Do Not be Afraid

 

Earlier this week I attended a carol service at All Hallows by The Tower of London.  It was a lovely occasion, and I went at the kind invitation of a church member.  It was put on by three of the City Guilds, one of which she is a member.  I was thrilled because The Company of Watermen and Lightermen were present and in recent months we’ve discovered that my 8x grandfather was a waterman on the Thames, based at Southwark, and my 7x grandfather a lighterman.

During the service I listened to the traditional Christmas readings and was struck afresh by a phrase describing Herod as he heard from the Wise Men of the birth of Jesus that he was ‘sore afraid’!  Such a contrast to the message of the angels to the shepherds to ‘be not afraid’.

I wonder why we so often live in fear?

It often comes our way when sense we are losing control, influence, or power.  Our very identity seems to float away from us when, say: our children start making their own decisions, we retire, our bodies grow older, or we find ourselves in a pandemic. 

I suspect we are all prone, sometimes with good reason, not only to be afraid of the ‘worst case scenario’, but actually to live it, even though it hasn’t arrived.

Maybe an antidote to fear is a greater trust in the God of Surprises. 

Perhaps the worst case will come our way, yet even in extremis we can find ourselves wonderfully, and comfortingly, surprised by the help, strength and new possibilities that come our way at the bleakest of moments.

The God of Surprises comes to us in many a guise and often through people.  I especially love that hymn line, ‘I will hold the Christ-light for you, in the night-time of your fear’, hinting that friends, family and neighbours might be God's gift to us in our darkest moments. 

So, as this is the last blog of 2021, may I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we remember, with faith in our hearts, that ancient message of the Bethlehem angels, ‘Do not be afraid’.

Differentness into Oneness

 

There seems to be two, polarised, reactions when encountering ‘otherness’.  For the eager traveller, or the cook who is constantly searching for new flavours, ‘otherness’ is a joy.  Yet for those who feel confused or undermined by differences in race, colour, language, and culture, ‘otherness’ becomes a threat.  After all, it’s the easiest thing in the world to view mine as the ‘standard’ context or the ‘normal’ way of being.

Last Saturday, whilst on a family history detective walk, we came across this school mural in Paddington.  We both, it seems, have past relatives who lived near there, next to Little Venice with its wonderful canals and waterways.  We had lunch outside the church at which my relatives got married one day in 1904, and Rachel’s the next.  There they are, one after the other, in the marriage register.  But…I digress!

Whilst exploring we stumbled upon this picture which greets primary school children in Paddington every day.  A picture displaying a diverse, multi-ethnic group of youngsters and one that probably reflects the school’s demographic.  This is a picture, and I suspect this is also a school, that celebrates ‘different-ness’ even as it values ‘common-ness’.  Because, surely, one can grow into the other.

I remember one evening at home, during my teenage years, having dinner around the family table.  I mentioned that I’d run into a friend of my parents whilst at the dentist.  When asked if we’d had a conversation I replied, with more than a tad of youthful arrogance, that we hadn’t talked much because it was clear we had different interests.  Well, my father, quite rightly, couldn’t let that pass and said that, maybe if I’d been more willing to have a chat, I might have discovered we had more in common that I realised.  It was a good and important lesson.  I wasn’t grateful for it at the time, but my father’s words mysteriously seem to have got wiser, as I have grown older!!

‘Different-ness’ may be the starting place and is regularly worth celebrating, yet scratch below the surface, listen, talk, explore stories together, and what we end up valuing is the ‘commonality’ that truly binds us together.

In the Christmas story which beckons us forward during these December days, both the shepherds and the Wise Men represent ‘different-ness’.  Yet, at the manger, kneeling before the Love that holds the universe together, we see a common humanity which, thankfully, draws us all in.

‘Different-ness’ leading to ‘Common-ness’.  A precious and necessary process in life and found in the story of that first Christmas.

Radio Christmas Talk

Radio Christmas studio this morning

For me, one of the joys of currently living with fewer restrictions is the almost weekly opportunity, on my day off, of going into London and attending Great Sacred Music at St Martin in the Fields.  It’s a thirty-five minute sequence of hymns and anthems, sung by St Martins Voices, with introductions and reflections offered in between each one from The Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of this world famous church on the edge of Trafalgar Square.  It’s a precious well-spring and I’m immensely grateful for it.

Last week I had a little time to spare before Great Sacred Music began so I spent it in the National Gallery, turning left at the top of the stairs and heading to the Medieval section, full of church art.  These particular galleries contain numerous paintings, often from Italian churches, which have remained as inspiringly vibrant and colourful as when painted centuries ago.

Apart from the beauty of these images the thing that struck me most was their date.  Many came from the 14^th century.  This wasn’t an idyllic age, but one dominated by bubonic plaque, the Black Death.   I’m amazed that in a day and age when fear and anxiety hung heavy in the air, that artists could lift their horizons and paint with such hope.  It’s as if, in the face of death, they choose deliberately and purposefully to believe in hope.  I came away from the gallery thankful not simply for these stunning paintings but also for those who painted them with such insight.

A year ago yesterday the first vaccine was approved here in the UK.  In the midst of our despair came a great moment of hope and a different day began to dawn. 

Indeed, throughout recent months we have been surrounded by hope, expressed through the wonders of science, the provision of government, the companionship of people and the deep security which faith in God can bring.

In these early days of Advent, even with a dusting of snow over Amersham yesterday, we are invited once more, whatever the backdrop of our lives, to place our trust anew in the One who came as light and hope for our world.  For generations people of faith have learnt that no matter what our challenges, be it war or plague, God walks alongside us even on the bleakest of days and holds us.  We stand on the shoulders of giants, those who have gone before and kept trusting, kept believing and kept hoping.  Let’s not drop the baton now but once again place our hope in the One who once said: I am with you till the end of the age.

May God’s hope fill our lives, today and always.

Christian Aid

 

Our local Christian Aid Action Group has sent us this link as we plan out gift giving this Advent:

https://giving.give-star.com/online/christian-aid/amersham-and-chesham-bois-ca-group-christmas-2021-no-more-impossible-choices

Open for Nominations

 

AFC Church Meeting 21.11.21

In the early 1980’s I was elected, in my early 20’s, as Treasurer of Locks Heath Free Church, Southampton and it was the quickest election I’ve experienced in church life.

Locks Heath was a new church, combining an existing URC congregation and newly formed Baptist one, under the leadership of a minister (Home Mission funded) who had left Chorleywood Free Church to serve alongside us in Southampton.

So, one summer’s evening we all gathered in the Manse sitting room (as there weren’t too many of us at that time) to elect a Church Secretary and Treasurer.  As I worked for the Midland Bank, and people mistakenly thought I knew a thing or two about maths and money, the treasurer’s job came my way; all within ten minutes of it being declared vacant!

Fortunately I didn’t hold it very long, as soon afterwards a Bank Manager joined the new church and I was pushed in another direction, that of training for ordination.

All churches are dependent on the good people who fill roles such as secretary and treasurer.  It’s no good just having a congregation as churches are required, by law, to have ‘office holders’ too.  As a Free Church we may be independent of Bishops, but not of The Charity Commission!

So, as Janet comes to the end of seven years of exemplary service as our secretary, and Bob embarks upon his seventh and final year as treasurer, we are now actively looking for their replacements.

On Sunday, at our Church Meeting, we accepted the job description for the new Secretary or Joint-Secretaries.  So, after lots of thought and meetings, we have a document.  All we need now is a person or people to fill the role!

A few years ago The Revd Dr Nigel Wright, then Principal of my old theological college in South London, Spurgeon’s, wrote a book about church leadership.  He gave a scholarly introduction about the names we give leaders, such as: elders, deacons, ministers, pastors, priests, moderators, bishops.

He concluded that, in the end the important thing was never what you called the ‘office’ but WHO filled it.

I think he has a point.

 So, as a congregation we are praying and planning for the future, hoping that someone, or more than one, will hear God’s call and respond, ‘Here I am Lord’.

We are open for nominations!

A Vulnerable God?

 

The liturgical Church Year (the Year of Mark) comes to an end this Sunday with the Feast of Christ the King; so, many churches will be singing Crown Him with Many Crowns.

‘Christ the King’ came about just before World War Two when the Pope, conscious of the growing totalitarian regimes then flourishing in Europe, instituted a Sunday when Christians would do well to think of God as a different sort of king; one who is just.

Of course, it’s always a bit of a ‘fool’s errand’ attempting to describe God in human terms at all.  The Jewish Scriptures were surely wise invoking that divine title of I am who I am.

On Wednesday this week I had the joy of leading a small evening study group at church.  In one of the side rooms, as we were serenaded by a Community Choir giving it their all in The Sanctuary across the corridor, we looked at the passage from Mark’s gospel where James and John request a seat at the top table in heaven.  Themes of ‘power’ and ‘control ‘were before us as all this was challenged by Jesus who declares I did not come to be served but to serve and give my life…

If we believe Jesus shows us the character of God, then surely ‘service’ is a core component of that character.

I love the parable story often called The Lost Son which could easily be labelled The Loving Father. This is the picture of a parent who is vulnerable in their longing and their waiting.  A parent whose love is never manipulative.  When the Prodigal does appear on the horizon this parent runs to greet him with open arms.

Over recent weeks we have begun to appreciate that our own Queen is becoming more vulnerable.  She has served us with exemplary faithfulness and I suspect our love and respect for her is not diminished as she now enters into years that are calmer and less busy.

Kingship obviously has elements of power intrinsic to it, yet the bible also describes God, seen through the prism of Jesus, in terms of loving, even vulnerable, service.

Graham Kendrick was, I think, much inspired when he wrote of the Lord Jesus Christ: Hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered.

The Blessings of Technology

 

I took this photo of the telly at the Manse as I tuned in to a recording on YouTube of last Sunday’s service from AFC.  I think it’s wonderful that for well over a year now every Sunday service at AFC has been made available on the internet by about mid-afternoon on the same day.  It’s our way of trying to enable those who do not yet feel able to return to ‘in Person’ worship to still feel part of us.

Technology really has been a blessing over recent months and, as someone who is rather ‘technologically challenged’, I’m grateful for it.

Last evening I took part in the Zoom presentation sponsored by COTHA looking at Climate Change and I was thrilled to hear that last year we in Britain produced more power from ‘renewables’ than from carbon based production.  This progress has been as swift as it is welcome in being part of the answer to the combating the disastrous warming of our planet, and technology has made it possible.

And then at lunchtime today we concluded two days of Convocation for The Order for Baptist Ministry, of which I’m a member (see photo opposite).  Alas we were unable to meet in person but, once again by the wonders of technology, we gathered over Zoom and enjoyed reflection, fellowship and challenge together.

Our God is not only the great creator behind the beautiful falling autumn leaves but also the microchips that drive our phones, computers and factory equipment.  And obviously God approves of technology – after all His Son must have been good with tools in that carpenter’s workshop!

The Importance of Welcome

 Whilst on holiday in The New Forest last week we visited Christchurch Priory.  It’s an inspiring building and very welcoming.  I was particularly struck by a prayer that is on display as you enter the north door, one written by Thomas Ken, all about the importance of welcome.

It’s sometimes said that people make up their minds about whether or not to return to a church within minutes of arriving at a service, depending on the welcome their received at the door!

The gift of hospitality is one we should constantly strive for.  I hope, and believe, it’s offered at AFC in all sorts of ways and I’m grateful for those who have a way with them in getting alongside newcomers in a warm and encouraging way.

Thomas Ken’s words are as profound as they are poetic.

The Leaves of the Trees

 Hazel has shared with us some details of an inspiring art instalation that is coming to St Alban's Abbey this month.  It shows many leaves, appropriate for this autumn season, and it is intended to be a message full of both beauty and hope.

https://peterwalkersculptor/?page_id=996

Everyday Faith

 

I enjoy belonging to a couple of Book Groups.  One is made up of Baptist Ministers and, truth to tell, we often discuss much more than the book!  The other is a church group here at AFC and we met this week to reflect on the book Pillars by Rachel Pieh Jones.

As is so often the case, we all gained something different from the book and its enlightening to hear the variety of responses that one text can elicit.  It’s rather like a family discussing their individual favourite parts of a shared meal! I loved the meat, but you preferred the vegetables!

Pillars tells the story of Rachel’s life, as a young American ex pat, living in the Horn of Africa in an Islamic culture.  At one point she writes: I’ve read that some Muslims see prayer not as an interruption to their lives but as a call back to what is real. Rachel constantly observed the integration of faith and life around her so that for her many Muslim friends there was never a compartmentalization of the two.

Maybe we are not so good at this in Christianity?

I regularly come across the idea that attending worship or being involved in service is difficult for folk to ‘fit in’ to their busy lives.  It betrays the idea that, in essence, Christianity is an interruption to the normal, not an integral part of it, and that is a betrayal of the whole-life understanding of faith and life advocated by Jesus.  Indeed, I think he would wholeheartedly approve of the idea that prayer is not an interruption to our life but a call back to what is real.

ps. Blog holiday next week

Experiencing Covid

 The last week has been somewhat unusual at The Manse as both of us have had Covid.  Maybe, because I’m married to a teacher, it was inevitable.  Once the symptoms appear (in my case a high temperature and cough), and having posted off the PCR test, it’s a surreal moment to be pinged, in the middle of the night, by the NHS with the positive result.  You look twice to make sure it’s your name on the communication, an electronic missive that tells you about the legally binding isolation which is now in front of you.

Over these days we have both become grateful for the many ‘little’ encouragements which have smoothed our path.  Everything from supportive messages of goodwill to one son’s girlfriend picking up the dog walking!  And I was touched that Erna offered to read my sermon last Sunday – it was an unusual experience to tune in to the recording and hear your own words spoken by a colleague – and spoken very well I may say!!

I was intrigued to hear the other day that if we collected all the Covid virus up, that is now prevalent throughout the world, it would fill just half of a can of Coca Cola!  Amazing that something so little has blighted so much of the last two years.  Wonderful too, that those two trips I made to a pharmacy in Northwood to have the injections have personally meant that come the time when I had Covid my inconvenience was just for a mere ten days.  I am profoundly grateful to those scientists who developed the vaccine, and I’m thrilled that at AFC we can show our gratitude through the October Mission Offering as we support raising funds for Developing World inoculations.

Gorillas and Caesars!

 I’ve been struck by two very different images this.

One is of a gorilla, photo bombing someone taking a selfie.  She is Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla and she is sharing the moment with one of her friends at the gorilla orphanage in Virungo, Africa’s oldest national park located in the Congo.

Ndakasi died this week, aged 14 years, in the arms of the ranger, Andre Bauma, who rescued her back in 2007 when she was just two months old.  He parents had been shot dead by poachers and ever since the ranger, Bauma and the gorilla, Ndakasi have had something which seems like a father and daughter bond.

It’s a charming photo.  This adopted gorilla is doing her best, we are told, to imitate the man taking the selfie.

Those two words: adoption and imitation, are ones we often use when it comes to faith.  We are, as it were, ‘adopted’ by a loving and welcoming God as his beloved.  We then spend a lifetime of discipleship seeking to imitate the example left us by The Lord Jesus Christ.  We want our lives, in some small way, to reflect His.

Well, if Ndakasi looks statuesque in this photo my second image is actually a statue.  A statue of Julius Caesar.

I was listening to the engaging historian, Dr Mary Beard on the radio introduce her new book detailing the lives of the first dozen Caesars.  She mentioned that the Romans occasionally changed the heads on their statues.  So, if a Caesar’s reputation went down hill after the statue was erected, as it did in the case of both Nero and Caligula, rather than throw the statue in the river, the Romans simply pulled off that head and put another one on instead.  An early example of re-cycling!  So, Julius Caesar’s head was put on a statue of Alexander the Great.  One reputation on the way up, the other on the way down.

In fact the Romans had an official way of re-defining someone’s memory and it was called Damnation Memoriae.  It needed a vote in the Senate, and it effectively ‘corrected’ their image by taking them down a peg or two.  This happened to no less than 26 emperors; however, we must also be aware that the Senate deified another 25!

One of the problems we seem to be having with statues is accommodating the notion that all human beings are blended characters of the good and the bad.  Whilst we understandably want to re-evaluate whether people from the past deserve a place of honour, the truth is that statues, if they are of people, will inevitably be of flawed individuals.  And just changing their heads, as the Romans did, is not really a practical option in the current debate.

This leads me to rejoicing that in real life, before we immortalise anyone in stone, all of us are capable of change.  Indeed, it’s a mark of our maturity that we continue to grow, expand our understanding, and broaden our horizons.  We are a work in progress, not yet the finished article.  God and I know my faults, and by His grace, we are working on them together.  At least it’s one way to keep you head!

How do you spell that?

 

Sunday’s Harvest Festival was fun!  It was a real delight to welcome families and children along to the Worship Together service and then have so many people take part.  The Chiltern Food Bank has written thanking us for some 86kg worth of food, and so far we’ve raised around £500 for Operation Agri.

So, it was a shame about the preacher – me!!  There I was doing a ‘spelling game’ up the front trying to get other words out of the word Creation.  I thought I survived till the car journey home when Rachel looked at me smiling and said, you know you can’t get ENTIRE out of CREATION – it’s got two e’s!  To have made that mistake so publicly is quite an embarrassment, even if I did admit to everyone at the start of the talk that I’ve always been bad speller.  Well, Q.E.D!

At moments like these I’m grateful for a generous and forgiving congregation.  In fact, I thought the whole atmosphere on Sunday, from listening to Diane’s insightful presentation on the Foodbank to watching that wonderful Junior Church video about our church shrubbery, from being led in the visual prayers by Erna to the strong lead offered us by the music group as we sang, was all about being a ‘family’ at worship, accepting each other’s offerings with gratitude.

So, in making my spelling mistake – I’m glad it was at AFC amongst good hearted friends.

See you next weak….I mean week!

Ian

Goodbye Summer!

Well, as I write this Blog the sun is shining; perhaps far more than it did in August!  Yet, there is no doubt we are once again on the cusp of the seasons changing.

Now the Autumn Equinox of Wednesday is behind us we begin that inevitable march to the year’s end.

It's significant that in church services and private prayer we often mark these ‘on the cusp’ moments.  In the Monastic offices of the day, Lauds is said as the dawn breaks and Vespers is prayed at dusk.  And this weekend at AFC we hold our Harvest Festival which, to me at least, is an annual marker that summer is over and the autumn beginning.

As I ponder all this it strikes me that in observing these ‘transitional’ moments we are re-affirming our faith in the God who has walked with us in the past and promises to take us in coming days.  Life has a momentum which is unstoppable, and our moments are usually anything but truly ‘settled’.  In a way, as we emerge from the Pandemic, gradually and cautiously, we are once again in another ‘on the cusp’ phase. 

The hymn we often sing at New Year has a refrain that seems equally appropriate as the seasons change: So, it’s from the old we travel to the new, keep me travelling along with you…

The Life behind the Words

 

This week it was my privilege to officiate at the funeral of a father of an AFC member. The tributes given in honour of this ‘gentle-man’ were touching and one has lingered with me. He would often encourage the family with the single word ‘steady’.  I am sure it would have been said when they were facing a complex decision or needed strength and courage to take certain actions.  Well, his grandson said in tribute to him, that now he often says that word to himself, ‘steady’, when he’s up against it.  The influence of his beloved grandpa lives on.

It does in my own life too. For my grandfather would often say ‘life isn’t a rehearsal’, meaning everyday was the ‘real thing’ and needs to be lived with energy and determination.  I often think of that, as I often think of him.

The point, I think, is this: we recall these words and phrases because they were matched with a life that authenticates them. Both the words and the life speak and validate each other.

I sense it is the same with the Lord Jesus Christ. His words speak truth to us and guide us, and his life inspires and motivates us.  The gospels brilliantly contain not just the SAYINGS of Jesus but also His STORY.  We are the beneficiaries of both.

Elders' Social at AFC on 3rd September 2021

 

When Less is More

 

Talk given at the restart of LunchBreak on Tuesday 7^th September 2021

There is a story doing the rounds that comes from the Conclave, the one convened in 2013, to elect the Pope.

Although all this happened behind closed, even locked doors, the Cardinals, apparently, asked three or four of their number (the front runners) to address them in the Sistine Chapel and speak about the vision for the Church’s future.  Obviously, this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and they all over ran their allotted time.  They tried to say everything and in doing so somewhat tested the patience of their audience.  Apart from one man, Argentina’s Jorge Bergoglio.  He spoke for less than his allotted time, so maybe it was his brevity that earnt him the papacy, for it was he who became the new Pope, Pope Francis.

I wonder what he left out?  I wonder what he thought was so important that he put it in?

Over these last 18 months, since we last had a Bite Sized Service in February 2020 to celebrate Epiphany, many things have been left out of our lives.  Meeting up, contact, hugging, shaking hands, seeing one another face to face.

We’ve discovered the value of less.  We, who have, relatively speaking, been so used to more, have felt the significance of the changing seasons, have been uplifted by a kind word spoken on a telephone call, have been thrilled to come back to a church service even if it meant wearing a mask and not singing.  Less has become more and the worth of the ‘ordinary’ has made a new impression on us.

Chatting to a neighbour in Lockdown, he said to me it wasn’t the expensive cruises he’d missed the most, but driving over to Cambridge to be with the grandchildren.

We’ve been recalibrating our values and it’s not the number of our words, or the monetary value of our gifts that matter most, but the spirit of open generosity in which they are given that truly blesses people around us.

So, we’ve missed you.  We missed LunchBreak.

This re-start isn’t quite the old LunchBreak, yet in a way less is more.  Because even though we might miss the food, what we value most is the fellowship.

Manse Garden Party: Sunday 29th August 2021

 

'Blast Off' Sunday!

 It is popular, amongst the churches of North America, to designate one of the Sundays in September as their re-start day after the summer break.  These used to be called ‘Rally’ Sundays.  One church I know now gives it the rather more modern sounding designation of ‘Blast Off’ Sunday.

September, often treated by churches and educational establishments as a ‘New Year’, is a month full of promise as we once more take up old routines refreshed by our summer break.  And, in many ways, such an atmosphere of hopeful expectation is to be once again found amongst us in September 2021.

However, we know that in reality we are not returning to the calmer and less anxious days of pre-March 2020.  Although many of our organisations have planned to ‘return’ this autumn, none of us know how things will work out.  We have become used to living with such uncertainty.  Our diary entries are now, as it were, more often made in pencil than permanent ink.

Perhaps we never thought it would be like this.  We envisaged there would be a universally declared day of rejoicing after the last infection was logged.  Yet in this Virus War, although so much wonderful progress has been through the roll out of the vaccine, it doesn’t look as if there will be the equivalent of VE Day any time soon.

What, I wonder, is our reaction to such uncertainty?  At least two possibilities exist:

One is to be a ‘Temple People’ and value ritual and tradition, all carried out in a huge edifice that spoke of permanence and security.  I’m not sure this is the best mindset for today.

There is, however, another way, and that is to be a ‘Tabernacle People’.  Just like in the story of Exodus, we travel with God putting up our tent in the most unlikely places, confident that God’s strength, peace, wisdom, and joy will enable us to meet new challenges and situations with faith, trust in our hearts.  New contexts and fresh challenges come our way daily. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but that’s part and parcel of ‘travelling hopefully’.

So, September has dawned.  We’ve made a few plans.  We are putting our best foot forward and, with God’s help, doing what we can, when we can.  We won’t, I think, have a ‘Blas Off’ Sunday at AFC – but we are in for something of an unknown voyage of discovery.

p.s.  We recently worshipped at Southwark Cathedral and a report on that visit can be found at:
https://viewfromthepewsabbatical.blogspot.com

Meeting Liz and Sergio

On Tuesday 20th July 2021, at 6.30pm, we are hosting an In Person meeting with our Link Missionaries, Liz and Sergio Vilela.  It will be in our church hall and preceeds our July Church Meeting.

The Vilelas work alongside the Mozambique Baptist Convention.  A union of some 726 churches with 109,000 members.

According the the United Nations, 70% of people live in poverty in Mozambique.  On the Human Development Index, the country is ranked 181 out of 187 with a 3rd of people suffering from malnutrition, only half having access to clean water and life expectancy standing at 55 years.

Liz and Sergio met in Brazil when Sergio was serving with YWAM.  Before going to Mozambique in 2013 they worked at Saffron Walden Baptist Church as youth pastors.

The Vilelas live in the port city of Beira and have two children, Chloe and Joshua.  Sergio is involved in Mission Training whilst Liz works with Community Pre-School Playgroups.  Over recent months they have been involved with the building of two mills in Buzi and Dombi, both towns hit by Cyclone Idai in 2019.

Recently it was reported that only 6 out of 100 Primary School children in Mozambique know how to read well, partly because class sizes are typically 100.  Since the Pandemic children have, on average, only been able to attend school 2 days a week.

Liz and Sergio have been on home assignment here in England since 25th April and AFC will be one of the last churches they visit before they return to Mozambique.

If you are able you will be very welcome to join us at next Tuesday's gathering as we meet them and learn more about their minitry.

(The Blog will return in September - have a good summer)

From Sunday 25th July...

 

Street Kids Direct Prayer Letter

 

Keeping your hat on

 

I was interested to see that a new statue for the fourth plinth has been announced this week.  It shows the Baptist Minister, John Chilembwe from Malawi, standing alongside the missionary John Chorley.

It may seem an odd choice.  The significance is that Chilembwe has his hat on in the presence of a white man.  The statue is based on a 1914 photograph of both men standing outside of Chilembwe's new church at a time when it was against the law for a black not to remove his hat standing next to a white man.

Chilembwe is now celebrated in Malawi every January 15^th as a true patriot and nationalist.

The statue shows Chilembwe now much bigger than Chorley.  An artistic statement declaring just how much things have changed since 1914.

John Chilembwe set up schools in Malawi as well as building the brick church we see him standing outside of in the photograph.  He felt constantly oppressed by British imperialism and was particularly horrified at the way the authorities treated starving refugees from Mozambique.

In the end Chilembwe headed up a revolt against the British in which he lost his life.

The forthcoming statue in Trafalgar square prompts many important and relevant questions.

It also gives us an additional commentary on an incident that happened decades later in South Africa as told by Desmond Tutu.  He says he only joined the Anglican Church because one day the Parish Priest in Soweto, Trevor Huddleston, whilst walking through the township passed Tutu and his mother and raised his hat in respectful greeting to Mrs Tutu.  Desmond was amazed at the honour his mother was being shown by a white man. 

That incident becomes even more profound when read in the context of John Chilembwe’s experience. 

Who would have thought that either keeping your hat on, or taking it off, could have had such significance in African history?  Outward actions that contained such profound meaning and value.

Days to Cherish

On Thursday, 1^st July 2021, in the grounds of Kensington Palace, Princes William and Harry unveiled a statue to their late mother: Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Princess and I have something in common, and probably only one thing.  We were both born in the same year, 1961.  So, this year would have marked her 60^th birthday too.

The unveiling has brought home to me that I have had the good fortune of living the years she lost.

Our youngest son was ‘Dedicated’ at church the day Diana died. An occasion that should have been a celebration of life was also one overshadowed by a sense of national loss and mourning.

In the twenty-four years since I have served in three further Pastorates, and we have seen our children grow into fine young men.  Years I have cherished.

We are all saddened when a life is cut short, whether that is through illness, pandemic, or war.  Any passing is hard, a premature one especially so.

Those of us who have lived the years that others have not known are grateful for the blessings that have come our way.

I sense a similar attitude of thanksgiving and determination is to be found among us as we emerge from this pandemic.  So many have died, so we who have survived are grateful for the coming days and walk into them with renewed appreciation. As life once more begins to open up, we have become aware that the simplest of pleasures often bring the deepest joys.

A central truth of the faith we profess is that life is to be treasured and every day cherished.

Thanks be to God.

Reception rather than Broadcast Mode

 

I recently read the idea that we in The Church might do well to shift our focus from time to time from Broadcast to Reception mode.  Perhaps that needs a bit of unpacking!

It is, of course, true that we continue to believe the message from Jesus about the love of God is always worth sharing.  The question is often: how?

If we stick to Broadcast mode our prime activity would be one of proclamation.  Yet in a day and age when there is an abundance of religious and spiritual ideas around, we might also recognise that we need to earn the right to speak into that arena.  We do that by travelling alongside folk in Reception mode. Being someone’s friend and listening to them is just as much ‘ministry’ and ‘service’ as me standing up in a pulpit and proclaiming week by week.  We need both modes of communication in the Church.

I hope we did a bit of that in welcoming the COVD Testing Centre to our building over recent months.  We discovered our community had a need, we listened to their request and offered to help as much as we could.

The Baptist Church at Little Kingshill, just down the road, has been involved in a similar project.  Their minister, Martin, explains in a recent edition of Central News, the regular Central Baptist Association newsletter:

Your church hall is empty, my coffee shops are closed due to Covid, and our village needs a hub; want to partner up and have a go at bringing a pop-up village shop with excellent coffee to Little Kingshill?  So went a phone call from coffee shop owner Silvio – a Kingshill resident with a chain of coffee shops in London.

Giving up our church hall to this new venture has opened the eyes of many.  It has opened the eyes of some in the village to the existence of our small church.  It has opened the eyes of others in the village to our genuine desire to serve Little Kingshill by providing what it needs most.  And it has opened the eyes of our fellowship to just how differently church might need to operate.

Well, some of our members have visited the Kingshill Kitchen and have sung its praises to me, even saying they provide dog ice cream!

Just one example, and I good one I think, of a church that has embraced both Broadcast and Reception modes.  Getting alongside the community and working together is surely one manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

Bits and Bobs Blog

Something of a 'bits and bobs' blog this week!

We were thrilled with the Junior Church cake and plant stall which took place last Sunday morning after morning service, in aid of the Wildlife Trust.  The idea came directly from Junior Church as a result of the Climate Sunday service in February.  Altogether, with extra money from the sale of tomoato plants the other week, around £390 was raised.  Well done!

We have decided, due to the delay in the lifting of restrictions, that all three of the Re-Set Discussion afternoons will now take place, not in person, but on Zoom and codes will be sent out soon.

We are delighted that our link missionaries, Liz and Sergio, have now been able to reschdule their visit to us.  It will happen on the same night as the July Church Meeting on 20th July 2021, and the programme will run as follows:

6.30pm: Reception for Liz and Sergio as we sit at tables of six
7.00pm: Bryan Long will lead a Question and Answer session with them after they have given us a short presentation of their work.
7.45pm: We say farewell to Liz and Sergo

8.00pm: We regroup for the Church Meeting

This Sunday sees the final Audio Service (For the time being at least!  Who knows what the future may bring).  Every week for 66 Sundays Sara has gone through service recordings and selected hymns and anthems suitable for this week's readings. Michael has then used his technical wizardry to assemble the various recordings sent in to him and make it into one service.  We are very grateful to the Auttons and will be saying a formal 'thank you' to them in church on Sunday.

And, finally, I have a Ministers' Book Group on Zoom this lunchtime and we have been reading Martyn Percy's book The Humble Church, I was struck by many things he writes not least this line:

If Christ was small enough to be comprehended, God would not be big enough to be worshipped... Food for thought!

In all you do this day, may you know God's blessing and peace.

Ian

 

The Z'ders

 

I recently read about the Z generation – those born after 1997 – that they are generally kind and accepting, eager and passionate to support new initiatives, yet also prone to flit between one cause and another and are not necessarily ‘joiners’ for the long term!

Each generation has its own strengths and weaknesses.  I just about belong to the Baby Boomers, my sons, on the other hand, are Millennials, sometimes referred to as the Y generation.

Of course, all these constructs are both helpful and artificial at the same time with exceptions found in each generation.

In our churches we often wish, and pray for, newer members to join us from the younger generations.  Yet, I wonder if we are aware of just how differently such folk may think to us and how they might expect things to be different. 

A few years ago, I led worship in a church I knew well, and one that had changed its generational focus in recent years.  It wasn’t long after the service ended that I chanced to hear some older folk at the back grumbling about the younger ones that day who had brought their coffee into the service, with the lads on the front row keeping their baseball caps on throughout the worship.

Intergenerational worship has its joys and challenges.

Jesus never grew into ‘old bones’ and, for that matter, never spoke over much about how either the structure or character of The Church might develop.  However, we do see from the Jewish tradition a very real emphasis on multi-aged liturgy, especially with the youngest at Passover starting the evening with the ceremonial asking of questions that unlocks the retelling of the Exodus story.

At AFC we are currently pondering how to make families and young people feel more welcome in our life together, with one possibility being a regular All Age Service – so watch this space!

As restrictions eased recently it was a joy at The Manse for us to welcome Rachel’s parents and uncle to lunch one Saturday.  Perhaps the most poignant part of the afternoon quietly happened in one corner of the room as I watched one of our sons go through a photo album of 2020 with his Gran.  There was a charming and warming dynamic between them, one of real interest and mutual sharing. 

Family get togethers, as they draw together all ages, are inevitably ‘compromise’ occasions.  For the older ones, it is probably too noisy, and for the younger ones it is too ‘slow’.  Yet, love binds these different generations together, often around a meal table sharing a meal.  Precious times.

I think that’s not a bad picture of church.  We are not all the same, yet love can keep us together.  Singing a song accompanied by drums may not be ‘our thing’, yet love helps us see it is someone else’s ‘thing’.  We use an old prayer full of ‘thee and thou’, it’s not the way we speak, yet love prompts us to value that prayer is precious to older folk who grew up in church with the AV version of scripture.

Perhaps it’s not popular these days to talk about church as a ‘family’, preferring instead to describe it, more inclusively, as a community.  Yet, I think it is not a bad description because in any family ‘give and take, ‘compromise’ and mutual acceptance of difference is somehow made possible because of love.  And perhaps in the end, that is the only thing that will make intergenerational church possible too. 

Message from Street Kids Direct

 

An invitation from Walsworth Road Baptist Church, Hitchin

 

Signposting a Bishop and a Prince at Pentecost

 

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost; a time when we remember God speaking to us in new ways we can understand.  Well, this year I have sensed God’s word touching my own life through the words of a bishop and prince – so I’m taking this opportunity through the blog to signpost them to you, hoping they may be a blessing in your life too.

The Bishop is Michael Curry, and he is the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church in North America and last Sunday he preached from the Canterbury Pulpit of Washington Cathedral.  You’ll find his sermon on YouTube and I’ve indicated its web address at the end of this piece.

Bishop Curry is a fiery preacher and he’s also a fine theologian.  You’ll probably need to lay down in a darkened room and catch your breath after you’ve listened to his sermon!  I loved it.  I loved the passion and sincerity.  I loved the insight and compassion.  I was particularly struck by the way he married together Christmas and Pentecost as he said:  At Pentecost, The Spirit gives birth to Jesus in the lives of human beings – Christmas happens – Pentecost becomes the extension of the Incarnation.

Perhaps it’s appropriate to listen to a bishop at Pentecost as one of the reasons sometimes given for their mitres is that they represent the tongues of fire that fell on those first disciples.  Quite a nice thought as a bishop, in full robes and mitre, does resemble a candle in some ways!  Well, Bishop Curry certainly reflected the light of Christ on Sunday and I thank God for him.

And what of The Prince?  Well, that would be Prince William, who this week has acted as the Queen’s representative, The Lord High Commissioner, at the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Yesterday, at its closing session the Prince said: As I sat in Canongate Kirk last Sunday listening to Neil Gardner’s sermon, I felt particularly fortunate that my week as Lord High Commissioner coincided with Pentecost.  A week that celebrates the way in which the Holy Spirit kindled within Jesus’ early followers a desire to learn from others – whose tongues they now understand – and to share far and wide the Christian message of love and service.  I have kept this message at the forefront of my mind this week.

Once again, I felt God speaking to me as I read these wonderful words.

Pentecost – a time to hear afresh the voice of God in many different tongues.  And this year I heard that word through a Bishop and a Prince.

May you know the blessing of God in all you do this day,

Ian

ps. Blog holiday next week!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czWAznNUT4

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks!

I think the last fourteen months has taught us that even old dogs can learn new tricks!  We have become adept at the technology that some of us thought was inevitably beyond us; and a certain flexibility, although grudging at first, has become a characteristic of all our lives.  Us ‘old dogs’ have, in short, discovered how to do things differently!

Pentecost was an ancient Jewish celebration for harvest and had, no doubt, a comfortable ring of familiarity about it; but not in the tumultuous year of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  On a day steeped in tradition God the Spirit stirs up the hearts and minds of Jerusalem worshippers who now see a certain spirituality outside the box of orthodoxy.  At Pentecost, the young see visions and the old dream dreams.

This weekend we once again celebrate the wonderful inclusivity of God.  A God who breaks out of boundaries and whose language is speech, silence, revelation, and nature.  Whose context is both sacred and ‘secular’ because this is the God who will always be both inside and outside the boxes we so carefully, yet foolishly, create.

I was struck, whilst watching a Channel Four documentary on the development of the vaccine, to hear why the CEO of Astra Zeneca agreed, in the first instance at least, that their roll out would be on a not-for-profit basis.  Why had he agreed to such a wonderful humanitarian solution which, in business terms sounds crazy?  Well, he said, if I had done anything else, my kids would have killed me!

God’s Holy Spirit of Love whispers to us in all places and through all people.  We hear the voice of God speaking to us even in the words of those from a different generation, tradition or language, and we are thankful.

There is a certain spirituality that belongs to Church.  Other variations are found in the home, down the street, on the internet, at a Retreat House or as part of a job.  God can, and is, present in all.  His universalist nature is the message of Whit Sunday.  God, found outside the box.

Pandemic and Pentecost – both can teach old dogs new tricks.hel’s Family Visiting