Revd Alan

What's it all About?

2010-12-09T13:00:00.001Z

What’s Christmas all about? Have you found yourself wondering this at Christmas time? If so come and join a group of others discovering together what Christmas and other faith issues mean. “Just Looking” will be running in February and March 2011 in Amersham at a time convenient for those who want to come. If you are interested please let Alan Crawley know – 01494 433826, Twitter @revdalan (please use direct message)

Feed In Tariffs

2010-12-02T14:00:00.019Z

On today's show my guest, Lesley Fellows, referred to two companies, among many, who are involved in providing green energy solutions that qualify for the governments Feed in Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentive.

They were Ice Energy and The Solar Coop. If you do decide to get in touch with them, please mention that you heard about them through Radio Christmas.

I'm sure that there ought to be some form of disclaimer here, but just to say that I have no experience of these people, so make your own minds up!

Thought for the day

2010-12-01T08:00:00.003Z

This is my thought for the day for Radio Christmas this morning. If you have come here because you have already heard it and want to know the answer (if you haven't ignore this bit!) then click to see more at the bottom. If not then here it is!

Well. Here it is. Merry Christmas. Everybody’s having fun.

At least I hope that is the case. It is certainly true here at Radio Christmas, despite all the last minute panics to get ready, and I hope that it will be true for you as Christmas draws near. But Christmas can also be a difficult time – difficult for those who’ve recently lost jobs, difficult for those who’ve got ill relatives, difficult for those who’ve lost loved ones recently or at this time of year.

And perhaps it’s superficially difficult for those of us who have to pack extra shopping and partying into our already full lives. It’s all rather “Goodness, another year has gone by since last Christmas”.

And then of course there are the perils of Christmas Day itself “You’d better watch out”, “you’d better not cry” we find ourselves saying to children at 4 in the morning (if we aren’t careful).

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, but that doesn’t seem to make it any easier.

But I get ahead of myself – in church terms we are in Advent – and as churches we are watching and waiting – preparing. Not only for Christmas but also for the coming of Christ.

Now I don’t want to get all precious and stop people singing carols before Christmas, but I do want to encourage everyone to spend some time in the next 3 ½ weeks thinking about what Christmas means to them.

What – you say, another thing to add the long list that I’ve already got?

Well, do you know what is important to you about Christmas? Perhaps you do – but I suspect that many of us don’t!

Is it that Snow is falling all around us, children playing having fun, eating and drinking too much – or is it something else?

Of course with many of the things that we hold dear we can easily be disappointed “They said there’ll be snow at Christmas”, “they said there’ll be peace on earth”.

The birth of Jesus tells us that God loves us, loves us enough to send His Son to show us how to live. Not in a fearful way – but in a way that allows us to live our lives fully and fearlessly. Jesus birth and death show us that it isn’t what happens to us that gives or takes away our happiness, it is how we respond to those events. And if we are loved my experience is that we can cope with anything – and need be afraid of nothing.

And so this is Christmas, a vivid life giving example that God loves us; and in response may we be able to say: It’s Christmas time there’s no need to be afraid.

Oh – and it’s also time for a bit of fun – I don’t know whether you spotted them, but I quoted the first lines from 9 Christmas songs in this piece. If you want to find out where they were you can listen again on www.radiochristmas.co.uk or have a look at my blog: revdalan.blogspot.com.

Marked up copy below the fold.

Well. Here it is. Merry Christmas. Everybody’s having fun.

At least I hope that is the case. It is certainly true here at Radio Christmas, despite all the last minute panics to get ready, and I hope that it will be true for you as Christmas draws near. But Christmas can also be a difficult time – difficult for those who’ve recently lost jobs, difficult for those who’ve got ill relatives, difficult for those who’ve lost loved ones recently or at this time of year.

And perhaps it’s superficially difficult for those of us who have to pack extra shopping and partying into our already full lives. It’s all rather “Goodness, another year has gone by since last Christmas”.

And then of course there are the perils of Christmas Day itself “You’d better watch out”, “you’d better not cry” we find ourselves saying to children at 4 in the morning (if we aren’t careful).

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, but that doesn’t seem to make it any easier.

But I get ahead of myself – in church terms we are in Advent – and as churches we are watching and waiting – preparing. Not only for Christmas but also for the coming of Christ.

Now I don’t want to get all precious and stop people singing carols before Christmas, but I do want to encourage everyone to spend some time in the next 3 ½ weeks thinking about what Christmas means to them.

What – you say, another thing to add the long list that I’ve already got?

Well, do you know what is important to you about Christmas? Perhaps you do – but I suspect that many of us don’t!

Is it that Snow is falling all around us, children playing having fun, eating and drinking too much – or is it something else?

Of course with many of the things that we hold dear we can easily be disappointed “They said there’ll be snow at Christmas”, “they said there’ll be peace on earth”.

The birth of Jesus tells us that God loves us, loves us enough to send His Son to show us how to live. Not in a fearful way – but in a way that allows us to live our lives fully and fearlessly. Jesus birth and death show us that it isn’t what happens to us that gives or takes away our happiness, it is how we respond to those events. And if we are loved my experience is that we can cope with anything – and need be afraid of nothing.

And so this is Christmas, a vivid life giving example that God loves us; and in response may we be able to say: It’s Christmas time there’s no need to be afraid.

Oh – and it’s also time for a bit of fun – I don’t know whether you spotted them, but I quoted the first lines from 9 Christmas songs in this piece. If you want to find out where they were you can listen again on www.radiochristmas.co.uk or have a look at my blog: revdalan.blogspot.com.

Radio Christmas

2010-11-29T14:17:00.001Z

Back for a few one off special posts, rather like a reluctant movie star out plugging the latest film. This is to alert people to the existence of Radio Christmas which is a (very) local radio station to Amersham and the surrounding areas, but which can also be heard over the web (see home page) and for which a best selling (?) iPhone app is available.

This is a wonderful local community project raising money for Streetkids in South America, and also building community in the wider Amersham area.

I have a show, Call Reverend Alan on Thursday lunchtimes 2nd, 9th and 16th December at 1pm (hence the point of the plug!).

I'm also doing Thought for the Day on 1st December at about 7.45.

The show will be an opportunity to call, email or tweet in and ask questions of my guests and myself , as well as listen to some of the things that my guests are up to and a few songs. As I write, the schedule is:

2nd December: Rev’d Dr Lesley Fellows, Member of Oxford Diocesan Environmental Group, International Moderator, No Anglican Covenant Coalition and blogger.

9th December: Rt Rev’d Dr Alan Wilson, The Bishop of Buckingham (and blogger)

16th December: Rev’d Paul Willis, Co Founder Wycombe Night Shelter

16 December: Rev’d Pippa Soundy Assistant Curate St Michael and All Angels, Amersham on the Hill, Community Minister to the Church Mission Society, based in Oxford

Au revoir

2010-06-09T06:35:00.006+01:00

After yesterdays post I thought that I was going to spend some time thinking about whether I wanted to continue blogging at the present. However, my reaction to the idea of stopping - at least temporarily - was such that I know that it is something that I want to do. And once the decision is made...

It has been fun sharing with you all, but for the time being, as Jimmy Young (Jeremy Vine to you younger types) used to say on the JY prog TTFN.

One parting thought! If George Osborne wants to know where to start cutting then he could try the MoD - why do we need the 4th largest military spend in the world, why do we need nuclear, even if we just paid the soldiers and military contractors to sit at home we would save the hardware costs. And shouldn't matters of war now be a UN issue?

To Blog or not to Blog

2010-06-08T06:35:00.001+01:00

While I was away last week I didn't blog - and it was good! Then I get back and find this from Clayboy.

I wrote quite a long time ago about blogging and many of the themes remain. I still think that blogging is for me, and I still think that there is a stress to me in blogging. The most obvious solution would be to blog less often. However last week I was talking to a counsellor and they talked about the weekly relationship - and how if the time between meetings stretches out things get saved up to say, and are more thought through, whereas turning up weekly the unconscious has more opportunity to get out. I think the same is true of blogging. Posting daily means that some days there is nothing to say - and yet they are sometimes the days when I learn most as I write something down that I didn't know.

The thing that I didn't write about in the earlier post was the community of bloggers. It feels antisocial to blog but not to read others blogs, to blog but not read and sometimes respond to comments - but both of these activities can be very time consuming.

What am I going to do? Not sure! Watch this space.

Is it possible to describe a mystical experience?

2010-06-07T06:35:00.000+01:00

The following comes from Richard Rohr's daily email. I am sure that my atheist friends will say that this is nothing to do with God, but with the exception of "Union" I would would expect agreement that these are good things and ask how they find them in their life?

To sum up these two weeks, mystical encounter always implies a dipping and even falling into a Great Love, and below are just some ways to describe it. It is first of all a momentary "state,” and with years of practice, the state becomes a permanent trait and a way of life. But know this is available to ALL of you! In fact, you are hard wired to receive it.

Enlargement: You will become larger in your heart and attitudes, not smaller.
Union: You will have a stronger sense of union with things, not disunion from things or others. You know you are not alone.
Freedom: You will exhibit a deep sense of inner freedom, not constriction.
Optimism: You will find a grounded hopefulness within yourself, not pessimism.
Safety: You will feel a primal security and a “being held”, not anxiety.
Rest: You will have found a deep and abiding resting place, deeper than any passing restlessness.
Possibility: You will be filled with creativity and options, over any "all or nothing" thinking.
Permission: You will wonder, "where does all this inner spaciousness come from?"

Following the Mystics through the Narrow Gate ... Seeing God in All Things

Gi's a job

2010-06-06T06:35:00.033+01:00

This article talks about the increasingly common practice of expecting young people to work without pay to gain experience.

I am quite clear that I come down on the side of banning it as a practice. If we claim to be a meritocracy (which I think we do) then making certain jobs open only to those who can fund free working is unfair and should not be allowed. I think that there is also a good point in the article about the minimum wage!

However, whilst this may be seen as a modern phenomenon and one which is spreading among the more popular jobs (nearly called them professions J), it has a long history as I can recall in my younger days that barristers (and I don't mean coffee makers) had to study and then work for a pittance and be paid in arrears such that most of that profession came from those who were able to subsidise the early part of the training. A quick look now suggests that this has changed with pupillages funded, so here is one example where action has already been taken.

An alternative would be for the government to sponsor this year, much as they do with student loans - however I am wary of this because, as with student loans, there would still be a temptation for those from more disadvantaged backgrounds to run up large debts.

What benefit is there to the companies? To avoid minimum wage issues there should be no immediate gain to them, so presumably it is about seeing candidates ahead of time; they could always develop better recruitment procedures - after all if they are after talent then at present they are ruling a significant proportion of the population out.

2010-05-31T06:35:00.002+01:00

Whether you are French or not... Time for another break. Back soon.

2010-05-30T06:35:00.002+01:00

Does our desire as Christians to be inclusive of all sorts of people mean that we will never say, 'You should not do that'? Surefish Daily Reading

I read this yesterday and so wanted to answer this question! There is a big difference between advising people and ordering them. Too often Christians order people - and it is wrong and it does us no good. We need to respect people's free will, of course we can explain our views to them, but to order them or threaten them shows an arrogance that is not found in Jesus.

Some Christians also do not appear to understand the difference between the law of the land and a belief drawn from faith. I may or may not believe something is wrong because of my faith - but if I live in a land which has chosen a different law then I am free to campaign against it - and in many senses I have a duty to do so - but if I chose to break the law in doing so I must be prepared to take the consequences. After all we have rather a good role model for doing exactly that.

Is the rational all there is?

2010-05-28T06:35:00.003+01:00

Since I blogged on rationality the other day the web seems to have been full of others doing the same.

Apparently Terry Sanderson had held Rowan Williams up to ridicule but Andrew Brown supported him, my Bishop chipped in comparing the spirit and dogma and the Naked Pastor critiqued faith from within. Then Richard Rohr sent round a daily thought with the following:

So we have these words describing mystical moments: enlargement, connection or union, and emancipation. You may not use these same words, but on a practical level it is experienced as a new capacity and a new desire to love. And you wonder where it comes from. Why do I have this new desire, this new capacity to love some new people, to love the old people better, maybe to enter into some kind of new love for the world? I even find my thoughts are more immediately loving.
Clearly, you are participating in a love that’s being given to you. You are not creating this. You are not generating this. It is being generated through you and in you and for you. You are participating in something larger than yourself, and you are just allowing it and trusting it for the pure gift that it is.

The question that I will keep posing is what about the things that can't be proven: are they worthless and to be ignored, or can we admit that there is something of worth which cannot be proven? My vote is for the latter.

Communicating across Divides

2010-05-27T09:17:00.001+01:00

For those who have been following the debates on faith and proof, there is another of our Millennium lectures coming up which might be of interest if you are anywhere near Amersham.

Reflection on an authentic language of the Spirit, by Harvey Gillman, Tuesday June 29. 8 pm. St Michael and All Angels, Amersham on the Hill.

What do we mean by religion and spirituality? What do we mean by truth in a community of faith? How far can language embody meaning? How can communication lead to communion? These themes will be explored in relation to a world of conflicting understandings of truth. Harvey comes to this topic paradoxically as one who finds meaning in ambiguous poetry, revelation in music and depth in silence.

Harvey Gillman was outreach secretary for British Quakers for 18 years. He writes and lectures on spirituality, language and how we can use difference compassionately and with integrity. His books include: A Light that is Shining, an introductory book on British Quakers; A Minority of One; and Consider the Blackbird.

Do you like this?

2010-05-25T06:35:00.001+01:00

Place your hope in God alone. If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself, but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge.
The Rule of Benedict http://www.eriebenedictines.org/benedict (only there 1 day in 4 months) http://www.osb.org/rb/

I like this quote from Benedict, but I have a friend who dislikes it - we haven't gone into why - but I think that it is an example of the religious paradox that I was writing about yesterday. It isn't necessarily that I think that it is "true", but that it gives insight into ways of thinking which help me come to God.

What do you think?

Paradox and Faith

2010-05-24T06:35:00.003+01:00

Something else which I suspect will get up the nose of atheists is the concept of religious paradox. I want to say (and mean) both that God is powerless and that God is powerful.

When we are talking about God we cannot use language - God is bigger than language - instead we are working with metaphor - and sometimes a metaphor of powerlessness helps us understand more, and sometimes a metaphor of powerful does. All of these help us colour in our picture of God - or perhaps taking an apophatic path help us in removing bits that aren't in the picture!

Pete Rollins is very good on paradox in all his books

Faith - Pragmatist v Rationalist

2010-05-22T06:35:00.002+01:00

The debate between we of faith and an atheist rationalist has been going on in the comments of a number of blog posts (here, here, here and here for example).

As a pragmatist I am finding it frustrating as we appear to have little common ground to debate on; for example we agree that there is no scientific data to base our thinking on, but that is all that is allowed as proof by our atheist friend. When it comes to circumstantial evidence, for example the behaviour of Christians, then it is responded that this could come from another source (which of course it could). The one argument that I don't think has been answered is that Christians behave in counter intuitive ways (see long quote below fold), but ways which when they are lived lead to life in all its fullness (John 10:10, GNB), but again subjective experience is not allowed.

Fowler's theory of Faith Development defines faith thus:

Think if you will, of faith as `universal’, as a feature of living, acting, and self-understanding of all human beings whether they claim to be `believers’ or religious or not (Fowler & Keen, 1985:17).

As teachers of the faith one of the things that we have to deal with is that there are people at all faith stages in our congregations, and things which may be helpful to those at one stage might well be harmful to those at another. Somehow we have to find a way of speaking to all, of encouraging all, without frightening some away. That is why I believe that clergy will say things in private that they will not say in public or on a blog - in private one to one conversation it is much easier to work with where that person is!

Whilst taking on board Fowler's comment:

that the stages should never be used for the nefarious comparison or the devaluing of persons (Fowler, 1987:80)

I do believe that those in the higher numbered stages are less likely to behave in ways which militant atheists object to.

The challenge to those of us of faith is perhaps how to move people through the faith journey, and perhaps as a real challenge how to evangelise directly into the later stages, for if the stages apply to whatever "faith" we have then it should in theory be possible to do this - although most programs, such as Alpha, appear to introduce people to the early stages.

"Do not repay one bad turn with another (1 Thes 5:15; 1 Pt 3:9)." Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently. "Love your enemies (Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27)." If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead. "Endure persecution for the sake of justice (Mt 5:10)."

A peacemaker's paragraph, this one confronts us with the Gospel stripped and unadorned. Nonviolence, it says, is the center of the monastic life. It doesn't talk about conflict resolution; it says, don't begin the conflict. It doesn't talk about communication barriers; it says, stay gentle even with those who are not gentle with you. It doesn't talk about winning; it talks about loving.

Most of all, perhaps, it offers us no false hope that all these attempts will really change anything. No, it says instead that we must be prepared to bear whatever blows it takes for the sake of justice, quietly, gently, even lovingly with never a blow in return.

A story from the Far East recounts that a vicious general plundered the countryside and terrorized the villagers. He was, they said, particularly cruel to the monks of the place, whom he despised.

One day, at the end of his most recent assault, he was informed by one of his officers that, fearing him, all the people had already fled the town, with the exception of one monk who had remained in his monastery going about the order of the day.

The general was infuriated at the audacity of the monk and sent the soldiers to drag him to his tent.

"Do you not know who I am?" he roared at the monk, "I am he who can run you through with a sword and never bat an eyelash."

But the monk replied quietly, "And do you not know who I am? I am he who can let you run me through with a sword and never bat an eyelash."
http://www.eriebenedictines.org/benedict - changes daily. From Insights for the Ages

Twitter

2010-05-21T06:35:00.079+01:00

I have been holding out for a while now, but yesterday finally signed up for Twitter. revdalan is me if there are others of you out there who want to follow my jottings.

Already I have added Tweetdeck for my laptop and TinyTwitter for my phone - though without an unlimited data option I have left it on manual updating!

The question that I have is how will I manage the additional stream of information coming my way? And I don't know the answer to that! Yet.

The other question is how I will handle the visibility. I try to control too much (even though I know I can't!) and I think Twitter will help me learn to deal with that. After all, if I am broadcasting my thoughts to the world (as I suppose I do on this blog) I am letting go of control, and somehow with Twitter it seems more so than blogging - not sure why.

What experiences do others have in this space?

Do we all have a special gift?

2010-05-20T06:35:00.001+01:00

A couple of days ago I met up with some old colleagues. One of them mentioned that he had heard Clive Woodward saying that early in life you should find what you can excel at and nurture it. None of us knew what our gift in this area was (and we are all of an age when too much time is spent talking about pensions J) and it set me wondering whether that something exists - and if it does what it might be.

This also takes us into the nature v nurture debate and that is also informed by Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers". In it he talks about how the vast majority of Ice Hockey players have birthdays in January, February and March - the reason for this being that if they start playing at a young age their greater development gives them and advantage which is magnified by the further opportunities that they get. OK, so perhaps if your birthday is later in the year then Ice Hockey should not be your sport - but that to me questions whether you have a specific gift, or whether you have a number of aptitudes which can be developed in a number of different ways.

Perhaps I have misinterpreted Clive Woodward and what he was doing was to encourage everyone to find something which they enjoy and then to do it to the very best of their ability for its own sake - but sadly I doubt it.

Faith in God encourages us to see everyone (including ourselves) as loved by God for who we are and not what we do. Our current society seems to be trying very hard to persuade us that this isn't true.

Ethical Companies

2010-05-19T06:35:00.002+01:00

It is good to see companies being monitored for ethical behaviour. However, as always there are question marks about what constitutes ethical behaviour. Personally I see the treatment of employees as a major part of this and do not consider the "rank and yank" approach to appraisals as ethical. I don't know whether they still use it but General Electric certainly used to and lo and behold they appear on the ethical companies list!

Shouldn't there be a threshold for this? Good policies in one space shouldn't be able to outweigh bad ones in another. After all they are the only company ranked in their sector. Or is this a case of not being able to agree that "rank and yank" is bad?

What about Extra Curricular activities?

2010-05-18T09:35:00.000+01:00

Is this person unfit to be a teacher because of this photo (with a caption saying "drunken pirate")?

I have blogged before about the perils of the net when it comes to employment. But decided to have another go after seeing this article in the Guardian about someone arrested for a tweet, and someone else refused a teaching degree, they claim on the basis of a My Space entry. I haven't fully read the judgement in this case, although comments on one of the sites covering it suggests that the issues were other than the photo.

What interests me about this are the range of views that exist in this area, for example the comments on this version of the story, from what you do off the job is no one elses business through to everything you do is part of the job (perhaps only for certain jobs). It also touches on Red's question on differences of opinion. Are there jobs where your behaviour off the job disqualifies you from carrying out the job? I think the answer has to be yes - although with qualifications. Nobody is perfect (I know this will come as a shock to some of you out there ;)) so the question becomes what imperfections do we focus on? Red asked whether we would make a priest having an affair a Bishop - slightly tongue in cheek I would ask whether we would make a priest lending money a Bishop - after all the Bible says more about usury. The same goes for other public roles, doctors, politicians and of course teachers.

I guess where I fall on this is that there are behaviours which would disqualify people from certain jobs, but having your photo taken as above isn't one of them.

Differences of Opinion

2010-05-18T06:35:00.003+01:00

Red posted on differences of opinion and I felt that my answer was so long that it had better be a separate post!

For me there are two questions in Red's post. The first is what do we do when we agree that something is wrong and the other is what we do when we don't agree. When we all agree then it is relatively easy - although I suspect that there are few things that we all agree on!

So, when we don't agree, what happens then? As Red said, Suem posted a link to the Bishop of Gloucester talking about what are first order issues and what aren't - where we have to agree and where we don't:

I think the best place is with the categorising of first and second order issues. I am quite clear that the issues on which the creeds make a firm statement - God as trinity, the divinity of Christ, the death and the resurrection of the Lord, the role of the Spirit and more - are first order issues on which there can be no change in what the Church teaches. They are fundamental to the Christian faith. I am equally clear that there are second order issues, which are important, and where interpretation of the tradition needs to be careful and prayerful, but where nevertheless individual churches and provinces need to be free to define doctrine in the way that seems to them to be in accordance with the mind of Christ.

Second order issues are those where we recognise that Christians can come to different conclusions and Christians can allow their view to be shaped in dialogue with their culture without imperilling the good news of Jesus Christ, setting back the Kingdom of God or breaking the fundamental unity of the Church.

There has recently been further discussion about whether the gay issue is first order or not, and whether instead we shouldn't be trying to get on together:

If the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives can do it in Britain, surely the liberals and conservatives in the Christian world can form some sort of coalition to bring new leadership to the Anglican morass. They must put their differences behind them, for the sake of God, themselves and the common good. Ruth Gledhill

The outcome will be a great challenge to the beliefs of many who have understood themselves to be faithful, orthodox, committed Christians and Anglicans. Colin Coward

All spiritual teachers tell us “DO NOT JUDGE.” For those of us raised in a religious setting, this is very difficult. In a strange way, religion gave us all a Ph.D. in judgmentalism. Richard Rohr quoted by Bishop Alan

I don't want to argue the pros and cons of the gay debate here, but instead ask why we can't accept that we have differences of opinion over this and recognise that we are all trying to follow the teachings of Jesus as best we can?

I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.
Oliver Cromwell: Letter to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland (August 3, 1650)

How much do you have to believe?

2010-05-17T06:35:00.003+01:00

Whilst I agree with this post I was also challenged by it. How much do we have to believe? What is essential to our faith? In this post the same writer suggests a stripping back of belief to a personal relationship, and I have heard David Winter saying that as time goes by he is more and more certain about less and less. (I recognise that this is an ambiguous statement - for the avoidance of doubt I believe that his intent was to say that there were fewer things that he believed strongly, but those that he did he believed more strongly). As a pragmatist I want to ask whether these things make any difference to us?

If I can't currently be certain about any of the things in the blog post does it matter whether they ever become resolved? Or is there a sense in which knowing becomes worse than not knowing?

An old joke goes:

An archaeological dig in the Holy Land unearthed the bones of Jesus Christ. The evidence was compelling, even irrefutable. After checking and double-checking his information, the head of the team of archaeologists became certain that he had found the corpse of Jesus Christ, who therefore could not have been resurrected as Christians had always believed.
Stunned, he called the only person he could think of who was the recognized head of world Christianity, the Pope. After much discussion, the Pope began to understand just how strong the evidence was, and decided that he would have to call together the leadership of all Christian denominations in order to come to terms with this astonishing discovery.
“Who,” he asked his advisors, “is the greatest Protestant theologian now living?” The answer came back: “Paul Tillich.” So the Pope telephoned Paul Tillich and carefully described the way the bones had been found and how convincing the archaeological evidence seemed to him.
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “Do you understand what I am saying?” asked the Pope.
“Ach,” said Tillich in his thick German accent. “Zo there really was a Jesus after all…” http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/03/03/old-joke-comes-true/

The article from which this comes goes on to suggest that:

A major goal of his [Tillich's] theological project was to create a version of Christianity which no possible historical evidence could ever falsify.

but how can we possibly falsify what we already have? I can think of no evidence (short perhaps of a time machine - but even there it could have gone back to a parallel universe) which would prove to me anything about what happened 2,000 years ago.

I think we are left with mystery - and I think that is a good thing!

My question to those who differ from me is what difference would it make to your life if some of the things that you hold as important were to be proved false? How would it change your life? What would you do differently?

Perhaps one day we will know the answer to these questions but that day is at the end of time, and not much good to us in living our lives today other than through faith.

What are exams for?

2010-05-16T06:35:00.000+01:00

My daughter is about to start her exams (again!), but what are they for? This might seem a silly question, but the answer determines an awful lot of other issues.

Broadly the choice is that exams are either to show the innate intelligence of children or to determine which children are most suited to further education or various jobs.

When I did exams I believe that they were to determine who was most suited to further education and jobs but somewhere they seem to have morphed into ways of showing innate intelligence. Does this matter? If you believe (as I do) that innate intelligence is not a good correlator for the ability to do a good job outside of academia then it does mean that exams are no help for this.

Universities and employers still appear to want to select the "best" (or perhaps most appropriate) candidates. However exams no longer provide this information. I also recently got involved in a conversation about extra time for exams. In the real world if someone needs additional time, or special surroundings that is potentially a drawback to carrying out their duties, but exams no longer tell this.

The problem is that universities are starting to set their own exams because they cannot determine what they wish to know from public exams, and I suspect that more employers will start to do the same. When I was recruiting we used literacy and numeracy tests together with psychometric profiling - what is the literacy and numeracy other than an exam?

So why do we have the exams we do? Answers on a postcard please!

Working from Home and Social Media

2010-05-14T06:35:00.000+01:00

Not my office - far too little paper around for that!

I was sparked into thinking about working from home by this blog post. Although I work from home, and have the issue of not having colleagues working alongside me at least in this church we say morning prayer together every day and have the opportunity to chat afterwards.

However, I am not going to blog on work - I have done that a reasonable amount already, but on my observations on social media. Perhaps unsurprisingly I know a lot of vicars! A subset blog and Twitter and Facebook and one of the things that I have noticed is that particularly blogging and Twittering (no I don't tweet) build communities and provide a a virtual neighbour for that displacement activity which is essential when that sermon just has to be written (like now!). This is far from a scientific observation, but I am starting to wonder whether the growth in these media is in part down to the reduction in community in the workplace, providing a virtual community which will still be there when the current job isn't.

However, it can also be very addictive and at present I don't have time to tweet and don't feel the lack of community - although either of these might change!

What value Budgets?

2010-05-13T06:35:00.056+01:00

What is your experience of budgets? Are they useful or not?

During my life I have experienced, or heard about a number of different approaches to budgeting - though I have no experience of government budgeting where counter intuitive Keynesian approach works. So what are the pros and cons?

Business
I have experienced one approach and heard of another. My experience is of budgets being targets which were not to be missed. If the forecast outcome was off budget then action was taken to correct it. Most often this involved cutting expenditure - to the extent that maintenance was often delayed until later in the financial year to see how the overall budget looked. There were two sides to this - one was a genuine cutting back on expenditure, the other simply a manipulation of the timing of expenditure to fit into arbitrarily defined buckets (financial years and quarters). The other approach that I heard of was where there was no budget - but expenditure was expected to be on an ever decreasing decline with this months target being below last months. The difference between the two companies was that one was a PLC having to satisfy "the market" whereas the other was a privately owned company.

Charity Sector
My experience now in the church/diocese is that the budget is treated more as guidance - the idea of moving costs into a new year because they weren't budgeted in the old one has gone - and I think this is good - it avoids the manipulation of expenditure to meet arbitrary targets - after all if the money needs to be spent does it really make sense to wait a couple of months? However, I wonder whether the culture of explaining differences to budget rather than managing them out means that the cost cutting is harder to implement. It is very easy to explain differences - but if your boss doesn't accept that then you have to find a way - if you have a more understanding boss who lets you explain things away that is always easier than taking action.

Personal
I run a very simple personal budgeting system - what, budget? J Though I know others who run more or less complicated systems. I figure out what rate of expenditure I can sustain and monitor it by looking at my balance at the end of the month. Nearly all my expenditure is monthly bar TV and phone so it works well enough for me. Plus if I put money into savings I might even get some goodies - assuming that I don't have to take it out again to live!

Funny thing is - soon after I wrote most of this post Thinking Anglicans posted the following about the budget problems in the church, with links to other sources as well!

More on Women Bishops...

2010-05-12T06:35:00.005+01:00

Aren't Reform fighting a lost battle?

I was going to hold off discussing the latest on women bishops, but I have just come across this letter from Reform, published last week (h/t Church Times Blog). The issue of the theological acceptability of women priests and bishops has been long decided in the Church of England, and the ongoing debate as I understand it has been about how to accommodate (or not) those opposed to it. The Reform letter appears to be going back to first principles and arguing that there shouldn't be women bishops, perhaps in their terms "can't be".

They do not appear to be arguing for a different form of oversight, instead they seem to be arguing that if there are women bishops they will leave. That is their prerogative, although quite why they want to stay with a group of people with whom they differ so fundamentally baffles me.

The Value of Sport

2010-05-11T06:35:00.002+01:00

Do you remember the old joke about having aches in places you didn't know you had places? Well that is me today! Yesterday I played my first game of cricket for about a year, and bowled for the first time in about 10.

It was a practice game before the serious stuff of the Church Times competition and for some reason unbeknownst to the rest of us the captain had picked last years runners up as our practice competition. Suffice it to say we did not win and three big sixes got hit off me. Still, I managed to fend off their quickest bowler at the death, although what I was doing facing him I still don't know. He bowled a no ball and I called the other batsman for a bye - why? I could have stayed at the non strikers end safe and sound. That said I was pleased that I did as I discovered I could still see the ball and he didn't seem that fast (just hope we don't meet them again, or he doesn't read this!).

Still, I had an enjoyable day out and found out a bit more about my fellow players - relationships are important, and this is another way of building them.

How cynical are you?

2010-05-10T06:35:00.000+01:00

While the politicians have been busy trying to sort out a government what have you thought their priorities have been? I caught a little of the TV coverage and it mostly seemed to be about party advantage for either the short or long term. Is it possible that our politicians are thinking about what is good for our country as well?

Gordon Brown
Assuming that he believes what he was saying, then he believes that a Tory government who cut spending immediately will put the country at risk of a double dip recession - trying to stop them doing so, even at the cost of damaging the Labour Party's future prospects would be the right thing to do. If he really believes this then standing down to facilitate a deal with the Lib Dems would also be the right thing to do (although he might find this harder if he believes that he has the skills that others don't to solve the issues).
I actually think that party advantage would suggest that he should have already resigned. Let the Tories run the country for 6 months as a minority government and then find there needs to be another election - they then have the problem of being the incumbent in a difficult economic situation. But he would believe that that would be bad for Britain.

David Cameron
If we want a government with any prospect of longevity then I think it has to be a Tory/Lib Dem coalition - anything else could fall apart at any moment. The question is whether that is what we want. I don't however think that there is any doubt that that is what the Tories want - there has been much talk about the fact that they don't like the idea of PR because it will give weak government - so again this fits into a "good for the country" decision (you might not like the solution, but I don't think you can argue that they don't sincerely believe this).

Nick Clegg
Here is where the rubber hits the road - and in some ways I feel sorry for Nick Clegg. What is best for the country? Is it a period of stable government with time to sort out the economy? Can he and David Cameron agree sufficiently on the necessary economic policies? If they can't then is it better to support the economic policies that he wants and try to do a deal with Labour? And all that is before the cynicism about what might best get PR (which he would believe to be in the country's best interest) and whether the Lib Dem party would allow him to enter into a coalition with either of them, or how the country would see the Lib Dems "propping up" a failed Labour government.

Who would be a politician?

New use for Redundant Churches?

2010-05-09T06:35:00.000+01:00

I recently visited my daughter in Wolverhampton and driving around the city centre I saw this - the second time past I was able to get these two photos with my phone. It is a Sainsburys which has been built attached to a local redundant church (history buried in the middle of this article).

There was something about it that I didn't like, and I couldn't quite pin it down. I have no objection to churches being made redundant, or to their reuse, but the aesthetics of this are awful. Then when I read about it the apparent cynicism of it annoyed me. Sainsburys wanted a site, the church needed saving, bingo! And a car park is a public space - so the church yard could be repurposed having been left in trust for open space.
And then they didn't try to make the new development sympathetic.

PR - Why don't politicians like it?

2010-05-07T06:35:00.002+01:00

At last weeks hustings one of the arguments given for not having PR was that PR might allow minority parties like the BNP into parliament. The other was that with PR we would not have strong government. What arrogance of the politicians. They obviously think that they know best.

Of course, we need strong government - it was strong government that gave us the poll tax, the Iraq war, and all number of other unpopular policies. And as for the BNP - whilst I hold no truck with them or their policies - if we claim to live in a democracy and people vote for them then they deserve representation. What both of these arguments show is a contempt for the idea of democracy - the people don't know what they are doing and we politicians should sort it out for them.

There is also a confusion between strength and speed. So much of management these days is about speed - how quickly can a decision be made - and so little about making the right decision. I recall at work recognising that making a quick decision and making it work was more highly valued than making the right decision. Why do we think that speed is so important? Particularly when it comes to law making? Surely a law which has been discussed and agreed by parties representing more than 50% of the electorate has a greater chance of gaining the support of the people and of being obeyed and lasting than one which is imposed against the will of a significant proportion of the people.

I am writing this before the result of the election is known, so it may be that things are about to change - but it will lead to a very different kind of politics which may well need a very different kind of politician; one who knows how to negotiate and work out what is best for the long term needs of the country rather than one who knows how to force through what they want NOW.

Time to Vote - How will you decide?

2010-05-06T06:35:00.003+01:00

There has been much said over the past few weeks by the candidates - now is the time to make our mark. But how are you going to do it? (other than with a pencil and an X J)

Last Sunday I preached on "Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another", asking people to hold in mind "who should I vote for?" as I talked about loving one another. This wasn't an attempt to sway them to any particular party - more a case of challenging them to ask themselves which party best does it (and there will be arguments on this for all the main parties).

I have heard people talking about engagement as one of the necessary prerequisites for love. If we do not engage with people then we can't love them - and it is so much easier to demonise people we don't know (something that I used to minimise customer complaints in my previous job).

The one plea that I would make is that we all vote (I might let off those in the Buckingham constituency who have the speaker as a candidate!), for two reasons: firstly that if we don't vote we are refusing to take responsibility for the future of the country, particularly this election, where if it is a hung parliament the votes cast for each party may be relevant in the forming of a coalition; and secondly because there are parties which do not by any stretch of the imagination deal in love and engagement, and the way to deal with them is at the ballot box, and a large turnout is bad for them!

Having written the above I am now fuming. I have just read that a group of Christians are promoting 192 Conservatives (and a few of other parties) on the basis that:

as UK citizens having a vote they would prefer to be governed by representatives who are committed to protecting life, marriage, conscience and fundamental freedoms
Ruth Gledhill

Now that is one view, but the Bible has rather a lot about orphans, widows and resident aliens. This strikes me as Christians wanting what is best for them - not what is best for others - and what is potentially worse for others. No wonder people don't like us L

Do churches show the love of God?

2010-05-05T06:35:00.002+01:00

This article suggests that many people no longer attend church because they have been hurt by the church at some point in the past. There are also those who are put off attending by an insensitive first response, particularly when requesting weddings or baptisms.

How do we maintain our integrity whilst welcoming those who have expectations of us which might not be realistic? The Weddings Project encourages us to find ways to say "yes" when a couple come to us for a church wedding, and the recent changes to the rules have certainly helped this. It is perhaps easier for me to welcome this from a church with perhaps 1 wedding a year than one with 50 - when each takes about a days work all told, but given the rules are as they are it is possible to treat requests graciously or not.

I understand the theological thinking of those who object to certain requests or behaviours, but as a speaker said on our course:

it is amazing how much you can achieve just by being nice

Obsession with money

2010-05-04T06:35:00.001+01:00

In the past I have liked a lot of what David Taylor has written, and even attended one of his courses at my companies expense. However just the title of this book makes me cringe. His other books have been management books espousing openness and honesty in management. I haven't read this one, but although the blurb says that it is still about being yourself the focus seems to have changed to be about making money rather than about being yourself/

Perhaps I have missed the point of the other books - after all if you become a successful manager then you usually make a lot of money - although this is not a necessary outcome. The Bible says that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" and it seems to me that this book encourages that love of money (by its title even if the content doesn't).

I do not believe that money makes you happy - I have had lots and little and there was no correlation with my happiness. There have also been studies suggesting that extra money over £10,000pa makes you no happier - at least at the national level.

I even remember a spoof article in the trade press explaining why promotion was not a good idea! You would get more money, but you would have to spend it on better clothes and take more expensive holidays and live in a bigger house (and you would work longer hours reducing the pay/hour). I was even surprised to discover that at work those with the biggest incomes also had the biggest debts!

Do not get me wrong - not having enough money s a problem - but our definition of enough is perhaps skewed. Jesus had something to say about this:

24 ‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.* 25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,* or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?* 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God* and his* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6.24-33

What is the Bible?

2010-05-03T06:35:00.002+01:00

Reading the comments on this post I was challenged to describe what the Bible is for me. It is most definitely focussed on the Gospels, with the other books being there as support material, and if there is conflict between what the Gospels say and what another part of the Bible says then I will support the Gospels.

I once heard a vicar joke that St Peter founded the Catholic faith and St Paul the Protestant one! However there appears to be a certain degree of truth to this. I am always surprised when people give their favourite Bible passages as coming from anywhere other than the Gospels (Church Times back page interview for example) and wish that I was more surprised when I heard that at one theological college the students needed little teaching about Paul, but more about the Gospels!

For me the thing about the Gospels is their counter cultural nature, and the fact that striving to live them is counter intuitive (loving enemies, not worrying about the future, forgiving those who wrong you). If you read the Jesus Seminar view on the authentic sayings of Jesus then most of them would fall into this category. And yet attempting to live them brings "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10 Good News Bible).

One of the criteria that they use of course is whether the saying would have been expected or would have been a later embarrassment to the early Christians and this helps me to believe that at least those things are genuine sayings. There is of course a certain circularity in the argument - the bits which are genuine are the bits which are counter cultural because they are counter cultural! But the fact that living them changes my life is enough for me.

Where is the Good Samaritan?

2010-05-02T06:35:00.018+01:00

The story of a man who bled to death while people walked by on the other side reminded me of the story of the Good Samaritan, although ironically the eventual victim was initially the Good Samaritan in this story L.

Yesterday was our monthly all age service (yes - we hold it on Saturday afternoons - it is when people said was a good time) when we were looking at "Who is our Neighbour?" to fit in with Christian Aid Week. Our recently retired Churchwarden did a great job of talking about water - she brought a bucket into the church and asked the children if they could lift it - most of the under 4s couldn't. She then talked about carrying it for miles. Then she had a glass of dirty water... All the children were gathered round fascinated.

However, what is it about our society that a man can be allowed to bleed to death? How can we miss the point? (And I include myself) In a previous church we did a dramatic version of this using a motor biker in full leathers - this was inspired when one of the organisers arrived straight from work in full leathers and was given some distinctly dodgy looks until he removed his helmet. We seem to do a lot of judging L

Good Policing

2010-04-30T06:35:00.000+01:00

Having thrown some brickbats at the police I thought I had better praise them when due! Last night I attended the local NAG (Neighbourhood Action Group) having been invited by their guest speaker, who I knew. The police were represented at the meeting by PCSOs and there was a short presentation on Anti Social Behaviour in which a number of quotes were provided including this one:

The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress.

No, it isn't very current - it is attributed to Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274, albeit on shaky grounds.

However, what impressed me was the way in which the police listened to the members and discussed the issues raised, explaining what they could and couldn't achieve. There was also an emphasis on prevention from the use of temporary speed guns (not always ticketing those stopped), to cutting back the undergrowth so that pavements were wide enough for pedestrians when cars parked on them, to the desire to stop disaffected youth growing into criminals.

In particular we were told about one PCSO who had been out to South America with a local charity to see the street kids there, and who had spoken with the local Chief of Police about community policing. He was going to return with some local youth to help build a house to take some of the street kids off the street.

If only some of the police in the other posts had behaved like this!

Sabbath

2010-04-29T06:35:00.003+01:00

Sabbath is the day on which all your work is done - even if it isn't. So said Rob Bell at Greenbelt last year (free download here - about 45 mins into the talk).

It is part of a question and answer session that I didn't hear at the time, but which having listened to it in the car has made a big impression on me. He was asked what he did, but rather than answer the question he challenged us all to think what it was that we "had" to do - that was what we should stop doing on our Sabbath. As an example he switches his mobile off and doesn't answer email on his Sabbath - now there's a thought! He said that his wife has her life run by lists - so for her the Sabbath includes no lists.

So what is it for me? I think the computer definitely stays switched off, and the mobile would if it were an issue, but it is so often a blessing for meeting up with people. One of the implications of this is that there will be a blogless day (Saturday), perhaps more as a symbol than anything else, but I believe a good one nonetheless.

Proofs of the existence of God!

2010-04-28T06:35:00.091+01:00

I have two problems with "proofs" of God's existence. The first is that if such a proof existed then it would severely dent my faith and the second that they don't prove it - at least not for me and so almost certainly not for anyone who doesn't already believe in God!

The reason that any such proof would dent my faith is twofold. The simplest is that for me God is so incomprehensible (apophatic in the trade) and we could only prove the existence of something comprehensible - therefore we have proven the existence of something less than God!

The second reason is that for me free will is required in faith. If there were incontrovertible proof of God then we would have no choice (who am I kidding?) but to believe in Him - although of course believing in Him and choosing to love and follow Him are perhaps two different things. Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, said this in his Easter Sermon:

For many people believing in God, having a faith, is impossibly difficult. They want proof or tangible signs of his existence. Yet when you think about it most things we do in life have an element of trust, of faith. Crossing the road, catching a plane, being in love, assume faith and trust. Love cannot be proved but we each know what it is, how it makes us feel.

My faith is based instead on a relationship with God in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I cannot prove this, I can barely explain it, but I have experienced it and having done so have been changed by it.

These thoughts were in part stimulated by the discussion going on mainly on this blog post, which also included a link to this mathematical proof for the existence of God (which I see as a probabilistic argument - see below).

Proofs for the existence of God and my problem with them (!) below the fold.

There are a number of different proofs given for the existence of God:

Ontological argument - God is a being greater than which nothing can be imagined and as existence trumps non existence He also exists. Objections are covered in the link - but for me it is that God is more than I can imagine - so if I can imagine it then it isn't God!
First Cause argument - Everything is caused by something else - God is the first, uncaused, cause. Even if I accept the argument (not bothered to worry whether I do or not) that doesn't prove that the first mover is God - just that it exists.
Teleological argument - If you found a watch you would deduce a watchmaker. The natural world implies a creator. Again I am not happy with this, although evolution does not rule out a creator, as it might prove a creator, but not the God of Christianity.
God is more probable - Given the universe that we inhabit then God is a more likely explanation than anything else. Stephen Unwin even quantifies this! The problem is that with only one universe all are equally likely so we might just be lucky! It is a bit like the idea of carrying a bomb onto an aeroplane (no longer recommended J) on the grounds that the probability that there are two bombs on the plane are very small.
The occurrence of a Miracle - However, I suspect that most people who do not want to believe would find an alternative explanation.

We are not called to co-dependence

2010-04-27T06:35:00.017+01:00

Why are people who sacrifice everything thought to be following Jesus? Do they really have no desires of their own? Or am I missing the point? What is the difference between co-dependence and service? We are asked to love our neighbour as ourself - not better than. Is working all hours (even in the service of God) loving ourselves?

Jesus went away to pray - time to himself - albeit with God. He did not always do what everyone asked him to! He had a sense of his own needs as well as those of others. However, he was not selfish, and he worked for the good of others.

How do we learn to walk the tightrope between bending over backwards to help others and concentrating so much on our own needs that others get lost from view?

Evangelism by Fear

2010-04-26T06:35:00.022+01:00

Roadside sign:

Heaven and Hell are real and Jesus is the only way into Heaven

Driving along the other day I happened to pass this sign and took an instant dislike to it! When I analysed what it was that I objected to I discovered that it was the use of fear as a tool of evangelism. What is it that we are trying to persuade people to believe in? Is it a god who is angry and threatening, who will burn us forever if we don't do what he wants? Or is it a God who loves us, who wants the best for us, who, when we turn away, will not reject us - again and again and again?

And which God (for evangelism is God's work) is more likely to persuade people to follow Him?

EDIT: Found this:

Benedict is saying that the function of spiritual leadership is not to intimidate people into submission by fear or guilt. The function of spiritual leadership is to show in our own lives the beauty that oozes out of those who live the spiritual life to its fullness. The function of spiritual leadership is to enshrine what a good life can be.

On this site - won't be there tomorrow!

How much Diversity is Good?

2010-04-25T06:35:00.002+01:00

How much diversity is good? That was the challenge from Steve Hollinghurst, which given that the title of the conference was Celebrating Difference, working with and learning from ... started us off with some hard thinking!

I have recently returned from the Diocesan Curates Conference (about which others have already blogged here and here). As chair of the organising committee I don't want to write about the conference but about some of the ideas which struck me.

In particular Steve's challenge kept returning to me. For example is paedophilia (I have blogged on paedophilia before when I saw some statistics on the number of sex offenders in church) or murder "good" diversity? And yet while summarising the various talks for the Bishop (when he came on the Sunday to preach and preside) he reminded me of the "Circles of Support" that are active in the Diocese and this took me away from my knee jerk reaction that he was right.

Vera Hunt (profoundly deaf) quoted John Hull (blind) that she is not an 8 cylinder engine running on 6 cylinders, but a 6 cylinder engine running on 6 cylinders and I remember John Hull saying that the risen Christ had wounds. This set me wondering whether there are examples of difference which are 8 cylinder engines running on 6 cylinders. Perhaps a simple example is someone with a broken leg - this is something which is temporarily not working as intended. I wondered whether there are things which are God given (equating to the number of cylinders) and things which are "sin" (equating to firing on fewer cylinders than you have been given). I am not sure that this works perfectly - but it gave me something to chew on.

Global South Meeting

2010-04-24T06:35:00.001+01:00

Can these people read? In the report at the end of the conference they say that:

we believe that all those who adopt the Covenant must be in compliance with Lambeth 1.10

Now, I can believe that they want people to follow b and e

in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;

cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions;

but have they read c & d?

recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;

while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex;

Somehow I don't think that the global south are doing that:

Same sex marriage, apart from being ungodly, is unscriptural, unnatural, unprofitable, unhealthy, un-cultural, un-African and un-Nigerian. It is a perversion, a deviation and an aberration that is capable of engendering moral and social holocaust in this country. It is also capable of existincting [sic] mankind and as such should never be allowed to take root in Nigeria. Outlawing it is to ensure the continued existence of this nation. The need for doing this is urgent, compelling, and imperative. Archbishop Akinola quoted in the Guardian

Now, I don't want Lambeth 1.10 applied - but for people who claim to want to make it a touchstone to not apply it themselves...

And now for something completely different!

2010-04-17T06:35:00.000+01:00

With any luck I shall not be seen for the next week. I am at the annual curates' conference following which I am going to have my post Easter break. This time I am not going to write posts ahead of time, so for the next week or so this will be a silent space. Enjoy!

What Nonsense!

2010-04-16T06:35:00.003+01:00

Should judges in cases about knitting know their knit from their purl, or those in cases about collapsed rugby scrums have been front rowers?

Lord Carey is asking for special pleading and we don't need it. Ruth Gledhill writes and speaks about how she is concerned that she will be seen as a fundamentalist for wearing a cross.

There have been a number of cases recently where the usual suspects (Bishops of Winchester, Chester, Hereford, Blackburn, Litchfield and the former Bishop of Rochester) have fought against equality legislation and presented petitions as though all "right thinking" Christians will agree with them.

I want to stand up and say that they are not presenting the Christian faith as I know it and what they are doing is not being done in my name. As Ruth Gledhill says it gives the rest of us Christians a bad name - and I am fed up with it. I do not want special protection or special pleading - if my convictions clash with the law of the land then I am prepared to suffer for my convictions - not ask for special protection.

How long does it take to write a sermon?

2010-04-15T06:35:00.000+01:00

22 hours a week on sermon writing? That is how long "effective" leaders spend in this survey (h/t Paul Walker) compared to 4 hours for the comparison leaders. A commenter on Paul's blog has already questioned the definition of "effective", however I want to look at this a bit more.

One of the questions that I want to know the answer to is how often they preach, and for how long. For example how long would Rob Bell put down for sermon prep? I wonder how long he spends making each of his videos?

4 hours for the others is also interesting. When I was on a placement I was told by the vicar that their training incumbent taught them to spend an hour of writing for every minute of the sermon - so an 8 minute sermon would take 8 hours. Somewhere on the web I found a vicar who blogged that he felt that he should spend at least one session, about 4 hours, on sermon prep. I don't preach every week - so my average would be lower still.

It also struck me that in a bigger church there would be more people to do the other things - so if there weren't other things that I had to do would I spend 22 hours writing a sermon? Well, perhaps it depends on what "writing" entails. Reading more widely, watching more films for illustrations, talking to people more about it - perhaps I would do these things, but then I do them now and don't call them sermon preparation!

Oh - and if the effective leaders are so good at making time how come they sleep 14 hours a week less?

Am I responsible for your faith?

2010-04-14T06:35:00.051+01:00

In a counselling situation a counsellor would deny responsibility for the clients feelings. I recently started wondering whether as a person with a public role I have a different responsibility? This perhaps also touches on the expectations of clergy. The Naked Pastor has recently resigned from ministry and has faced many assumptions about why he has done this. He has suggested that he left because the church where he ministered was being adversely affected by his association with it.

Perhaps the equivalent situation is for a counsellor to stop seeing someone because although they are not responsible for the others feelings they recognise that they are having an adverse impact on them. Perhaps if one has a prophetic ministry then one needs to exercise it where it does not harm others.

However, I can't accept that I always have to fit in with what is "acceptable" in my church. In the CofE it isn't possible to agree with everyone, but perhaps a priest who is a long way away from their congregation is not in a position to minister to them, particularly in a place where there are several other churches within easy commuting distance. And yet I want it not to be so - and think that I have ministered to those far away from me! Is the corollary of this then that it is possible to minister better without pinning your own colours to the mast? I don't like that answer either. I suspect that this is one that I am going to return to.

Is the Pope Catholic?

2010-04-13T06:35:00.000+01:00

"Williams finds Pullman novel unpersuasive"

Is this one of the most ridiculous headlines going? It would surely have made a much bigger headline if Rowan had found it persuasive!

The actual article is about the book "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" and Rowan's review of it. The full review can be found here, with others by Bishop Alan Wilson here, and the Church Times here.

The question that I want to explore is whether this might become one of those cultural events that Christians "have" to partake in so that we have a view! So far this has happened to me with The Passion Of The Christ and The Da Vinci Code. Neither were films that I particularly wanted to see, but in both cases I felt that I "ought" to see them. I was nearly tempted by the same logic into getting a copy of this book, but the reviews that I read led me to believe that I would learn little more of use and so I have decided not to.

Would I do the same again with the films? I actually found The Passion of the Christ particularly moving, and with hindsight would see it for my own sake - but the Da Vinci code? No chance!

Trust

2010-04-12T06:35:00.029+01:00

Yesterday's reading included Doubting Thomas. So what are you like on trust? Simon P Walker has been publishing his new book online and in Chapter 4 writes about trust and how we learn to trust (or not) others and ourselves in our early life, and how this affects us as we get older. It also reminded me of this post I read a little while ago on how different attitudes to trust can affect us.

I know that I find it easier to trust myself than I do others. And that is now I am so much better at trusting others! In my previous job it took me a long time before I could escape from the trap of thinking that no one else could do it as well as I could (well, they couldn't could they ;)) so I had to do it myself. It took a long time to learn that lesson, and it was one that I thought that I had learnt. However, when push comes to shove I find that I do not trust others L What I had learnt to do was to let them do things that didn't matter. Building a trust in others that is not there is hard work, and the only way I know of doing it is by continuing to do a little more of it all the time. The problem is that I know I am going to get let down at some point. It isn't trusting because it always works, it is trusting knowing that sometimes it doesn't, but doing it anyway.

Where are all the Characters?

2010-04-11T06:35:00.003+01:00

What has happened to the characters in politics - and for that matter in other spheres of life? When I were a lad (strains of the New World Symphony please) there were characters in politics - people who disagreed with the party leader, but were still elected election after election. Similarly in business, when I started there there were eccentrics and if you wanted cast iron eccentrics what better place to look than the church!

Nowadays eccentricity seems to have gone out of fashion. Politicians have no hinterland, as Denis Healey called it, and appear to be scared to offend the hierarchy for fear of rejection. In business putting the hours in and avoiding making a mistake appears to count for more than having good ideas and in the church there are still some eccentrics around - but we seem to be trying to catch up. Common Tenure appears to be making the church more like business and will I suspect lead to less eccentricity.

Before I get carried away, all was not well in the old day. The selection criteria in all of my examples appeared to be who you knew rather than anything objective and prejudice and "unfair" behaviour abounded. But we do seem to have thrown the baby out with the bathwater in our search for the "safe" option. I wonder whether today Churchill, John Harvey Jones or David Jenkins would have been put into post.

Does E-campaigning work?

2010-04-10T06:35:00.041+01:00

I have been campaigning by email for a good few years now - but does it work?

It was the Principal of my course who encouraged us to join various campaigns and I got the taste for it and joined some more! I am not even sure these days how many groups I am joined up with, but at least these:

And I have recently started freelancing and have just got a response from the Home Office on these matters.

But does it work? I think that on the margins it does. For example although my MP wrote to me explaining why she did not support the change in the law on Vulture Funds yesterday I got an email from George Osbourne (not just me you understand) explaining how the Tories had insisted that this bill be passed before the election - that must have upset my Tory MP!

It is very easy - particularly after the first time - I receive an email with a summary of the issue, click through to the appropriate web page where I enter my email address (some also require postal address) and if I don't want to alter the standard message that is it.

There are times when I don't agree with the campaign - or am not sure enough to want to campaign for it, for example - and that is fine - I just ignore the email.

Why don't you give it a go?

Without a Vision the people perish?

2010-04-09T06:35:00.011+01:00

The Naked Pastor has written about vision, and how he sees no need for one. And I have argued with him! A couple of days ago he resigned from his post and among the posts he made he included this:

One of the most deadly influences on a community is agenda. In my opinion, it should be enough to gather together to study the bible, pray, worship and fellowship.

and suddenly I got it. Now, I might argue that what he describes is a vision, but I can see his point about agenda - as soon as someone decides what it is that the church is going to "do" there is risk of division. Perhaps I am misreading his intention, but if someone is deciding these things, rather than releasing individuals to follow their passions, then at that point we are in trouble.

My Bishop has recently written about dismounting a dead horse - and so often in Churches we see activities continuing because no one is prepared to stop them. I remember some essay writing advice:

you have to be prepared to murder your babies

and I think that the same applies to everything that a church is doing.

That said I still think that there is a place for vision in church - just not that autocratic kind.

The Invention of Lying

2010-04-08T06:35:00.022+01:00

I watched this the other day and it set me thinking about the value of lying. The small white lies which grease the wheels of social intercourse. Where do they fit in the overall scheme of things? I found myself uncomfortable watching the film - was this level of honesty really good? It worked in the film as everyone had grown up that way, but would it work in today's world where we expect a degree of "diplomacy"?

Of course the approach that we take in this world leaves us open to doubt - what does this person mean? Do they really like me? - but could we really live in a world where there was certainty - they hate me, they don't like my dress sense. There is a small hint of this in the film when his secretary says to him "I loathed almost every minute that I worked for you" - suggesting that perhaps she hadn't been wholly truthful all that time.

However, what we can learn from the film is the ability not to worry about what others think and to deal with them politely, but as we want. Brian Thorne spoke at our church recently and started by thanking people for their warm welcome, and saying that he hoped it would be as warm at the end, but if it wasn't it wasn't his responsibility - a little counselling joke - but one which is worth remembering.

Am I adequate?

2010-04-07T06:35:00.000+01:00

One of the problems with being a priest is that I (and I suspect many others) keep thinking that others are being a priest so much better than I am. There are said to be many workaholic priests (why can I never find the references when I want them?) - and in any gathering the chances are that they are there - after all, if they weren't workaholic they would be taking time off wouldn't they?

The Vernacular Curate wrote about this in another way and soon after I read his blog the following quote appeared in my in box:

We tend to manage life more than just live it. We are all over-stimulated and drowning in options. We are trained to be managers, to organize life, to make things happen. This is what is built into our culture, and probably into human nature. It is not all bad, but if you transfer that to the spiritual life, it is always heresy. It doesn’t work. It is not gospel. We might be productive and popular, but we will not be spiritually fertile or free. Richard Rohr

My spiritual director quoted Monica Furlong to me:

I am clear about what I want from the clergy. I want them to be people who dare because they are secure enough in the value of what they are doing, to have time to read, to sit and think, and who face the emptiness and possible depression which often attack people when they do not keep the surface of their mind occupied ... I want them to be people who can sit still without feeling guilty, and from whom I can learn some kind of tranquility in a society which has almost lost the art. Quoted by Gloucester Diocese

This resonates with me - but it is so hard to achieve - even more so when colleagues are rushing around "achieving" so much.

And yet one of the things that I have valued about my curacy has been precisely the time to read and to sit and think and to face up to who and what I really am.

Empathy and Bullying

2010-04-06T06:35:00.020+01:00

What is it that allows Social Media to be used for bullying? I have argued that Social Media is not a bad thing, and I stick to that. However, I have been thinking more about the stories that I posted on Good Friday. One factor which I believe has to be there is a lack of empathy. If the persecutors and those who supported them had empathy they surely would not be able to do this unless there were some other factor. That other factor might be peer pressure - but why does this only ever seem to be present in unpleasant cases? Where is the peer pressure to do something good?

Is there something about our current society which is decreasing the amount of empathy about? Whilst I have not been one for censorship I do wonder whether violent video games numb the senses - but we also spend an increasing amount of time alone - how are we going to learn empathy if we do not spend time with other people finding out how they actually feel?

Similarly I hadn't realised that I was anti advertising, but this is the second post (first one here) in which I question the impact that the advertising driven consumerism has on us. It is all about ME! And who cares about anyone else.

I am starting to sound like Mary Whitehouse, someone I thought was a terrible advert for Christianity when I was younger. What might perhaps will stop me falling too far in that direction is that I don't think censorship is the answer. If Jesus came to bring life in all its fullness then perhaps the best way to deal with this is to model something better - after all, I am not convinced that the people doing these things are happy.

Diary of a City Priest

2010-04-05T06:35:00.008+01:00

I bought this book off the back of reading about it in John D Caputo's What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (story here) and it has been a delight. It is the diary of a Catholic Priest who works in the dodgy end of Philadelphia and is a record of his reflections as he ministers in a parish with very few Catholics, but significant social need. He questions how he spends his time, what the hierarchy of the church are about, why he has such a bad temper, why some of his fellow priests have left the priesthood and he hasn't. I felt that it was a warts and all view of what being a Catholic priest in that place was like, but it also gave an insight about the internal ponderings and worries of priest any time any place anywhere.

Whilst not every priest will have the issues to deal with that he does, I believe that the internal dialogues that he has are worth reading for those training for the priesthood, and for those who don't want to maintain the fiction that priests are perfect christians! And at the time I posted it can be got very cheaply!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T06:35:00.001+01:00

Two stories that would have made it into a sermon if I were preaching today!

The first came in an assembly I attended at the local secondary school to see how it was done. Duncan Dyason of Streetkidsdirect was speaking and spoke of the power of the resurrection to change the perspective from which things were seen, quoting from his personal life, but using as an example the time he was upgraded to business class, and how while in economy he had wanted to go and see what was in business class, but once there resented the person from economy who came in to do just that!

The other was Richard Rohr via my Bishop talking about how blessings follow suffering. He talked about how in primitive cultures boys become men by going through some form of initiation which involves some form of suffering, and which means that they recognise that they are not in control, and not the centre of the universe (how many narcissists does it take to change a light bulb - one, they hold it and the universe revolves around them). In western society men can remain teenagers forever - or at least until their business fails, or they are made redundant, or their marriage fails - believing that they are in control and there is no need for suffering.

Happy Easter.

Count Your Blessings - 4 April

2010-04-04T00:02:00.004+01:00

Three mornings a week Anna Akerlund stands at the main checkpoint between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem, where around 2,000 workers pass each day. She is there to monitor human rights abuses. ‘It’s important just to witness what is happening,’ she says. Thank God for his most costly gift. Reflect upon the freedom it bought you. Give an additional gift of your choice, if you wish.

Looking back over Lent that is 52.79 in total - + an amount that I am not going to share with you!

Thanks for those who have been following this posts during Lent. I hope you have found them helpful and challenging.

Social Media Manipulation

2010-04-03T06:35:00.001+01:00

Tomorrow we will know if it has worked! What do you make of the attempt to get Delirious? or the Wurzels to top the charts following on from Rage Against the Machine at Christmas?

This is not a rant against social media - I believe that social media have a valuable place in society - it is a question about what people choose to do with them.

However, I can see nothing wrong with this use - after all, what have the record industry been doing for years? In this case all that has happened, as has happened with blogs, is that something previously restricted to the few is now open to everybody - and is more transparent. The danger is that big business will jump on the bandwagon - as they have with viral ads - and there are signs that this is already happening (I read a report about children as young as 11 being rewarded for recommending products on a Facebook like web site, but I can't find it - anyone else know where it is?).

Personally I deplore the manipulation - what is the point of a "fixed" chart - but did we ever have an unfixed one?

The Power of the Crowd

2010-04-02T06:35:00.007+01:00

I recently came across this horrendous story (h/t Mad Priest) about the victim of a convicted rapist having to move because the town supported the rapist - who then raped again. Just after reading this I then read this article in the Guardian about a girl who killed herself after being bullied. For me the shocking thing about both these cases was that people knew about them, but did nothing - or did worse than nothing and colluded.

Count Your Blessings - 2 April

2010-04-02T00:02:00.000+01:00

Children in nearly a third of all families in Gaza experience anxiety, phobia or depression – as do many children in the Israeli town of Sderot who live in fear of rockets fired from Gaza. Pray for all who battle mental illness.

Absolutely - this is a tough one and there is more of it about than is obvious.

So what might happen?

2010-04-01T06:35:00.001+01:00

So what will the Pope and Archbishop do with their job swap? (H/T Bosco Peters for the story).

Lets assume that Rowan realises that he has to act fast. Under the imprimatur of Papal infallibility he could approve married, women and gay priests and women bishops and popes. He could then authorise the sharing of the sacraments with other denominations. This of course would leave a number of quite conservative Roman Catholics feeling a bit disgruntled.

Pope Benedict on the other hand would find that he wasn't able to do anything - everyone would just stick two fingers up at him (one if you are reading this in America). However, after he realised that he didn't want to go back (and nor would Rowan) he could settle in - approve the Anglican Covenant and offer a special welcome to those in the RC Church who were disgruntled with the direction that had been taken - forgetting that obedience means when you don't like the outcome as well as when you do.

Many of the more liberal CofE would of course now convert, and lo and behold problem solved... Well not quite - I doubt that Anglican Mainstream would be too happy, but of course they could separate off and join an evangelical grouping. At least if we are going to have separate denominations it would help if everyone shared more of their beliefs than at present!

Even the Lutherans might be happy - a spokesman, Loof Lirpa, welcomed the suggestion and expressed a desire to be in Communion with a Rowan led RC Church.

Well, I can dream - but I am not even sure that this is my dream! After all, the next pope could be Peter Akinola!

Count Your Blessings - 1 April

2010-04-01T00:02:00.000+01:00

‘YMCA is the spirit to my body. They gave me olive trees and helped me plant.’ Palestinian farmer Abed Rabin, Bethlehem. YMCA replants olive trees where they have been uprooted. Give 5p for every tree outside your window.

I can see 30 another 1.50

What kind of people work for themselves?

2010-03-31T06:05:00.037+01:00

What are the skills that you need to be self employed? I recently read about a priest (on a retreat site) who had left the church to become self employed. Over the years I have often wondered about becoming self employed and never done it. I think that there are two things that I lack: unbounded confidence that everything will turn out OK (in fact I have rather the opposite - see here) and an ability not to worry (see here). Neither of these are great attributes for a man of faith - see here and here.

This reminded me of the theory we discussed many years ago at work. Have you noticed, like we did, that most of the big entrepreneurs don't have much in the way of formal education? We came to the conclusion that this was not chance. To make it as an entrepreneur you have to take risks with your life. If you have a degree you can (at least you could then) be reasonably assured of a good life with little risk by entering one of the professions, the civil service, or management. Why would you risk that to take up an insecure self employed role? It could also be that to be a successful entrepreneur you need to have a clear vision of what you want to do - and that further education will rarely help take you towards it.

There are of course those who are exceptions to the rule. Some like Stelios Haji-Ioannou have family wealth changing the risk/reward ratio somewhat. Others like Michael Lynch turn their academic research into a product, again changing the risk/reward ratio.

And yet the irony is that technically I am now an office holder and not an employee!

Count Your Blessings - 31 March

2010-03-31T00:02:00.005+01:00

The unemployment rate in Gaza is 45.5%. Give 40p for every treat you bought yourself yesterday.

Mmm - treat? - Holy Week. Day off! 80p

The Police Again

2010-03-30T06:35:00.000+01:00

Another example of bad behaviour by the police - this time costing them compensation - came to my attention (h/t Graham Wilson) in the video below.

I have blogged on bad police behaviour before and am doing so again at least in part because I also happened to see one of the programs where police are videoed dealing with traffic offenders - not my normal viewing. The program made me wonder whether there is a culture within the police that makes incidents like this one, and like the others I highlighted more likely. In the TV program - which I presume came with police approval - we saw mostly young people being stopped for driving offences, and the police were overwhelmingly sarcastic in their dealings with the offenders. There seemed to be a lack of respect for the other person and it is this lack of respect that I find worrying. It is perhaps a double concern as when I was stopped for speeding the policeman was very polite (I was driving a Jaguar at the time but wasn't yet ordained) - is the lack of respect based on their perception of positional power as described here?

Either way I find it worrying if the police feel that they do not have to show respect to people.

Count Your Blessings - 30 March

2010-03-30T00:02:00.000+01:00

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on earth, with 1.6 million Palestinians living in 365 sq km. Give 60p if there are more rooms in your home than people.

Well, that is 60p then.

Women and Women Bishops

2010-03-29T06:35:00.031+01:00

I have recently had cause to reflect on discrimination in the Church of England and thus changed my mind about my response to Women Bishops. It is not that I was agin them either before or after my rethink, rather that I used to think that some form of accommodation with those opposed to them was a price worth paying and now I don't. Of course the Welsh got there a while ago and refused to vote for them, having first voted not to make any allowance for those opposed.

What changed my mind was seeing discrimination happening, and being shocked at my reaction to it. It was roughly "well, what can you expect". In later discussion and reflection I realised that my thinking came from the fact that we allow discrimination in certain circumstances, and whilst as a church we institutionalise discrimination we cannot be surprised when we discriminate outside the "allowed" circumstances. Having recognised that within myself I now see the damage that institutionalised discrimination brings about and want none of it in an organisation to which I belong.

Count Your Blessings - 29 March

2010-03-29T00:02:00.001+01:00

Ilana Rathouse is an Israeli nurse volunteering in the West Bank. ‘We are creating threads of an embroidery upon which peace can be built,’ she says. Give 10p for each time you’ve visited a local pharmacy this year.

Mmm - lucky enough not to remember - lets try 3.

Doubt

2010-03-28T06:35:00.065+01:00

25 years ago I was told that the church would be better off without people like me. I had just shared some of my doubts and was expecting support. Then for the next 20 years I kept my thoughts to myself, only to find that I had a calling to the priesthood.

I have blogged indirectly before about faith development, but thought it worth looking at again. Both Fowler and Hagberg and Guelich have 6 stages and the suggestion is that people can be at any stage, and can stay there, although often they will move to stage 3 because

Stage 4 is "the journey inward" - "a deep and very personal inward journey" that "almost always comes as an unsettling experience yet results in healing for those who continue through it". In this stage, our former views of God are radically challenged. The disruption can be so great that we feel like we are losing our faith or betraying loyalties. Hagberg/Guelich

Signs of this disruption can be seem by the creation of Spirited Exchanges

Spirited Exchanges is a network offering support, encouragement and resources for people who are experiencing challenges to and/or the unravelling of their faith paradigms with all its associated issues. Many have already left the Church. Some have felt marginalised and misunderstood, others have felt controlled and disrespected. For most it has led to considerable upheaval in their Christian understanding and practice and has often meant the loss of previously valued community. Much of what is happening for people could be described as faith transition.

There is of course the old saying (at least I assumed it was but Google seems to attribute it to Ann Lamott)

the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty

and this for me fits with the staged model - in the earlier stages certainty is present - but to move to other stages one has to let go of that certainty.

While I was training David Winter lecturing us said something like: as I get older I am more and more certain about less and less.

Is this Fair?

2010-03-27T06:35:00.000Z

Should employers Google you? An article in The Guardian asks this question today. If you are on Facebook, or blog then there is information on you out there that can be accessed readily. If you are applying for a job (very relevant for me right now) is it fair for the interviewers to search for you on the web?

At the recent training I had from 3D Coaching this was discussed and we were told to think about the contents of our blogs. We were also told that there is a priest out there who won't get a job because of his blog (and I noticed that one of the blogs I followed suddenly disappeared) - and one person then spent a free afternoon researching how to remove their Facebook entries entirely (they found a way that appeared to do it - I think they suspended it).

So is this fair? The Guardian article suggests that there is no difference between this and saying things in the pub - except in the latter case there is no evidence! Is this perhaps why some people blog pseudonymously? Although I do wonder how possible it is to be anonymous. In my case I think it is difficult to espouse openness if you are hiding.

During the training we were also told that we should be our real ourselves - if they see the real us and don't want that then that is a good thing to discover. But if you are in desperate need of a job (luckily not my situation) then that ideal can perhaps be compromised.

Count Your Blessings - 27 March

2010-03-27T00:02:00.002Z

We believe unequal power relations are at the heart of poverty, so we campaign to change the structures that hold poverty in place, and support people to claim their rights. In Afghanistan we work to challenge the stigma and discrimination faced by people who are blind and poor, ensuring they can access education and jobs. Consider the last time you felt excluded. Lift to God those who face discrimination.

Good question! When did I last feel excluded? There may have been little ones, but the one that still sticks in my mind is this one http://revdalan.blogspot.com/2009/07/thoughts-around-communion.html

Health and Safety

2010-03-26T06:35:00.001Z

Health and Safety has become a bit of a joke - but it isn't funny.

I recently read a report (h/t Graham Wilson) which suggested that Health and Safety is becoming ‘ritual excuse’ not to do anything. If you read the papers, and particularly the Daily Mail, you would get a sense that H&S is all about people finding ridiculous reasons not to do anything.

The reason that it isn't funny is that I used to work in industry, an industry that killed and maimed people. When I started work there were still employees missing arms because they had lost them in the process, and during my working life I can definitely remember at least two occasions on which someone was killed. In my later years H&S was given a higher priority and the statistics showed that the number of serious accidents at work dropped because of this.

I believe that the problem is that people have a tendency to play it safe - so if the procedure gives some latitude for personal decision people choose to err on the side of (personal) safety - hence you get risk assessments carried out for throwing some old equipment into the skip. The problem is that if you get it wrong you are for the high jump. For example, do you think that cutting the grass is an activity that is risky? I remember a case with one of our competitors - an employee was cutting the grass (an activity for which a risk assessment had not been carried out) and fell down a grass bank into a river and drowned. Because no risk assessment had been carried out they were in serious trouble - if it wasn't tragic it would be funny.

Count Your Blessings - 26 March

2010-03-26T00:02:00.001Z

‘70% of the people live in rural areas, yet they have no space in the media.’ PV Satheesh, Christian Aid partner DDS, which launched India’s first rural community radio station. Give 30p for each time you caught your local news this week.

Guilty as charges - nil.

Do you pick up hitch-hikers?

2010-03-25T06:35:00.002Z

I passed a hitch-hiker the other day and didn't stop. And here I am much later still thinking about it. It reminds me of a story from Joan Chittister's commentary on the rule of Benedict:

A Zen story tells of two monks walking down a muddy, rain-logged road on the way back to their monastery after a morning of begging who saw a beautiful young girl standing beside a large deep puddle unable to get across without ruining her clothes. The first monk, seeing the situation, offered to carry the girl to the other side, though monks had nothing whatsoever to do with women. The second monk was astonished by the act but said nothing about it for hours. Finally, at the end of the day, he said to his companion, "I want to talk to you about that girl." And the first monk said, "Dear brother, are you still carrying that girl. I put her down hours ago."

So why didn't I pick them up? I think the main reason was that I dithered - I saw them, thought to myself "should I pick them up?" wondered about the safety, wondered about whether I would feel that I needed to go out of my way, and then I was past them with a car behind me. Perhaps if I had thought about it ahead of time I would have been able to think it through.

I don't know about you, but it is years since I have seen a hitch-hiker, and for years before that I wasn't allowed to pick them up as I drove a company car and it was a company rule (see here for my attitude to rules), so it isn't something that I have had reason to think about.

When I was younger I hitched a little - and discovered a well worn route from Uxbridge to Cambridge (long gone thanks to the M25) - although people who didn't use it didn't realise it was there - several times when hitching people would indicate to me that I was heading the wrong way - and yet I usually managed to get a single lift all the way. Perhaps it is time that I reciprocated.

Later Addition: For the avoidance of doubt, following a discussion about this post with a friend, I was reflecting on the rules focus that I thought was shown - whereas they thought there was something more sexual going on! Just goes to show how you can mean one thing and people hear another!

Count Your Blessings - 25 March

2010-03-25T00:02:00.000Z

Rich countries spend US$1bn a day subsidising their farmers. Much of their produce is sold to poor countries at vastly reduced prices, undercutting local traders. Give 40p for every local market you have shopped at this year.

This is another one that seems the wrong way round! Give 40p for every local market fewer than 5 you have shopped at perhaps. 80p.

Letter to the Hebrews

2010-03-24T06:35:00.001Z

I have always been wary of Hebrews. A vicar I know (doesn't narrow it down very far!) told me that it barely made it into the New Testament and they refused to read from it because it was so confusing!

At the time that I first heard this I interpreted that as meaning that it was of dubious value. Having been reading it again through morning prayer recently I have come to see what that vicar meant in a different light. If you understand ancient Jewish practice then you can understand Hebrews as a masterful piece of inculturation, taking those ancient practices and explaining the importance and meaning of Jesus in terms of them. Or to "proclaim afresh in each generation" His truth.

However I have two concerns about how we might use it today. I recently saw a poster which said something like "We are saved by Jesus blood" - the train was travelling too fast to read it - the problem is that to anyone outside the church this is a meaningless statement unless they know about Jewish sacrifice and the comparison being made - it doesn't scratch where people are itching. My second concern is that as a piece of inculturated writing the only way it is helpful is if we have the context explained to us first - but for me the beauty of metaphor is that it doesn't have to be explained. And if we have to have the context explained there is less opportunity for people to own it for themselves rather than to adopt someone else's interpretation.

As a result I won't be terribly keen on public readings of it - without a sermon explaining the context - but my reasoning is very different from my previous understanding. I have even been tempted to study it a bit more - any recommendations for a good guide?

Count Your Blessings - 24 March

2010-03-24T00:02:00.000Z

855 million people in the world are illiterate. 70% of them are female. Give 2p for each item in the room that has text printed on it.

I really wish I weren't in my study at this moment! I am not going to count - but that must be at least a tenner.

Risk v Reward & Sin

2010-03-23T06:35:00.003Z

One of the perils of having a strong Belbin Monitor Evaluator is that I can see all the pitfalls of an action - including the most obscure and threatening ones. As a result of this I have tended to be risk averse and have blogged a little on this in the past (here and here).

When I was challenged by a friend on what rules I had broken I was struggling to come up with much. I have the points to prove that I have sped in the past J; I left uni for a weekend without having permission; I occasionally left my classroom through the window; I might not have had all the mandatory elements in some of my services (though that was more likely to have been oversight L); I once went down the pub for lunch having told the kitchen I was staying in, and as a kid I nicked the odd bar of chocolate. Not really much to talk about over 50 odd years. Perhaps others will remind me of other things but I doubt there is much more.

So what you may say? Well, it left me with a view of sin as keeping the rules, and as I was good at keeping the rules I was left with an odd view of sin. As I have changed through my priestly formation I have come to understand sin much more as those things which damage me or others: the times that I have not done things for fear of what others think, when I have built masks to hide the real me. None of these things are against the "rules" and yet I think that they are more damaging in my attempt to live "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10 - Good News Bible) and they help me understand Jesus attack on the Pharisees. Joan Chittister writes:

It is so easy to make up rules and keep them so that we can feel good about doing something measurable in the spiritual life.http://www.eriebenedictines.org/benedict (changes daily - quote not there now).

Now however I am struggling because sometimes my new understanding of sin means that I "have" to break the rules. But for someone who has no real experience of breaking rules this is a scary place to be, and my ME side tells me that it is dangerous as I haven't developed many skills in this space.

And if my Bishop is reading this, in the immortal words of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy:

I've got my towel with me!

Count Your Blessings - 23 March

2010-03-23T00:02:00.008Z

Tax-dodging multinationals cheat the developing world out of at least US$160bn each year, nine times the amount needed to educate all children globally. Visit www.christianaid.org.uk to demand tax justice.

Mmm - not convinced by the case for the Robin Hood tax - see here. Though I support most of the tax issues that Christian Aid are talking about.

Models of Church - which one for me?

2010-03-22T06:35:00.000Z

What size of church do I want to work in? Or more particularly, what model of church? I am reaching the point in my ministry when it is time to move on, and at present I have been thinking about what I am called to.

A couple of weeks ago the Diocese sent all the 3rd year curates on a course from 3D Coaching teaching us how to fill in CVs and be interviewed, but also helping us figure out what it was that we felt called to (keep nearly writing "what we want to do next" J).

When I got back I remembered "Ministry in 3 Dimensions" and the different models of church in the appendix, and on Googling found this which goes into the ideas in a little more detail. An article in the Guardian saying that you cannot have more than150 friends also caught my attention as it dovetails nicely with the first article.

I first read this book several years ago, but on rereading it realised that I was drawn to the Pastoral Church. I wondered whether I might be being called to a Program Church (though leaping straight to such a large church is probably a tad ambitious) as I believe that I have the skills that are required, but I know that I would also want to know the people - and the article warns against trying to do both. In my previous job I knew everyone in our Head Office (about 100) and one of my concerns in my previous curacy was how difficult it was to get to know the congregations.

On the course we were told the story of someone who was in a Program Church but who realised that they wanted to be in a Pastoral one and surprised people by moving to a smaller church. We were shown a model in the form of a Venn Diagram (fun examples can be found here) which looked at our capabilities, the needs of the job and our passion and I realised the importance of having some passion in the job rather than just doing something which was needed and which I could do. So now I have a better idea of what I am looking for Church Times here I come!

Count Your Blessings - 22 March

2010-03-22T00:02:00.005Z

Fair trade helps 7 million worldwide. Next time you visit the supermarket, buy a fairly traded item you haven’t yet tried.

OK - lets try that one - not sure when it will be - or what!

Blogging and Personality

2010-03-21T06:35:00.000Z

I have analysed my blog using Typealyser (h/t SueM) and it says that it is ISTP - the mechanic:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment and are highly skilled at seeing and fixing what needs to be fixed. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Now that is all very well, but in real life I am ENFJ and I hate risk (thoughts for a later blog come to mind!) I have already written about how blogging perhaps brings out a different side and this provides further evidence.

When I first saw my result I was surprised at it and looked into the analysis and discovered that a good part of the text analysed came from my blogroll - so immediately thought that it was those "others" who were giving the rogue result - but I changed the source to exclude those and it still gave the same answer L

Work - Again!

2010-03-20T06:35:00.001Z

From http://www.wolfescape.com/Humour/WorkStress.htm, with some other workplace jokes. It was a real trip down memory lane!

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else. James M. Barrie

It is a while since I blogged on this here, in fact much longer than I thought! And then the above quote came into my inbox on the day that I saw my spiritual director and he challenged my definition - where is time for me - what hobbies do I have?

Life used to be busy. I had a full time job and was studying part time and doing things in the local church. Work was the job and study and ministry was my "hobby". Then I was made redundant and was able to become full time in the church. Suddenly my "hobby" had become my job. That was 2 years ago, and I haven't found a hobby yet. Perhaps blogging counts, although it falls into the same category of a lot of other things that I do - it could be considered part of the job. Similarly with reading - I enjoy reading without a purpose! We were told that when we started studying that it would ruin reading for us and for a while it did, but I seem to have made it back again. Perhaps because I struggled to study. We were told that study was answering a question and to use the index - I prefer to read and be surprised by what I find and by the connections that appear between the strangest things. But most of my reading is theology of some kind. I also like chatting with friends - but most of the chat could in some way or other could be called work. Hence the reason that I came up with the definition that I did.

The best that I could come up with was that I am hoping to play some cricket this summer - if selected. Except that it is for a team of vicars!

Count Your Blessings - 20 March

2010-03-20T06:32:00.000Z

In 10,000 schools across India, after-school clubs set up by our partner SEEDS are tackling both the causes and symptoms of climate change. Here children learn to conserve energy and respond to increasing floods, cyclones and drought. Give 30p for every electronic device you own that provides entertainment.

OK - TV, DVD, Freeview box, mobile, computer, radio, record player, tape (yep still got those - hardly ever use it them though) - so 2.70.

Not sad enough to watch the washing going round and round or there would be another J

Population Concerns

2010-03-19T06:35:00.000Z

We're seeing super lower fertility rates in southern Europe and eastern Europe where birth rates are 1.2 or 1.3 babies per family - which is way below replacement levels.

The Big Issue for March 1st had an article on the reducing population in western societies because of the shrinking birth rate. The article went on to say that the solution was greater immigration, but without discussing what I see as a significant issue which is that of pension support (You knew I was over 50 didn't you? J).

The percentage of the total population who are over 65 is predicted to rise from 16% to nearly 20% in 2031 and 26.6% in 2071 Help the Aged

The State Pension is paid from current income, and private pensions are currently invested in stocks and shares and other places. As the proportion of retired people increases then a greater proportion of GNP will have to go on pensions, or pensions will have to be reduced. Similarly the money currently invested will have to be disinvested to payout peoples pensions as the inflow into pension funds will be less than the outflow. What will be the impact of this on the economy? Supply and demand would suggest a reduction in the value of the assets as there would be less money chasing the investments, leading perhaps to a crash of pension schemes.

What can we do? As the article suggested encouraging immigration would rebalance the proportion of people in the different age groups - alternatively start breeding! Some without children have argued about supporting schools etc through taxation - no children = no future.

Count Your Blessings - 19 March

2010-03-19T06:32:00.000Z

Most plastic bags are only used once. Many take 1,000 years to degrade. Give 5p for every plastic bag in your home.

Mmm - not got any new ones for a while - but there are too many to count - lets call it a fiver.

Fear and protection

2010-03-18T06:35:00.000Z

All of us have developed a front stage- a version of ourselves that we present to the world. ... Now, of course, in order to do this, we have to hide lots of things about ourselves away. ... All these things that I cannot risk bringing out onto my front stage I have to put somewhere- so I put them in my back stage. My back stage is the place I learn to put things that I do not want people to see. http://simonpwalker.blogspot.com/2010/03/let-us-go-back-to-old-story-one-of.html

I may be preempting what Simon Walker is going to say, but I think the problem comes when we put things back stage (which he writes more about in the Undefended Leader) because of irrational fear. And of course if we never bring them out then the fear of bringing them out grows and we are even less inclined to do so. How do we crack this problem? Of course one option is to "Feel the fear and do it anyway" (I haven't got round to reading the book, but it is a great title!), but what if we do that and it goes wrong? Is there a gentle toe in the water approach to this or do we have to dive in, because there has to be a certain degree of fear to overcome to be of value?

I was talking with a friend who said that whenever they saw a rule they broke it to see what happened, whereas my approach is to keep it unless I have a reason not to. Acclimatisation to dealing with things like this mean that we have different attitudes towards fear - I do not know what it is to break the small rules - so the big ones carry greater fear. Perhaps I need to dip my toe in the water more and walk on the not to be walked upon grass!

Count Your Blessings - 18 March

2010-03-18T06:32:00.000Z

£7.50 could buy enough drought resistant millet seed to feed four people for a year in Burkina Faso. Give 75p for every pair of wellington boots in your home.

No wellingtons either L

What about the sermon?

2010-03-17T00:05:00.000Z

homilies should be brief to cater for people with short attention spans

So says the Roman Catholic Church in the Guardian. It would appear that not all denominations agree however (see this blog). This set me thinking about sermons and what I am trying to achieve. As set out here:

There are people there of different ages, different experiences, different cultures, some who have been on the Christian journey for much longer than me and others who have only just become interested. How can anything be meaningful to everyone?

and when it comes to attention span there are varying thoughts about lectures here. However I am not trying to lecture. My aim is to encourage people to work out for themselves what the Bible (usually Gospel) reading means to them. I have been thanked too often for saying helpful things that to my knowledge I never said to believe that what I say matters - it is what people hear (if I said nothing I wonder what they would hear?).

By using this approach it does mean that I am not trying to teach facts in the traditional sense - 10 minutes plus or minus hardly gives any space for that. Certainly I will give some historical background if appropriate - but I won't explain what that means the passage means - that is up to the congregation. I much prefer story as a way of explaining (or not), after all there is a precedent for the use of unexplained story - and it is also more entertaining - something that the survey said that Anglicans wanted!

There is also the question of where I stand. I went on a course a long time ago where the leader said that congregations who insist that the preacher use the pulpit are insisting on a parent child relationship (a la Transactional Analysis and here) - the infamous 6 feet above contradiction - wanting the answers handed down to them. You will have seen from above that that is not my style of preaching and I try to stand level with the congregation to encourage a more adult-adult interaction. However, there are issues with visibility and audibility - though as I use a microphone I can only assume it is some form of lip reading that can't be seen - and for this reason I will occasionally use a pulpit if I am in a strange church.

Count Your Blessings - 17 March

2010-03-17T00:02:00.001Z

Christian Aid gets £4 for every recycled phone and £1 for every recyclable ink cartridge you donate. Call 0845 130 2010 or visit www.recyclingappeal.com/christianaid and quote ‘Christian Aid’ to order a recycling envelope today.

You need to check the web site, and my cartridges don't appear on the list L

Has TV changed our children?

2010-03-16T00:05:00.001Z

I was asked this question after a recent home communion. It took me some while to answer, and so I thought it worthwhile recording here! There are two alternatives, television reflects reality or it doesn't. If it reflects reality then of itself it doesn't impact behaviour - if it does not reflect reality then its impact depends on the fiction that it displays. At the time I answered this question I tended towards the first answer - that it reflects reality, but after further thought I think that the place where it really doesn't reflect reality is in the adverts. Adverts are designed to change our behaviour - if they didn't why would so much be spent on them?

If we look at adverts again there are two effects - the intended effect, under which I would put turning us into consumers, wanting more and more stuff, wanting ever newer things; and the means that they use to persuade us. For example I would put the greater sexualisation in adverts into the latter category - that is something that they are using - not something that they want to encourage.

The odd thing is that I suspect that most people object to those things on TV which reflect society and which the advertisers use to achieve their ends. But to my thinking these are less likely influence people than the messages that the advertisers are trying to spread. Perhaps it is too late and most people take the advertisers messages as real. But the materialism that they encourage doesn't deliver - perhaps it is inevitable - if it did people would stop buying when they had enough - and perhaps that gives the game away - the advertisers tell us we can never have enough. Davina McCall was recently quoted saying:

Asked if fame was a trial to put herself through, Davina said: "I wanted to be famous to prove I was worth something. "But the day I got my own show on MTV I cried all night because it didn't bloody validate me and I'd spent years thinking it would. "Fulfilment's an inside job. I just try to give more than is expected. That little bit extra takes you so far." http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/2010/01/big-brothers-davina-mccall-wan.html

I don't know whether this is a message that used to be known, but has been lost, or whether TV is to blame. But it worries me far more than anything else on our screens.

Count Your Blessings - 16 March

2010-03-16T00:02:00.002Z

Predicted changes in climate could put an additional 400 million people at greater risk of malaria. Give 40p for every flight that you took last year.

Well that will be £0 then. Not a great one for flying, I think I have flown only once (whoops - twice - I came back!) on my own account and a handful more times on business.

Robin Hood Tax - A Good thing?

2010-03-15T00:05:00.025Z

It is also clear that such taxes could raise significant additional revenues of the order of $200bn - $400bn with minimal impact on the real economy or retail consumers. The tax will have a highly progressive final incidence that falls mainly on the top income earners and wealth holders in society. Report on Robin Hood Web site

When I first heard about the Robin Hood tax I was suspicious. It sounds such a good idea and recently the Archbishop of Canterbury has written in support of it. However, my concern was that if you raise that amount of money it has to come from somewhere - and the people it comes from aren't going to like it! I decided to do a little research and found that the report from which the first quote came also contained:

The world’s top 1000 commercial banks have reported profits of between $700 billion and close to $1 trillion in recent years with the exception of last year when the financial crisis cut deep into these profits

So what is being proposed is to reduce banking profits by half - and we think that the banks aren't going to do anything about it? And I'm not the only one to have thought of this: Ed West in the Telegraph and Church Mouse have raised similar concerns.

My other concern is that the motivation for this seems wrong to me. Bankers are making so much money that most of us just gasp and someone suggests lets take some of it off them... Well why not take some off Premiership footballers, or film stars, or business leaders? There is a second issue behind this which to my mind may well have more merit, but seems to be getting less attention, and that is the impact that it might have in reducing the number of high turnover trades taking place in the financial markets.

Yesterday at Diocesan Synod we had a presentation on Giving for Life - the CofEs new stewardship approach. This is rooted in a generous response to God's generosity to us, rather than, as have previous approaches, the fact that we are skint! What is the motivation behind the Robin Hood Tax?

If it would be a good idea to reduce the short term trading in city institutions then let us debate that rather than implementing it on the back of an emotive marketing campaign about what we could do with the money raised, without looking too closely at the other impacts that it will have. I have searched the web and failed to find anything looking at this - it is probably there - but doesn't seem to be very prominent in the current campaign.

Count Your Blessings - 15 March

2010-03-15T00:02:00.001Z

The UN estimates that there are now as many as 50 million refugees worldwide as a result of the effects of environmental deterioration. Give £1 if you own your own home and £3 if you own more than one.

So that is a quid then.

I'm still reading Lucy Winkett's book, but finding it impossible to blog - despite hearing her speak in person, covering much of the same ground, in Chesham last week. As a non musician I find her use of musical metaphor passes me by, so there is good stuff, but to me it doesn't seem to cohere.

Mothering Sunday

2010-03-14T00:05:00.021Z

Over the years I have heard some interesting Mothering Sunday sermons, including rants about how non inclusive they are. This year our monthly all age service was Saturday a week ago and we used the strap line "Mothers and Others" as many of the children who come to our midweek service are brought by grandparents or other carers. Does anyone have the right balance for this? Too motherly and we risk offending those who are childless, to general and we upset those who are mothers. Ignore it altogether, or stick to the "Mother Church" angle and those who might just come for a one off service will not get what they are expecting. I'm just glad that this year it isn't my decision! Though if it were I would lean towards the motherly - though perhaps bringing in motherly qualities - and perhaps even picking up on the feminine images of God of a couple of Sundays ago (not that any other vicar has told me what they are going to say tomorrow J).

Count Your Blessings - 14 March

2010-03-14T00:02:00.004Z

At 16 months, baby Cassim was diagnosed as malnourished and had stopped eating. Fearing for his life, Cassim’s mother turned to our partner the Baptist Clinic, Malawi, for treatment and help with feeding. Nutritionist Kingless Chilembwe tracked his journey back to health every day for 11 months. Cassim is now a fit and healthy two-year-old. This Sunday is Mothering Sunday. Give 30p for every healthy child in your extended family.

Mmm - who is a child? If I go for 18 then I think it is 6. 1.80

Evolution and Faith - Dawkins Dilemma

2010-03-13T00:05:00.000Z

The theory of evolution suggests that natural selection favours traits that aid survival. So how has religion survived for so long? It would appear that perhaps it aids survival - although the fact that religious belief aids survival does not prove that it is true.

However, what I want to look at is more the change in religious belief, something which Richard Dawkins seems to want to deny, suggesting that only fundamentalist views of faith are "true". For example his suggestion in the Times that:

Loathsome as Robertson’s views undoubtedly are, he is the Christian who stands squarely in the Christian tradition.

when commenting on Robertson's comments on the Haitian earthquake.

If you accept that there is an interventionist God then given the plethora of interpretations of faith out there you would expect the "right" one to come out on top. If you do not accept that there is an interventionist God then the one that was most likely to aid survival would "triumph", whether it was true or not!

So if Dawkins wants to take fundamentalist religion as the only true faith he has to accept an interventionist God. If he doesn't like an interventionist God but wants to claim that fundamentalist faith is most predominant then he has to accept that it is because it aids survival. Horns of a dilemma or what J

Trust=possibility of being hurt

2010-03-12T00:05:00.000Z

I was discussing trust with someone the other day and it suddenly came to me that if you can't face the possibility of being hurt then you can't trust. Reflecting on my time my previous career I now recognise that although I thought that I trusted the people I worked with (although it took me years to reach that point - ever heard "I can do it better myself"?) I only trusted them with things which wouldn't hurt me if they went wrong, and I suspect that some would argue that I didn't trust them anyway.

Even as I write this I am not sure that it is true, after all if the network went down badly then that could have hurt me professionally - even though I still know nothing about networks. However, perhaps the key is in that little word "professionally". If the network went down would it change my opinion of myself? I don't think so.

And how does this fit in with trusting God? If we trust in God will we not get hurt? Afraid not - as last Sundays reading told us our faith makes no difference to the suffering we undergo - or as it was put by the Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley (thanks Archdruid - had to preach an emergency sermon and this post came in handy):

Bad stuff happens to good people.
Good things happen to good people.
Bad stuff happens to bad people.
Good things happen to bad people.

And Richard Rohr, in his daily meditation, adds:

If there is nothing in your life to cry about, if there is nothing in your life to yell about, you must be out of touch.

I have spent many years avoiding pain, and the echo of that is still within me to the extent that occasionally I need to be reminded. With thanks to my mates who do remind me!

Count Your Blessings - 12 March

2010-03-12T00:02:00.000Z

Children in the UK receive an average of £4.80 per week in pocket money. Give 48p if you’ve ever received pocket money.

Well yes... 48p

Are church "traditions" nearer the edge?

2010-03-11T00:05:00.069Z

I recently saw a blog on the value of traditions in the church and some of the comments reminded me of the model (above) I developed for one of my essays when I was training. The Anglican church is based on Scripture, Tradition and Reason (Richard Hooker) with the Evangelical, Anglo Catholic and Liberal traditions respectively being more drawn to each. The Lambeth Quadrilateral sits somewhere in the centre of this. Around each is an inner circle of those who would be accepted to be of that particular tradition, and a wider circle of those who would be accepted as having a faith, but not of that tradition. Unfortunately there are areas where one wing would accept people and others would not.

If you accept that Anglicanism is based on Scripture, Tradition and Reason then almost by definition those who subscribe wholly to one of those are in some sense on the edge. There are of course other denominations which do not accept that basis, and hence which would not see, for example, a sola scriptura approach as being on the edge - but then I would argue that it is not Anglican!

Count Your Blessings - 11 March

2010-03-11T00:02:00.000Z

‘I think and hope that the babies I help to deliver will live in a better world.’ Evalina Wandi Prata, midwife, Christian Aid partner IECA, Angola. Give 5p for every educational book in your home.

Mmm - aren't all books educational? I didn't buy that many books whilst training, but there still seem to be a lot on my shelf! Call it a fiver.