lurchersontheedge

Archbishop Rowan Williams is, and probably always will be, more patient and tolerant than I ever will be. Tolerance, patience and grace are attributes that he has brought to the See of Canterbury in abundance. Whilst, I have not always agreed with his actions, I understand them to flow from principles and conscience that were always informed. I am not sure that those who voted against the Measure on Tuesday afternoon at Synod allowed their consciences and principles to be similarly informed.

This is not to say that I doubt that there were deeply held theological convictions that are underpinned by a coherent theological worldview or worldviews. I am not from the Catholic wing of the Church of England so I do not understand arguments of apostolic situation. Others do, and will respond along those lines.

I do understand the Evangelical constituency. There are those like Fulcrum who are understandably aggrieved by what happened on Tuesday. Leaders of other networks have also responded, for example John Coles and Ian Parkinson on twitter. Conservative Evangelicals for the most part will be content with what happened. What I write now is meant to be a challenge to them, although in the nature of these things, my little offerings probably will not be seen by anyone from that constituency.

The Conservative Evangelical constituency showed itself to be ill informed by its decision to lobby against the Measure in two specific ways, which show that it is becoming a movement that is increasingly shallow in its thinking and more detached from the rest of the Church of England.

There was nothing shallow about the theologies of a preacher of the ilk of John Stott of All Souls’, Langham Place. Even if you disagreed with him, you discovered his theology was shaped out of a love of Scripture and a desire to engage with the world. It was backed up by the desire for evangelicals to take scholarship seriously so that now evangelical biblical scholars are rightly heard by all sections of the church.

I make this charge on two grounds. First, the exegesis offered of Scripture was, to my mind, based on special pleading rather than on careful wrestling with the biblical text. The Revd Angus McLeay’s comments about the New Testament endorsing a view that the authoritative teaching role is to be male seems to me to be special pleading rather than one that takes account of the biblical witness as a whole. It does not take account of the fact that Paul endorses the teaching role of both Priscilla and Aquila to the preacher Apollos. It does not take into account that a female apostle is mentioned in Romans 16 nor that Lydia appears to be a leader of a Christian community in Philippi. It ignores the fact that Mary of Nazareth presumably taught her son the Hebrew Scriptures. More importantly, whilst McLeay roots all of this in the story of creation, the arguments advanced do not do justice to Galatians 3:28 which purportedly are the words of early baptismal formula, declared over those who had become ‘new creations’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The exegesis offered throughout the debate by Conservative Evangelicals also did not do justice to the teachings in the NT about working with those who hold different positions and walking the extra mile. To say to the rest of the Church, ‘we do not believe you’ with regard to the promises you are offering is for Conservative Evangelicals to put themselves deliberately out of fellowship with other Anglicans, which is something that needs to be repented of.

The second reason for making the charge is to my mind more telling. Evangelicals have prided themselves as putting proclamation of the gospel at the heart of our mission to the nation. There seemed to be no understanding that to work actively against the Measure would make the case for Christ less likely to be received. This would not have happened in earlier generations. Mission would have been the imperative, and leaders like Stott would have made friends within other traditions.

Conservative rightly to my mind love the scriptures. I do too. They rightly want to preach, even using words. I do too. The scriptures need to be wrestled with. It was by wrestling as well as by experience that enabled Saul of Tarsus to become the Apostle to the Gentiles. When we do not wrestle, appear not to listen or seem  ready to make connections with the world, then our words might sound like they are clanging gongs to a nation that already has begun not to listen.

I am hesitant about actually saying anything in the aftermath of the Synod’s defeat of the Measure on Tuesday afternoon. Many who are more eloquent than I have spoken about their anger, bewilderment and disappointment. And, in some measure I share all of that.

Some of the reactions, however understandable, have been a little jarring. I am not sure that the Church is recalled to reflect society. Nor, do I think necessarily the Synod’s position demands the intervention of the state and leads to disestablishment. I do not think disestablishment is to be feared, but could be embraced; however, to argue that the Church of England’s position as an Established Church is somehow compromised is to misunderstand the subtle distinction between a State Church and one that is by Law Established. I do not think either that the mission of the Church of (and in) England will come to a grinding halt. It goes on in some places hindered and in some places exactly the same. In baptism preparation yesterday evening, a good number of folks were clearly unaware of the decision of the Synod. This should not be strange the Church of England is relevant for most people  largely at a local level, which is why the Parish system is Anglicanism’s greatest gift to the people of England.

Finally, I sit (just about) within the Evangelical wing of the Church of England, although the Parish Church I lead probably does not sit there. What struck me most sadly about the Synod debate was the eisegesis (reading into) rather than exegesis (reading from) Scripture that was taking place. Until that changes, Conservative Evangelicals in particular will not be able to interpret the Scriptures in an Anglican (and indeed Reformed) way. That is a tragedy, for it is one of the gifts that evangelicals can bring. That loss will be more severe in the long term that the Synod’s decision.

I fear the Synod’s decision will be easier to reverse than the loss of biblical understanding that the evangelical contribution to Synod seemed to demonstrate.

A Church exists by mission as a fire exists by oxygen, said someone else, whose name has long since disappeared from my memory banks.

The Lee Abbey Team are almost here, and details are attached.

Lee Abbey2

Please hold the team, the congregation and those who will hear their stories in your prayers.

My Dad was too young to fight in WWII. He did his National Service in 1946-49 serving in Palestine. For him Remembrance Sunday always was a poignant time. For me, it is also special. It is probably thus because I am remembering him and my relationship with him.

I stood in my customary place today in Bartley Green in the company of the MP, local councillors, headteachers, police officers, a fire crew, ex-servicemen and women and hordes of beavers, cubs and scouts. We remembered together.

A newcomer to our ranks this year commented how brilliant the event was. The remark was not about how wonderful the service was; and it was – I led it :-). Rather, it was more to do with the fact that the community came together. Young, old, male, female, black, white and surrounding everything was the playful sound of interaction.

We remembered.

We unashamedly remembered the fallen.

We also remembered something about being community.

I hope there will be further remembering then in the months that lie ahead.

I said I would try and review certain aspects of ministry in BG since it is now 3 years since I arrived.

From 1986-1988, I was a voluntary evangelist with the London City Mission, working firstly in Bermondsey and then on the Mobile Unit. One of the most fascinating pieces of work we did, almost daily, was knocking on the doors of complete strangers to tell them about the good news of Jesus Christ. Terry Bedlow, was my Missioner. He was an Ulsterman (I think). I am not sure I have ever met a more Christlike individual in terms of his servant heart and his compassion for people. One of his favourite sayings was that ‘visiting was the bread and butter of all ministry’.

In 2001, I was ordained deacon in Gloucester Cathedral. My training incumbent, Kevin Scott, could not have been more different to Terry Bedlow if he had tried. Whereas Terry was slightly scuffy, apparently disorganised and tendered just to wander all over the place (I could be describing myself I realise that); Kevin Scott was tidy, organised and disciplined. One of the comments I remember him making to me was that ‘visiting is foundational to all that we do’. I agree with them both.

I am not particularly good at putting visits in my diary. I more often than not do not carry a diary around with me. I am relatively good at just dropping round. Even in a world that moves fast, I have never really found that a visit is unappreciated. I may have called at inappropriate times; it is part of my personality/character that sometimes I just do not notice. Visiting sometimes just to chat about the scriptures over a cup of tea can be the most invigorating thing in the world. Or sometimes just being someone who is interested in another’s day.

Pastoral ministry is not just about visiting, it is about offering hospitality to all who would come. My formative years as a Christian were spent observing clergy and their spouses (actually wives) who considered their homes to be both private and yet public space. I think I feel the same.

I am an introvert, so like my own space. But, I enjoy having people round. For me ministry is about sharing life, and I feel it is easier to do that (warts and all) in a home than in an ecclesiastical building.

One of my goals this year is to invite those on the electoral roll who I have not yet invited to dinner. My wife agrees with me fortunately.  I hope to reflect on this experience as the months progress, and I hope one or two people who read this little offering will hold me to account if I do not do it.

Sermon for Sunday 14th October: first draft

As we have discovered so often in our look at Mark’s story of Jesus, it is written to those on the way and it is an attempt to make sense of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Though separated from Mark’s community by some 2000 years, our purpose and theirs is fairly similar: we are trying to make sense of what it means to follow Jesus.

Mark writes his story of Jesus to those of us like you and I who are on the Christian pilgrimage and is an invitation to follow.

This morning’s gospel reading is set on the ‘way’. In the context of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is beginning his long journey to Jerusalem, where the son of man will be handed over, executed and then rise triumphant from the grave. The early believers of Jesus were called ‘followers of the way’. This comes from the Greek word, ‘odos’, which in turn is a translation of the Hebrew ‘Halakhah’, which means ‘to walk’ or ‘to go’. Jews did not see the law as burdensome; rather it was an act of grace that allowed them to be fully alive. For the early believers, the act of following Jesus was something dynamic and moving. This remains the case today.

At first glance our gospel reading does not make comfortable reading.

When the young man heard what Jesus had said, he went away gloomy and sad.

These are not the most comforting words that have been written about an encounter with Jesus.

The man who comes to Jesus wants to know what he must do to gain or inherit eternal life. It would be a mistake to hear this as ‘what

must I do to get to heaven when I die’. Rather, the man was asking Jesus, what he must do to be part of God’s kingdom now.

As Christians, we believe that God’s kingdom is both in heaven, the place where God is traditionally said to be and is coming here on earth. This is why we pray: ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven’.

Jesus tells the man to keep the commandments, quoting directly from the six of the commandments, which particularly relate to how we live together.

The man presses Jesus; but I have kept these all my life.

Jesus simply adds one other challenge: go, sell, give and come.

It was at this point that the man leaves saddened unable to do what Jesus asked.

How are we to make sense of this encounter?

The challenge to the man seems to be specific to him as an individual. Although, peppered liberally through the scriptures are warnings about wealth and to the rich; Jesus is not condemning those who are rich per se; only those who use their wealth to abuse others.

This should be of comfort to you and me. Even given the current recession, in global terms; those of us even in Bartley Green, which as a council ward is well within the 10% of most deprived areas in the country, we are rich.

But in making this text a specific challenge to an individual, we are not completely off the hook. Jesus is challenging the man to give his allegiance to him and him alone.

Allegiance is very strong language; yet it lies at the heart of what it means to be a Christian, even an Anglican.

This is why at the heart of the baptism service is the signing of the candidate’s forehead with the cross followed by the statement that we will endeavour to follow Christ (Jesus) resisting all that is evil.

Those with Jesus on the way are shocked at the challenge of Jesus, and all the more so when he goes on to speak about the camel going through the eye of a needle.

Jesus when talking about the camel going through the eye of the needle is like the good storyteller he is, putting in humour and exaggeration; but his point is crystal clear, discipleship costs everything.

Imagine the camel going through the eye of a literal needle, and most of us will smile. Some of us schooled on childhood cartoons will probably give at least a silent guffaw. Like much humour, there was a serious point. We have sometimes lost sight of the funny side, by creating imaginary gates in the walled city of Jerusalem. There must be a needle gate; which means that a camel can be unladen or stoop down. Such assertions are both unnecessary and unworthy of what is going on. Not to mention a historical flight of fancy.

In conversing with the man, Jesus puts his finger on that which holds him back from abandoning all for the sake of the kingdom. It

was not his riches, rather his inability to put them at the disposal of the kingdom of God that was the problem.

You have heard me talk of one of my heroes before, the German Pastor who stood up against Hitler in the Second World War; Pastor Dietrich Bonheoffer; who paraphrases Jesus’ come and follow him as an invitation to ‘come and die’. There is little wonder that we have sought to misunderstand him, by creating imaginary gates in the Jerusalem city walls. That would be easy, rearranging what we hold close and having Jesus as an add-on. Jesus looks us squarely in the eye and asks us to follow him.

It probably will not be riches, Jesus asks us about.

It could family.

It could be friends.

Career

Where we live

Jesus in our Gospel reading looked the man in the eye and wanted him to follow, to be part of the community of the kingdom. The man chose not to.

What will we do this morning, as Jesus asks us to follow him?

Urban Beauty

Loveliness and brokenness define what it means to be urban

Jagged lives sit cheek by jowl with places made smooth by the haphazard twists of being human

Battered mentors persuade others that dreams are at the end of uneven pathways

Hopes fade as schemes fail and professionals who are to be with you always fall victim to another cut

Rumours of resurrection abound but disappear when the mists of the morning reveal the drab dreariness of life

Yet, in the green shoots between the cracks in paving stones and the smile of a youth to someone who is older, there is the strength to carry on.

Michaelmas 2012

Three years ago, I stood, actually not too nervously, before the Lord Bishop of Birmingham and was collated as the new Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Bartley Green.

Bartley Green is one of the Anglican parishes on the edge of Birmingham. It is the home to several schools (two which are linked to the Church of England through the Diocesan Board of Education (www.birmingham.anglican.org), see www.bartleygreen.org.uk and www.stmicb32.bham.sch.uk), a university (www.newman.ac.uk) and a remarkable group of people.

I will take time over the coming weeks to reflect on some of what has been achieved as well as on that which should perhaps not have been done.

For now, I want to say how pleased I am to be here.

I am pleased to be involved in people’s lives.

I am pleased to have been into schools; and trust a difference has been made.

I am pleased to be leading St Michael and All Angels Church

In many ways, I feel I have come home by being in Bartley Green.

Home can of course be uncomfortable as well as comfortable.

I will reflect more over the coming days.

Mission is at heart of the Transforming Church agenda.

Mission is done in a number of ways. We are ‘doing mission’ when we welcome people or lead collective worship in schools. We are also doing mission when we offer a food parcel to someone, sit with someone who is bereaved. Sometimes mission has to be done by shar-ing our faith in more overt ways.

This is why a team from the Lee Abbey Movement has been

invited to Bartley Green and will be with us from 27 November to 2 December 2012.

Who will be coming to Bartley Green?

The Revd Annie Naish, a Church of England priest and Lee Abbey Missioner writes, “The team coming to Bartley Green will consist of about 10 people of different nationalities and ages, all practicing Chris-tians from a variety of traditions. They all are part of the Lee Abbey Movement which is a charity consisting of four international Christian communities based in Devon, London, Bristol and Aston. In total there are about 130 individuals and families brought together from across the globe to share life together as they serve people in these different con-texts. Most of our team will come from the main community which hosts a conference, retreat and holiday centre set in a beautiful estate on the North Devon coast.”

What will they be doing in Bartley Green?

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the school day, they will be working in schools leading assemblies, being involved in RE lessons. Members of the team will visit most of the schools in the parish, but concentrate much of their time on Bartley Green School,

They will also visit Hasbury Court and Walford Green, meeting residents, listening, as well as sharing their stories of faith.

On the Friday 30 November, the Team will hosting a Cabaret Evening, with a mixture of songs, sketches, film clips and stories.

This will be a good opportunity to invite friends, family members, neighbours to come to.

On Saturday 1 December there will be workshops held in church for children, looking at craft, art and drama.

There will also be the opportunity to host coffee mornings, after-noons and evenings to which friends can be invited to meet with team members and hear their adventures of travel, England and faith.

You may be able to offer a bed for one of the team members

You may be able to offer an evening meal to one or two team members.

Bartley Green School are offering lunch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the team members.

Hopefully, we can all join in:

 working with the team

 Praying for the team and their leader, Annie

 Inviting friends, family members and neighbours to come along to events

 Host a coffee or tea event

 Telling people that something is happening.