear that he was nto simply doing a job, but deeply believed in what he was doing. 

But there remains a value in the phrase - for it is the reminder that the Holocaust was not carried out by people who are somehow a different kind of human from the rest of us. The danger with identifying some people as radically evil is that it lets the rest of us off the hook, since we are not that bad. 

But Holocaust Remembrance Day is the reminder that while there were those carrying out unspeakably evil acts from deep and horrific convictions, there were also those who let it pass because getting involved was too threatening or demanding, and - and this might be particularly uncomfortable - there were those who, while not involved, yet did not resist because while they might have thought this was going too far, yet, there was some sympathy with the basic premise that there were those without whm society would be better off. 

We have seen and are seeing the rise in our own country and in other nations patterns of thought that are disturbing; resentment against "others" - those whose colour, language, culture, religion, sexuality is not regarded as "us".  And the death camps don't emerge from nothing.. They start in the place where the division between "us" and "them" is allowed to take root. 

When we call ourselves followers of Jesus, we are walking in the footsteps of  Jewish man - killed by a dominant regime who defined "us" and killed "them" for the sake of peace. 

Today matters - not just for our remembering, but for our future. 

Jan 20 2021

Guest Blog Post - A Better Normal?

By Jeremy Oxley, Church Member

People keep talking about “getting back to normal”, and, yes there are things which we all miss during these times, but there was quite a bit wrong too.

It is human nature to look back at a mythical “golden age” (often around our childhood which, for most, are the happiest times without the duties and responsibilities of adulthood as children we are shielded from some of the harsher realities of the world) and overlook the imperfections. A great deal of the national conversation is still, 75 years on, about the second world war, “wartime spirit” and the like (as well as a little jingoism and/or xenophobia, if we’re being honest) - it is well worth remembering that the majority of people who remember that period now, were children at the time so their view is likely to be rosier (I wonder how contemporary children will remember this period in history in 70 years time - probably not in the way that the doom-mongers insist, there's much talk of life long consequences!).

It is so much easier (and often far more comfortable) to “do things the way we’ve always done them”, but sometimes doing things differently can be valuable, bring us so much more than our tired traditions and possibly re-invigorate them, I think we need to re-imagine our world, or, at least those bits of it we can influence.

Maybe instead of getting back to “normal” or having a “new normal” we should seek out a “better normal”!

 

Jan 13 2021

The promise of things to come

Who knew it was possible to get so excited about somebody sticking a needle in you. And yet we are!!

Several in the congregation have had both jabs. More have had or are about to have their first. Some of us will have to wait a bit longer. But it's coming. The signs are there, and we can begin to feel the difference, even if actually, on a day to day level, life is just what it was. We are still locked down, there are strict regulations about where we can go, what we can do, who we can see. We are still hearing anxiety provoking news of rising numbers and a fragile health service. We are still overwhelmingly grateful to our front-line workers for the amazing work they are doing.

And beside all that, we know there is change coming. We are daring to hope, maybe even wondering when we might make plans again, and imagining what those plans might be....

I believe there is no more gospel-shaped place to be. Being fully aware of what is, and of its struggle, brokeness and beauty - and knowing that there is more, that there will be change, that what we see and live in is not all there is, but something more lies ahead.

And - just as we know that getting from here to there in terms of moving into a freer way of living involves us all doing and not doing certain things, so in our lives as followers seeking the Kingdom of God.

We know that it is God's intention - and we know that it is God's action. 

And we know too that how we live, the choices we make, the attitudes we express and the people we are becoming are part of how God brings the Kingdom.

So, as we look at the news stories that distress us, make us angry, bewilder us with the quesiton of just how could this happen; as we continue to feel the frustration and limitation, the loneliness and weariness of our current situation - so we can look ahead, in faith, hope and commitment to live lovingly, waiting to see newness come. 

That is the promise of Christmas, it is the gift of Easter; it is the deep truth of our faith. 

 

Jan 6 2021

We've been here before

Ten months ago, this was the slogan that dominated our lives, and shaped the lockdown that lasted for several months.

I don't think we expected, as that eased, and we began to think about beginning to do things again that we would be back here again now. 

Or if we did, we did it hoping it might not be true.

But here we are - just the same.

Though, of course, it is not the same. We know more about how to do this now. Individually and as a congregation, we know how to manage this experience (not to say that it is easy, but the "how do I make zoom work", "can I get shopping" "what is a support bubble" is now not new, but something we take for granted now).  And the medics know much more about how to treat serious symptoms, even if the new form is proving demanding. 

And there is the vaccine - not just a vague hope, but a present promise. 

And all of that makes facing this lockdown both easier and more demanding. 

It is easier since some of what frightened and confused us is now different, and it is harder because it feels like going back to the beginning, and we are tired, we've done this....

When I was writing (interminably) a doctoral thesis, I discovered the reality of the spiral as a means of progress, and since then, I have seen it in so much of my life. You know what I mean.....those moments when you are back doing something you thought was done, and it is frustrating and boring and disappointing....and yet, it is different because you bring new knowledge, deeper experience and more wisdom, and so the outcome is not to end up at exactly the same place,  but to move on....

In writing the thesis, it was the experience of going back to read the same chapter or letter (my work was based on somebody's writings, both published and private) yet again...but doing it having learned more, had more time to think, been part of a conversation that gave me new questions and deeper answers.... I progressed, not in a straight line, but by revisiting the same material over and over, but in new ways.

I find the same thing is so often true in my faith; I am still asking the same questions (and struggling with the same tendencies) as I was when I was baptised. But I come to the questions, and the struggles with new wisdom gleaned from being with faithful people, with new courage developed through the experience of having gone through this before, with new insight as I simply learn more about me, about the world, and, hopefully, about God. It's the same but different. 

If I could draw, I would include a cartoon here of a bike wheel - it goes round and round - and forward at the same time. That!

So, yes - we've been here before and we did not want to be back here. But it's not the same because we are not the same. There is movement.

And, thank God, it is true not just of lockdowns, but also of discovering what it is to be a faithful people of God....we go round and round. But in grace, we don't' go round in circles, but in a spiral, moving forward in love, faith and service. 

 

Dec 23 2020

Christmas cards

Maybe it's just that I am paying more attention this year, but we do seem to be sending more Christmas cards than we have been doing recently. And very lovely it is too. That delightful opening of the envelope, enjoying the picture, reading the message and being moved at being remembered. 

Of course, normally, when we can come and go from the building freely, we have had the habit of each sending one card to everybody, and putting it up on the card tree - and I confess, I am missing that tradition. 

Others are missing it too....not least, those who receive our donations given in lieu of postage, often Christian Aid. At our Christmas service each year, we usually give our offering to one of our chosen charities, again, frequently, Christian Aid. We had planned to do that this year too. But what with not having an on-site service, we are not having an offering.

Christian Aid is continuing to do vital work - even more vital as this year has been going on. 

And it is still possible to give. So, even if you are not giving in lieu of postage, or bringing your offering to the Christmas morning service, you might still want to donate to this important work. Here is a link to help you do it;

Christian Aid Christmas Appeal

I'm loving the Christmas cards - thank you! Maizie-dog is enjoying them too; she barks every time something comes through the letter box... :) 

Let's spread the joy a bit further, and give to those who depend on the work Christian Aid is doing.

 

 

Dec 16 2020

Christmas in the Car Park

 

It was not the weather we ordered, but that aside, it all went well. Santa visited, and was greeted by nearly 40 children at various points (all carefully distanced), and Santa's elf did a wonderful job in looking after him and them. And the gifts to the foodbank that were being donated as Santa was being visited were amazingly generous. 

The next day, the tent and the radio broadcast went well, and Carols By Headlight went well....

The Christmas Trail in the garden has attracted all sorts of visitors and the Crib at the Gate is still being added to - and still being looked at as people go past (and stop to look!)

Contrary to rumour, Christmas has not been cancelled. It just looks different. And it's not over yet....Satuday Night Social on zoom, Longest Night on zoom and livestreamed to facebook, Midnight service in the building, Christmas morning service on zoom...the celebrations and reflections, praise and prayer keep on going....

And different might not be a bad thing. Routine and knowing what we are doing is reassuring and straightforward. 

But there are moments when being a rut threatens. 

And whatever else is at the heart of Christmas for those who follow Jesus, being in a rut is not it....whatever else God is doing in Jesus' birth, it is not "more of the same".

Yes, of course we miss "the same". But it has also been unexpectedly wonderful to discover something new....

Hmmmm....I wonder what that might tell us about God in Christmas.....?

Dec 9 2020

Nativity on Pingate Lane 

 Our Nativity scene is gradually filling up; the innkeeper is beginning to look a bit panicked...how is he going to fit everybody in? Sheep and shepherds are bad enough - but so many others keep turning up...!!

No, it's not a traditional nativity scene, and it is far from a traditional cast of characters. And it's not only because we needed to have a figure to add in each day of Advent. Our intention is two-fold...to give a visual representation of our conviction that what happens in the stable is not just about 2000 years ago and far away, but is to do with here, now and us, all of us.

And it is a way of honouring our key workers and welcoming those who might otherwise be excluded. We believe that this fits the story we are told in the gospels - shepherds were among the key workers of their day (poorly paid, overlooked and necessary, keeping a community going by providing resources) and magi were excluded (outsiders from another culture and nation, not fitting in easily, bringing "foreign ways")

At the heart of it, at the moment, a waiting...a waiting which will be filled with a Presence, large enough, loving enough, committed to us enough to welcome all....

Dec 2nd 2020

Familiar and strange

As Advent starts, we are so aware of all the things are different, things we can't do that we normally do, things that are strange. There has been all sort of amazing creativity and originality offered to hep us explore new ways of keeping Advent, and making the journey to Christmas...

But let's be real; it still feels strange. 

So, it is lovely to see our familiar picture put up in the building. (Those who are able to come to the in-building service this Sunday will see it "in the flesh").

In a time of strangeness, it is wonderful to have something familiar.  It is the reminder that, though there are many differences, and much that makes us uncomfortable or even feel in exile, yet there is also deep continuity; continuity of relationship, of place and history, of resources - and of the underlying sustaining and renewing presence of God. 

Churches have to work very hard at being neither so committed to the past that we get frozen and can't move, or being so determined to embrace and explore the new that we get disconnected from our story. To see a deeply familiar image of a well known and well-loved story in the midst of doing new things and discovering a whole world (of technology, medical knowledge, isolation) that we never expected is to be deeply enabled to keep that balance. Maybe we wouldn't have chosen to do it this way, but if it is what we are being led to embrace, let's do it as well as we can. 

 

 

Nov 25 2020

What's this?

If you wander past the church car park at the moment, you will see, beside the notice board, a large wooden and corrugated iron structure, swathed in black plastic, with a noice on it saying "What's this?"

"This" is the first stage in our Advent Car Park. Thanks to all sorts of creative brilliance and dedication, we will explore different aspects of advent and Christmas, with colour, light,  socially - distanced gatherings and general merriment. And some serious stuff, some reflective and challenging stuff too.  Come and see, come and join in...

Above all, we are hoping to remind ourselves, and those who walk past, or follow the development on social media that Christmas is not cancelled, Christmas is not even diminished. Some of what we normally do at this time of year may not be happening - but, we could always do some of it at another time (I know of one family who live very scattered. For years now, the sibilings have not been together in December, because  there are other places to be - with partners families, cairing for young children, working. So they nominate a weekend, usually in February or in June, depending on various other circumstances, and have "Christmas" together then - decorations, presents, meal, daft games, the lot! It works well!!)

But Christmas is also about a discovery of a depth of love that exceeds our wildest imaginings.....

And this year, this would be a wonderful thing to remember and to offer to one another. We hope that Christmas in the Car Park might raise a smile, offer a giggle, encourage sharing and develop wonder...all aspects of exploring what it is to be people who are loved and so can love.

And wouldn't that change the world if we dared to let it?

 

Nov 11 2020

Why???

We shared our Act of Remembrance as part of our worship on Sunday - and inevitably, with today being the actual 11 of 11, it is still in mind... It is a day with great resonance for many, and one that can seem strange and in need of explanation for others. I was about 10 when I remember actually asking what this was about. I was not attending my own church and Sunday School that morning, but going with my Brownie Pack to the parish church for the Remembrance Day Parade. I'd heard of the war, of course; I was a child of the 60s...it was still well within people's memories, and there were even physical reminders still around (there was, I think, an Anderson shelter in the school playground...) But for some reason, that year, it suddenly became very important to me to understand what was going on, and why - as somebody who did not remember it - I was being asked to remember it. 

My parents, and then my Brown Owl did a good job in explaining. 

And it is an explanation that still needs to happen - or perhaps needs to happen even more. The "Never Again" that is the pledge following the horrors of the wars depends on remembering what it is we are not going to do again. 

So, I think Remembrance Day matters - not the least as an educational exercise. 

One of the regular exhortations of the Hebrew Scriptures is "teach your children my Words" - and the Passover Meal, the remembering of the rescue in the Exodus includes a "liturgy" in which the youngest child present asks "why do we do this" and so the the story is retold, so that everybody is reminded, and the children are taught.

An approach to Remembrance that asks "why do we do this" and gives an answer that elicits the response "never again" seems to me a fitting memorial to those who died so tragically.

 

Nov 4 2020

On being uncertain...

As I write this, the result of the election in the USA is still uncertain. As I write this, the House of Commons has still to vote on whether we will enter lockdown tomorrow. As I write this, the roadmap out of the pandemic is unclear. As I write this, whether those who can will take the necessary action to care for our environment is unclear. 

And so I could go on. 

It feels as if life, always uncertain to some extent, is even more unsure, unsteady and unpredictable than I evenr remember.

A bit of me wants to take refuge in verses like "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever" and "our God the unchanging one"....

And I do believe that the faithfulness of God is unchanging. 

But I still have to live in and engage with a world in which I am bewildered and unknowing, even afraid, because I can't tell what's coming next and therefore I can't work out how to deal with it. 

And it's that latter phrase that is the most demanding; I can't tell how to deal with things, because I have no map. Therefore I am not in control, and can only react. 

That's frightening. 

And here is where I try to find a meaning in faith - not that I can control, or even that I can demand that God controls in line with my desires, wishes, best wisdom. But that I trust in a God who decided that the best way to connect with us, to reconcile and redeem us, to bring hope and renewal to a world of power, violence, struggle and conflict was to be out of control enough to be executed, and to love enough that the death of the cross could not in the end triumph. 

It's not a comfortable place to be, this faith; it's not easy, and it doesn't make the unknowing, and the out of control-ness easier to bear. But it is the faith that we are called to if we are followers of Jesus.

For love is about not being in control, and takes us to places we don't know...and we are called not to control, not to dominate, but to love. 

And whatever is going on, whatever the powers around us, we are still called to love, for whatever is going on, and whatever the powers around us are doing, we are still loved by the One who will stop at nothing to make enact that love. 

 

Oct 28th

Words, words, words...

 

I was an interested observer yesterday of an online discussion about cliches in "Christian language" and how annoyed certain phrases made people. I know we will all have had a little groan/chuckle as the same old phrase (which changes with the generations) makes it's appearance in prayer, or preaching, or the Christian press - or, the context that started this discussion, job adverts.

It was all quite amusing and there were moments of recognition as I saw phrases mentioned that either make me wince, or (sadly!) I have heard myself use.

But one of the wise people in the conversation reminded us that we should be careful to not be judgemental or dismissive of the words people are using, because sometimes those are the best words they can find. This then provoked further reflections on whether we should ever challenge or question the words...

Much food for thought; and at a time when words are being misused, twisted, deployed to dominate and intimidate, it is good to think about the words we use, the way we use the, and how we listen. Of course we shouldn't be laughing at people's attempts to speak of deep things when the words are too small; cliches are cliches for a good reason - they work! And of course jargon and in-speak can be used for the wrong reasons, and that should be questioned.

But even more significant, I suggest, is the need to listen to our own words and consider whether we are speaking to build up or to attack, to comfort or to denigrate.

And we should also be taking our responsibility to challenge the misuse of words to cover up, to manipulate and to silence...especially by those who are in power. Refusing to be silenced by stock responses, or to accept non-answers is all part of following the One who is the Word.

 

Oct 21 2020

Christmas is coming...

And it's going to look a bit different. Ok - so October seems a bit early to be talking about Christmas, but just because it is going to be a bit different, we need to take longer to plan than usual.

But above all, we want to say Christmas is happening. 

We haven't agreed yet what we will be doing, just as many families don't yet know what will be happening...and the possibility of regulations changing means any plans are provisional. But above all, we want to affirm that we are doing something! Because Christmas is and has been many things - but at its heart it is the conviction that God is doing something!

In the middle of the muddle of the world, the confusion of joy and pain, the uncertainty about the future, the mistrust in leaders, the sense of frustration that was then, is now - and indeed, is most of the time, in the birth of a baby, God got involved. It may not have looked like people wanted - many people were looking for an involvement that was on their side, was overthrowing leaders, was putting them in charge, while others might have been looking for a more direct rescue, being removed from an uncomfortable situation. But, even if it wasn't what people wanted or expected, still it was God at work, and it changed everything. 

So, we may not be able to do what we want, or what we normally expect....but that is quite in line with how God does stuff. So, I invite your prayers as we plan; your prayers for our planning, and your prayers for all those who are anxious about what Christmas is going to be this year. May it be a time in which the very strangeness itself opens up to God's new thing....

Oct 14 2020

On rain and fake news

In a comment on facebook recently, inviting people to come and donate to Chelwood Foodbank on a Saturday in the car park, I commented that it would probably be raining - because it always rains on a Saturday morning.

Quite rightly, I have been corrected. Apparently, on the Saturdays since we started collecting only 1/3 of the days have been wet....though some of them have been very wet, as this picture shows!

Well, I am quite willing to accept these figures as accurate. I confess I did not sit down and work it out.

Rather, I gave my impression.

And since the correction, I've been thinking quite a bit about that.

There is, I insist, no justification for the kind of "fake news" that sets out to deceive, to present somebody or some organisation in a deliberately better or worse light for the sake of some agenda, or that intends to build up a particular image of the world in order to achieve a political, economic or religious aim. 

But I've been wondering about the impressions we can create because we depend on the impressions we receive...I felt that it was very wet, and so that is what I said - without checking, and without even wondering about whether my impression was justified. 

Similarly, there is a lot of concern about the way in which students going back to uni has caused great leaps in CV infection, and we are all taking it for granted, especially when we know people who are affected by it. In fact, across the country, the vast majority of colleges and unis are not badly hit by infection, though they are badly disrupted by all the necessary new ways of doing things. 

I have heard it said that "all churches are now doing...." whatever it is... And I know it's not the case, but the person I am talking to has experienced this, for example in their own church, and so generalises from their own experience (as indeed, I do myself in talking about churches!) Ministers do it when we are talking about finding a pastorate - "women under thirty are never called" , "single men find it hard to be invited to a church", "if you are known to be willing to accept same-sex marriage you will never be allowed to be a minister" - I have heard all these said - and know plenty of cases of people in these situations who have found churches easily and happily. And plenty who haven't. And that's my point. The situation is usually much more complex than a simple statement. 

Generalising from our own experience as if it is the only one is a dangerous thing to do. It's where being part of a community, and listening to one another's story, experience and questions is a vital part of not limiting our understanding of the world, and assuming that, because it is true for us in our experience, it is always and everywhere true.

The world is bigger than my experience of it. 

And it doesn't always rain on Saturdays!

 

September 30 2020

In-Building worship

Well, I can't promise that it will be this sunny, but it will be good; on Sunday afternoon, we are holding our first in-building service since March. We will meet at 3.00pm for about 30 minutes for a service of readings and prayers. Chairs will be socially distanced, there will be a one-way system and sanitiser ready, and we ask, unless you are exempt, please wear a mask.

It won't be what we took for granted pre-CV, and it is not to take the place of what we have become used to on zoom and soundcloud....it is a new thing for a new season. And it is exciting and a little daunting. Can we "do church" in a new way?

Well, the answer is obviously yes... we make a habit of it! Our whole origins are rooted in doing things in new ways, ways we had no model for and had to make up, and sort out to fit the times, context and the understanding of God and of being the people of God that we knew ourselves to be. For the first Baptists, this meant precisely moving out of "churches" and meeting in a variety of buildings - homes to start with, and then bakeries, barns, sometimes the open air....and then chapels that looked, from the outside, like domestic buildings. We have only used buildings that looked like " churches" from the middle of the 19th century. And in more recent years, we have moved away from that - because it doesn't really fit what we aim to do in the buildings - the calling we know we have as our kind of congregation.

In the same way, our forebears let go of known patterns of worship and "reinvented" what they did to be in line with their reading of Scripture and their convictions about not being a hierarchy...no prayer book, but extempore prayer, or prayer written by people for this place and time, to fit this situation; an emphasis on reading Scripture and reflecting on it together; communion shared among the congregation, not distributed by a priest....

And so, we are doing what we have always done; working to understand our situation, and discern what God is doing here and now, and how we might join in. 

We won't get it right first time. And it will feel strange - maybe uncomfortable. We will miss things (though it is also worth remembering our Baptist forebears didn't sing; it was regarded as dangerous! - they did share meals though....) But, in faith, we will explore - in-building, and through paper and technology - and, in hope, we will trust that we are not abandoned, but that our God is still with us and leading us on to something new and faithful. 

I would value your prayers as we prepare for Sunday - and, for those who can make it, thank you for coming. 

September 23 2020

A Harvest thanksgiving with a difference

Well, everything else is different this year, so why not harvest.....

We can't decorate the church. It's going to be tough to sing the harvest hymns. And the wonderful sights and tastes and scents of shared food are not such a good idea this year.

But we do still have the resources we need to sustain our lives; we are still dependent on and supplied by the good things that the earth produces, we are still enabled to go on enjoying good food because of the labour of farmers, suppliers, deliverers, shop staff - and sometimes even those who cook for us!

So we are still giving thanks - even if we are not gathering the building to do it. 

And we are still aware that the resources we have are not available to everybody, the ease with which we can access what we need is something very privileged.

So, we are still making our offerings - giving gifts that will be shared with Wellspring and Chelwood Food Bank, so that the good things to which we have access, the produce of the earth, can be more equitably shared.

Our harvest service will be online on zoom (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. for the link) on Sunday Sept 27th at 10.45, and the available on soundcloud (click here and find the service for Sept 27th https://soundcloud.com/user-658150038 - it is uploaded in the afternoon after the service)

Details of gifts we need and how to donate them will be on our facebook page.

A harvest with a difference - yes. But also the same; thankfulness and sharing.... What more do we need?

September 16th 2020

A book group as a gospel lesson

Tonight is our sort-of-every-two-months book group. We have been meeting for about a year now, and great fun it is too!

We have read books I would never have got around to reading, we have not exactly agreed (I think there's only been one book we have all liked!) and we have blethered with enthusiasm.

One of the things that I have loved about it - as an inveterate novel-reader - has been the context in which I have read books that were completely new to me, and which have given me another view of the world; either form a different culture, or a different time period, or even a different theory of mind (reading books about people who are "wired differently").

This seems to me not just a valid, but a vital theological exercise; not that we are talking about God all the time (or even any of the time) - but we are discovering that the world is bigger and more various than our experience and context. 

I am more and more convinced that this is a gospel practice; the technical term is being decentred - that is being reminded that we are not the centre of the world, and even that our culture, our historical context is not the centre of the world. 

The way the Bible story accounts for the pan and struggle that mark so much of human life and society is with a story in which Adam and Eve organise things on the basis that they are the centre of the world; they put themselves in the place of God. It is a story that continues to hold our imaginations because it reflects so well the experience we have - the conviction and experience that each of us has that we are the centre of the world. To read a good novel - and then to talk about it with people's whose experience of that novel itself is different, is to discover another truth; that the world is bigger than my and my decisions, my choices, my needs, desires and intentions. 

And that is a gospel thing. It is a moment of grace - to step out of centering everything around myself, and accepting and exploring something bigger, different, strange and challenging. 

And it's fun!

September 9th 2020

The Church Dog blogs....

A few weeks ago, one of the humans who shares my house, and who regularly writes this blog asked for guest contributors. We had a lovely piece about youth groups, so that gave me confidence to write my reflections....I am the Church Dog, so I have a unique insight into our life together - from a perspective a little nearer the ground than most people. 

My perspective is also more based on my nose than my eyes...and is largely reinforced by my delight in tummy-rubs and my appreciation for those who offer them.

And I have to say, at the moment, it is not happening a lot! 

Every Sunday my humans stare at screens and seem to get very excited about "meeting" people with whom they worship, pray and laugh....but my nose doesn't register anything, and my tummy remains resolutely unrubbed. So, I am not at all convinced of the reality of these people in the little box!

But then there are Saturdays! Ah....Saturdays! On Saturday mornings, my humans go to the place they call "the car park" - and there are other humans there too. And they rub my tummy and stroke my ears, and seem very pleased to see me. And my nose tells me they are really there!

I am pretty sure that they all come to see and cuddle me - I mean, who wouldn't!

But my humans tell me there is another reason too. And it is true - they usually carry bags of human food, and they empty the bags into the cars - which then leaves their hands free to dispense tummy rubs, so that's good. But I am led to believe that the rubbing of the tummy is not the main reason why people come. In fact, I am told the reason they come is even more important than that (if such a thing were possible!!) The things they put in the cars are then taken to the Foodbank, from where they are delivered to people who otherwise would struggle to have enough to eat and drink and would find it hard to get the things they need to keep their homes running well. 

Now, I am no expert in economics (my degree is in wuffles and kissy-licks, since you ask!), but I am pretty sure that a world where people don't have enough to eat is a world that is not working properly. So I am very glad that there are ways of making it better. I'd love to think that there would come a time when the only reason for visiting the car park on a Saturday is to pay me my dues in cuddles - but until then, I am glad to share the attention with the car boots. The picture above is my inspecting the donations. I am delighted to say that they were all up to standard, and reflected a great deal of care, imagination and attention.

So - two reasons to look forwards to Saturdays; you can give me a cuddle, thus making my life (and yours!) substantially better - AND - you can make a huge difference in the lives of people you may never meet, but who are your neighbours, and real people, who just want to live with dignity.

What's not to like?

 

September 2nd 2020

Easing restrictions

As the extra measures that were imposed on Manchester a few weeks ago are eased today, so we are back where we were early in August; we can visit one another in gardens, stay overnight friends, have our eyebrows plucked and go to the casino (it's going to be a busy week!)

The extra restrictions that our area undertook to control local outbreaks have now been eased - though not without controversy.

And the controversy is the reminder that nobody really knows what we are doing - not through wilful ignorance or stupidity, but because this is new, and we are still discovering. It is easy to get impatient with changes in regulations, and seemingly illogical decisions - and there are times when it is right to call those in authority to account, challenge the assertions and question the decisions. For example, I am deeply disturbed that, having said he would meet the group representing the bereaved through this pandemic, our Prime Minister is now withdrawing from that plan.

But surely it is also important that we do not simply blame, when restrictions are changed, or imposed, and especially when, as new things are learned, guidelines are changed. I had much rather that those who are skilled in this go on finding out more and then bring their advice up to date in the light of new evidence, than that we decide that we know all there is to know, and stick to where we were months ago, not changing anything. After all, that position taken a century ago would have stopped any of the advances in understanding, prevention and even treatment that have been developed since the last pandemic, the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918...

It is difficult that things keep changing - we've been looking at the guidelines for going back into the church building, and they keep changing (thank you to the Baptist Union for keeping abreast of them, and helping us interpret them for our way of conducting church). It would be lovely if we could just wake up and it was all back to normal!

But failing that, it helps to remember that the basics remain the same; careful washing of hands in hot water and with soap for at least 20 seconds, keeping 2 m apart, and paying attention to those who are vulnerable so that we do not put anybody at particular risk.

These - and the individual restrictions that apply in particular places and times - are the practical outworkings of the theological identity that we aspire to; those who love our neighbours and follow our self-giving Lord.

 

August 26 2020

For about 20 years now, a growing number of churches have been keeping the season between Sept 1st and Oct 4th as Creation Time. It is a time in the year when we can concentrate more explicitly than usual on the wonders of creation, and our place within it, as well as taking seriously our calling to care for what has been entrusted to us.

As part of exploring this, on Sundays, our services will concentrate on creation themes, and the actions of care and change that we might adopt or develop. 

And we will also join with other churches in Cheadle Hulme for a united service on Sunday Aug 30th at 6.30 (You may read elsewhere that it is on Thursday Aug 27th - this is my chaotic organisational skills. I am sorry - I passed on the incorrect info to important people!) You can join the service through our normal zoom link, or by livestream on the CTCH Facebook page or, our own youtube channel Grove Lane Youtube

But whether you take part in the services or not, the significant thing is that we pay attention to the cries of creation, and take seriously the call to change things.  There are all sorts of resources available online and through literature. We know what to do, and how to do it. 

The question is whether we are willing to?

One of the gifts of the church calendar is that it keeps bringing us back to fundamental questions. Advent helps us prepare for the gift of Incarnation by reminding us of the penultimacy of our lives. Lent helps to prepare us for the coming of Easter by confronting us with the reality of our sinfulness and the brokenness of the world. Creation time is a season that refuses to let us away with wishful thinking, or assuming that "somebody else" will do it. 

If not us, who? If not now, when?

 

 

August 19 2020

Guest Blog Post - Youth Groups in Lockdown

By Jeremy Oxley, Youth Groups Leadership Team

Like everyone else our Youth Groups had to stop abruptly in March. Luckily we use e-mail to keep members of The Net and Youth Group up to date about the weekly programme and other activities so we have e-mail addresses for all the parents, the 615ers programme runs a bit differently and we don't generally e-mail their parents although we have most of their addresses so were able to easily communicate with them.

 

Once it became clear that meeting in person wasn't going to be possible we decided that, rather than giving up completely, we'd try using video conferencing to replicate meetings. Our first week was started with no certainty that it would work for our groups or would be something which was useful for the children and young people. Numbers have been low compared to normal levels but steady – many of the children were homeschooling so being on the computer in the evening as well was difficult for some, some struggle with the technology, some didn't join in because their friends weren't and some didn't fancy it. We now have a steady but small number from each group joining in.

 

We decided early on that what we would do would be purely fun and entertaining – putting the 'issues' based stuff we do to one side until we can be back in the building and have the conversations more easily and sensitively. We often had an "interesting thing” to show or tell the children about, these included: a turn of the century “Magic Lantern”, a science based magic trick, and one of the first home computers. Thanks to our fantastic, creative leadership team we've done all manner of games, we initially tried to emulate games we'd do “in person” but whilst some of the ways of doing them were very silly, they were only ever a gimmick. Games have included “Pelmanism”, a maze game, Bingo (surprisingly popular), Snakes and Ladders, Connect 4, quizzes, and lots of others.

 

Communication is difficult, those quiet chats you'd usually find a moment for with ones who are having a hard time are impossible, as well as other bits of communication you don't even know you're doing like looking at the person whose turn is next in a game! There have been some really funny moments but also tears when we told them that this years camp was cancelled (it would have been the first one for quite a few of the Net members, yet another thing which would have been easier to communicate and mitigate if you're in the same room).

 

In normal times our groups close on Bank and School holidays but this year we're offering meetings for those who want them, every week as there is still a need there.

 

As to when we'll be back in the building or doing our other activities – we simply don't know yet - we've explored ideas of how we might do it or run outdoor meetings in the car park or grounds but the very necessary safety measures we'd have to take would leave us with meetings which weren't much fun for anyone involved.

 

So we continue with our imperfect online offering, there for those who need us for however long – we're all itching to get back, and to plan camps, nightwalks and sleepovers but won't until it's properly safe to do so!

 

August 12 2020

Devastation

 

The top photo is of one of the rooms in the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary - in the hills outside Beirut.

The second one is a picture of the blast, and a diagram showing how far the damage spread mapped onto the centre of London, to help us understand....

The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary is now providing shelter and support for families made homeless by the blast, as are many other institutions and private homes; this in a city that has already lived through years of war and violence, and together with the rest of the nation has played host to 1.5 million refugees from Syria....

There is anger, frustration, sadness and devastation at the moment. 

There is also love, hope, service, faith and determination to rebuild.

We pray for the people of the nation and the city. We pray for those trying to help. We pray for those who grieve. We pray for those who are responsible. We pray for justice. We pray for renewal. 

And if you would like to give direct help, BMS WorldMission has a link here Give for Beirut and the Seminary here Arab Baptist Seminary

August 5th 2020

On not going back...(yet)

We've talked long and hard, and reflected, prayed and considered...and at the moment, it doesn't seem that we are ready to return to worship in the building. 

This is a hard thing to decide, especially as other churches - both in the area, and in our denomination - are deciding that now is a good time to return to the building. We can see in, we can peep through the door....but we are not ready.

There are various reason; not gathering large groups, knowing that there's all sorts of stuff we won't be able to do (sing, share coffee, share communion as we are used to, sit in our normal positions.....) knowing there are all sorts of things we will need to do (keep distance, queue up to get in and out, wear masks - put the preacher behind a screen!) and above all, knowing that even if we do open up, there are quite a few of our fellowship who are not able to come. Even being together in the building, we would not be together, for many of us would not be there.

It's had, but it's not permanent, and it feels right for just now....

 

And it is both a significant opportunity and illustration of our commitment to inclusivity. While we cannot all meet, we are choosing not to meet....

And when we do start to meet in the building again - who will not be there? And what might we do about that?

July 29 2020

Revolution

It started in one of our zoom discussion groups. One of our esteemed members passed on the conviction of a family member that there would be no wars, no arguments, no distress, if people just eat chocolate buttons. The argument is that, when eating such delicacies, one feels so good, that there is no desire for all the anger, frustration and conflict that causes so many of our problems.

Later that day, bags of choc buttons appeared on various doorsteps...the beginning, we were told, of the revolution. 

We have been enjoying these chocolate buttons. 

It is not, sadly, the complete coming of the Kingdom.

But it is the beginning of the revolution - because it made people smile, and reassured us that love is present and active.

Of such is the kingdom built....of small actions that bring joy and hope, assure people of the presence of love, make the world sweeter.... - and that might lead to bigger things we haven't thought of yet!

And since then, as well as eating chocolate and smiling, I find myself regularly wondering what might I do today that is part of this revolution, this coming Kingdom....

 

July 22 2020

Apocalyptic....?

 

I have seen the word "apocalyptic" applied to our current situation several times now...and it always makes me want to say "I don't think that word means what you think it means"! It tends to be used to mean catastrophic, unmanageable, terrifying and overwhelming - all which are words that might well apply to our current situation, and are descriptions that might be used of some of the so-called "apocalyptic scenarios" that can be painted if we read the Scriptures in certain ways.

But the word itself means "uncovering" - showing what is hidden and therefore the truth of a situation that might otherwise not be making sense. Thus, the Book of the Apocalypse - Revelation at the end of the Bible - is so-called because it is the attempt, through imagery and imagination to uncover the truth that, even when the church is threatened and facing persecution, even when history seems out of control, still the purposes of God are being and will be fulfilled. Thus, it is not necessarily about disaster....

Nevertheless, even if the word is, for a linguistic pedant like me (it is rumoured that my first full sentence was "don't be pedantic"!) being misused, still, I think it may be an apt one for the times we are going through....

For much is being uncovered - and it is not a pretty sight.

The impact of the lack of funding for our health service, for example - and the lack of preparation, which meant that PPE was not available. And people died as a result. 

The inequalities in our society, which have meant that minority communities have been hardest hit by the virus, and have had the least resource to combat it. 

The split between haves and have-nots in terms of technology, which has become evident when children have been required to learn online - and some have not had the necessary equipment, or good enough access to internet. And this is a division that has shown up in our churches as well, to our shame.

The fragility of much of our economic base and the lack of resource to cope with "a rainy day" which we see reflected in the huge increase in the use of the foodbanks.

The sense of entitlement among some in power, which has resulted in the blatant disregard of guidance that others were supposed to abide by, and the assumption that such guidelines did not apply to them - the uncovering of ways in which some folk regard others...

Other things have been uncovered too, bringing joy and hope.

Kindness that reached out across garden walls and on staircases, as shopping was done, for many many weeks, for those who could not easily get out.

Commitment to care, as people have stayed in touch through all sorts of means.

Phenomenal dedication to duty of care workers, medical staff of all sorts, teachers, delivery drivers, post-people, shop workers and so many others.

Creativity, as people found ways to help and support - and as those whose "work" is creativity, in the arts, making shows, music, images available when we couldn't go out. 

Energy and determination of parents supporting children through no school, and still learning - and of children to care for parents, unable to get out and about. 

And I am sure you could add more - to both lists.

This truly has been an apocalyptic time. Pray God we don't lose sight of anything that we have seen during it. 

 

 

July 15 2020

On the making and remaking of plans....it depends on how you look at it...

When I wrote last week, we were looking forward to a "visit" at our Sunday service from somebody who runs a support service we are committed to. Sadly, ill-health intervened, and the visit has been postponed. We had enough notice to plan something else, and though it was a bit rough round the edges, it took us in the right direction.

Yesterday, I was due to have a meeting that has been postponed quite appropriately because things that must be dealt with now had come up, and this morning a gathering was also postponed, also for the very excellent reason that one of the members was enjoying time with grandchildren after a long lockdown separation. 

Tonight, we have a get-together to think about how we might begin to think about going back into our building...and what plans we might need to make, and what plans we are unmaking, of things we would normally be doing.

The making of plans is important - without some thought about it, we wouldn't do things together, because we would know what each other was doing and we wouldn't be able to coincide. 

It is also helpful because it ensures that things that need to be done get done - they are planned in, booked and then happen; I have a list of things that need done each week, and I plan when I am going to do them, especially the boring adminy ones that I would willingly ignore.

But then life happens - as we have become all too aware over the last months. Circumstances we couldn't plan for, events that we didn't expect.

There is anxiety in this. Not knowing what is going to happen, trying hard to make it make sense, wondering how best to sort out what needs to happen and how to ensure it does when everything keeps shifting - to say nothing of the disappointment of plans that we were looking forward to being unfulfilled, and events that shape our lives not taking place. 

So - as well as getting frustrated and anxious about changes of plans, I am trying to practice open expectation - if not this, then what? If not what I had planned, then what can I respond to? And if I am not in control, then what does that mean for my faith, my willingness to trust, my capacity to live what I preach?

The answers are not always easy.

But, I am daring to believe that in and through the trusting, I might discover more of who God is and how God acts - and so be more able and flexible in my responding to the call of the Kingdom. 

 

July 8 2020

Keeping up with the news of friends

More keeping touch...this Sunday, we are looking forward to hearing from Ed Leavy, who heads up the Loaves and Fishes project in Stockport. We have had various links with this over the years, and we have been looking forward to Ed coming to be with us. This was arranged before lockdown, so we are grateful that he is able to join in over zoom.

When Jesus was preaching that series of images, instructions, stories and insights that we call the Sermon on the Mount, he used a series of striking descriptions of the nature of the Kingdom of God; we call them the Beatitudes. He spoke of those who were blessed - and it wasn't where the blessing was expected!

There has been much discussion among the scholars - and indeed the preachers - about what these sayings mean. And like all wonderful poetry and visions of a deeper, broader, fuller life, the words go on and on revealing meaning and taking us further.

As we hear them, as it were "up against" the work done by Loaves and Fishes and other similar agencies and projects, we hear something that, if we are prepared to listen to it, is truly revolutionary. In a world - Jesus' world than and our world now - in which blessing, the goodness of life, the way life is supposed to be is located in security, in stability, in being the ones who are resourced and able to share, these words suggest to us that the place we will see the kingdom most clearly is among those who are poor, who are mourning, who are unable to assert themselves. 

It is not so much that being in these categories means that people are closer to God or somehow more "holy". Rather it is that the Kingdom of God shows up, not in the places of power, security or even goodness expressed in generosity and care -instead, the Kingdom shows up in precisely those places where that isn't the case. 

So if we are seeking God - and seeking to be where God is and doing what God is doing, then it is in being n such places and getting involved in whatever way we can that we are sharing in the coming Kingdom.

And if you want to know more about this expression of the Kingdom, here is the link to the website. 

Loaves and Fishes

 

 

July 1 2020

Staying in touch

 

One of the things that has become very important during the last months has been finding ways to stay in touch with one another...phone calls, facetime, zoom, emails - even old fashioned snailmail letters in envelopes.

I have found myself writing to people I have had little contact with for several years, but who have been very important to me at various points in my life. I have been renewing neglected relationships, and have been touched by those who have made the effort to get in touch with me.

It has also been a time of making new contacts; people I have only known slightly have become people I am in touch with frequently, not simply because we need to be in touch over particular issues, but because the contact itself matters.

We have renewed previous friendships as a congregation; it has been a delight to welcome "back" folk who have moved away and usually worship elsewhere, or who for other reasons no longer attended worship in the building, but who are currently visiting our "zoom" service. 

And we have made new friends - in particular, the congregation at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, Nth Carolina. Through the wonder of zoom and youtube, we have been able to share news and stories, so that we now feel as if we are "getting to know" each other. Emails have been exchanged, stories have been shared, and we are looking for more ways to make this more than a nodding acquaintance.

Things are gradually looking like they will eventually move to a new normal, instead of this limbo lockdown. I wonder if we will be able to maintain the links and contacts that we have developed. I really hope so. Just before lockdown started, our Churches Together digital group (we are developing the online presence!) was thinking together about how to use our online outreach as a way of helping people make links and strengthen connections, especially in the light of the increasing recognition of the impact of loneliness on the lives of so many people. 

That loneliness will have increased, I suspect, through this lockdown experience. 

How might we take the practice we have had in making and sustaining contact - and even making new friends, as we have with the folk at Sardis - and translate it into an act of service and community in our neighbourhood?

 

 

June 24 2020

Permitted, not required...

 

We will be opening our doors again. This is good news.

And it is also news requiring wisdom and discernment. The apostle Paul once told a church "it's permissible - but it may not be the best thing you could do".

And opening our church building comes into a similar category. We are now permitted to open up (or at least, we will be from July 4th)

But what is the best thing to do? 

Before we do, we need to get various things in place; physical protections, like sanitisers and the right placing for the seats; planning things, like making sure we know how to get in and out of the building safely; emotional things, such as are we feeling ready to do this, and how best to do it so that as many people as possible feel secure and as little anxiety as possible, 

This has been a difficult time. 

And ending our seclusion will have its demands too. 

So, we are going, with prayer and love for one another, to do it as well as we can. If we are too slow for you, I am sorry, but please bear with us; we are not delaying for the sake of it. If we are too fast for you, I am sorry, and please tell us how we can helo you feel more secure,

And if, by some mercy and miracle, we get it right - Thank the Lord - and the skilled people who are part of this community and are putting a lot of energy into working out a way forward.

 

June 17 2020

It's turning into a habit...

Just in case you can't tell, it's a photo of a car boot full of groceries and sundries....donations to the foodbank.  Each Saturday morning, we hang around the church car park for an hour (11-noon) and people come and put bags of stuff into the cr boots. Then our two wonderful volunteers drive them to the central depot, and over the next week, these gifts are shared out among those who would otherwise struggle to feed themselves and their families. 

It's a wonderful demonstration of mutual care and imaginative response to need. I am delighted that our involvement with Chelwood Foodbank Plus, which goes back over a long period has taken on this form at the moment when things are a little more complicated than we would like - and, more significantly, when foodbank use is up so considerably.

The gifts come from all sorts of people - and some new givers, which is wonderful.

And yes - it is turning into a habit (one, by the way, that I hope we will find ways of continuing to support as the new normal, whatever that looks like, emerges) It is turning into a habit of care, of giving, of noticing the "other" - the hidden needs of our comunity....and such a habit of giving and encountering can only be good. 

But! I have a discomfort too, for all that I think this is wonderful.

It shouldn't be necessary.

We should not have people needing to depend on this kind of charity, in a country that is as rich as ours, and in a community that has access to so many resources as we do. 

So, I am wondering if there is another habit underlying this need, that we actually need to break....the habit of letting people fall into poverty without a way out, the habit of expecting that some folk will always be on the edge of coping, so that when disaster strikes, as now, they will fall over that edge, the habit of ignoring need until it becomes this obvious. 

These are habits we have the chance the challenge now, as we begin to discover a new normal - but what new habits might we put in their place?

June 10 2020

Making new friends...and missing old ones

Last Sunday, we shared a video from members of Sardis Baptist Church,  in Charlotte,  Nth Carolina, as they introduced themselves to us, and shared a little of what they face in these days.

This morning, several of us made an equivalent to send for them to meet us.

As well as being utterly delighted that there is the tech to allow this to happen (the Apostle had to write letters!),  and being really encouraged at what people have said and at the chance to make such a link, my only regret was that we couldn't have the full congregation as part of the conversation. 

For, if we are going to give anything like a full view of ourselves, then all voices need to be heard - and in particular the ones that are usually quiet.

I've been thinking a lot about inclusivity this week...it is a central theme of the service I am currently preparing for Sunday. And while the importance of listening to voices we don't usually hear is going to be central to what I want to reflect on, I have also been thinking about how significant our practice of church meeting is....the opportunity for us all to hear each other.

Of all the things we are missing at the moment, I have a feeling that this might be one of the ones with significant long-term results.

Bring back Church Meeting....

 

June 3 2020

What can we say?

 

It has been impossible - and indeed, inappropriate - to remain ignorant of the events in the USA this week; the fear, the anger, the violence, the desire to protest peacefully for most, the sense of a community torn apart.

And we might feel that, even if we've got our problems, yet, we're not that bad.

Well - I'm not sure that's much to say. 

In a week when a report has come out, after much delay, in itself an issue!, that shows just how much more vulnerable those form Black and Minority Ethnic people have been to the impact of Coronavirus and Covid 19 in the UK, I don't think we've got much to boast about. (Report here and BBC report on it here ) And it should take only a cursory glance at our history(though, sadly, we sometimes have to look much harder than we should) to know that our story and our current context is also distorted by racism and people's lives are being damaged and undermined by this sin. 

So, if we can't say "we're not as bad as ...." what can we say.

I acknowledge that I am one of the privileged ones who need to get to grips with that. As a well-off, educated, white woman, I don't think I have a lot to say - or rather, mine is not one of the voices that needs to be heard.

But that doesn't give me the right to stay silent; silence is complicity. It's saying "this is not my problem" - and I rather think it is. 

So, I do have a couple of things to say.

Firstly, sorry. Sorry for the times when, without realising it, I have been complicit in racism and the demeaning of my sisters and brothers - and for when I have simply not noticed it has been happening. 

Secondly, I want to learn. I've stopped saying "teach me" because that still makes it "somebody else's problem" - somebody else has to take the reponsibility for delaing with my ignorance. But I am saying that I want to learn and I am going to try to.

Which of course means I am going to read - and that can be challenging, but still safe.

So thirdly, I am going to say that I want to listen to voices I don't usually hear - not just through my preferred medium (because then I exercise some control) of books, but in the interviews I usually tune out because thay are too painful, the plays and documentaries I avoid because they will not leave me feeling cosy, and - maybe - face to face with real people. (And here are some links...  - from Kate Coleman, one of our previous BU Presidents here and from Yinka Oyekan, our current BU President here, and helpful podcast here )

And then, maybe, I will be able to move on to saying my fourth thing, which will, please God, be - this is what I am going to do.....

 

May 27 2020

Thy Kingdom Come

We are just over half-way through the churches' united project of prayer, Thy Kingdom Come. If you want to know more about it, then check here Thy Kingdom Come

There is something very powerful about churches praying together; it is part of our common ground. Even when we disagree about what minister are, and what we are doing when we come to the Table, about how to organise ourselves to take decisions, and what our role should be with regard to the government of the country, we are all convinced that prayer matters, and that somehow, in ways we cannot always express very wll, that the pracice of prayer is foundational to being church....

We agree, and we also all agree, even if we don;t say it, that prayer is weird, hard, and our observance of it is more aspirational than actial.

But still somehow it keeps drawing us. And one of the really helpful things about joint initiatives like this is that we don't have to generate anything - we get to join in. And it is not all dependent on us; other people are also taking part, and so we are not "responsible" for it all.

A bit like the coming Kingdom really - it is God's action that we get to join in with, and it is God;s responsiblity, not ours.

And there, right there, is one of the truths about prayer and about why it is important; that as we pray, we are reminded of this truth - that our prayer is at heart "Thy Kkngdom Come".....that's our prayer is about joining in with what God is already doing, and remembering that this is God's business, God's responsibility, and God's world....and so we are set free to join in joyfully, without having to make it all happen.

Churches Together in Cheadle Hulme are having a particular joint focus on Saturday 10-11am...there will be a zoom-room for prayer. If you would lke to share in it, please contact us for the link

 

 

 

 

 

May 20 2020

Mental Health Awareness Week

This is Mental Health Awareness Week - an important time in any year, but at this time of lockdown, doubly so. For lockdown can make things so much worse; not just the obvious ones like depression and anxiety, but the more unsual issues, which give scary names to, like psychosis and PTSD, schizophrenia and OCD...all of them disorders that mean that the world is a threatning place and the struggle to survivev and flourish is real.

For many with a wide variety of disruptions to good mental health, the loss of contact to an everyday structure and to a support system that has often been built up slowly and with great care can be deeply disorientating and unnerving. 

Isolation can also make this very hard to bear.

So, if you are struggling, I hope that you can find somebody to support you; there are helplines and support services that are still working, and they offer huge resources. 

If you know of somebody who is struggling, please don;t ignore them - get in touch, offer to help them make contact with support if that is needed, and encourage and befriend.

And for the rest of us, who don't struggle with such deep-seated disorders, keeping good mental fitness is just as important as our physical health. Good sleep, good exercise, a healthy rhythm to life, preferably with sometthing satisfying to do for at leastt part of th time and sustaining contact with others as much as we can - all of these are vital  parts of our proper self-care.

Abd so also is the recognition that this is a tough time, and that, in the words of one of the slogans this week "it's ok not to be ok". We don't have to do everything, achieve wonders, be perfect and feel on top of the world all the time. We don't even have to be brave and convince everybody that life is fine. We can dare to entrust ourselves to others in our distress as well as in our strength.

And somewhere, somehow, if we dare to trust it, underneath are the everlasting arms.

And you know what - if it doesn't feel like it or you don't believe it right at the moment - that's ok too. 

May 13 2020

Zooming

Since we had to close the building, because of the pandemic lockdown, we have managed to have gatherings for at least some of us using Zoom. And others have listened in through a recording made available on souncloud....

It does raise some questions we will need to address in due course about inclusion. But for the moment, we are grateful for what we can do - and I am immensely grateful to all those who, although a little wary of the modern technology, have had a go, and for the most part, have made it work.

I am very grateful in particular for the patience when it hasn't all gone to plan, when things that should be simple turn out to be very complicated indeed, and for people's willingness to go on trying until something can be made to work. 

Truly, as Simon wrote on his facebook post Church closed - no way! we are still active, worshipping and serving. 

And that couldn't be happening without everybody taking risks, trying something new, and giving it a go! Because that is what we do. Resurrection is about discovering a life we didn't know about, and living it - even when we don't quite know what we are doing, even when we get it wrong, even when it is very clumsy and awkward and doesn't feel natural....

So, this is by way of being a thank you to everybody who is engaging in whatever way, so that while we cannot go into our building - and while some of us can't even live the building we inhabit - yet still, the church of God is present, active and alive.

 

May 6th 2020

Christian Aid Week

We are just coming up to the week that each year is marked as Christian Aid week; a time when this wonderful organisation makes an extra push on publicity and fundraising. The work that they do goes on all the time, and indeed the fundraising goes on all the time. But this is the week that is the focus for reaching out beyond the immediate constituency.

And of course, this year, it's going to be hard.

All charities are struggling, as are businesses and so much of the world we take for granted.

But even more, people who are living in extreme poverty, without basics of sanitation or shelter are in especial need. 

This is what Christian Aid has written about the impact of Coronavirus

The coronavirus threatens the health of our neighbours near and far. Together, we must respond to help the most vulnerable. 

Coronavirus has shown us that our futures are bound together even more tightly than before.

Now it is spreading across the world's poorest countries,  putting people living in poverty at great risk.

These people are already facing a lack of food, water and healthcare. Some are homeless. Some are living with underlying health issues such as HIV.

As coronavirus infection rates speed up, they will feel the impacts of the virus deeply. We must respond now. 

Coronavirus impacts all of us.

But love unites us all.

We are working to limit the impact of coronavirus in some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.

We are drawing on our experience from the Ebola crisis and helping communities prevent and delay infection.

We are providing essential soap, water and handwashing training.

We are ensuring that essential health messages get through to help people stay safe.

We are working through our networks of church partners and faith-based organisations to reach the most vulnerable at this time. 

With your help we can do even more.

We would normally have a big brekky together on this coming Sunday as a way of raising both awareness and money - and guess what? We are doing it virtually this year, thanks to a creative member of the congregation. (Message me for details). But if you can't join us, and still want to give, here is the link...Donate to Christian Aid

This work really matters. I hope you can find a way to support it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 29 2020

Beauty

You may not have been able to be in the church grounds recently, but this is just one tiny part of the border. The life in the garden is breaking out all over (and we are very grateful to those who weed, water, hoe, mow and generally take care of the place; it really is looking terrific)

Sadly, I'm not a good enough photographer to show you the full beauty (and the sun isn't out!) But I wanted poeple to see the life that is here, even if we can't be.

When I was teaching, one the "field trips" in which I used to take a class if at all possible, was to the town of Tewkesbury. One of the oldest surviving Baptist Chapels is there - down a lane, looking exactly like the cottages around it form the outside. Inside, it is a bare room with a pulpit, a table, a baptistry under the floor and a large wooden chest that would have been the place where offerings, especially for the poor in the congregation, as well as important papers,  would have been looked after. 

I used to love to take students there as a way of understanding something of Baptist history and identity. This chapel is not far at all form Tewkesbury Abbey, a wonderful, beautiful ancient church, in which Christian worship on a daily basis is still maintained. 

One of the observations we regularly made when visiting and comparing the two buildings was that, without a congregation, the chapel was simply an empty space. Whereas the Abbey has a sense of presence and worship in its architecture and decoration. Similarly, because a liturgy is used in the Abbey, if we went in, whether we took part or not, worship happened. Whereas, unless those in the chapel building exerted their capacity for worship, nothing was going on in any obvious way. It was a really helpful illustration of Baptist understanding of church as located not in the clergy or the hierarchy, but in the gathering of the community, meeting there and then in the name of Christ to worship and listen.

I've been thinking a lot about this while we can't "gather". We are "meeting" in various ways - through email, on the phone, by soundcloud and zoom. And I believe we are still church. After all, we are very clear that church is the people, not the building. 

But the building has a place in our identity - it allows us to gather, and it symbolises our gathering. We don't "need it" any more than we "need" the flowers in the garden.

But just as the flowers are a delight in themselves and a joyful sign of life and flourishing, so our building is a good place to be, and sign of our community and our service to the neighbourhood. 

So - I am missing seeing people in the building. I am thrilled at the technology thar allows us to go on making and sustaining connections - and so thankful that people are willing to experiment and try and use this stuff.

And I am hugely grateful to those who are caring for the building and the grounds, so that when we can reinhabit it, it is there and waiting for us. 

April 22 2020

Helping....

You may well have seen our encouragement to give to the Foodbank via direct donations through their website, and if you are doing that, thank you so much. (If you're not, and would like to help that way, here is the link  http://www.chelwoodfoodbankplus.org/donate/)

But sometimes, it is more straightforward to give donations of tins or packets.

The Methodist Church in Cheadle Hulme has been doing a collection in their car park on Tuesdays from 11-12 each week, and it is proved very popular, with lots of people who don't otherwise have a connection, finding this a good way to help.

So good indeed, that it is going to be extended!

Tuesdays don't suit everybody, and that part of the town is not on everybody's journey. So, starting from May 2nd (that is, in a week and half's time) we are going to be doing a similar collection in the car park at GLBC. I will be there in the car, with the boot open, so that people can put things directly in there, and then, in due course, I will deliver the donations to the Foodbank.

If you want to give this way, come and wave at me in the car park and drop of your donation - and please, tell others who might not have a church connection and so might not hear about it otherwise, and who want to help.

Our foodbanks are under great pressure at the moment, so anything we can do to help is important.

And thank you to whoever decided we should have a car park....it means we can do this!

 

 

April 11 2020

Holy Saturday. Staying at home Ramble

Hands that care.

 

At the end of the events on the cross, the story tells us that Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus' body and laid it in a new tomb. They wrapped it, and there seems to have been some anointing, though not the full amount, since we also read that the women waited until after the Sabbath to go and bring the spices for the burial.

It is a story of heartbreak and the loss of hope; the end of dreams and hopes. 

And a story of care. Of care for one who could no longer appreciate it, who was no longer aware of it, who did not know about it and in many senses did not need it. And yet it was given and that seems right and proper.

And presumably, as the story moves on, and we read of resurrection, and meetings and encounters that were never expected, there would have been some recognition of the care offered - and received.

At right here, right now, we know of people offering care - sometimes directly to people's bodies, and often in other, wider ways, by delivering, by transporting, by serving in shops and writing letters, and keeping things going an enabling people to stay safe....

Care offered in contexts that are filled with hope, and in situations that seem hopeless, and where what is offered might be judged meaningless.

But this story is the assurance that care offered is never without point.

And that even the most hopeless of stories is not over yet.

Holy Saturday is a tough day at the best of times - and this is not the best of times.

But it is a year in which Holy Saturday has gained an even deeper meaning. For today we can give thanks for - and recognise the meaning of - the care that is offered. For truly it is all caught up into this story of redemption and resurrection.  

 

April 10 2020

Good Friday. Staying at home Ramble

The Cross

 

Today, he who hung the earth upon the waters 

is hung upon the cross;

he who is  the King of the angels

is arrayed in a crown of thorns; 

he who wraps the heavens in clouds

is wrapped the purple of mockery;

the Bridegroom of the church

is transfixed by nails;

the Son of the Virgin

is pierced with a spear;

we venerate your Passion O Christ,

show us also your glorious resurrection. 

 

April 9 2020

Thursday of Holy Week. Staying at home Ramble

Wet feet

Three of the gospel tellings of the last days of Jesus life have a meal shared with friends in which a pattern of sharing bread and wine is started and has been imitated ever since. 

John's gospel instead tells a story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. You can read it at John 13;1-20.

In the story of the supper, Jesus says "do this in remembrance of me" and that has been understood as an instruction to carry on sharing bread and wine and telling the story, and so encountering Jesus.

In the story about footwashing, Jesus says "if I have done this for you, you should also do it for each other."

Which seems a pretty clear instruction. 

Some Christian traditions practice a highly ritualised form of foot washing on Maundy Thursday - the Pope washes people's feet (the current Pope scandalised some a few year ago by the people whose feet he chose to wash - not all men, not all Christian....horror!) IN many Anglican churches - and quite a few others, - this night (in normal years) will have a foot washing ceremony included in the Maundy Thursday service. There are a few denominations who di it in a less formalised way - Moravians, Mennonites, some forms of Baptists and Pentecostalists, especially in the USA.

But it has never gained the place in regular and consisted Christian worship that sharing bread and wine has.

I wonder why?

Is it simply cultural - washing of feet is not a common practice, as it was for Jesus (the difference was in who did it in this story in John - that is, not the slave, but the "Lord and Teacher"); we do not live in a context or climate where this would be appropriate?

Which leaves a question of what would be the appropriate way of doing the equivalent?

Is there something we resist in the humility of it - both as washer and as washee…?

Is there something about the physical intimacy?

Is there something about the basicness of it...?

What do you think?

What would it do to our community to do this - or something like this?

 

 

April 8 2020

Wednesday of Holy Week. Staying at home Ramble

Betrayal!

The story of Judas is another that is in all the gospel tellings; Matt 26 tells of the plan and the carrying out of it, as does Mark 14 and Luke 22. John records the planning in chapter 13 - and shows Jesus knowing about it, and then the carrying out of it in chapter 18. Again, there are many similarities, and some important differences in the ways the story is told...have a look and see what you make of them.

Judas has been the archetypal traitor and false friend through the history of the church; the one who stood in for all the failures and betrayals and was blamed as wicked and evil. In more recent years, there has been a kind of rehabilitation...an attempt to understand his motivation. Presented in some of the gospel sgtories as greed, it is also now suggested that perhaps he was trying to precipitate a sort of crisis in which Jesus would be forced to play the role that Judas thought he should as a revolutionary and political leader....the fact is, we cannot know his motivation. And if we're truthful, there are enough times when we cannot understand our own motivations, let alone anybody else's

So, perhaps one of the things we can explore in this story is the tendency to ascribe motivation where we cannot ever know it - and the dangers of blame, of shaming, of making assumptions that that can lead us into.

It is alos intriguing to see Jesus reaction to Judas. He speaks of "woe to the one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed". What sort of tone of voice do you think that he uses for this - angry, blaming - or might it be compassionate? A recognition, even acceptance of the choice that Judas has made, and a sadness, not simply at the consequence for himself, but also the consequence for Judas. 

What would it feel like to see such compassion directed towards us as we acknowledge the mistakes, the wrong choices, the betrayals of the Lord? What difference would it make id we could offer that compassion to ourselves and each other?

 

April 7 2020

Tuesday of Holy Week. Staying at home Ramble

Anointing Jesus' Feet.

This is also a story that appears in all the gospels, again, in different forms - or is it different stories? In John 12 , just before the procession in to Jerusalem, we read about Mary, sister of Lazarus, pouring perfumed oil on Jesus feet and being challenged that the amount of wealth so lavished could have fed the poor. In Matt 26 and Mark 14, the same question is asked of another woman in a different house, who does the same thing. They both put it just before the betrayal by Judas.  In Luke's telling, much earlier in the story (chap 7) a woman anoints Jesus - but the question asked is of her morality and Jesus' wisdom and judgement.

One or two stories, one or two women, lots of people involved, or one event told in different ways with different meanings....? Have a read of the different stories and see what you think.

But at the heart of it all, somebody offering a gift of great price to Jesus.

In a time without savings banks, and when women might be very vulnerable if there was no man to look after them, storing wealth in things rather than money was a way of being safe. Often, just such a bottle of ointment, perfume, would be a woman's way of bringing wealth into a marriage...it was her savings account, her dowry; and her protection if she were left alone without support.

And she/they pour it over Jesus.

This isn't just a beautiful and extravagant gift; it is the sacrifice of her security, her pension plan or protection, her safety.

As we read this in a context where hoarding a real issue, filing the cupboards an emotional "requirement" to feel ok, and in a context where there is much anxiety about how people are using wealth, sharing resources - what afre the questions that occur to you?

And is there something you might do, or might do differently if you spend time in this woman's company. What might she say to you? What might you say to her?

 

 

 

April 6 2020

Monday of Holy Week. Staying at home Ramble

Cleansing the Temple

A story that appears in different places in the different gospels, but appears in them all. (Read it at Matt 21;12-13, Mark 11;15-19, Luke 19;45-48, John 2;13-21. If you have time to read all 4, what are the similarities and differents that you see?)

There is a common thread through all the tellings;  Jesus' anger that people are being stopped from approaching God. People had travelled from long distances, but Temple Tax could only be paid in the local currency - hence the money changers. People couldn't bring their sacrifices with them, and anyway it had to be approved animals. Hence the animal sellers. 

Those who were coming to worship had to negotiate the barriers put in place by those who were economically and socially.

Here is the source of Jesus' anger....that those who wish to worship are being prevented.

As we are exploring new ways of worshipping and enabling others to worship, here is an important area for reflection - what do we do that stops others from worshipping....?

How might Jesus react to actions, attitudes, assumptions that we make that shut others out, however unintentionally?

April 1 2020

Stay at Home Rambling

It is hard to ramble when one is confined to the house and garden...but we do the best we can.

Not being able to get out and about, and in particular, not being able to go to places of worship and devotion is a hard thing to come to terms with,  but it is not unusual in the history of the church.In a generation in which pilgrimage was much more important and much more widespread than it is now, it often formed an important part of people's faith, and the expression of devotion, and indeed, the offering of prayer. But not everybody had the time, resources, health or freedom to make journeys that took them away from home (and sometimes family) for months at a time. 

So, sometime in the 15th century, the Franciscans, who had care of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, which were often visited by pilgrims, wanting to trace the life, ministry and passion of Jesus, began to build small shrines, often on the way up to churches, to represent the various holy sites. These became a way for those who could not travel, yet to have the encouter, and the experience of visiting and remembering the story in more than words.

Gradually, these representations moved inside churches, and became known as the Stations of the Cross, and while they are accessed all year round, they often form a particular focus of devotion during Holy Week.(The picture above is one of the images used in a church in centrfal London - a set of paintings of which I became very fond when I lived near there.)

Stations of the Cross are not normally part of our tradition. And I am not exactly suggesting that we introduce them. But I am proposing that, during Holy Week which starts on Sunday with Palm Sunday, I will "ramble" around the stories of that last week of Jesus life, and see if, by suggesting sights, sounds, smells, voices, we might find ways of encountering these stories from within our own homes, in ways that might matter.

We can't get out and about. But we can still pray and reflect, and encouter ...I hope you might join me.... 

March 25 2020

The feast of the Annunciation; the power and possibility of "yes"

It's time to start getting ready for Christmas....

Well, maybe not, but today is the day when the Church at large commemorates the story of the angel telling Mary that there would be a child.

Now, there are all sorts of things to say about this story - most of which I am not going to touch on here.

All I want to do is notice one aspect of the story and two reflections on it...

Mary said yes.

It is the heart of the story really - whatever it is that happens, however this conception takes place, the point of this part of the story is that Mary says yes. 

There is a long tradition of being grateful to Mary for saying yes, and that's a tradition I want to affirm. And today I want to expand it  - and to express gratitude to all sorts of people for saying yes. In particular, for saying yes to things that look ridiculous, impossible, even shameful (as Mary's yes was) - and yet which change the world. And today, as we deal with what everybody tells me is unprecedented (I'm not convinced - but unprecedented in our time I'll allow!)  to say thank you to those who say yes to serving, helping, taking risks, being there, going on being there...thanks seems too small, but without thanks nothing else gets said - things about proper equipment and proper pay, and on-going recongition, and no more of the nonsense about "unskilled labour"... So - a huge thank you to those who say yes.

And Mary said yes without knowing the consequences. The ultimate fulfilment of the promise is laid out; "he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end". But there's not a lot in the way of details, and the path to this goal is unclear, its demands and delights yet invisble. And Mary still says yes.

We are on journeys now that we do not know the end of. 

Of course, that is always true, but it is more felt at the moment than it often is. 

Can we trust and obey in the same way?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 18 2020

On being the church

Some years ago I co-wrote a book with that title (a statement on the royalties came in the other day - 76cents!) I wrote it because it is something that matters deeply to me; that we don't just "go to church", we are church. It is one of the reasons that being minister of Grove Lane Baptist Church is such a huge privilege - people who are this church don't just "go", they "are".

But - it is true that we also "go" - we have a habit, like Christians down the ages, of meeting together on the first day of the week to worship, and to share friendship - and coffee. (I have no proof that the early believers did that, but....)

And now, for an as yet indeterminate number of weeks, we will not be able to do that.

It is a sad thing, and a difficult thing.

It is also the loving thing to do. We are stopping meeting in part for each one of us to look after our self. But, and this is equally important epidemiologically, we are stopping meeting in order that infection is not passed on - that is, in order to care for one another, and for our wider community, and, long-term, to do our bit to ensure that the health service is not overwhelmed and therefore those who are ill are cared for. 

One of our members is in a care home, and we are not able to visit her at the moment. Not going to see her hurts. And it is an act of love towards her and the others; it is to prevent us bringing any virus into a vulnerable situation. 

Loving our neighbour is a very practical act of care - even if it looks like withdrawal. 

We are looking at other ways to "meet" - we've got all this online stuff; let's use it. We are looking into all sorts of ways of sharing care for the wider community, in particular the Foodbanks...they are going to be under great pressure, and we are finding creative ways to support them (watch this space). This, of course, is another form of loving our neighbour.

This Ramble may happen more often (you have been warned) and other news and interaction will take place on this site and on our other online places (facebook, twitter and soundcloud)

The first Christians when they started meeting had to invent ways to do it, because they were doing a new thing. They didn't start from scratch, however; they used what was around them - models from other religions, and other social structures. And they took them over, adapted and worked them out. 

We are worshipping the same God, following the same Jesus, depending on the same Spirit. We are as creative, inventive, committed and blessed. As my training minister used to tell me "God is good and the world still turns". We may not be able to "go" but we have not ceased to "be" the church. And once we are able to "go" again, we will return having loved our neighbour and been loved by our neighbour in ways that we might not have expected, but which will have been blessing to us and others.

In the words of the dismissal blessing we regularly use at Quiet Communion at the moment "From where we are to where you need us, Jesus, still lead on"

 

March 11 2020

Tears

I wrote last week about the joy of watching a child smile, and the way in which that symbolises for me what we are about as a church; delighting in and sharing the discovery that we are beloved children of God, and that the universe is a friendly place.

And that is true, that is something I will go on believing and preaching. 

But it is not the whole of the truth.

For there is also that in our lives, in our world which is resistant to God's goodness and the coming Kingdom. Whether we want to call it evil, brokenness, sin, hurt...

And as well as sharing in the delight of the young lady discovering the fun of being alive, I have also had the huge privilege over the last week of listening as people have told stories of horror, distress, anger, pain; their own stories, and the stories of the people they care for.

I had a discussion with a friend during the week about the difference between optimism and hope...and we came to the conclusion that optimism based on a rational assessment of the world (we are both optimistic that, as healthy and handwashing people, we will avoid the worst effects of Covid-19, and we have reason for that optimism) is a healthy and appropriate way of living. Optimism based, however,  on "everybody is nice, and it'll all be fine" is hard to maintain and justify in the face of our current humanitarian and environmental disasters, - and can be very damaging, since it can mean we choose to do nothing, and just hope for the best.

Hope on the other hand, for believers, is the conviction that the love of God is bigger than the horror, the distress and the hurt.

It doesn't take them away. But it is not destroyed by them.

And as we listen to some of the stories that people can tell us - of the cruelty inflicted on children, or the experience of living with depression or cancer, or the horrors of , and as we live with the truth of our own lives - we cannot be optimistic. But we can dare to be hopeful.

Hope is not blind. Hope can name evil when it sees it, can cry with the pain of the world, can confront and acknowledge our own sin and failure. And can do it without being destroyed, not because we are strong enough, or can "rise above" the distress. But because we dare to believe that above, beyond, behind, beneath, is a Love that has not avoided or opted out of the encounter with such pain, but confronts it and will, in the end, redeem it. 

Lent is our journey towards Easter - dare we let it be a journey that takes us through the whole story, including the difficult and painful bits. Because only then can we truly encounter the possibility that Easter Day holds out to us. 

 

 

March 4 2020

 The delight of a smile...

I arrived at Toddlers' Group this morning just as everybody was leaving (good timing Ruth!) but there was still some lunch-eating going on. The young lady who was eating/being fed her meal is a serious-minded person. Life is, according to her expression, real and life is earnest, and she regards it as such. I sat on the floor beside her and wondered  at the patience of the loving carer who was feeding her - and persuading her to go on eating even when she wanted to stop.

Then this amazing person went off to find the next part of the meal, and my serious young lady and I were left regarding one another. There were several moments of serious mutual reflection. And then my eye was caught by some of the attachments to the chair in which she was sitting. Among other distractions offered, there were two teddy-bears which could be visible or hidden, at the flip of a button. So, I flipped them - the bears appeared. I flipped them again - and the bears disappeared. My companion looked at them, at me, and back at them.

And so I repeated the activity...and she began to join in. We carried on. 

And then - a smile!

Indeed, a very beautiful smile.

And one that continued for several moments as she explored the flip that produced a teddy and the flip that hid it, and as I took a turn, and she took a turn, and the teddies carried on behaving as they should.

There are many things a minister gets to do - one of the huge privileges of being a minister is being invited into lots of huge moments in peoples's lives, sharing joy and sorrow and significance.

But I have to tell you - not much over the next few weeks is going to top seeing that smile appear. 

Because at the heart of all of what I am about, and what the church is about is discovering and sharing the delight at the heart of the universe, being the beloved children of God. And that's what I saw in her smile...

 

Feb 26 2020

Speaking out

        

As a congregation, we agreed to write to our MP to ask her to urge the PM to make the COP26 (the conference on Climate Chaos, happening in Glasgow later this year) a place at which our country announces a deep and creative response to the climate emergency facing us.

The letter that we sent is, I believe, is powerfully and effectively phrased, and I am grateful to those who drafted it. The other image is the response of one of our members, sending his own plea (suitably edited in this image to remove name and address).

Both approaches are needed - and it is delight to be able to access them both.

We seek to be a prophetic community - those who speak truth to power, who challenge oppressive systems and ask difficult questions. And our models are the prophets of Scripture, who spent enough time in God;s presence to begin to discern God's calling, and who responded by making both a strong case to the people to whom they are sent, and by actions, creative snd subversive - artistic, indeed. 

Thanks be to God, that we have people among us who can help us to do both, and we pray for our leaders and those with power, that they will hear this urgent call. 

 

 

 

Feb 19 2020

Sharing bread and wine

This is the picture that goes on the front of our order of service when we have our Quiet  Communion on the fourth Sunday of the month - drawn by our very own member, George.

We are, I think, quite unusual as a Baptist Church in sharing bread and wine at more services than not. We are also unusual in the openness of our Table; our invitation is to "all who wish to receive what is offered here" and we ask no more of people than that they want to be there. Our theology for this is that Jesus ate with everybody who invited him, or who was in the crowd.

It could look, therefore, as if this is something trivial and insignificant. One of the arguments I grew up hearing to justify why Baptists had communion less often than some (and why the Presbyterians around us had it even less frequently) was that this was something "so special" that to celebrate it too often would lower its importance and impact.

And an argument for keeping people away if they are not part of the church in whatever way we define that is that otherwise it becomes less of a special mark for believers.

Well, perhaps there is something in each of these positions - though I remain to be convinced.

But more importantly than these possibilities is, I suggest, the conviction that when we share bread and wine and tell the story of Jesus' invitation and - as Paul reminds us, - death and resurrection, we are encountering the embodiment of the love of God in Jesus, and that love was not rationed in case we begin to take it for granted, nor limited to those who were part of however the community defined itself. 

It may be only a small piece of bread and small sip of wine (and there may be a good argument for suggesting we are more extravagant in what we take - especially when there is more than enough to go around!) but it is a sign and symbol of a love not afraid to be involved in every part of our lives, that doesn't keep itself "for best", for "special occasions" and also that doesn't insist on a certain way of being or belonging before loving us utterly.

So, I will gladly go on offering bread and wine to anybody who wishes to receive it. And I will gladly go on offering it as often as you will let me.

Thank you for the privilege of leading our congregation in this activity. It is one of the highspots of my week. 

 

Feb 12 2020

So proud....

Our 615ers group - the club for youngsters betwen 5 and 9 - have been raising money for Toilet Twinning. One of the club evenings towards the end of last year focussed on the need for toilets for health, well-being and dignity, and also on the lack in various places. Then the youngsters were asked to raise money towards putting up a toilet somewhere where it is needed. They were invited to give a bit of their pocket money, or do jobs to raise money, or to think about how else they could help fund this work.

This week was the end of the appeal. Over the last few weeks, they have brought in pennies and more - several parents have been extremely generous and given money of the folding sort!, but most of the money has come from the children. They have tidied rooms, set tables, washed dishes, cleaned cars. They have cajoled, and have given from their pocket money.

And they have raised £155.45!!

To twin a toilet costs £60. So, with a small donation from club funds, these youngsters have funded the building of two toilets in places where this is badly needed. And, along the way, they have learned something about the world, about hygiene and about the interconnectedness of the world. 

We are so proud of them! Soon, the plaques, acknowlegdng their donation will be here, and they will be proudly displayed in the entrance to the church.

The other youth groups are just starting their fund raising efforts. We are looking forward to adding their plaques too in due course!

If you would like to know more about this work, please check the website here; https://www.toilettwinning.org/

 

Feb 5 2020

Intriguing

There was a party in the church on Sunday afternoon. I am guessing that one of the things that went on was the enjoyment of balloons. Because now, when we go in, we have the delight of several balloons (orange with black markings) lurking near the ceiling. There was an attempt to get them down on Monday evening, but they proved somewhat recalcitrant! 

And why not leave them there? They will come down eventually, I am sure. But at the moment, they are a talking point. I know - I've been talking about them. We discussed them at 615ers on Monday evening. We talked about them at Toddlers Group and at Day Centre lunch today. And, I suspect, if they are still there on Sunday, we will talk about them then.

As one who is not gifted with small talk, I am all for talking points - reasons to speak, neutral topics to generate a conversation. 

And these are delightful because they are unusual, and indeed, attractive. 

All of which makes me wonder what is unusual, attractive, and a helpful talking point about us as a faith community, that might give us ways of introducing ourselves, or saying something about our identity as a church - and might give people the idea that here is something about being a faith community and here is  a way of living that faith within which it is possible they could find a home.

Jan 29 2020

A prophetic community??

At our reflective communion on the fourth Sunday of the month, at the moment, we have a series of reflections around the Baptist Union's 5 Core Values (see here....5 Core Values) Our church covenant is based on these, and they form our to-do list as a church.

On Sunday, we considered being "a prophetic community", and we thought about Jesus' words "if somebody strikes on one cheek, turn the other...if somebody demands you cloak, give your cloak, if somebody makes you go one mile, go a second..."

These are prophetic actions - refusal to accept the dehumanising actions of another and an insistence on asserting human dignity in the face of oppression. (Walter Wink. Turn the other cheek) And we went on from there to ask about what prophetic actions we might find...when  a third of all food produced is wasted, thrown away and not used, while people around  the world are starving.....when gardens are being concreted over and we are living with increasing flooding....when churches are better known for whom they exclude than for their welcome.

And we asked when our society more and more seeks people to blame when something goes wrong - what might it look like to be known as a community of mercy? We asked how do we further our capacity for welcome in a society which is increasingly unwelcoming?

We will go on asking these kind of questions and letting our imaginations play with possibility and gentle subversion...

Our capacity to be prophetic is rooted in our vision of a world that we do not yet see...the world of the Kingdom that we pray for each time we pray in the words Jesus taught; our prophetic actions, - creative, subversive, challenging, renewing - aren ways of living the Kingdom into being.

There's a to-do list to intrigue and challenge...

 

Jan 22 2020

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme this year is Unusual Kindness, drawing on the story of Paul and his travelling companions being cared for following a shipwreck. The material provided by the churches in Malta - where the wrecked ship fetched up. The "unusual kindness" is their history.

It is a wonderful theme for a reflection on what it means to be together, to recognise and affirm one another. There is a lovely image that floats around on the internet..."in a world in which you can be anything, be kind". What better motto, as we try to live, not just as fellow believers, but as fellow people in the world.

Mind you, as we reflect on church unity - the heart of this week's prayer - we might have some hard questions to ask about what kindness looks like. 

It is very easy, in our generation and in our context to get on with people from other churches. We are all on the same journey, and we simly travel in slightly different ways, none of which really matter very much, and are just a question of taste.

Or is it?

That might be, at first sight, the kind way of considering one another; different traditions, but nothing that really signifies, and certainly nothing to argue about. 

And there is a considerable truth in that position. It has been hard won, and should not be taken for granted or treated as unimportant. 

But is it possible that we might go further. We might show "unusual" kindness by asking the hard questions, and listening, kindly and with faith, to the answers; questions about who is allowed to share at Communion, who is allowed to preside at Communion, who takes decisions about the life of the local and the wider church....?

And perhpas to go even further; what "unusual kindness" might it be to say that we are willing to let go of some of our traditions, ways of doing things, structures and assumptions, not in order to become part of some already existing church organisation, but, together with others, to move into something new and as yet unknown. 

We would need deep and unusual kindness for that sort of mutual trust and exploration. 

Are we brave enough?

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 15 2020

On being a visitor

On Sunday, I am being a visitor. As part of our marking of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we have our annual pulpit swap; that event that sounds rather like architectural reorganisation, but is actually one minister going to preach in the church of another (which makes it sound like a game on I'm Sorry I Haven't a clue - perhaps a good analogy!)

I am going to preach at All Saints Parish Church, and Philip from Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church is coming to Grove Lane.

It's always an interesting experience being a visiting preacher, especially in an ecumenical context. I am aware of no longer in control - taking part in a tradition within which I am not "at home", and not having the right or authority to say "this is how we will do it", or even, "this is what we will do" - all the markers taken for granted of how to behave when preaching are taken away.

Churches are very good at making sure that I know what I need to do and how to do it, but still, I am in a strange place, I am not at home.

And surely, this is how ecumenism should make us feel, at least to some extent; to be in a context where we are not in control, and cannot say "this is how it will be" - invited into somebody else's world, where we might be very welcome, but where we are not in charge.

Actually, it is not a bad image for mission as well. All too often - and one of the reasons why we can be very suspicious of any idea of mission - the whole method and practice has been either to invite people into our space and place and expect them to behave as we do, fit in with us and become like us, or to go to other people's space and expect it to become moulded to fit our assumptions and practices. 

But what if mission, what if exploring how to bring our faith into contact with parts of the world where faith is not named, is about being a visitor, being in somebody else's space not to change it, but to experience it, be welcomed into it, explore and visit, encounter and be changed ourselves?

I am looking forward to Sunday - it will be good make new friends, and I have already been made to feel very welcome. It is a lovely model of what building connections in a woder community might look like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not in charge, not at home, open to n 

Jan 9 2020

But I don't know how to....

 

 

 

I met a couple of people today whom I do not know. One had arranged to bring the other to see me. It was a lovely meeting, conversation, getting to know one another and sharing stories. Part way through, one of the people I was meeting said, "let's pray".

"I don't know how to" said the other person. 

And I have been going back to that all day...I don't know how to pray.

I think it's one of the most profound comments I've heard in a long time.

We are sometimes so sure we know how to pray - or rather, that we should know how to pray, that there is a way to pray that is correct, and if we only knew how to do it, or worked harder at it, or had more determination or skill or something, then we'd be better at praying. 

But what if the place we start is "I don't know how to do this"

And even more importantly, what if all we ever know is "I don't know how to do this"; that is, if we dare to trust that praying is not an exam we have to pass, or a hoop we have to jump through, or something we have to get right in order to impress God. What if prayer is something in which getting it "right" or "wrong" is a meaningless concept - if doing it "badly" is perhaps the point, for the point is doing it, not doing it properly....

And so I have been wondering - who taught us that we should pray in certain ways to the extent that people feel that they can't do it?

And even more importantly, how do we challenge that, and permit ourselves and each other to explore what prayer looks like when we are not judging ourselves, or feeling "wrong"?