tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292852909337104102024-03-16T18:51:56.946+00:00Ian's BlogIan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.comBlogger720125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-25317854206334232022024-03-14T11:10:00.000+00:002024-03-14T11:10:14.468+00:00A Loaf of Bread<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lOz2MA-qbXPmN1tWL61YZafOVXyE6CQOQrMcuzrVFl7nY0ZdP8rGfPLKOCzxolagbI8F0GugdHPGmYgBZyQ04BME7zALQwl8g6quyhgABOJsthzc8xfW08xhV76LFtdjTJDjwjp5710viapnvx9FMsSHCIE79QsDGzKa8m7LTVRhxLDQMSRCCYWnBF8/s900/challah-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lOz2MA-qbXPmN1tWL61YZafOVXyE6CQOQrMcuzrVFl7nY0ZdP8rGfPLKOCzxolagbI8F0GugdHPGmYgBZyQ04BME7zALQwl8g6quyhgABOJsthzc8xfW08xhV76LFtdjTJDjwjp5710viapnvx9FMsSHCIE79QsDGzKa8m7LTVRhxLDQMSRCCYWnBF8/w400-h266/challah-7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>My wife got a bit cross with me the other day for buying a
bread more expensive than our usual. Apparently,
there are now 200 different sorts of bread available in the UK. Well, I purchased one that didn’t cost the
usual £1.20, but £2.20. Trouble is my
wife is a maths teacher so she can quickly shame me by working out the cost of
each slice! Rather takes away the fun.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Well, it got me interested to do a bit of research into
bread and I learnt that 99.8% of us eat it, that’s no less than 11 million loaves
baked every day in Britain. Typically,
every individual eats 60 loaves a year, and of that 50% will be consumed in
sandwiches.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In Jesus’ time most bread was wholegrain – not the refined white bread we often
have today, and the Jewish law allowed for 10% of a loaf to be gritty! Archaeologists often discover that people’s
teeth from this period have been ground down because of the bread they ate!<br />
<br />
The poor had the cheapest form of bread which is Barley bread – as featured in the
story of the Feeding of the 5000.<br /><br />I have a small rock at home that I often bring out in Lent
which I think looks remarkably like a bread roll – it wouldn’t do your teeth
any good at all as it’s 100% grit!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It’s a rock that reminds me of Jesus time in the desert,
during his temptations which we remember during these days of Lent, when our
Lord refused to turn the stones into bread just to satisfy his own hunger.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Interesting that, because later on at the Feeding of the
5000 that’s exactly what he did with the 5 loaves of barley – so what’s the
difference?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Well, in the wilderness Jesus would have been using his
powers just to serve himself and at the Feeding of the 5000 he was using them
to serve others.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I think he was teaching us a great lesson there, that
serving God is essentially about serving others, being generous with our time
and helpful to others with our talents.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">During these days of Lent,
we recall that Jesus once said he did not come to be served but to serve.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And we give thanks for all those who serve us
with their generosity, love and kindness everyday.</span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-90255416646879569882024-03-07T15:25:00.000+00:002024-03-07T15:25:11.863+00:00A warm welcome from Harlesden<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4HMiBPv7hVyXLGQeQYnkgij1Jtdn-qsAK8kOgF7nQbuynYdagObg1ED6eQA28qKhPnO_IwoJI72_PB4AQe2gOdMrV2N4KadSajrQPkTDLj-lY-NhIE5LZbRRe9IproJhJpDnuV7CUfx60L4RbzUlxGcFbnAuyff2iBJx0tVgKHEf-gCyq0xNzT75Kdg/s640/thumbnail_IMG_3919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4HMiBPv7hVyXLGQeQYnkgij1Jtdn-qsAK8kOgF7nQbuynYdagObg1ED6eQA28qKhPnO_IwoJI72_PB4AQe2gOdMrV2N4KadSajrQPkTDLj-lY-NhIE5LZbRRe9IproJhJpDnuV7CUfx60L4RbzUlxGcFbnAuyff2iBJx0tVgKHEf-gCyq0xNzT75Kdg/w300-h400/thumbnail_IMG_3919.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Californian FB", serif;">On Sunday
we travelled into north London for the annual Harlesden exchange between AFC
and St Margaret’s and St George’s URC and Moravian Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Californian FB", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Californian FB", serif;">Whilst I went there, The Revd Edwin Quildan
came over to Amersham and led the service with The Revd Heather McIntyre.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">
<br />
As on all the other occasions I’ve been to Harlesden we were welcomed with
great warmth. <br />
<br />
The congregation is predominantly of Jamaican origin, and it was so interesting
sitting with folk afterwards in the church hall as the conversation turned to <i>Windrush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Some of them were comparing notes on
whether they came to Britain on board the ship or, because of school
scholarships, flew over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘History’ is so
different when it is personal.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">Alas the
organist was ill on Sunday, so we had an acapella service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was never a problem, for someone from any
part of the congregation gave us a lead, and the singing was strong.<br />
<br />
Harlesden is such a blend of traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The building itself has a Presbyterian past and, in its own way, is
quite magnificent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The service mixed
together URC and Moravian tradition (the later was particularly felt in the set
liturgy used for Communion) alongside just a touch of Pentecostalism with ‘testimony’
time and much extemporary prayer.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">We might
have started off with twenty worshippers at 11am but within fifteen minutes the
congregation had doubled to forty.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">After the
service we decamped to the coffee hall for bananas, cinnamon biscuits and
doughnuts and lots and lots of laughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We lingered so long that I even had the opportunity to meet up with
Edwin who called in on his way back from Amersham – all made possibly by clear
roads and the fact that AFC’s service is 30 mins earlier than Harlesden’s.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">We came
away so pleased to have shared worship with our sisters and brothers there, we
were blessed by their smiles and sincerity and our prayers stay with them as
they continue to serve God with great faithfulness in that part of north
London.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-13407292557704460962024-03-01T14:26:00.002+00:002024-03-01T14:26:56.169+00:00Happy St David's Day!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJuBNIkDE1J1oApjFjGZZ5yP-yyTVS_TdQqAhNnuEAhB-nHq1XX4odafiCahyrj3awfszvTu85v_edCd1DnSQThcOQ9U-ilPnyzXAt3dm9x_b3mw0hDRej81Sh-olX9fwNoIpPquDYed7uO7N5Ix3E47j8P_RBXqLTx6vxgd6BvT0NsCUkKvNXjobcF4/s1024/1_GmwuD-vcT6eAulIbIXUJew.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="1024" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJuBNIkDE1J1oApjFjGZZ5yP-yyTVS_TdQqAhNnuEAhB-nHq1XX4odafiCahyrj3awfszvTu85v_edCd1DnSQThcOQ9U-ilPnyzXAt3dm9x_b3mw0hDRej81Sh-olX9fwNoIpPquDYed7uO7N5Ix3E47j8P_RBXqLTx6vxgd6BvT0NsCUkKvNXjobcF4/w400-h181/1_GmwuD-vcT6eAulIbIXUJew.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We don’t know too much about St Dewi, yet he is alleged to
have encouraged his students to do <i>the little things </i>for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not bad advice, especially when so much in
today’s world seems so very overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<br />
Today is also the World Day of Prayer and this year the service has been
prepared by the women of Palestine. A part of the world that has been much in
our thoughts and prayers these last five months.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s hard for any of us to see a way forward and for that
reason I was especially glad to hear from a neighbouring priest a few years ago
of the three months he spent with the World Council of Churches ecumenical
accompaniment programme in Israel and Palestine.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This brilliant scheme has, over the years, given some 1800
people a real experience of living and working alongside both Israelis and
Palestinians in the West Bank. At any one time there are about 25 people
engaged in these three-month placements, many will be based in Jerusalem and
supported by the international church centre there, making regular, even daily
visits, to the West Bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they sit
alongside both traditions their understanding grows, so when they return home,
they can share what they have learnt and experienced with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Prejudice is about us making the biggest decisions about
people with the smallest amount of knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Accompaniment programmes, like this one run by the World Council of
Churches, helps to correct that.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the geo-political conflicts of our time need a deep
understanding of local and cultural issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It may seem such a little thing to be part of an accompaniment
programme, yet this scheme exemplifies the concept that dialogue and engagement
is the only long-term solution.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Dydd G</span></i><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">ŵ</span></i><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">yl Dewi Hapus</span></i><i>
– </i></span>Happy St David’s
Day – and keep on doing the little things.</span><span style="font-family: Californian FB, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-58480261108459585782024-02-22T15:28:00.004+00:002024-02-22T15:29:14.648+00:00What is Lent?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAHzRyv2O71So7K_0XiKm-2oJNoGn1-145CCJ82QkI0xLe7cU9gXdwiBmTT0dc9XpTtcWd6HUaOk2MhBYtW22EeK6s74kGVfhGMUjVvjlikWx82pl4KU4XSQ2rgpY01NZaFUBXOX6mpL-buXmA8qXmKMWJGrQyytu53ReqxzXPk073LNd46mCSR8m-_s/s150/images.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="146" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAHzRyv2O71So7K_0XiKm-2oJNoGn1-145CCJ82QkI0xLe7cU9gXdwiBmTT0dc9XpTtcWd6HUaOk2MhBYtW22EeK6s74kGVfhGMUjVvjlikWx82pl4KU4XSQ2rgpY01NZaFUBXOX6mpL-buXmA8qXmKMWJGrQyytu53ReqxzXPk073LNd46mCSR8m-_s/w194-h200/images.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lent is now in its second week, and I wonder what we might make
of this long and loosely defined season of the Church Year?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We discussed this at our Life and Faith group yesterday
evening. It soon became apparent, at
least with those of us who grew up in non-conformist churches, that Lent hardly
figured at all in our youth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One of my predecessors at AFC, The Revd Neville Clark,
helped change all that in Baptist churches.
For he belonged to a somewhat eccentric group of ministers called The
Cassock Club, who introduced more liturgical worship into the British Baptist
tradition during the 1950’s. Alas, their
impact was rather short lived, yet one of their lasting legacies would be that
many Baptist congregations at least give a nod and a wink to Advent and Lent
today.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, over the next six weeks or so I’ll be wearing a purple
stole (the liturgical colour for Lent), and we’ll sing hymns from the Holy Week
and Passiontide section of the hymn book.
More than that, as we travel with the lectionary, we’ll reflect on the
stories of Jesus as he made his way from Galilee to Jerusalem and The Cross.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In recent years there’s been a helpful idea that, rather than simply giving
something up for Lent, we might take something up which is positive and helpful
to others.<br />
<br />
And, as one of our Life and Faith group so helpfully said, Lent is that annual
opportunity to do some serious thinking about personal faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p>For me, the most
important question Lent asks is: Who was Jesus?
It’s a crucial question and well worth spending six weeks pondering.</span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-4108595393236393052024-02-08T14:39:00.000+00:002024-02-08T14:39:09.951+00:00History teaches us...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHySa6YRD_Ls73tJdLQFD85WhrjHPhHfh7TcyfO1809XBYs4ympEonOKpgVj6TRaSjJL6Rmh-6c52VPc96uiXv_iMgpkUBIMMGGASUirhtnrhDeWts5Wo-xTRAoe_uA4tRuXB_KddDj77iEu8dlUFfxTTGw_Wiqajy12HvCWaE3v8rKTN_zTt5zeNSNaY/s618/8dfa822a0b54097bece109464089a71619cc8ad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="618" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHySa6YRD_Ls73tJdLQFD85WhrjHPhHfh7TcyfO1809XBYs4ympEonOKpgVj6TRaSjJL6Rmh-6c52VPc96uiXv_iMgpkUBIMMGGASUirhtnrhDeWts5Wo-xTRAoe_uA4tRuXB_KddDj77iEu8dlUFfxTTGw_Wiqajy12HvCWaE3v8rKTN_zTt5zeNSNaY/w400-h226/8dfa822a0b54097bece109464089a71619cc8ad2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Yesterday it was my privilege
to lead the Free Church service at St Alban’s Cathedral. As I looked around the impressive architecture,
I remembered our first visit there as a guide told us that some of the stones
from a former pagan temple had been incorporated into the building of the Abbey.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br />
The past always influences the present. We
simply don’t live in chronological<i><br />
</i>isolation because what happened yesterday, the way we thought and lived
back then, has a bearing on what’s going on in our lives today.<br />
<br />
As we pour over recent news stories of invasions, conflicts and political
upheaval we may indeed have a sense of DeJa’Vu; we’ve surely been here before
and, of course, we have.<br />
<br />
I’m sometimes surprised to hear people speak of current events as if they were
the worst of all time. Any casual
appreciation of history would see that a hundred years ago our world was also
struggling after pandemic, stood on the brink of war, and was collapsing under
the Great Depression.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Of course, the past doesn’t
solve the problems of today. It may not
even offer the right solutions because of the nuisances of every generation.<br />
<br />
Yet the past can comfort us, reminding us that we have been here before and
survived, and perhaps in some situations even thrived.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The past can inform us as we
stand at the fork in the road, yet we must make our own decisions on what way
to take.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">That’s where the bible
stories we hear at church and read at home can be our guide and compass. For they speak, even thousands of years after
first being penned, of issues that are still relevant. These narratives are both helpful and
comforting. Yet, after reading them we
have to make up our own minds about the directions and decisions we take.<br />
<br />
Next week we will enter Lent and be reminded of, what we Christians believe is,
the greatest story ever told. The stories
of Jesus can be our guide as we stand at all the crossroads of life.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Blog holiday next
week.</span><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></i>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-67161826191054083812024-01-31T16:36:00.002+00:002024-01-31T16:36:37.518+00:00When small is beautiful<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2G4huWiDyzMcuF3wLozTI0ogiKetc_BceUKIZyj5UQgh8qPUfie9m8POm_oICVOUThs7XJSFwedauP-QOjaEaC6-G048xMBTL57p1GIEgVkMMh0evxWlCOVjEfIdIfOW1D0zS6s4ZsYwzzXDpg8OYfU5fslzzAtZ3DJQnbxKRTuTuRE5npbQOECpQc8/s840/Smallest-Church-in-America-Entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2G4huWiDyzMcuF3wLozTI0ogiKetc_BceUKIZyj5UQgh8qPUfie9m8POm_oICVOUThs7XJSFwedauP-QOjaEaC6-G048xMBTL57p1GIEgVkMMh0evxWlCOVjEfIdIfOW1D0zS6s4ZsYwzzXDpg8OYfU5fslzzAtZ3DJQnbxKRTuTuRE5npbQOECpQc8/w400-h225/Smallest-Church-in-America-Entrance.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The other day I was intrigued
to read an article on the internet about a seeming return of interest in small
churches. It was written by a pastor of
such a congregation, and he was just wondering if there is something of a sense
of renewal in smaller churches since the pandemic?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Congregations often long to
be bigger than they are – and nothing wrong in that. For all sorts of right reasons such
aspirations can be applauded. Yet so too
can the idea that small churches have a lot to offer.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Perhaps I should admit here
that I’m not exactly sure about the numbers and the maths that makes a
congregation thought of as either large or small and, of course, everything is
relative!<br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The writer of the internet
article has been pleased to see new people, especially over Christmas, come
along to his small congregation. In
talking to them he’s become aware that they have enjoyed the more intimate and
personal atmosphere of worship they have found and that, for some, it has
brought a greater sense of belonging to a church ‘family’ than what they were
used to in a bigger, yet more impersonal, context.<br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It made me recall a comment
made at home by an extended family member over Christmas, that she actually
enjoyed smaller, rather than larger, family gatherings. When there were just five or six of us she
naturally shares in the conversation, but when there are thirteen she just
becomes a passive observer.<br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Maybe different types and
sizes of congregation feel appropriate to folk at different stages of life. </span></p>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We rejoice in
congregations of all sizes and the internet article reminded me that sometimes <i>small
is indeed beautiful.</i></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-86179824698549122542024-01-25T17:35:00.008+00:002024-01-25T17:38:35.088+00:00Praying for those in authority<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFcPqcxIjJYnCB3C7eCjNjFl9Zdhd6T3Taywsgb5k7nhuEIrBE2j_tn6t9F6mozCUu2YfKSiMgKGgatCbGT-jISqIT5Rw6MUDk8jFeMyjCQLfr_w1Voq_DnHnia7-pufJV4FykOgr7vwAZhd8Cvq1MNJIyg_GifJGJs7lkSfR5g6MotTC5tIu0n-6Z8Q/s800/mw04119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="596" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFcPqcxIjJYnCB3C7eCjNjFl9Zdhd6T3Taywsgb5k7nhuEIrBE2j_tn6t9F6mozCUu2YfKSiMgKGgatCbGT-jISqIT5Rw6MUDk8jFeMyjCQLfr_w1Voq_DnHnia7-pufJV4FykOgr7vwAZhd8Cvq1MNJIyg_GifJGJs7lkSfR5g6MotTC5tIu0n-6Z8Q/w298-h400/mw04119.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I’ve recently been reading up
on Ramsey MacDonald who, a hundred years ago this week, became Britain’s first
Labour Prime Minister. I did this for a
LunchBreak talk and afterwards a member of the audience told me that Ramsey
MacDonald, whilst an MP, selected Amersham as his weekend home and lived at
Chesham Bois just down the road from the church!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He was a Scot and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three occasions. He was also a pacifist and never fully
supported the first World War. This not
only lost him his membership of the Moray Gold Club but also made him reviled
in some quarters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Ramsey MacDonald, along with Keir
Hardy, was one of the founders of the Labour Party, popularly thought of as a
people’s party after the general public began falling out of love with the
Liberals. He was more at home with philosophy
and books than with carrying a placard and marching. Yet, he rose to become leader of the Labour
Party and its first Prime Minister.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">When elected much of his time
was taken up dealing with the aftermath of the Great War and coping with the financial
crisis that caused the Great Depression.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> His personal background was
one of poverty. He was an illegitimate child
born to a parlour maid and agricultural worker.
Yet he did well at school in Lossiemouth and eventually moved to London
and continued his studies at night school with the Birkbeck Institute. He had six children but lost his wife early
on to blood poisoning. He was faithfully
supported by his children, especially his daughters and historians tell us that
he was the favourite Prime Minister of King George V.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Perhaps history teaches us that very little is new in life, and we have
probably been here before. I’ve
certainly got that impression reading up on MacDonald’s life. We may think that war and the economic crisis
of 2024 is immense, yet it seems it was equally, if not more so, in 1924 with
one war just ten years behind and another a mere 15 years in front.<br />
<br />
And if the <i>goings on </i>in parliament exasperate us today, give some
thought to Ramsey MacDonald’s fate after heading up a Nation Government with
the Conservatives to deal with the financial crisis. Such collaboration was viewed as treachery by
the Labour Party, and they expelled him.
He never quite got over that the party he helped to bring to birth eventually
kicked him out and he died something of a broken man.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> So, although we may nostalgically
call that decade the <i>Roaring Twenties, </i>the reality was Ramsey MacDonald’s
time leading the United Kingdom was a very turbulent and worrying one.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Bible is clear that one of our responsibilities is for us to <i>pray for
those in authority. </i>Such prayers
were needed a century ago, as they most certainly are today.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-35251112029639438372024-01-18T09:29:00.000+00:002024-01-18T09:29:34.505+00:00What shall I call you?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCM26T_s8gVKNnjXJdVgc8X1CRZnUF_lqTldwlvzq7jgiEqyaq7A0eCGfRRNNfdxdX01dqUB3JffXCQr2puKWhe6OCOa6lHlAVZClRvXXsmbYUGtSH48WAFw-F60WxtU-rWgRz4uji_gAyJcjQIzPDfXp3OtX2_l_WQwmM8uxqhNbWu42nnhVFYN2EDA/s1600/shepherdspie_2077_16x9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCM26T_s8gVKNnjXJdVgc8X1CRZnUF_lqTldwlvzq7jgiEqyaq7A0eCGfRRNNfdxdX01dqUB3JffXCQr2puKWhe6OCOa6lHlAVZClRvXXsmbYUGtSH48WAFw-F60WxtU-rWgRz4uji_gAyJcjQIzPDfXp3OtX2_l_WQwmM8uxqhNbWu42nnhVFYN2EDA/w400-h225/shepherdspie_2077_16x9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Today marks the beginning of
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024, and to mark that we look forward
to hosting a united service of Holy Communion with our friends from St Michael’s
on Sunday.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A week after my ordination,
whilst I was still new to the idea of wearing a clerical collar in public, I
was stopped by a young couple in the street and asked if I would christen their
baby. The penny quickly dropped as I
realised we were all standing on the pavement beside our local parish church,
and they thought I was the (very young!) vicar.
I explained I wasn’t, just a mere Baptist Minister, but I’m sure the
real vicar would be delighted to hear from them.<br />
<br />
The ’collar’ does provoke a variety of reactions. Even yesterday, before starting a service in
a residential care home, one of the residents asked a question that regularly
comes my way: <i>what do we call you: pastor, reverend, father? </i>I
normally answer <i>minister, </i>and then go on to say <i>Ian </i>will do!<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ecumenism has made us aware
that our various traditions bring with them different dress codes and forms of
address. Yet, I suspect, the most
important thing is not what we are called but how we fill these offices.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A former principal of a Baptist
theological college wrote a book a few years ago even conceding the idea that bishops
may not be a bad idea, as long as the emphasis is never about the title but the
quality of the person who uses it. <br />
<br />
Structures and frameworks are simply that, vessels that need to be filled with
leaders who display love, compassion, and integrity.<br />
<br />
I once served as the Baptist ecumenical officer for Worcestershire and on one
occasion, along with fellow ecumenical officers, attended a morning of meetings
at Hartlebury Castle, the residence of the Bishop of Worcester. At lunchtime the bishop invited us to join
him in the enormous dining room for a meal.
Perhaps we expected a procession of staff to serve us, but no – it was
the bishop’s wife who greeted us with kind hospitality and brought in two humungous
shepherds pies which she and her husband then proceeded to serve. <br />
<br />
Whatever our role, our title, or the sort of collar we wear, our prayer is that
rather than stand on ceremony we will fulfil the opportunities of service with
faithfulness, kindness and love.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It was a splendid
shepherds pie by the way!</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-81717367675148516822024-01-11T09:11:00.004+00:002024-01-11T09:11:53.994+00:00Still the language of Shakespeare?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSDVDhi9nCm02WXLKCyEr377msgd2hVscN3Pv4cJymgsiBrdzihBUwrXxt8K3dzNP_gnl6OzFCG3EOLaqpFLketAE9hp-ZWxrSuGkMIhpT2QvyJsvkzOOEhzBB2I_LnKuKQJ6mkPa5SJlbHHhXV_nJyfkxHMfQUAeLSK4Mu3cBYHoSE622GvfbbOTrfY/s640/e3f4cd80ec3140ac019eb0611db9b64c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSDVDhi9nCm02WXLKCyEr377msgd2hVscN3Pv4cJymgsiBrdzihBUwrXxt8K3dzNP_gnl6OzFCG3EOLaqpFLketAE9hp-ZWxrSuGkMIhpT2QvyJsvkzOOEhzBB2I_LnKuKQJ6mkPa5SJlbHHhXV_nJyfkxHMfQUAeLSK4Mu3cBYHoSE622GvfbbOTrfY/w320-h400/e3f4cd80ec3140ac019eb0611db9b64c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I read a newspaper article
the other week that lamented the standard of English now coming out of the
European Commission in Brussels.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">It's hardly surprising. English is still the official language of The
Commission, yet since we’ve left very few within its corridors speak it as their
mother tongue. This means official
minutes list all those who <i>assisted </i>rather than attended a meeting, because
that’s the French way of saying it. And
you don’t talk about current but <i>actual </i>legislation, because that’s the Spanish
way of saying it. <br />
<br />
The newspaper said: <i>The British staffers used to protect it, to point out
gently that this or that construction might sound fine in French or Spanish,
but it wouldn’t do in the language of Shakespeare. </i>But those days are over!<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We can all use the same words
yet give them different meanings.<br />
<br />
I was dumbfounded when I first realised that members of the younger generation were
now using the word <i>wicked </i>to mean that something or someone was
good! To me, and I know I’m sounding
like Victor Meldrew here, that’s simply absurd!
But there you are, it’s OK now to say a car or a coat looks wicked and
mean it as a compliment.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That said, I do realise that
sometimes when someone is either confusing, or dare I say it, boring me during
a conversation, I’ll often try to wrap it up by saying <i>that’s interesting </i>when,
of course, I mean the exact opposite.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">When Peter called Jesus <i>The
Christ, </i>he was the first of Jesus’ disciples to use that term. Yet rather than being congratulated by Jesus
he was pulled up by him and challenged to think through if he really understood
the sort of Christ he had come to be; a suffering servant rather than a political
liberator.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We all use words on different
levels, perhaps even playing games with them at times. No wonder the bible calls for integrity of
speech urging us to let our Yes mean Yes and our No mean No.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We are in the season of
Epiphany, thinking about how God reveals himself to us, just as he revealed
Jesus to the Wise Men by a guiding star.
And we are told he showed us himself in a way we can understand as <i>The
Word became Flesh</i> and dwelt among us.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The
message and life of Jesus is the language of our faith, and it can be understood
in any tongue. </span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-80900673886039101472024-01-04T09:28:00.000+00:002024-01-04T09:28:14.824+00:00Follow that Star!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI85fg6W358dMCZsXgM9eMtX5wu652DNnWpfwbW56zF2ccjZZbZm4OEGgUxFBpQGG84rYps0WlHRvkGfXw7V3yR0ymonCS6LFTcX8_Hyd8TRYM_UY5_MyoPce_NGZvgvNntRZnb6DRRtFc_7b2RG6hn6IcRMX3_B4kvELlzi1AEauq3ItRL-SdJItb_V4/s370/three-wise-men-star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="370" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI85fg6W358dMCZsXgM9eMtX5wu652DNnWpfwbW56zF2ccjZZbZm4OEGgUxFBpQGG84rYps0WlHRvkGfXw7V3yR0ymonCS6LFTcX8_Hyd8TRYM_UY5_MyoPce_NGZvgvNntRZnb6DRRtFc_7b2RG6hn6IcRMX3_B4kvELlzi1AEauq3ItRL-SdJItb_V4/w400-h254/three-wise-men-star.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Just when you thought you
were done with Christmas for another year, along comes the church season of
Epiphany, running for five Sundays between 6</span><sup style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> January through to 4</span><sup style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
February.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">During these weeks the
lectionary asks us to think about the various ways God ‘reveals’ himself to us.
It’s a season all about our search for wisdom.
Or, put poetically, what star we are following?<br />
<br />
I suspect many of us have embraced Christianity because deep down we sense the Bible
offers us ancient, yet relevant truths that bless our lives with wisdom.<br />
<br />
So, here are three ‘stars’ I’ll be following in 2024…<br />
<br />
The star of prayer. And by that I don’t
just mean the prayers we say, although these are important and helpful, but the
sort of ‘prayerful’ attitude we try to foster.
The type of understanding that welcomes the spiritual alongside the
material. The mindset that leaves room
for God and something deeper.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then there’s the star of
liturgy, and by this I mean especially the hymns and songs we sing together in
church that not only bind us together as a worshipping congregation but also
teach us, reassure us and even provoke us with deep truths. Us preachers know a secret that we don’t
often speak about and it’s this…our congregations have probably learnt just as
much from the hymns they sing as they do from the sermons they hear. But don’t
tell anybody I said that! As a hymnbook
title says, these hymns can be <i>Ancient and Modern, </i>and once again our
lives are blessed through us having such a wonderful treasury.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">And finally, there’s the star
of fellowship. I’m not called to live
out my faith or cope with the challenges of a New Year alone. God is with us, and his light, love and
strength are often made real to us when we come together in worship, counsel
and service. We need one another, for where two or three are gathered in the
name of God we again find blessing.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">So,
Happy New Year and keep following that star!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-78154014718591136132023-12-23T10:12:00.000+00:002023-12-23T10:12:09.586+00:00Advent Four: Happy Christmas<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr87kLKgnaa3SMnKZpHNTRGlHTTpYR_51Uwwq6GByJc6Bj6QoxrZiOZdEWA3dmfjZ1eQMQE2T3oLyRdkGwoL3FxEKBSjtMm8Q7l8AUHiY1V3ty2wmgjJdHkqHQ0Hq9IXFqlLFJv317lmAGgKbiunYaMxZDtAxxRwo0gFdmfnlpXCUSVCvACdEjYd-WTFw/s750/thumbnail_6b9639dd-31cd-46aa-81ca-99ae2f89a606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="750" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr87kLKgnaa3SMnKZpHNTRGlHTTpYR_51Uwwq6GByJc6Bj6QoxrZiOZdEWA3dmfjZ1eQMQE2T3oLyRdkGwoL3FxEKBSjtMm8Q7l8AUHiY1V3ty2wmgjJdHkqHQ0Hq9IXFqlLFJv317lmAGgKbiunYaMxZDtAxxRwo0gFdmfnlpXCUSVCvACdEjYd-WTFw/w400-h289/thumbnail_6b9639dd-31cd-46aa-81ca-99ae2f89a606.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i>Thought for the Day: Radio Christmas: Christmas Eve 2023</i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>
<br />
</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Good Morning.<br />
<br />
I’m delighted to be at Radio Christmas on Christmas Eve and offer this <i>Thought
for the Day </i>on this, the final day of broadcasting for 2023.<br />
<br />
On that first Christmas night, which we celebrate today, another form of
broadcasting echoed from the skies above Bethlehem as the angels sang the message
<i>Glory to God in highest heaven and peace to all on earth.<br />
<br />
</i>Ancient words that never grow old – with our prayers for peace in the world
central to all our liturgies tonight and tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Just like that angelic choir, Radio Christmas has, since the 1st of December this
year, been singing God’s praise, broadcasting a message of hope and goodwill.<br />
<br />
And for us at Amersham Free Church, it’s been a real privilege to have their
studio in our tower room.<br />
<br />
Yet, the singing and music of Christmas is just half the story. For at its centre is the idea that God, in
Jesus, came among us and shared life with us.<br />
<br />
The funds raised through this year’s Radio Christmas will be used wisely and
lovingly in the ongoing ministry of Street Kids Direct in Central America.<br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Duncan and his
colleagues really do live out their faith alongside the young people Street
Kids tries to help. This is love
incarnate – a down to earth love with practical compassion, and all of it is a
wonderful reflection of God’s down to earth love for us in the gifting to our
world that first Christmas night of the Christ Child.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
Christmas – a time to sing God’s praise, a moment to share God’s love, in fact
it’s a way of life for every day of the year – and </span><i style="font-size: large;">thank you </i><span style="font-size: medium;">Radio
Christmas for reminding us of that during these 24 days of inspiring broadcasting.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
So, </span><i style="font-size: large;">Come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.<br />
<br />
</i><span style="font-size: medium;">May God’s blessing and joy be yours this day.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
Happy Christmas!</span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blog holiday nest week</span></i></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-71663577973300292362023-12-14T16:35:00.000+00:002023-12-14T16:35:42.563+00:00Advent 3: You're in the right place!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTawgaRyTbTwMLsSGn7wU4eASGUz-s273_UM79ggw2XnEHJZdsltcxxiGn2svT_B4U6tQ6ItURNX68vOxRXCjpvMAyVYfAhwaVLKspyTYHGQ16rgF2OWccVQOnP6jRy1E174PO6IxHoM3i2CVOHwQ2KECkjfISNbLIgm1PzADN3GYsnYW95pAqEjL3lb8/s275/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTawgaRyTbTwMLsSGn7wU4eASGUz-s273_UM79ggw2XnEHJZdsltcxxiGn2svT_B4U6tQ6ItURNX68vOxRXCjpvMAyVYfAhwaVLKspyTYHGQ16rgF2OWccVQOnP6jRy1E174PO6IxHoM3i2CVOHwQ2KECkjfISNbLIgm1PzADN3GYsnYW95pAqEjL3lb8/w400-h266/download.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>You might have noticed that I never miss an opportunity to ‘dine
out’ on an experience that comes my way.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, on Monday of this week I had some emergency eye surgery for a retinal
tear. The day started with a 9.30am appointment at Stoke Mandeville but after
countless people had looked into my right eye saying phrases like: ‘Oh, I see’,
or ‘Well, it’s a bit bigger than we expected’! I was sent off to the John
Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and by 1pm I arrived.<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal">Actually, I got there quicker than my notes, so for a while
I was something of an enigma to them. Having
been sent to the walk in eye clinic I found myself in a waiting room bustling
with over a hundred patients all being triaged. <br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was so taken by the helpful and encouraging receptionist who
clearly saw my anxiety that having spent all morning at Stoke Mandeville I
might have to start the process all over again at the John Radcliffe. He words resonated with calm assurance when
she said: <i>Don’t worry, you are in the right place…<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal">Sure enough, 30 mins later she found me out, said all the
notes had now come through and I was whisked upstairs. By 5pm I was having surgery and having been
picked up by our youngest son, Jonty, was home by 7pm. I can’t see through the eye yet, it has a gas
bubble in it now, but the hope is that in a month or two things will be back to
normal.<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal">I received such wonderful and skilled treatment on Monday at
both hospitals, and I’m truly thankful.
I’m also very grateful to that receptionist who reassured me that I was <i>in
the right place.<br />
<br />
</i>What is, I wonder, the right place for us?
<br />
<br />
It's difficult to answer such a question at times and maybe we often want to be
somewhere else. Days of bereavement or
health issues are not easy places to be.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">My <i>right place </i>was
only made possible because at that moment when I was very vulnerable, I found
myself surrounded by people who cared. <br />
<br />
Our <i>right places </i>might have moments of essential solitude, yet often
these are so helpfully balanced by other moments when life is tempered by being
in community and walking with others in companionship.<br />
<br />
So…bringing it back to the stories of Advent and Christmas…I wonder if those
shepherds scratched their heads as they arrived at the manger wondering <i>Is
this really the right place for us?</i>
Although the gospels don’t say it, we get the impression that something
of The Spirit stirred in their hearts as they knelt before the Christ child
reassuring them that this was absolutely <i>the right place </i>to be that
special night.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-59908492012804991552023-12-07T14:03:00.000+00:002023-12-07T14:03:57.249+00:00Advent Two: Light from the tower<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMjSgrfYP6Cel-_RrXJ_LwpkZviKjAbjbrauHsQBojGATBSiPyqdYVQAop1YUpYbHfCtbeuBML2N-4eZ4JRM2FWqIm1EB4YtD-UxSpk-4n5sBpiS-pfq7QgV_vb8fIpdQon94w5Ca0dQfjjOrkA4dMSLLa9lXwv6xPtsH7NXlVUvXt0tBgvH8s3oHJH0/s640/12.05.23%20Radio%20Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMjSgrfYP6Cel-_RrXJ_LwpkZviKjAbjbrauHsQBojGATBSiPyqdYVQAop1YUpYbHfCtbeuBML2N-4eZ4JRM2FWqIm1EB4YtD-UxSpk-4n5sBpiS-pfq7QgV_vb8fIpdQon94w5Ca0dQfjjOrkA4dMSLLa9lXwv6xPtsH7NXlVUvXt0tBgvH8s3oHJH0/w301-h400/12.05.23%20Radio%20Christmas.jpg" width="301" /></a></div>It was a great joy to present a show on Radio Christmas this
week. I was well looked after by the
production crew and had just a small insight on how hard everyone is working on
this year’s project.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Radio Christmas is broadcasting from 1<sup>st</sup> to 24<sup>th</sup>
December, and this year it is from our Tower Room at Amersham Free Church. It’s
been a real joy to have Duncan and his team around the place this month and we
do hope the station will raise valuable funds for the ongoing work of Street
Kids Direct, working in Central America.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Churches have traditionally been built with spiers and towers as a way of, architecturally
speaking, pointing to God. AFC has just
a small tower, built in the somewhat austere architecture of the early
1960s. On its top storey is a boiler
room, the one below has, at various times, been used as a Youth ‘Den’ and more
recently as a storeroom. So, how
wonderful that during these days of December it has become a vibrant and
bustling centre of activity, set up with all the latest technology, enabling a
radio station with a Christian foundation, to broadcast.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And all of that seems
to me to be wonderfully appropriate. On
the outside I’m always pleased to see out tower has a large cross on it. Now, on the inside, through Radio Christmas,
it is broadcasting the love and light we all need to tune into at this time of
year. Enter the studio on any day of the week and you’ll hear laughter,
prayerful concern, supportive conversation, and uplifting music. Indeed, something of God’s love and light is
pulsating everyday this Advent from the tower of Amersham Free Church!</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-54162544172686021472023-11-30T08:48:00.000+00:002023-11-30T08:48:01.623+00:00Advent 1: A walk rather than a drive<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPd3whYsEyeXico5PcokuphoefZm-_3_AGQymSenPamqgVfTiqedQeD-uZOSFEHpdJ3WF_L6Zjl28N0asqBPycAOeoCpu6Iah_SXK7XhhIPzh3V23yUbzr3r40icWG4FBPdySdUhStNglvthP03KR9a7KjIaml2sWvWtJymzd71w8i66__H_i8FAbFz8o/s227/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="222" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPd3whYsEyeXico5PcokuphoefZm-_3_AGQymSenPamqgVfTiqedQeD-uZOSFEHpdJ3WF_L6Zjl28N0asqBPycAOeoCpu6Iah_SXK7XhhIPzh3V23yUbzr3r40icWG4FBPdySdUhStNglvthP03KR9a7KjIaml2sWvWtJymzd71w8i66__H_i8FAbFz8o/w313-h320/download.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <span face="Arial, sans-serif">I don’t know
about you but I sometimes drive the car and end up at my destination without
any detailed memory of the journey I’ve just done, especially if it’s one I do
very often, like driving to church.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">It’s
as if I’m on automatic pilot.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Maybe I’m
listening to the radio as I go along, or perhaps I’m planning next Sunday’s
sermon in my mind.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">So, I get to my
destination, the church car park say, and I’ve barely noticed my journey. I can
almost hear Rachel, my wife’s reaction to that confession: </span><i>Well, that just explains
your driving!</i></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">When I walk to church it feels so different.
I start off at the Manse and notice the neighbours, I cross the road and
go over the railway bridge looking at the tube trains making their way to Baker
Street, I’m now outside Tescos Express and if it’s lunchtime 150 students from
our local Grammar School will also be there buying lunch, it’s then a walk up
the high street, a nod to our neighbouring church of St Michael’s, make my way
over the Zebra crossing, trying to always remember to be polite to the car
drivers who have stopped, especially if I’m wearing my clerical collar, and
then in, via the back door of Amersham Free Church. A ten minute journey in
which I’ve probably met, noted and encountered 10 different people or events
taking place that have made an impression on me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Such a
different journey walking to driving, because I’ve noticed so much more.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Advent, these next four weeks is often thought of as a waiting time, and in
many ways that’s a good understanding, especially in our impatient
society. Yet, the idea that Advent is
primarily about waiting can imply that nothing of too much importance will
happen between Advent Sunday and Christmas Day.
Maybe viewed like one of my car drive experiences, just a journey of
convenience, no more than just getting me, perhaps rather mindlessly, from A to
B.<br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br />I’d rather look forward to the gift of these next four
weeks and Sundays as a walk, instead of a drive.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">A journey when much might, and probably will
happen.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">And in that sense, I tell myself
this morning that Advent is just as much about watching as it is about waiting.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Watching is active.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Watching is being open to the whispers of God.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Watching is about becoming engaged and
available.</span></span></p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So, today we start our Advent journey.
And rather than ask Sunday by Sunday ‘<i>Are we nearly there yet’</i>,
let’s take time to notice the journey and enjoy the discoveries found round
every corner along the way.</span><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-35099698527900691822023-11-22T19:48:00.000+00:002023-11-22T19:48:49.692+00:00Black Friday/Good Friday<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqu6WsOGLzZv7B-louADJc_TTSn9fl7JI4NWlfOtOncK3Dcx1s3t9GDpCZ8G-m4M8J-rikC5LtkwTNOHw7RaBnHqC7vhOu9wuJU7RzwYvwUVxqR66I7bf7uBJzse0xFX7QdV14i9DQcCplG9eJsPm80TJe2qq6WbHAwG18lpjfsPi1c_pb-DAtwbKQKos/s1024/2abd5cd385787e8e051bfa35dc7d506dce468c7d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="1024" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqu6WsOGLzZv7B-louADJc_TTSn9fl7JI4NWlfOtOncK3Dcx1s3t9GDpCZ8G-m4M8J-rikC5LtkwTNOHw7RaBnHqC7vhOu9wuJU7RzwYvwUVxqR66I7bf7uBJzse0xFX7QdV14i9DQcCplG9eJsPm80TJe2qq6WbHAwG18lpjfsPi1c_pb-DAtwbKQKos/w400-h171/2abd5cd385787e8e051bfa35dc7d506dce468c7d.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The adverts are awash telling us it’s </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Black Friday</i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
at the end of this week. Everywhere I look on the internet there are deals to
be had, all pressurising me to buy a product on Friday and save probably at
least a quarter on last week’s price!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Apparently Black Friday is always the day after Thanksgiving
in the United States and signals the first day of the Christmas shopping
period. It’s become the day when shops
have the biggest footfall and takings of the year, traditionally pushing them
from being in the <i>red, </i>to being in the <i>black. </i>Hence, its name.<br />
<br />
I’m conscious of the Sydney Carter hymn we sing to an old American Shaker tune,
<i>The Lord of the Dance. </i>One line
goes: <i>I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black. </i>Yet we call it
Good Friday.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">At the heart of the
Christian story the death of Jesus speaks to us of a dreadful day, full of so
much injustice and pain, yet one on which love triumphed over hate, light over
darkness and goodness over evil. None of
this came about through brutal power but through self-sacrificing love. <br />
<br />
As we approach and prepare for the season of gift giving, maybe even taking
advantage of a Black Friday bargain or two, let’s pause and find our greatest
inspiration in the message of Good Friday and the greatest gift ever given, of
Jesus, who in love, gave us his all.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-3454428017773510302023-11-16T17:48:00.000+00:002023-11-16T17:48:17.428+00:00Encounter<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh3MtcJjy8sScXIzPHZjmnSMrneasHi1hHHzZc3BQTubaLqNY2UDZOXTjj-MMvtuN6kyONzD19-rnjERZCXIAzfmT1I0bMoOqnU7XyszMSOTmzE-V612_e5GkXkBAxf1WMIvSze9AIPOGx7shnaAbscWVmUzShM_KqcVWrDuZY1-b_tIYpVkNdVWHeSk/s512/1125_ePoqI03u_md.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="512" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh3MtcJjy8sScXIzPHZjmnSMrneasHi1hHHzZc3BQTubaLqNY2UDZOXTjj-MMvtuN6kyONzD19-rnjERZCXIAzfmT1I0bMoOqnU7XyszMSOTmzE-V612_e5GkXkBAxf1WMIvSze9AIPOGx7shnaAbscWVmUzShM_KqcVWrDuZY1-b_tIYpVkNdVWHeSk/w400-h225/1125_ePoqI03u_md.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">One of the great pictures we have of Jesus in the gospels
is that of him encountering so many people on his travels and engaging with a
significant number </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">one to one. </i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">My favourite account is of him meeting up
with the Syrophoenician woman who, through their conversation, seems to change
his mind.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
A characteristic of living in a Liberal Democracy like ours is that everyone
seems to have an opinion about everything, and many are not shy in sharing theirs!<br />
<br />
Within seconds of browsing the internet anyone can read a thousand and one
opinions on everything from the conflict between Hamas and Israel to whether or
not different Churches offer to bless or marry same-sex couples.<br />
<br />
By and large I’m grateful for the majority of these internet articles and the
insights they offer.<br />
<br />
However, there is a particular perspective I value more than any other and that
is <i>encounter. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">For example, I’m aware that
all the views I hold, and most of what I read about, regarding the current
crisis in the Middle East are essentially <i>theoretical </i>view<i>s </i>rather
than personal experiences. Yet, if I
actually lived there, or even if I knew someone who did, I know these
theoretical views of mine would be challenged.<br />
<br />
The same has been true for many of us in church life when it comes to issues
such as women’s ministry or same-sex marriage.
My views on these issues have been formed mostly, I think, not through
what I’ve read, but rather by the people I’ve met. <i>Encounter </i>is
wonderfully powerful and definitive and, I believe, that’s how it should be.<br />
<br />
My hope and prayer is that in meeting another person the space between us might
be occupied by God. A space that makes
all the difference in the way we encounter each other in our lives.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-4269238626007903962023-11-09T14:48:00.001+00:002023-11-09T14:48:54.915+00:00A Good News Story<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uB6lx5e3ZhqKZCy3uPc0MREjglpeWkuSHvtppXH5AWdAFvgFR4OxZBG2WmYNq2gzh4T8GfxFrwF4V8G5XeAMNK-ymGXJqYBSGrpKZ32aJU0vD5naXRKEaiinXIlGIjDv-vCIdciQzAm4bKzaDZ99Z9EaqiKUdDICa8iKfigJ2WdcmWVbFBj2HuDkGbo/s1024/_131609939_spinal_implant_helps_leg_movement_640-nc-2x-nc-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1024" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uB6lx5e3ZhqKZCy3uPc0MREjglpeWkuSHvtppXH5AWdAFvgFR4OxZBG2WmYNq2gzh4T8GfxFrwF4V8G5XeAMNK-ymGXJqYBSGrpKZ32aJU0vD5naXRKEaiinXIlGIjDv-vCIdciQzAm4bKzaDZ99Z9EaqiKUdDICa8iKfigJ2WdcmWVbFBj2HuDkGbo/s320/_131609939_spinal_implant_helps_leg_movement_640-nc-2x-nc-1.png" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I suspect I’m not alone in searching for a more positive
take on life in the daily stories that pour forth from the media.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">For even in the bleakest and most anxious of
times, perhaps even especially at such moments, hearing </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">good news </i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">stories helps re-balance life
and save it from desperation.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well, I discovered one this week.
Although it didn’t headline on the BBC news website (in newspaper speak
we might have said it appeared <i>below the fold) </i>it was still posted in fourth
place that day!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">It concerned Marc Gauthier, 63 years of age and from
Bordeaux.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">As someone with Parkinson’s he
knows what it means to have mobility issues, frequently shuffling and even </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">freezing. </i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">For Marc getting into a car or a lift is
fraught with difficulties as is general walking.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I simply can’t fully appreciate the thrill he is currently
feeling since his life has been utterly transformed by a team of medical
specialists who have given him epidural spinal implants.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">These have stimulated nerves, which in turn,
can now send messages and signals to make muscles move.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Marc can now walk unaided and more smoothly, he’s not even
afraid of the stairs and every Sunday does a four miles circuit around a
lake.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Just a few years ago we might have
described all of this as simply a dream, yet through the wonders and miracles
of modern science it’s become a lived reality for Marc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">He is so happy, and so was I as I read it.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">There are indeed times when such advances and
achievements seem inspirational and examples of us finding and living out our </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">better
selves.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I love the words of Paul in Philippians 4 when he writes:<br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whatever things are true, noble, just and pure.<br />
Whatever things are lovely and of good repute.<br />
If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy,<br />
Think on these things.<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br />Marc’s story, and the work
of all those scientists and medics who helped it come to pass, are surely wonderful
examples of that which is truly </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">praiseworthy </i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">and it is indeed good to </span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">think
on these things.</i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-35899912463148676552023-11-02T11:33:00.000+00:002023-11-02T11:33:00.452+00:00Bishop Keith's Funeral<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKO0l__DFtMo1bTwR73X1ceMH2Z5w4-D49NlKq8IPCLDUZwtnM4rpRRiDIHIsK4cwYSQe47MBRZdFHYxajrciHFiv0IPmrnSsGIIU0lFmSUFNbI9xVLXv210SaB-gduatWR03eX5dkLYq0sQpexyH0QhuYer-AY9bUUXRXkDp6gZT4BurD002r00a4Wo/s640/thumbnail_IMG_2594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="640" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKO0l__DFtMo1bTwR73X1ceMH2Z5w4-D49NlKq8IPCLDUZwtnM4rpRRiDIHIsK4cwYSQe47MBRZdFHYxajrciHFiv0IPmrnSsGIIU0lFmSUFNbI9xVLXv210SaB-gduatWR03eX5dkLYq0sQpexyH0QhuYer-AY9bUUXRXkDp6gZT4BurD002r00a4Wo/w400-h301/thumbnail_IMG_2594.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On Monday 30<sup>th</sup> October 2023 a group of us
travelled into central London for the funeral service of a former minister of
Amersham Free Church, Bishop Keith Riglin.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Keith’s ecumenical journey took him from his Baptist roots to
a period of service with the URC before finding his spiritual home with the
Anglican Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He served as a college
lecturer, a local church minister, a university chaplain and latterly as a bishop
within the Scottish Episcopal Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
these phases were represented in the congregation of Wesley’s Chapel at which
the service took place.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The church on Monday was very full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was, possibly, around six to seven
hundred people present, so the singing was truly uplifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, the whole service was inspirational
and led so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bishop of London
was present, along with three of her episcopal colleagues, as were clergy from
Cambridge, Regent’s Park College in Oxford and King’s College in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a veritable sea of clerical
collars!<br />
<br />
We heard moving tributes from Keith’s brother and daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They spoke movingly about his love and zest for
life and there is no doubt that he leaves behind a family who hold him in high
regard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Revd Dr Jennifer Smith, Keith’s wife and the
Superintendent Minister of Wesley’s Chapel, gave the sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her moving and courageous words spoke of both
the pain of loss she felt, along with the Christian hope that she and Keith shared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very touching to hear that Keith ‘slipped
away’ surrounded by his family whilst one of his daughters read to him from
C.S.Lewis’ <i>The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.<br />
<br />
</i>Another very profound element of the service was the presence of members of
an African Fellowship, of which Keith was patron, who ‘kept guard’ at either
end of the coffin, as is their custom, all the way through the service,
periodically ‘changing the guard’ and sharing out this duty throughout the
service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed like a great act of
love and respect.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">All our group felt it was so good to be at the service, in
some small way representing AFC and the years Keith served here.<br />
<br />
Keith was a man of many parts, whose life had many phases. What was clear on Monday is that in each of
these the one constant was his love for God.<br />
<br />
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-30870331846538640932023-10-18T19:47:00.006+01:002023-10-20T09:47:44.390+01:00A Prayer for a Land Called Holy<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR6-50_2QkTazdcWnJsWboynUgv_5F89U2loxoa2CUOMYevaFtiuhhypca7aWpl7SuR_4GG0XqjcCRiy1SDFNTk9bk9njgP2L_gEvFpXhRK6jGIKFzwiFCgg6RRKMnqDbPDIQc46bH4BTonEFMnF3IgJe8tkwoV2jkzdtCgpU8yrjSz3p9dL8w9IjkeM/s1024/1_GmwuD-vcT6eAulIbIXUJew.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="1024" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR6-50_2QkTazdcWnJsWboynUgv_5F89U2loxoa2CUOMYevaFtiuhhypca7aWpl7SuR_4GG0XqjcCRiy1SDFNTk9bk9njgP2L_gEvFpXhRK6jGIKFzwiFCgg6RRKMnqDbPDIQc46bH4BTonEFMnF3IgJe8tkwoV2jkzdtCgpU8yrjSz3p9dL8w9IjkeM/w400-h181/1_GmwuD-vcT6eAulIbIXUJew.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">How to start?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
Allahu Akbar…<br />
<br />
We give thanks to Adonai for his faithfulness…<br />
<br />
We come to God the Father, in the name of the Son and through the power of the
Spirit.<br />
<br />
Our hearts are heavy with grief, confusion, anger and worry. <br />
<br />
We don’t know enough, yet maybe we know enough to pray:<br />
<br />
<i>Kyrie Eleison – </i>Lord have mercy.<br />
<br />Gracious God, your Son walked in this land, attended weddings and funerals, confronted discrimination and experienced religious bigotry.<br />
<br />
Our own government, through a treaty, divided up this land. A British plan that gave one nation a home
and made another nation bereaved to have lost so much.<br />
<br />
Through the urgings of the old and the energy of the young Hamas took up arms
and as October dawned, we witnessed a new and terrible pogrom. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Slaughter…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
Some on the border who lived there deliberately to foster peace and
reconciliation, who literally and metaphorically flew kites of hope, were the
first to be cut down.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Did they have to die?
O Lord we lament and call out to you with tears…so many have died and we
hang our heads and pray..<br />
<br />
<i>Kyrie Eleison</i> – Lord have mercy.<br />
<br />
How do we respond? An eye for an
eye? Evacuation? More deaths? A
Presidential visit. <br />
<br />
We listen to thoughtful politicians; we tune in to gracious rabbis and peace
loving Imams and our heads swirl… <br />
<br />
So many words, all grasping for truth and hope yet all spoken with sadness and
fear.<br />
<br />
And so we are still…silent before you…<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Yet we know we must not stop praying, and longing, and hoping for peace with
justice. <br />
<br />
So, we turn to you…whether we call you…<br />
<br />
Allah<br />
<br />
Yahweh<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Or a Trinity of Creator, Redeemer and Sustainor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">And we pray one more, even a thousand times…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
<i style="font-size: 14pt;">Kyrie Eleison</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> – Lord have mercy.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />The Blog returns on Friday 3rd November 2023</i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-79869188512180476632023-10-12T16:10:00.000+01:002023-10-12T16:10:34.244+01:00A Morning Parable<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6OOGSnvnmW2pnQmCG3uoiF6cBpzSvEUWa53aJ2h85PTWXwITmisbEHHo1N5tfXF7c5d8pkgqF9P8QGVAQEhidJQNHygUaIgXSuDMITdv5NXHDWXW6raCm5TSIexF53kdlB3eBlDGLQyydvuHIxv24TlX7mkqhGmKpKbstr0b9Q6eqMcS64UVBvotDWQ/s640/thumbnail_IMG_2050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="640" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6OOGSnvnmW2pnQmCG3uoiF6cBpzSvEUWa53aJ2h85PTWXwITmisbEHHo1N5tfXF7c5d8pkgqF9P8QGVAQEhidJQNHygUaIgXSuDMITdv5NXHDWXW6raCm5TSIexF53kdlB3eBlDGLQyydvuHIxv24TlX7mkqhGmKpKbstr0b9Q6eqMcS64UVBvotDWQ/w400-h301/thumbnail_IMG_2050.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I got up ‘grumpy’ on Tuesday morning!</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I had a dental appointment – a root filing –
and I’m not the best when it comes to ‘the drill’!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
So, rather dreading what was coming, I plodded to the dentist with my head down
longing for the next hour to be over.
That was until I say a young lad on his way to school, he could have
been no more than 14, and there he was in the middle of the street on his
phone. Nothing unusual about that, apart
from the fact that he was taking a picture of the glorious sunrise, first facing
one way and then the next; a sunrise that I had completely failed to register.<br />
<br />
This boy’s face was transfixed by the stunning beauty of a sunny autumn morning,
and he obviously wanted to capture it on his iPhone.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I confess I felt, at one at the same time, chastened and
inspired. Chastened that I was so consumed
with my dread of the ‘drill’ that I had missed the beauty of an early October
day, and inspired that a member of the younger generation had appreciated it so
much that he wanted to capture it on his phone.<br />
<br />
Well, I walked over the railway bridge into the centre of town and looked down
on the commuters lining up for the 7.49am to Marylebone. They had their phones out too, but not to
take a photo of the sunrise!<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I entered the dentist, and
the next 30 mins were pain free – what a wimp I had been to let such anxiety
take hold.<br />
<br />
Later that day I chaired an EcoChurch committee at AFC and I couldn’t help but
remember the wonder on the young lad’s face as he greeted the sunrise. It gave me great encouragement and became a
helpful morning parable.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-69189146331196591612023-10-05T09:54:00.001+01:002023-10-05T09:54:15.608+01:00Meeting my Younger Self<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi303BsQcDPz2G5yFwA-UF9-s3a2RlCfp6jNNraSzacJd6nl1_pKSdpFXjEp63cxBM__2YhYzhkIerY7LhVu-TqB2axfEZk-yRTn1bqkqkva0NBJP0VVEDhA7JI_hTcemYCkyyjGcdxZ8N4DR688_fTh03MWErKijRWtxTLEjt2MOH6Qx4jbdLtAUOsHXY/s640/thumbnail_IMG_2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi303BsQcDPz2G5yFwA-UF9-s3a2RlCfp6jNNraSzacJd6nl1_pKSdpFXjEp63cxBM__2YhYzhkIerY7LhVu-TqB2axfEZk-yRTn1bqkqkva0NBJP0VVEDhA7JI_hTcemYCkyyjGcdxZ8N4DR688_fTh03MWErKijRWtxTLEjt2MOH6Qx4jbdLtAUOsHXY/w301-h400/thumbnail_IMG_2018.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This weekend I have the great privilege of preaching at my ‘first’
church; Fuller Baptist Church in Kettering, where I served as Assistant
(Curate) Minister from 1987-1992.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">During those years I served under The Revd Donald MacKenzie,
and they became, for me, such a valuable period of continuing ministerial
formation.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, in the four churches
that have followed I have regularly asked myself ‘</span><i style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">What would Donald do</i><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">?’!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">So, I think maybe as I enter Fuller once again on Sunday I
might well walk through the corridors and feel as if I’m meeting my younger
self round a few corners.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In truth Fuller are very generous in asking me back because,
I sense, I might not be a natural ‘fit’ for them anymore.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Understandably they have changed
(liturgically) since my day, whereas I’ve probably not moved on so much in my
views about worship – i.e. I’m still something of a dinosaur! Yet I’m thrilled
to hear that the church is in good heart and are currently experiencing a good
number of children and young people at morning worship – so, ‘well done’
Fuller!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A church’s story is written in a number of chapters.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Each chapter will have its ups and down.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I was thrilled to have been part of Fuller’s
life when it had two vibrant youth groups, a regular morning service of around
300 and an evening congregation that never dipped below 120.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">More than the statistics is my memory of a
loving church family located in a bustling Midland’s town.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A town centre church with so much going
on.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">It really was a great opportunity
and maybe I learnt more about being a minister in those years than all the ones
I spent at theological college.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I exited their story in 1992 when we moved to my first solo pastorate in
Hitchin. Since then, many more chapters
have been written, both in their story and mine and I believe God has continue
to be active.<span style="font-size: 14pt;">On Sunday I will be treading on holy ground, as a guest
preacher at one of my former churches.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As
I do so I’ll recall Abraham Lincoln’s words to his hometown as he left to
travel to Washington for his Inauguration: </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">The God who goes with me is the
God who stays with you…</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Isn’t that great!</span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">God’s blessing has been
experienced at Fuller, Kettering, in all the years that have occurred since I
left – on Sunday, for a brief moment, I’ll rejoin them to give thanks for that.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-17891878861037561262023-09-29T08:36:00.000+01:002023-09-29T08:36:29.045+01:00Minister's Letter: Family News: October 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KOw2b9VYw8zD0JnEdSEr0M4SHYN7RZ3-Qn6iyxg6Wx3nlK5B601sh_z81DCcsMzBhaR1JVFvI_UXRzTyGMG3ghHXtO0pz6fb86_8jrTA7D61_dDEjBo3ef3uwkyskkyb9SCWVh8lMRcCDsbXtGWB55liPQ6I7thkS_c2EBMeFwEJLwo2SWnsxorbizU/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_5530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KOw2b9VYw8zD0JnEdSEr0M4SHYN7RZ3-Qn6iyxg6Wx3nlK5B601sh_z81DCcsMzBhaR1JVFvI_UXRzTyGMG3ghHXtO0pz6fb86_8jrTA7D61_dDEjBo3ef3uwkyskkyb9SCWVh8lMRcCDsbXtGWB55liPQ6I7thkS_c2EBMeFwEJLwo2SWnsxorbizU/w400-h225/thumbnail_IMG_5530.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Californian FB", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Church is about many things…</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
<i>Buildings</i>…Here at AFC as the autumn progresses, we’ll start to see the
implementation of some of the schemes we agreed at the July Church Meeting. At the beginning of the month, we expect the
arrival of the new sanctuary chairs and by the middle of October the amplification
and Livestreaming systems should be installed.
The new car parking system has achieved what we hoped it might, and we
are very grateful to those, who behind the scenes, have fielded many enquiries
from the general public; for we know your job hasn’t always been easy.<br />
<br />
<i>Projects</i>…We are glad, from time to time, to focus on particular projects
and activities. Recently that’s meant
our celebration of Harvest and support for Operation Agri and the Chiltern Food
Bank. This month, on October 18<sup>th</sup>,
we’ll focus on our annual Bible Teaching Day, this year welcoming The Revd Dr
Julian Templeton to lead us through a study of The Psalms. Then, in November, we are thrilled to be
hosting a <i>Come and Sing Day</i> for Advent and Christmas. An opportunity for singers to gather together
under the baton of Hilary Davan Wetton, accompanied by David Goode (organ
teacher at Eton, who recently played at Peter Lawson’s Thanksgiving).<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People</span></i><span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…Of course this
aspect of church life is really important.
So, last month it was a great honour for us at AFC to host services of
remembrance for both Ray Norris and Peter Lawson. This month the emphasis will change as we
welcome Zoe Ellis and Matthew Green for their wedding on Saturday 21<sup>st</sup>
October at 1.30pm. Matthew and Zoe will
be delighted to see friends from AFC at their service that day, do come along
and share this time in church if you wish.<br />
<br />
And then there are the new Elders’ Lists.
Recently you will have been given a copy of the church directory from
your Contact Elder. If you have any
questions or comments about church life, do speak to your elder as they are a
valuable point of contact between you and the elders’ meeting. Of course, as you get to know your elder, we
hope a bond of friendship will grow between you. We fully understand that you
may wish to share some pastoral news with them.
We also hope that, as time goes by, the ministry of the pastoral team
will become increasingly helpful and valued among us. You can ‘access’ the Pastoral Team either
through talking to the Ministers, passing on a request for help via your elder,
or approaching a member of the Team directly (their names are published weekly
on the Notice Sheet).<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">And finally, under
‘People’, during October we will be speaking a bit about Church Membership
during the services. AFC is a ‘Gathered
Church’, which means people deliberately and prayerfully ‘opt in’ to becoming
members. Well, if we are gradually
becoming your ‘Spiritual Home’ we’d love to welcome you as an official church
member. Do have a word with Ian if you
would like a chat about taking this further.<br />
<br />
Of course, our prayer is that in every aspect of our church life the Lord Jesus
Christ will be central.<br />
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<!--[endif]--></span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-72666111797322790772023-09-22T08:28:00.000+01:002023-09-22T08:28:12.948+01:00Pubs and Churches<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1UIMsnbyvvez5_1A5MgMw5k56qTddYolUp10wHcp_bzCt9j-sGbRzTjmJ4KTqVszl69LDOnyzl987rxS12IhqSdbKUJ-41DimMbqsa_l1wkpMAEUVT_HRfRFpmyC47fzqgNSY_scKHtN4RpbbTEOPBVozb0EniwYung19YY_As4KJgFOkgric1QtjTQ/s1300/pub-for-sale-sign-outside-the-balmore-bar-in-possilpark-glasgow-scotland-G3EY2P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1300" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1UIMsnbyvvez5_1A5MgMw5k56qTddYolUp10wHcp_bzCt9j-sGbRzTjmJ4KTqVszl69LDOnyzl987rxS12IhqSdbKUJ-41DimMbqsa_l1wkpMAEUVT_HRfRFpmyC47fzqgNSY_scKHtN4RpbbTEOPBVozb0EniwYung19YY_As4KJgFOkgric1QtjTQ/w400-h348/pub-for-sale-sign-outside-the-balmore-bar-in-possilpark-glasgow-scotland-G3EY2P.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Looking through the newsfeeds earlier this week I was
struck by one reporting that two pubs will close in England and Wales this
week, as they have done now for many months.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Apparently 230 pubs shut up shop in the last quarter, compared to 153
the previous.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
So, it appears that life is changing, not just in churches but in High Street
shopping patterns, diminishing audiences at classical music concerts and now in
the relentless closure of the country’s pubs.<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe it’s our shifting concept of community that is behind
many of these trends. <br />
<br />
Last Saturday, on the train to Baker Street, I couldn’t help but notice that in
our crowded carriage 80% of passengers were looking at their ‘handheld devices’! Even the boyfriend and girlfriend opposite us
stopped interacting with each other by Chorleywood and spent the rest of the
journey communing exclusively with their respective phones! There was a slight glimmer
of interaction at Harrow on the Hill, but it petered out by Finchley Road!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of course, ‘virtual’ community
is still real community, and for many of us has been a wonderful blessing. Yet, I suspect, by and large it’s the lack of
necessity for us to physically meet, which has led to a drop in numbers
attending pubs, football matches, concerts and, of course, churches.<br />
<br />
It's probably one of our biggest challenges now; how to both value and build
community.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-10109836899098587362023-09-14T07:50:00.004+01:002023-09-14T07:52:32.604+01:00'It 'aint half hot mum'!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6_sT5_kSOOSRF4Q9Aqp7zdkKAPBKpas_rwhkhnLOylWdQyfXjOmcPcgCS9IwogGh6JIDGA7cqEO1HwAZPEJJuyWLJzhjCS7epZdeS69xT4pdKY20-VnL3wE29O-qx8YoUD_ODgPzeb4mgLr-Cju2D01_-eFvJs3AwWFoUzJ96GuxhcHUSJNA5K-B4ig/s889/10b37710-d2d4-11ed-9ecb-c235fcaa71e0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="889" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6_sT5_kSOOSRF4Q9Aqp7zdkKAPBKpas_rwhkhnLOylWdQyfXjOmcPcgCS9IwogGh6JIDGA7cqEO1HwAZPEJJuyWLJzhjCS7epZdeS69xT4pdKY20-VnL3wE29O-qx8YoUD_ODgPzeb4mgLr-Cju2D01_-eFvJs3AwWFoUzJ96GuxhcHUSJNA5K-B4ig/w400-h300/10b37710-d2d4-11ed-9ecb-c235fcaa71e0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Last week’s heatwave broke September records.</span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Saturday felt similar to a winter’s ‘snow day’;
we went out early with the dog and then hunkered down enjoying a cool indoors
for the rest of the day.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
This summer’s weather has been full of extremes. We had a blazing June followed by a very
soggy July. And the very week the
schools returned the sun came out and blazed away for half the month.<br />
<br />
Friends have been telling me that it was upon their return from holiday, sometimes
even from the Mediterranean, that they encountered significant heat, walking
off the plane into a sultry Heathrow. It
all felt the wrong way round!<br />
<br />
We are beginning to realise that Climate Change really does seem to be bringing
extremes of weather at both ends of the spectrum; more snow, rain and heat and
not necessarily in the months or seasons we’d expect.<br />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Throughout September through to the beginning of October the Church observes and celebrates the Season of Creation. All of that seems highly appropriate as we
also regularly hold our Harvest Festivals at this time of year.<br />
<br />
Yet, as well as giving thanks for all the blessings we enjoy living in a world
of such bounty and potential, we recognise both the increasing fragility our
planet is experiencing, because of manmade warming, alongside the fierceness of
the natural world, resulting in devasting events such as the Moroccan
earthquake or the Libyan floods. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Someone gave me a little ditty the other day called The
Gardener’s Hymn. It’s opening lines go…<br />
<br />
<i>All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,<br />
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.<br />
<br />
But what we never mention, though gardeners know it’s true<br />
Is when he made the goodies, He made the baddies too.<br />
<br />
The drought that kills the fuchsias, the frost that nips the buds<br />
The rain that drowns the seedlings the blight that hits the buds</i>…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Or as Tennyson once said: <i>Nature’s
red in tooth and claw.<br />
<br />
</i>In many ways I think Harvest Festivals and the Season of Creation are quite
a challenge theologically, ecologically, and sociologically.<br />
<br />
Returning to last week’s heatwave, I’m conscious that the Bible was written by those
who lived in a hot country. Hence all
those references to the Lord being <i>our shade and protector from the noon day
heat. </i>So, God’s blessing is
predominantly expressed using the imagery of flowing water and cool running
streams rather than blue sky sunny days.<br />
<br />
After this year’s heatwaves in Britain of June and September I’m beginning to
feel a new respect and appreciation for our more usual temperate climate. ‘Good weather’ can also mean cool days with
grey cloud and light rain showers, for such days really are a great blessing
too!</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829285290933710410.post-88158659628448702002023-09-07T09:26:00.000+01:002023-09-07T09:26:20.370+01:00Hello/Goodbye<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQgLsAwzyInnuCa2ZnACqb5CQcfqvcyjQzvg0OpnOKK2YWuO34s-nYdUCKcoTPklje7KwAPmELVFrNqoS-AMIoYuNsauh79g_BpOzKnXjWXqcZEr2CDCNpcf-8jIRxMXv-UNRN04cI0taV7tuVee58a3A9S6ve-8m6fIzzNkBRn5omYjU0OdZN1z1d4I/s3888/11.17.12%20Induction%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="2592" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQgLsAwzyInnuCa2ZnACqb5CQcfqvcyjQzvg0OpnOKK2YWuO34s-nYdUCKcoTPklje7KwAPmELVFrNqoS-AMIoYuNsauh79g_BpOzKnXjWXqcZEr2CDCNpcf-8jIRxMXv-UNRN04cI0taV7tuVee58a3A9S6ve-8m6fIzzNkBRn5omYjU0OdZN1z1d4I/w266-h400/11.17.12%20Induction%204.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My own Induction at AFC</td></tr></tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "Calisto MT", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I don’t usually attend many Induction services for ministers; but I have been to all of my own!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br /> Last Saturday I attended such a service and then, on Sunday, I was present at a
minister’s farewell. On Saturday it was
all about ‘hello’, whilst on Sunday there was a muted atmosphere as a congregation
said ‘farewell’.<br />
<br /> Induction services are full of expectation.
The truth is that neither minister nor congregation really know each
other at this stage, so there’s also a bit of anxiety!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Saturday’s induction was a splendid occasion with a full
church and wonderful music. The neighbouring Parish Church was well represented with choir members and Vicar
taking part. And there were many present
who knew the incoming minister from previous pastorates. It was a joy to be there.<br />
<br />
Sunday’s experience, although tinged with a certain sadness, was also a joyful
one. There was a busy lunch with cakes being cut and some deeply moving
speeches afterwards in the church along with presentations. It all marked the end of a significant
chapter in the church’s life and the beginning of the outgoing minister’s
retirement. The sense of a job ‘well
done’.<br />
<br />
What struck me on both days is that ministry is never just about one person but
the fusion between pastor and congregation.
It’s a partnership and consequently both services were just as much
about the church members as the minister. Indeed, in any church the minister is
never a permanent member!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, wasn’t it strange to
have these two occasions come side by side last weekend. Both churches, and ministers, will stay in my
thoughts and prayers and it was a real privilege to share in services that said
hello/goodbye.</span>Ian Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154460856559961258noreply@blogger.com0