18 July 2008
She's Her Own Blogger Now
Speaking of Methodist bloggers, I see that Ruby Beech is now blogging over at A good woman's price is far above rubies.
17 July 2008
The President Blogs
The new President of Methodist Conference, Stephen Poxon, has posted the first blog of his Presidency: At Last!.
I'm under the impression that Stephen and Vice President David Walton are new to blogging, so howz about going and encouraging them with a comment?
I'm under the impression that Stephen and Vice President David Walton are new to blogging, so howz about going and encouraging them with a comment?
12 July 2008
How to Comment / Blogging Policy
How to Comment
There are two ways to comment on my blog if you don't have a 'Blogger' account and don't want to have one.
1) The simplest way is to go to the bottom of a post and look for the link to 'Post a Comment'. You will be given a comment box where you can write your comment. Choosing 'Anonymous' is the most straightforward way to comment but you will need to type the letters of the 'Word Verification' in the box. This to to prevent automated SPAM commenting. I'd appreciate it if you felt able to use either your first name (e.g. 'Howard') or give yourself a pseudonym (e.g. 'Good Girl'); however, this is not mandatory.
2) Another way to comment without having a 'Blogger' account is to choose to post using a name or URL. Here you can give yourself a name: either a real name or a pseudonym.
My Policy on Commenting
1) First of all, I reserve the right to be the supreme judge and Grand Poobah when it comes to making decisions about removing posts. No point arguing with me. This is my blog and I reserve editorial rights.
2) That said, I will normally allow all comments that address the substance of an issue and which do not attack a person or persons.
3) I will not normally remove posts that disagree with my views but I reserve the right to decide what is and what is not a personal attack. I also reserve the right to make a judgement call about repetitive posts if a conversation is not advancing; there is a point beyond which I will lose patience with fisking and repetition.
4) I will normally not enable the comment approval function unless I plan on being away from my computer. Because I'm not particularly organised, I reserve the right to initiate the comment approval function without notice. Again, no point arguing with me; it's my blog.
5) All posts of an explicitly sexual or violent nature will be removed immediately and legal steps taken, where indicated.
There are two ways to comment on my blog if you don't have a 'Blogger' account and don't want to have one.
1) The simplest way is to go to the bottom of a post and look for the link to 'Post a Comment'. You will be given a comment box where you can write your comment. Choosing 'Anonymous' is the most straightforward way to comment but you will need to type the letters of the 'Word Verification' in the box. This to to prevent automated SPAM commenting. I'd appreciate it if you felt able to use either your first name (e.g. 'Howard') or give yourself a pseudonym (e.g. 'Good Girl'); however, this is not mandatory.
2) Another way to comment without having a 'Blogger' account is to choose to post using a name or URL. Here you can give yourself a name: either a real name or a pseudonym.
My Policy on Commenting
1) First of all, I reserve the right to be the supreme judge and Grand Poobah when it comes to making decisions about removing posts. No point arguing with me. This is my blog and I reserve editorial rights.
2) That said, I will normally allow all comments that address the substance of an issue and which do not attack a person or persons.
3) I will not normally remove posts that disagree with my views but I reserve the right to decide what is and what is not a personal attack. I also reserve the right to make a judgement call about repetitive posts if a conversation is not advancing; there is a point beyond which I will lose patience with fisking and repetition.
4) I will normally not enable the comment approval function unless I plan on being away from my computer. Because I'm not particularly organised, I reserve the right to initiate the comment approval function without notice. Again, no point arguing with me; it's my blog.
5) All posts of an explicitly sexual or violent nature will be removed immediately and legal steps taken, where indicated.
11 July 2008
A Testimony of Hope
I hope that this is not an inappropriate post, but I trust that it is not from what I knew of my cyber-friend.
Read for yourself an inspiring testimony in the face of death.
I never met Delle in person although I spoke to her on the phone once. We met on a Christian discussion group: Delle, a gifted writer and an inspiring preacher. A Roman-Catholic, African-American lay-woman whose priest allowed her to exercise her God-given gift in the pulpit despite a proscription against lay preachers.
Back in 2003, I worked on a preaching journal and I thought that Delle would make an inspiring contributor. She did. This publication paid a small honorarium to its contributors and I decided to write Delle a personal cheque in American dollars. Sadly, that's how I found out about her death: she'd never cashed the cheque and it was returned to me by post by her executor.
Delle's PS in the face of death: "Remember, brothers and sisters, either we believe in eternal life or we don't." Knowing her from her writing, I feel that this was not a strident demand for orthodoxy but rather a gracious and joyful expression of hope.
Read for yourself an inspiring testimony in the face of death.
I never met Delle in person although I spoke to her on the phone once. We met on a Christian discussion group: Delle, a gifted writer and an inspiring preacher. A Roman-Catholic, African-American lay-woman whose priest allowed her to exercise her God-given gift in the pulpit despite a proscription against lay preachers.
Back in 2003, I worked on a preaching journal and I thought that Delle would make an inspiring contributor. She did. This publication paid a small honorarium to its contributors and I decided to write Delle a personal cheque in American dollars. Sadly, that's how I found out about her death: she'd never cashed the cheque and it was returned to me by post by her executor.
Delle's PS in the face of death: "Remember, brothers and sisters, either we believe in eternal life or we don't." Knowing her from her writing, I feel that this was not a strident demand for orthodoxy but rather a gracious and joyful expression of hope.
Rest in peace, Delle, and I can't wait to see what sorts of things you'll be getting up to in The Kingdom when we meet again.
09 July 2008
Ordination

Along with four other ordinands who were trained at Wesley House, I was ordained as a Presbyter '..of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Christ' at 4:30 on Sunday the 6th of July 2008 at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. Past President of Conference Ian White presided and past President of Conference Inderjit Bhogal preached. For those who know Inderjit Bhogal, it was hardly surprising that he preached on justice, inclusivity and interfaith dialogue: a message that my non-church going husband appreciated very much.
One of the scariest bits of the ordination service for the ordinands comes early in the service when the congregation is told to declare 'they are worthy'. This is something that is hard to hear because, of course, no individual is 'worthy' of any kind of ministry in and of themselves, but only through the grace of Christ. This sounds overly-pious as I write it, but one thing that came home to me on the retreat is my own inadequacy for this office and how much I genuinely need to rely on the grace and power of God in order to serve God and my neighbour.
The laying on of hands happened after the sermon and the recitation of the Nicene Creed and before the prayers of intercession and communion. We were asked to declare our lifelong commitment to ordained ministry, to affirm scripture as revealing all things necessary for salvation through Jesus Christ, to affirm that we believe in the doctrines of the Christian Church, that we accept the discipline of 'this church' and that we will be faithful in worship, prayer and in receiving Holy Communion.
I was officially ordained by past President of Conference Ian White - who represents the entire Connexion in this service. I had hands laid on me by a Bolivian bishop and my assisting minister and friend, Mark. Hands were laid on the five of us whilst we knelt and it was done carefully and thoughtfully - not a rushed job! I had my eyes closed, but it was a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Perhaps the most special bit was the fact that, after having hands laid upon me, Ian White put his hand on my shoulder and said 'Bless you' as a father might have done to a beloved daughter; it felt very personal and warm.
Following the laying on of hands, close friends and family of each ordinand came up to the communion rail and took communion with 'their' ordinand; this was also very special.
As you might expect at a Methodist service, there was lots of rousing hymn-singing. The traditional ordination hymns as laid out in The Methodist Worship Book were sung as well as a number of more contemporary hymns and songs during the distribution of communion. My two Roman Catholic friends who attended the ordination had not heard of the Methodist reputation for hymn-singing and were somewhat surprised - albeit pleasantly, I think.
Just like the service of Reception into Full Connexion, this was a very special service. The whole day felt joyful and perfect and, personally, I enjoyed having the two very different sorts of services.
(I have posted photographs of both the Reception into Full Connexion and the Ordination on the 'web but I don't want to give a link here. Please email me and I will send you the URL for the photos.)
Reception into Full Connexion
Getting right to the point, the service of Reception into Full Connexion on Sunday the 6th of July was wonderful and joyous.
Someone said to me about a week earlier that they had not thought about the impact of 'Reception into Full Connexion' on their ordination day and that the service had come as something of a surprise emotionally. I think for that reason I was assuming that it would be an important service and it was.
Conference attendees, along with family and friends of the ordinands, assembled in the main hall at Scarborough Spa before the service whilst those being accepted into full connexion gathered upstairs for prayers and last minute instructions. In addition to the presbyteral and diaconal ordinands, there were a number of ministers from other Christian churches (mainly but not always Methodist Churches abroad) who had already been ordained and were being accepted as ministers in full connexion with the British Methodist Church.
The reception was done in the context of a Service of the Word which was also the official Opening Service of Conference. The new Vice President of Conference, David Walton, gave the sermon on the topic of 'Choose Life'. It was a grace-filled sermon covering many aspects of what 'life' means to different individuals in different contexts and also dealt with the themes of grace and inclusivity.
I wish I had the text of the promises we made, but the general gist was that we accept the doctrines and disciplines of the Methodist Church and that we promise to be faithful disciples and servants of Christ and of his Church.
This was the last time that all the ordinands were together. In the afternoon, we were ordained in groups of between 5 and 11 ordinands at different churches; we were grouped according to our training institutions. Some people of other traditions might see this service as somewhat redundant or unnecessary, but for me it expressed the fact that we are a national church where individuals are 'connected' to each other and not just lone congregations and individuals doing our own thing. This 'connected-ness' is one of the things I'm passionate about in our ecclesiology (Yes, I'm passionate about Methodist ecclesiology - call me odd!)
(I have posted photographs of both the Reception into Full Connexion and the Ordination on the 'web but I don't want to give a link here. Please email me and I will send you the URL for the photos.)
02 July 2008
Durham Retreat 2
Today we had a morning of silence from about 10:00 am until lunch time at 12:30. I went out for a walk on my own and took some nice photos of the countryside. It was supposed to rain today but it didn't and the weather was - to my mind - perfect for walking.
Then I accidentally went to Mass at 12:00 in St. Cuthbert's Chapel (second picture above). I thought I'd go pray there for a bit and I arrived just as the priest was walking in. It seemed like the best course of action to join in! I didn't take communion as the centre obviously knows that they have a bunch of Methodist ministers this week and I didn't want to put the priest in an awkward position. There were only three other people there besides the priest: two sisters from the resident community and a deacon. A sister and the deacon greeted me warmly afterwards and we talked a bit.
Otherwise, the day held some surprises/challenges, particularly in the evening when I was put out of my comfort zone three times. I went up for anointing at our communion service. Something I'm uncomfortable with because I don't like going up to bare my feelings to people I don't know well and then get prayed at for two minutes; somehow it seems contrived to me. I felt that God told me 'Just say you've come up because you're out of your comfort zone and just receive what I have to give you.' So I did. (Please note that this paragraph is a personal reflection about my feelings and not a theological reflection on how anyone 'should' or 'must' think or feel.)
01 July 2008
Durham Retreat 1
Thought I'd post two photos and a few thoughts. (I know I don't usually post personal stuff, but hey, it's my blog! *grin*)
Along with a number of other ordinands, I'm here at Ushaw College for a retreat before our ordination in Scarborough on Sunday. Above are some photos of Durham Cathedral from the outside (no photography allowed inside) and of Ushaw College where we are staying.
A recurring theme for me during this retreat seems to be Psalm 139. My prayer group has been praying through this psalm for about the last month. I and another woman have sometimes found it challenging because, for those of us who grew up in authoritarian church structures, this psalm is often used as a threat, rather like George Orwell's 1984 television screen that spies into people's homes to make sure that they are thinking and behaving properly.
I have, however, been finding both consolation and challenge in this Psalm and it was used again today by one of our retreat leaders. I prayed through the psalm again on my own this evening using the 'Common Worship' translation. I was hit by the first part of verse 2: 'You mark out my journeys and my resting places'.
29 June 2008
Clerics on Zimbabwe
The Rt Revd Dr John Sentamu had more to say about Zimbabwe this morning on the 'AM' show. Mugabe compared to Amin
(I confess to having committed a great blogging sin and I've changed this post to include Desmond Tutu's statement which I've just seen. )
Also Desmond Tutu speaks out about Zimbabwe Tutu backs force for Zimbabwe.
(I confess to having committed a great blogging sin and I've changed this post to include Desmond Tutu's statement which I've just seen. )
Confessing Anglicanism
Dave Perry writes a helpful post on the subject of GAFCON and the Pilgrimage of Faith. I shall be lazy and leave you to follow the links in that blog article. Dave has some helpful thoughts on how Methodists on both sides of 'the homosexuality debates' might react to what is happening within the Anglican Communion and also what experience and suggestions we might have to offer our Anglican brothers and sisters about respecting different points of view.
I leave you to read his thoughtful piece with respect to the issues surrounding homosexuality and their potential to divide a denomination. For my part, I'm more interested in the fact that GAFCON are declaring a 'confessing movement' within Anglicanism.
Personally speaking, I don't want to be part of a 'confessing denomination'. I grew up in one. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. It's a painful place to be, in my view. Also theologically problematic.
I see that The Jerusalem Declaration is starting out with fourteen points in its 'Confession'. My predication is that, within five years, there will be more than fourteen points. Or rather, I predict that there will be many new elaborations to the original fourteen points. I predict that there be vital interest in, for example, what 'really' constitutes belief in holy scriptures as the word of God, or what is a 'genuine' upholding of the 39 articles or an 'authentic' upholding of Anglican clerical orders or a 'genuine' belief in the creeds.
Why do I think this? Because the underlying assumption in a 'Confessing movement' or a 'Confessing denomination' is that the true Church must identify false believers and separate itself from them. In order to do this the movement will need, over time, to increasingly define its core doctrines in an ever more detailed manner. Every time a new detailed definition is promulgated, someone will find that they cannot accept it. In my opinion, confessing movements are inherently unstable and apt to schism for this reason.
What does a person learn by example about God when they are part of a confessing denomination? In my case, it was that God was a perfectionist who would not have mercy on anyone with imperfect doctrine. The concepts of 'grace' 'mercy' and 'lovingkindness' (chesed) become legal concepts with no soul. The acted-out, lived-out experience is that God is always on the verge of throwing an omnipotent temper-tantrum if a person doesn't hold the right beliefs about the virgin birth or whatever.
I leave you to read his thoughtful piece with respect to the issues surrounding homosexuality and their potential to divide a denomination. For my part, I'm more interested in the fact that GAFCON are declaring a 'confessing movement' within Anglicanism.
Personally speaking, I don't want to be part of a 'confessing denomination'. I grew up in one. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. It's a painful place to be, in my view. Also theologically problematic.
I see that The Jerusalem Declaration is starting out with fourteen points in its 'Confession'. My predication is that, within five years, there will be more than fourteen points. Or rather, I predict that there will be many new elaborations to the original fourteen points. I predict that there be vital interest in, for example, what 'really' constitutes belief in holy scriptures as the word of God, or what is a 'genuine' upholding of the 39 articles or an 'authentic' upholding of Anglican clerical orders or a 'genuine' belief in the creeds.
Why do I think this? Because the underlying assumption in a 'Confessing movement' or a 'Confessing denomination' is that the true Church must identify false believers and separate itself from them. In order to do this the movement will need, over time, to increasingly define its core doctrines in an ever more detailed manner. Every time a new detailed definition is promulgated, someone will find that they cannot accept it. In my opinion, confessing movements are inherently unstable and apt to schism for this reason.
What does a person learn by example about God when they are part of a confessing denomination? In my case, it was that God was a perfectionist who would not have mercy on anyone with imperfect doctrine. The concepts of 'grace' 'mercy' and 'lovingkindness' (chesed) become legal concepts with no soul. The acted-out, lived-out experience is that God is always on the verge of throwing an omnipotent temper-tantrum if a person doesn't hold the right beliefs about the virgin birth or whatever.
Not for me. Not ever again. God is more merciful and gracious than that - praise the Lord, or I'd be lost.
May God have mercy on his Church Universal and may he bless with much wisdom and patience to key decision-makers at the upcoming Lambeth Conference.
May God have mercy on his Church Universal and may he bless with much wisdom and patience to key decision-makers at the upcoming Lambeth Conference.
28 June 2008
Methodist Ordination
On the 6th of July five Probationer Ministers (including yours truly) will be 'received into full connexion' (see the article below for what this means) at the Methodist Conference in Scarborough. Then, at 4:30, five of us who trained at Wesley House will be ordained at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. I am particularly pleased that we will be ordained at a church which has a united Methodist and URC congregation as my 'sending church' is a united Methodist/URC congregation.
The article below is one that I wrote for the church newsletter to try to explain a bit about the process of ordination. If I got anything wrong, I'm open to correction by more knowledgeable readers of this blog.
===
If you are reading this July edition of the newsletter during the first two weeks of July, chances are that I will be away; first on retreat in Durham, and then at the Methodist Conference in Scarborough.
Along with four other Probationer Ministers who studied with me at Wesley House, Cambridge, I will be ordained at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley at 4:30 pm on Sunday the 6th of July. A dozen or so people from Kidderminster will be there at Beverley for the ordination.
A number of people have asked me why I have to go all the way to Beverley to be ordained. The answer is that every year The Methodist Church holds an annual Conference somewhere in the country and all the ordinations happen during that Conference. This year, Conference just happens to be in Scarborough. There will be about 50 new ministers being ordained and we can’t all fit into one place with our guests, so we are divided up into different church locations according to the college or course we attended during training: for us, the nearest available church was in Beverley!
So what is so special about Conference? If we were a company, it would be like our Annual General Meeting, except that Conference has more authority than that. Conference decides not only what our procedures will be but also what our doctrines and disciplines are. We are a ‘connexional’ church (‘connectional’ in today’s language): neither a dictatorship nor strictly a democracy, but a community of Christians who seek to govern their affairs nationally as a connected community of congregations. This is why local congregations are part of a circuit and circuits are part of a District and the Districts send representatives to Conference.
If you understand the Methodist Church in this way, you can begin to see why ministers are ordained at Conference. Ministers may be called by God, but we are called to serve others: to serve the Church community as well as the community at large. The Church helps ministers to recognise our call in the first stages and it trains us. By being ordained at Conference, it is the entire Methodist Church of Great Britain that ordains us and not just our local church or circuit.
On Sunday the 6th of July, two things will happen to those of us about to be ordained. First, we will be ‘received into full connexion’ when Conference holds its morning worship service at Scarborough Spa. This means that Conference recognises us as brother and sister ministers and it is only from this point forward that the Church is obliged to ordain us! Then, we will all travel to the locations where we will be ordained later that afternoon.
The ordination for those of us who trained at Wesley House will take place at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. The Revd Ian White will preside at communion and the preacher will be the Revd Inderjit Bhogal; they are both former Presidents of Conference. Each of us Ordinands will have hands laid upon him or her by the Revd White and by a representative of Methodism abroad; in our case, this is Bishop Carlos Poma from the Methodist Church in Bolivia. In addition, a minister who we have each invited to assist us will lay hands on us; I have invited my friend, the Revd Mark Wakelin, to be my ‘assisting minister’.
The journey to ordination is one that each individual takes with the support of the Church and of many Christian brothers and sisters. I am grateful to all of you for your support and your kindness and the tolerance that you have shown me when I have put a foot wrong or come up with some wacky idea! May I take this opportunity to thank everyone for your love and prayers; please be assured of my prayers in return.
The article below is one that I wrote for the church newsletter to try to explain a bit about the process of ordination. If I got anything wrong, I'm open to correction by more knowledgeable readers of this blog.
===
If you are reading this July edition of the newsletter during the first two weeks of July, chances are that I will be away; first on retreat in Durham, and then at the Methodist Conference in Scarborough.
Along with four other Probationer Ministers who studied with me at Wesley House, Cambridge, I will be ordained at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley at 4:30 pm on Sunday the 6th of July. A dozen or so people from Kidderminster will be there at Beverley for the ordination.
A number of people have asked me why I have to go all the way to Beverley to be ordained. The answer is that every year The Methodist Church holds an annual Conference somewhere in the country and all the ordinations happen during that Conference. This year, Conference just happens to be in Scarborough. There will be about 50 new ministers being ordained and we can’t all fit into one place with our guests, so we are divided up into different church locations according to the college or course we attended during training: for us, the nearest available church was in Beverley!
So what is so special about Conference? If we were a company, it would be like our Annual General Meeting, except that Conference has more authority than that. Conference decides not only what our procedures will be but also what our doctrines and disciplines are. We are a ‘connexional’ church (‘connectional’ in today’s language): neither a dictatorship nor strictly a democracy, but a community of Christians who seek to govern their affairs nationally as a connected community of congregations. This is why local congregations are part of a circuit and circuits are part of a District and the Districts send representatives to Conference.
If you understand the Methodist Church in this way, you can begin to see why ministers are ordained at Conference. Ministers may be called by God, but we are called to serve others: to serve the Church community as well as the community at large. The Church helps ministers to recognise our call in the first stages and it trains us. By being ordained at Conference, it is the entire Methodist Church of Great Britain that ordains us and not just our local church or circuit.
On Sunday the 6th of July, two things will happen to those of us about to be ordained. First, we will be ‘received into full connexion’ when Conference holds its morning worship service at Scarborough Spa. This means that Conference recognises us as brother and sister ministers and it is only from this point forward that the Church is obliged to ordain us! Then, we will all travel to the locations where we will be ordained later that afternoon.
The ordination for those of us who trained at Wesley House will take place at Toll Gavel United Church in Beverley. The Revd Ian White will preside at communion and the preacher will be the Revd Inderjit Bhogal; they are both former Presidents of Conference. Each of us Ordinands will have hands laid upon him or her by the Revd White and by a representative of Methodism abroad; in our case, this is Bishop Carlos Poma from the Methodist Church in Bolivia. In addition, a minister who we have each invited to assist us will lay hands on us; I have invited my friend, the Revd Mark Wakelin, to be my ‘assisting minister’.
The journey to ordination is one that each individual takes with the support of the Church and of many Christian brothers and sisters. I am grateful to all of you for your support and your kindness and the tolerance that you have shown me when I have put a foot wrong or come up with some wacky idea! May I take this opportunity to thank everyone for your love and prayers; please be assured of my prayers in return.
25 June 2008
GAFCON - The Beginning of a Movement
The Church Times Blog reports that GAFCON - the meeting of conservative Anglican bishops who are meeting in Jerusalem after being asked by the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem not to do so because of tension in the Holy Land - have declared themselves to be the beginning of a movement.
In my view, this movement has no moral credibility as long as it welcomes - or even tolerates - the imprisonment of gay people for being gay. And then, of course, there were the 'unsubstantiated' death threats to gay Christian leaders.
This kind of thing is extremely frustrating. ('Extremely' doesn't even express it - bang-your-head-on-a-brick-wall frustrating, more like.) This movement purports to be a movement of gospel truth and it's condoning the imprisonment of gay people under the banner of the Gospel.
The Rt Revd Dr Nazir-Ali says he can't attend Lambeth as "...a matter of conscience. I would find it difficult to be in a eucharistic gathering around the Lord’s table with people who have, again and again, said no to the Church’s request not to do something that is contrary to the Bible and the unanimous teaching of the Church down the ages.”
Dr. Nazir-Ali and other British senior clerics should repudiate and discipline those in the conservative movement who continue to turn a blind eye to the persecution of gay people. I respect the theological position that says homosexual acts are wrong. I do not respect those who turn a blind eye to violence. Such actions have all the hallmarks of 'them-and-us' warfare rather than a desire for truth in the name of Christ.
I realise that, theoretically, I don't have a dog in this fight not being an Anglican, but sometimes you just have to say that wrong is wrong.
In my view, this movement has no moral credibility as long as it welcomes - or even tolerates - the imprisonment of gay people for being gay. And then, of course, there were the 'unsubstantiated' death threats to gay Christian leaders.
This kind of thing is extremely frustrating. ('Extremely' doesn't even express it - bang-your-head-on-a-brick-wall frustrating, more like.) This movement purports to be a movement of gospel truth and it's condoning the imprisonment of gay people under the banner of the Gospel.
The Rt Revd Dr Nazir-Ali says he can't attend Lambeth as "...a matter of conscience. I would find it difficult to be in a eucharistic gathering around the Lord’s table with people who have, again and again, said no to the Church’s request not to do something that is contrary to the Bible and the unanimous teaching of the Church down the ages.”
Dr. Nazir-Ali and other British senior clerics should repudiate and discipline those in the conservative movement who continue to turn a blind eye to the persecution of gay people. I respect the theological position that says homosexual acts are wrong. I do not respect those who turn a blind eye to violence. Such actions have all the hallmarks of 'them-and-us' warfare rather than a desire for truth in the name of Christ.
I realise that, theoretically, I don't have a dog in this fight not being an Anglican, but sometimes you just have to say that wrong is wrong.
24 June 2008
Zimbabwe Petition
Please consider signing the following petition at Avaaz.com:
Hat tip to Dave Faulkner
Petition to Thabo Mbeki and other leaders of Southern Africa: We call on you to hold an emergency meeting of Southern African leaders, to work by all means necessary for a legitimate Zimbabwean government that reflects the will of its people, and to decisively isolate those who stand in the way of a peaceful, democratic future for Zimbabwe.The petition can be accessed here.
Hat tip to Dave Faulkner
14 June 2008
13 June 2008
James Alison on Forgiveness
Quotation of the day on forgiveness by one of my favourite Girardian theologians:
..this is what acting out forgiveness in the world looks like: it looks like knowing that you are dealing with dangerous people, who are more than likely to be deeply destabilized by your innocence and because of that to seek to lynch you.I also recommend the Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary website from which this quotation is taken.
08 June 2008
Feeling a Bit Proud
We had a bit of a panic at one of my small churches because many of the usual collectors for Christian Aid week were away from home for various reasons. In the event, we were able to recruit a few new collectors at the last minute.
It turns out that we raised as much money from door to door collections as a number of churches with 3 to 8 times our membership.
I'm very proud of this church. Out of small acorns mighty oaks can grow. 'Even' small churches can make a difference.
It turns out that we raised as much money from door to door collections as a number of churches with 3 to 8 times our membership.
I'm very proud of this church. Out of small acorns mighty oaks can grow. 'Even' small churches can make a difference.
(I wanted to give a link to Christian Aid but I don't appear to be able to do so at the moment.)
07 June 2008
Alum Rock
Here is a very interesting post on the subject of Christian/Muslim relations at Alum Rock by Richard Sudworth. Hat tip to Richard Hall at Connexions.
Richard Sudworth gives us some vital local information. His church stands across the street from the mosque in Alum Rock. He says:
Richard Sudworth gives us some vital local information. His church stands across the street from the mosque in Alum Rock. He says:
Let me fill you on on some extra information:What we have here is some additional local information about the every-day context of real Christians and real Muslims living together in their own community. This sort of information is vital before Christians start repeating stories about the existence of 'no go areas' for Christians.
1. the local Anglican church had a Good Friday walk of witness this Easter, singing choruses and handing out leaflets explaining the Christian faith. The local majority Muslim community welcomed this event and the police were informed and had a minimal presence as part of the gathering
2. every year, the local Roman Catholic convent and church parade a statue of the Virgin Mary, handing out flowers and rosaries as prayers. This is an annual part of local diversity expressed and hundreds of Muslims stand out on the streets to welcome the parade.
In fact, I would assert that it is most certainly a violation of the commandment to not bear false witness to start making such accusations before having all the facts. As Christians, we are duty-bound to defend the truth. We may have theological differences with Muslims but those theological differences do not permit us to jump on the bandwagon of scapegoatting.
06 June 2008
Kiva
I have just had a Kiva loan repaid which reminded me that I had never blogged about Kiva.
Kiva is a microlending organisation that lends money at 0% interest to small business owners in a variety of countries. The lending is done through local agencies who develop relationships with the small businesses involved. You can lend as much as you like and Kiva aggregates the individual lenders until the borrower's target is reached. You can choose the person and business to whom you lend.
For instance, I just had $25 repaid by a lady in Latin America who borrowed $400 from Kiva for a year. I can now relend this money to someone else. I could also withdraw the money if I wanted to.
What I love about Kiva is that the money can get reused and recirculated. Although I also give money to charities, I try to initiate a new Kiva loan regularly and over the years my 'pot' of money to lend others will build up. And because the money is lent at 0% interest, there are no issues of exploitation. Kiva also give lenders the opportunity to contribute an extra 10% of the loan to Kiva's administration, but you can choose not to give to Kiva if you don't want to.
Kiva is a microlending organisation that lends money at 0% interest to small business owners in a variety of countries. The lending is done through local agencies who develop relationships with the small businesses involved. You can lend as much as you like and Kiva aggregates the individual lenders until the borrower's target is reached. You can choose the person and business to whom you lend.
For instance, I just had $25 repaid by a lady in Latin America who borrowed $400 from Kiva for a year. I can now relend this money to someone else. I could also withdraw the money if I wanted to.
What I love about Kiva is that the money can get reused and recirculated. Although I also give money to charities, I try to initiate a new Kiva loan regularly and over the years my 'pot' of money to lend others will build up. And because the money is lent at 0% interest, there are no issues of exploitation. Kiva also give lenders the opportunity to contribute an extra 10% of the loan to Kiva's administration, but you can choose not to give to Kiva if you don't want to.
04 June 2008
Leading Worship
Stuart Blyte makes some good, sensible observations about leading worship on his thread 10 well in fact 5 Thesis on the Worship Leaders Door.
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