Meetings Meetings Meetings!

After almost a month’s absence from the world of blogging and spending the last fortnight on a family holiday in Austria it’s well and truly time to ‘come down from the mountain’ and return to the world of routine which September always beckons.

To ease me into that pattern yesterday I attended a training day for Trustees of The Retreat Association at St Philomena’s Convent, Euston Square in London.  Fitting the ecumenical nature of the day our trainer was a wonderfully engaging Jewish lady – who promptly finished our time together mid afternoon so she could join with others at her local synagogue to celebrate Jewish New Year.
Our day was organised because as Trustees we have to be increasingly aware of our corporate responsibility and the manner in which we should strive to conduct our meetings – the phrase ‘cabinet responsibility’ kept cropping up yesterday.

In August there is something of a moratorium on meetings at church but in September our diaries often bulge with them.  People either seem to love ‘em or hate ‘em! I cannot work out whether it was a compliment or criticism when a lady from a previous church once described me as a ‘Committee Man’ – not actually a title I would readily award myself!

It’s been more than a little familiar to observe the process by which governments have recently made decisions about Syria.  This ongoing tragedy which has so far produced thousands of needless deaths and two million refugees hasn’t been an easy one for national leaders to respond to – and in any case each leader operates within a different protocol in their countries.  So the American and French Presidents can authorise military action without consulting their democratic institutions because that power is retained in their office.  The British Prime Minister, whatever his personal views, had to allow Parliament a vote.  That seems to have made President Obama think twice – so now, although it’s not strictly necessary, a vote will be taken in Congress next week.

All of this, it seems to me, isn’t just pedantic bureaucracy but a recognition that corporate responsibility is usually preferable to idiosyncratic personal leadership.

The truth is that building consensus and giving opportunity for dissenting voices to be heard is just as much a mark of strong leadership as riding off on a white stallion crying ‘For England and St George’.

The reason this recent debate about the need for parliamentary approval seems so familiar to me is that it rings true in church life also.

Amersham Free Church has a combined Baptist and URC tradition (all be it with a good dollop of Church of Scotland thrown in for good measure!).  All of these traditions – in their Church, Elders’ and Deacons’ Meetings hold to the idea that church life isn’t about being directed by a Bishop, Synod or even Minister – but by the people of God gathered prayerfully together seeking the mind of Christ – the technical term for that (but not one that I think the Charity Commission are too aware of in their advice to Trustees!) is ‘Congregational Government’. 

So I’m pleased it’s September and the return of ‘The Meetings’ – it’s not just about minutes and agendas – but travelling together, listening to one another, sharing the burden and, pray God, hearing Christ speak to me through my fellow Trustees, Elders, Church Members and friends.

Oh, and to our lovely trainer yesterday and her Jewish Community at this time of Rosh Hashanah ‘Shanah Tovah’ – have a good new year!

With best wishes,

Ian

The language of Faith and Art

On my day off this week we went into London and enjoyed two very different experiences. 

The first was a visit to the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, housed at the old Duke of York barracks.  The current exhibition is on the theme of ‘paper’ and so we strolled through gallery after gallery of conceptual art trying to connect it to the theme – or at times just wondering what these pieces were trying to say to us.  Of course ‘modern art’ has a very different language from its ‘fine art’ cousin and in a way every piece we saw yesterday had an intrinsically ‘elastic’ breadth of interpretation. 

We finished our Saatchi experience with a visit to the print room where originals could be purchased.  A work by Damien Hirst comprising of four dots placed around the edge of a white canvas had an asking price of £4,600 – over a thousand pounds per dot!  We didn’t buy it.

I surprised myself – because I’m a Philistine when it comes to conceptual art – by being more inspired by some of the pieces I saw yesterday than I thought I might. 

We continued on something of a cultural pathway in the evening with a visit to Sadler’s Wells and the first night of their new production of West Side Story.  Now this was a medium whose language resonated with me.  The dancing and singing was simply stunning and the heartbreaking story of Romeo and Juliet set in New York with the Jets and Sharks seemed to touch every member of the audience. 

West Side Story contains so much which is, in essence, the contradiction of our humanity: a love match that crosses the divide but is unable to thrive because of the tragedy of suspicion and self-destructive conflict.  I understood this language and instantly appreciated it means of communication.

I suspect that art and faith have always been intimately connected and it is often the case that sometimes the deepest part of our spirituality finds its best expression through painting or music.

Yet the truth is I had a very different experience of two types of art yesterday.  At the gallery I battled with the language and came out confused – which may have been good.  In the theatre I seemed to understand instantly what Bernstein was trying to do with every tune I heard.

This issue of language (in its broadest sense) is important in our understanding of Church too. 

I have no problems singing 18^th Century hymns and, most of the time, understanding theological sermons – but that’s because it’s what I’ve been doing now for over five decades!  But I sense fewer and fewer people in society speak this sort of language or appreciate this type of culture anymore.  Just the other day someone said to me with disarming honesty ‘I love the people at your church I’m just bored whenever I go to the services’ – I appreciated their honesty – really!

To counteract this ‘language/cultural gap’ some newer church groups are currently experimenting with what it means to be ‘church’.  So they don’t meet in gothic buildings, sing hymns, listen to sermons and take up an offering.  They gather in homes or coffee shops, discuss a home grown theme, pray without words and form an ongoing community without rigid structures or obvious leadership.

Although this seems to appeal to many I readily confess such a way ‘of being’ scares me silly!  But perhaps that’s the point – I have found a way that appeals to me and that’s ‘traditional church’ and I believe there is still a future for such an expression – but I’m deeply interested in alternative, or what are sometimes called, ‘fresh expressions’ because the truth is the ‘one size’ model of church doesn’t, and probably never has, fitted all. 

In all of this I suspect the core values are the same but the language is different – rather reminiscent of yesterday’s experience of Saatchi Gallery alongside Sadler’s Well Theatre!

With best wishes,

Ian
(Blog holiday now until September!!)

Wonga and The Archbishop

I have to admit that until last week, even after seeing their rather charming TV advert many times before,  I hadn’t really grasped the reality that Wonga is a ‘Payday Loan’ company.  Not so the Archbishop of Canterbury who, with his financial background in the oil industry, has made this attack on the ‘loan shark’ industry one of his opening gambits at Canterbury.

However, as Jenny McCartney wrote in the Daily Telegraph, ‘no good intention goes unpunished’.  So just a few days after this foray into the complex world of finance Justin Welby had to face the music over revelations that C of E pensions funds had indirectly been invested in Wonga.  I think many of us felt he dealt with this criticism in an adult and intelligent way.

So is it worth national church leaders getting their hands dirty over socio-economic involvement or should they stick to just the ‘hatches, matches and despatches’ of regular church life?

Well – in my view Archbishop Welby has my admiration and respect both for what he said last week and the way he said it. 

One of the joys I have as minister of Amersham Free Church is a once a month opportunity of listening to a sermon preached by the Associate Minister.  I have not spent time ‘in the pew’ this way for over twenty years!  Last Sunday Erna challenged us in our understanding of ‘The Kingdom of God’ by emphasising it as a ‘process’ – a way of life in which Godly values of love and justice are to the fore in our thinking and ambition. 

I sense Justin Welby believes our society should strive for justice at every level and that includes the moral and ethical standards behind our huge financial institutions.  On a positive note he was advocating and supporting an alternative way of assisting those who are struggling through the creation of more Credit Unions.

Yet what of the stones that were then thrown, as it were, at the door of his glass cathedral?  Isn’t it too risky a thing these days to make any ‘grand’ statement for fear that a journalist ‘hack’ will bring you down?  I don’t think so.  In fact I believe that living as part of this ‘Kingdom of God’ means that we need to display the humility that openly admits that nothing about us is a ‘Counsel of Perfection’.  We in the Church try hard to do our research and get our facts right but we make mistakes.  Living in ‘The Kingdom’ should mean we readily acknowledge these – and that’s exactly what the Archbishop did with such good grace and wisdom last week.  In doing so I think he acted as an inspirational role model for us all and the way we ‘do’ church. How refreshing to hear any one in public life these days actually admit to making a mistake.

Of course Jesus never ever said that living with authentic faith in the real world was ever going to be easy – even for Archbishops!

With best wishes,

Ian

Tuesday Church

LunchBreak in June at AFC

I love Tuesdays at Amersham Free Church because it is such a busy yet vibrant day in our community’s life – and yesterday was no different.

Around mid-day people start to gather for LunchBreak.  Every week we welcome up to ninety people to the church hall for a snack lunch.  Recently our gatherings have been enhanced by groups from local homes for mentally handicapped people attending.  We demand nothing of our guests at LunchBreak – they sign up to no creedal statement!  Tuesday lunchtime is just the way our church seeks to offer a ministry of hospitality and welcome.  Then at 1.10pm every week the second and optional part of LunchBreak is a talk or recital held in the Sanctuary of AFC. Later in the afternoon a different team then takes over the kitchen and sets out a delicious array of home- made cakes for ‘Tea at Three’.  So it’s possible to spend almost all of Tuesday at church eating – and I frequently do!

Yesterday, however, also saw two additional events and in a way they couldn’t have been more different – and yet both are vital to our life together. Let me explain:

In the afternoon we held our bi-monthly Book Reading Circle.  A small group of us discussed Bishop John Robinson’s ‘classic’ tome Honest to God. Fifty years ago the publication of this small book caused an ecclesiastical storm.  Many believed Robinson was undermining the essential orthodoxy of Christianity.  Yesterday’s group was far more sympathetic to the book and appreciated its honesty in asking questions about God, religion, faith and language which seemed to us to be as relevant today as in 1963.  Indeed we concluded that there needs to be space in every church for seekers after truth to have the un-pressurised opportunity to explore with others what faith In God might look like. My former church in Somerset tried to do this at a weekly Thursday lunchtime Theology Group and yesterday’s Reading Circle is a similar event here in Amersham.

The day concluded yesterday with yet another expression of our life together – our Church Meeting – what a busy day!  It was so encouraging to have the church hall full, even on such a hot and humid evening, as we came together and made important decisions about the next stage of our premises ‘upgrade’ and organ ‘refurbishment’.  I came away thrilled to be part of a church which could debate such issues with generous hearted courtesy and be served so well by people behind the scenes who had prepared  excellent briefing papers upon which we could base our discussions.

Yesterday was a good day!  Of course in our weekly rhythm of worship and work Sunday is a special, perhaps unique, day – but I reckon ‘Tuesday Church’ comes a close second!

With best wishes,

 

Ian

House to Home



Moving out of the Yeovil manse

This week, amid sweltering summer temperatures more common to Florida than the London Home Counties, the Green family (minus one son on holiday in Crete!) finally moved into the Amersham Free Church Manse.

I’ve been in the house, ‘commuting’ from Somerset to Buckinghamshire, for nine months.  During that time I occupied just a couple of rooms – now it’s all changed!!  Even amid the welcome chaos of this move already the house has started to feel more like home and I no longer feel I’m just ‘staying’ but ‘living’ here.  I suppose the extra furniture has made a difference but, of course, the greatest transformation is just the fact that as a family we are back together again.  It seems to me that the best bits of family life are: the mid-morning cup of coffee together, telling each other what we’ll be up to this afternoon and pulling one another’s leg around the dinner table in the evening. 

Perhaps the last nine months has made me see my own family’s life differently – it has become something I’ve valued more.  I am acutely aware, however, that through bereavement, separation, or simply the way life works out not everyone can become ‘reunited’ in this way.  The way we ‘look out’ for each other in our church communities, the support we offer and interest we show, is a vitally important expression of our Christian faith.

Jesus never advocated in any way that fulfilment in life can only and exclusively be found with a partner and 2.4 children.  Yet I think almost everything he did advocate was about the value of ‘community’ in all its many guises and expressions.  It seems he found such a sense of deep belonging in the companionship of his disciple friends, the intriguing hospitality of Mary, Martha and Lazarus at Bethany and the constant encouragement of his mother Mary. 

Moving into the Amersham manse

So today, as the sun beats down and I brace myself for unpacking yet a few more boxes, I give thanks for the communities that enrich my life: my family, the church at South Street, Yeovil who said ‘farewell’ to Rachel and the boys on Sunday in such an encouraging way, the church here in Amersham who have showered us this week with cards, casseroles, flowers and even champagne!

For the gift of ‘community’ – thanks be to God.

 

Ian

When good news is no news

Well yesterday the Church of England Synod did something very significant – they passed that Measure, which they so spectacularly failed to do last November, enabling further steps to be taken now which will eventually see the consecration of women as bishops.  Good for them – actually I believe, good for all of us!

Yet I just observe this – back in November when this felt like really bad news the BBC led every bulletin with it; yesterday when it became transformed into a good news story it was relegated to the tenth item on the BBC news website!  What is that all about?

It reflects a conversation which the Today Programme’s guest editor, the Birmingham poet Benjamin Zephaniah, had with John Humphreys last year.  For one day Zephaniah wanted a more balanced programme in which good news was broadcast alongside the bad.  He dared to ask the question of why that isn’t official policy - only to be told by Humphreys that the public wouldn’t tolerate it! Well I would!

Of course I’m not suggesting we ought to return to the days of the Pathe newsreel when even the most disastrous events were accompanied by upbeat marching music.  But, I suggest, we have lost a sense of proportion – even reality – in the way we represent the world on news programmes.  In truth the world is not as habitually bad or as continually in crisis as the news makes out.  Yet good news stories are deliberately buried or cynically ignored by news editors in favour of a bleaker view of the world.  Hence the relegation of yesterday’s Synod vote to item number ten.

Monday’s newspapers quite rightly threw everything at Andy Murray’s brilliant Wimbledon victory.  I called into our local corner shop and smiled as I saw his picture on every front page – hugging that trophy as if he never ever wanted to put it down!  But why limit a good news story on the front page exclusively to a sporting victory – and probably later this week a royal birth?  There’s so much more in our society that is equally worth celebrating.

St Paul put it this way, ‘Whatever is true, honourable and of good report – think on these things’.

With best wishes,

 Ian

Promises! Promises!

Last week Girl Guiding caused something of a storm with news that their updated promise has left God out and instead inserted such phrases as to be ‘true to myself’ and ‘to develop my beliefs’.

Now all of this coincided, somewhat ironically, with my first Parade Service at Amersham Free Church last Sunday at which we welcomed ‘our’ Rainbows, Brownies and Guides!

The stuff of vows, promises or mottos can go deep.  I still remember my school one of ‘Only my best will do’.  It’s as if it’s chiselled upon my heart!

Actually my heart goes out to organisations like the Guides.  It’s tough keeping up with youth culture and knowing how to work with it, alongside it or, at times, deliberately yet constructively against it. And language is part of that problem.  You don’t need a degree in anthropology to realise that the majority of people in Britain, let alone young people, simply do not sign up for an understanding of ‘God’ we in the church are used to.  There’s a debate to be had there – and perhaps a new language needs to be learnt on both sides.

Angela Tilby, one of my favourite contributors to The Church Times, seemed quite miffed with the Guides in her column last week.  She went as far as saying, ‘Being true to myself is the kind of mindless aspiration that we expect to hear on Britain’s Got Talent...’  I fear the Oxford Canon has just alienated herself from two quite important sections of modern society in that one statement!

Another troubled Vicar sent a letter into last week’s paper suggesting that now the Guides no longer make a promise to serve God they ought to be evicted from church halls across the country.

Well I’m not sure.  I know from experience that even Girls’ and Boys’ Brigade Companies – who are far more explicit about their Christian foundations – find it hard to commission leaders who can role-model a vibrant faith.  So, in some ways, I feel this new Girl Guiding promise is at least an honest statement of where they are.  It’s not where I would like them to be – but that’s another matter.

My response – and I hope we did this on Sunday – is to endeavour to make the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows as welcome in our church community as we can.  We value their time spent worshipping with us at Parade Services and will continue to pray that what they gain from their meetings week by week will enhance their lives.  And knowing some of their leaders I’m convinced that the essence of Christianity will continue to trickle down and be a positive influence.

As to the virtue of Britain’s Got Talent – perhaps a theme for another Blog (written by someone else!)

Best wishes,

 

Ian