Dear all,

 

Saturday got off to a cracking start because I had been invited to the Men's Breakfast in Cockfield. Men from three parishes, Cockfield, Evenwood and Lynsack get together every month for a Full English breakfast and as much toast as you can eat at a men only event. Of course women were not too far from the scene. Breakfast was cooked by three women who included the priest and curate of these parishes, Jane and Emma. I can right now hear a chorus of female voices raised as one saying "Such as it ever was!" But seriously, many events we put on in church generally have more appeal to women than to men and there is often a dearth of men in the pews so this is something that should be addressed and this is a very good way of doing it. About twenty men gathered for a laugh, conversation, and a good breakfast and after breakfast a short talk or testimony which this Saturday happened to be from me. Perhaps this idea is one that could be copied elsewhere?

 

Sunday. It isn't often that I write two sermons - one for each church - but sometimes situations present themselves which need addressing. Because small but significant changes have been introduced in the year since I arrived at Gainford and the latest one - bringing the altar forward to just in front of the pews- caused a certain frisson last week, I deemed it necessary to preach on the necessity of and the rationale behind the changes I have introduced. Not least because everyone needs the reassurance that they are introduced with the full support of the church council and that any and every change needs to be explained in order to carry people with you. All changes can carry a certain amount of risk - so they are never changed lightly - but nevertheless some changes are I believe essential for the long term well being of the church. If you could change something in your own church what would it be? 

 

In the Colossians reading the cosmic scope of Christ's revelation is a shared truth (however differently we understand the mechanics of how that is actually achieved) as is the knowledge of the mutual indwelling of the Divine with humanity that is the special gift that Christians have understood and seek to make a reality in their life. One further thing worth mentioning is that verses 15-20 of Colossians chapter one is generally acknowledged to be a separate composition - an early Christian Hymn - that Paul has made use of in his letter. You might remember that last week I said that perhaps Jesus was happy to be seen as a symbol and we have a good example here of a symbolic and metaphorical understanding of Jesus right in the first line of that hymn "Christ is the image of the invisible God". Words are found wanting here because of course what is invisible cannot have an image though we still kind of get what Paul is driving at.

The gospel story of Martha and Mary should be seen and read alongside the passage that immediately precedes it - last week's gospel reading of the Good Samaritan. That parable was about doing - this parable is about being attentive and listening to God. To "Love of neighbour" is here an example of "Love of God". So the good Samaritan and Mary belong together. Doing without listening can become busyness that loses its purpose. Listening without doing soon becomes a mockery of the words.

 

 

A Bit of a do at Gainford vicarage this Friday evening from 7pm. £7 adults £2 children (includes food and 1 drink) BBQ - Bar - and stalls. I hope it stops raining before then! IF it is still raining, please do still come - we'll exhibit a bit of the Dunkirk spirit and pack into the house, make my kitchen a bar and put the BBQ in the porch - no worries!

 

The Dedication service at St. Mary's Barnard Castle at 7pm on Wednesday 21st July with Bishop Mark. Come and find out what a labyrinth is and how it can be used. In fact, walk the labyrinth - one of the very few indoors labyrinths in the whole of the country!

 

Marcus J. Borg, a man I consider to be a great theologian has been invited by the Progressive Christianity Network in Britain (PCN) to come from the USA to speak at a series of lectures at St. John's church, Princes street, Edinburgh. The Friday evening lecture is already fully booked (capacity is only 300) but there are places still available on Saturday 11th September from 10am -4pm. I am already booked for the Saturday, and obviously it is quite a trek, but thought I would advertise the event just in case others were interested. It costs £22 for the three lectures on Saturday. Marcus is also preaching at the Sunday morning service. Author of "The heart of Christianity" "Meeting Jesus again for the first time", "The last week" and simply "Jesus" Marcus presents a radical look at Christianity that challenges all of our traditional understandings of the faith. If interested, a booking form can be downloaded from the PCN website at www.pcnbritain.org and posted to Adrian Alker, the Director of Mission for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds 29, Templar Gardens, Wetherby LS22 7TG

 

These were provided by a dear friend Nancy living in the village of Peris between Bucuresti and Ploiesti in Romania. Love to you and Eugeniu. All puns intended.

 

Watching the news reports of the goings on at General Synod, Rowan Williams cut a lonely and careworn figure after an amendment to the women Bishops legislation which he had co-written with Archbishop Sentamu was rejected. My heart went out to him. I wouldn't have his job for all the tea in China. The Archbishop of York even felt he had to make a speech to defend him. Until last year I was Rowan's personal representative (Apokrisarios) to the Patriarchs of the Romanian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches but our paths had crossed before then. He ordained me priest in Canterbury cathedral and his advice to me at our meeting before ordination inspired and changed me. We discovered a mutual friend in Fr. Benedict CR. - a Mirfield Monk. Fr Benedict (who has since died - RIP) had Parkinson's disease quite badly when I knew him and so unfortunately people tended to avoid him. When we invited him to our house it was the first time he had ever been asked into a students house. A scholar of international repute it was Fr. Benedict who had first suggested to Rowan that he might consider being ordained when Rowan was a lay lecturer at Mirfield. I was also asked to Deacon for Rowan at his first ever Chrism Mass in Canterbury Cathedral on Maunday Thursday after his translation to Archbishop; an honour I'll never forget. Those days were full of hope and yet they sometimes seem a million miles away now.  

He is an iconic liberal himself yet paradoxically finds himself defending the conservative elements within the church both catholic and evangelical, and is fighting a desperate rearguard action to keep the Anglican communion together by trying to address their concerns but at what cost?  I too feel the pain of knowing that some of my friends and colleagues may feel they have to leave the Church of England if women are made Bishops or if gay men and women are made Bishops without alternative provision for them so why do we persist in pushing for it if that is going to be the result? Because many (most?) feel that it is an issue of Justice, and Justice is a gospel imperative. As a Justice issue I would say that we cannot accept the continuance of injustice which is why many people are so passionate about the subject. If a woman is to be a Bishop she must have the full authority of a Bishop and not have her authority undermined by legally sanctioned alternative centres of authority that do not accept her position. That I believe would be the greater threat to the coherence of our church.

And of course the Jeffrey John debacle (part 2) is also distressing. It is hard to know what is true and untrue at the moment but what is certain is that a good and loving Christian man is being put through the mangle yet again.  When Rowan withdrew his support from his friend Jeffrey's first candidature "for the good of the church" he reportedly got down on his knees and asked for Jeffrey's blessing upon him. This I know to have the ring of truth about it because Rowan got down on his knees and asked for my blessing upon him after my ordination. His humility is humbling. What are the answers that will keep everyone on board? I don't know and they probably don't exist. A parting of the ways may be unavoidable. As I say I wouldn't have his job for all the tea in China. There is much I don't like about some of the decisions that have been taken during Rowan's time as Archbishop  - but one thing I am sure of is that he is a humble, honourable and manifestly good man caught in a storm over which he has little control and where answers are elusive. I'm reminded of a line in a famous  song by the Animals which goes.....

"I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, O Lord please don't let me be misunderstood" . Fat chance I'd say.    

 

The Prayer for Today I found in a Roman Catholic prayer book called the "Treasury of the Holy Spirit" and is titled "for the progress of peoples"

 

 

Love and peace,

 

Martin