The picture was sketched by my then 4 year old. It is a picture obviously of a Church that is on wheels. There is a deep theological truth about that insight. The first Christians were called ‘followers of the Way’, which assumes some movement; drawing upon the Jewish understanding of the Law or Torah (halakhah meaning way). To those of you who are not art critics. The squiggle on the end is a trailer for those who don’t quite fit into the Church but want to be there. I think he was deeply prophetic in his drawing :-).

I write this blog with some trepidation in the light of the ‘church’ news over the last 24 hours. In many ways, it is sad that this particular news seems to have knocked off our radars, hopefully only momentarily that Christians are fleeing for their lives in parts of Iraq.

I am afraid I do not know who Vicky Beeching is. I am not sure that I have knowingly sung one of her songs. I do not seem to watch the TV programmes that she is on. I am aware of what has happened today, and I am deeply apologetic for the way she has felt and the way the Church has made her feel. It seems to be that Jesus was the most inclusive of people, and where the Church excludes we have a lot of re-examining, if not repentance to do. I think this goes for liberal and conservative alike.

Back in 2012, I wrote a blog that attracted more comment than I expected: https://lurchersontheedge.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/an-evangelical-apology/. I am still on the journey of discovering what God is saying in the whole complex realm of human relationships. I still would want to go to the Scriptures first, and I lament the lack of genuine dialogue around what the biblical texts are saying. The Bible has become reduced to proofs to fire at each other. This is dangerous. It does not do justice to our sacred stories, nor to the God who Christians believe is behind them.

I believe in a God of grace and truth. I believe in the God of the embrace, who holds all who will come. I am still not persuaded that the Scriptures do not say some pointed things about sexuality and sexual ethics. I will go on wrestling with these texts, and hopefully, like Jacob, with the God who I believe is behind such texts. I will not though condemn. I will seek to listen with every fibre of my being. I will try to be as inclusive as Jesus, acknowledging that there were times that to be included required radical reform and repentance.

My prayer and hope for us all is that each other will be motivated by grace, which is not wishy-washy and nice; but allows hard questions to be asked, and is committed to holding the other even when it is not easy.