Every breath you take...

Another one of those weeks... and still going on in Rome between Archbish and Mr Pope. Time will tell on this one, funny how it has caught the 'imagination' of the mainstream news?

Few of us can failed to have been enchanted by this story this week, hats off to Tobias and his family:

Tobias Jones: why I am setting up a woodland commune

and, of course, the quote Tobias makes which made everyone think was by William Vanstone:

The Church is like a swimming pool: all the noise is at the shallow end. We felt called to the deep end, to the place where it's more quiet, more dangerous
maybe, more radical.

And Finally...

It seems the inspirational thoughts on 'Traditional Cockney Spirituality' from The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley this week didn't really get the attention they deserved. So here is part of the dictionary, which I adored:

Annoying bleeder = Worship Leader (this one works either way round)

Awful Catarrh = Acoustic Guitar

Chicken Coop = Music Group

Hampstead Heath = Nothing worn beneath (of traditionalist parishes where not only the thuribles are swinging)

Lizzie Borden = Church Warden

Total Wassock = Bloke in a cassock

5 Deeply De-Christian Doctrines meme...

Thanks to Joe H for tagging me with 'List 5 doctrines that are taught within the Christian church that you believe to be deeply de-Christian'... I know only have a loose grasp of what the context of the word doctrine should be here ;-)

I think most folk have completed this so forgive repeats: Alice, Richard, Maggi and would love to know what Bishop Nick would write but Liverpool still have injury issues...!

Here are mine and must say it has taken me ages, have had to work so hard to get down to just 5(ish)!

1. That Worship is more (or less!) important than Mission and justice and, even more dangerous, that by solely worshipping you are being missional by default.


2. Judgementalism - seems we are trained to be experts! At a local home group when the question was posed 'why are Christians so judgemental?' a good mate piped up: 'practice'!


3. Consumerism - this claim that the church teaches consumerism should not be a surprise! The first definition of consumerism I found when googling is: 'the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically beneficial'. How many times do we hear that by buying this CD, book, service that we support the ministry of this individual or organisation? What happened to tentmaking?!


4. Sentimentality - includes the dumming down of art and music to wellmeaningless bibledygook (new words warning!) which we are told is fine because it has the word God/Jesus (but it looks like a squirrel) somewhere on/in it... (or something about setting captives free, exalting, lifting names up high, putting tongues in... sorry, I cannot go on, it is TOO upsetting!). Check out this entry from Stan the Man again which includes some language of the immortal bard!


5. Discrimination - anyone in the public sector, business or society would be in serious trouble and not get away with with what the wider church teaches about women, gays and minority groups including the physically disabled. The current stuff about flying bishops (still only male) to serve twitchy C of E communion celebrants so they can receive from a man is highly de-Christian.

Oh, and something extra: Apostolic Succession - well, that's all a bit Dan Brown DaVinci Bollocks stuff isn't it?!

We remember them...

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In 1944 Major John Pott was shot on the battlefield in woods near Arnhem. Struggling to write what he imagined was a final letter to his new wife he was discovered nearly 20 hours later by German troops and subsequently incarcerated for the rest of World War Two in a Prisoner of War camp until released by American in 1945. His grandson, Joel Pott, lead singer of rock band Athlete has penned Black Swan Song which the band will be performing at the Royal British Legion Silence in the Square event on the 11th Nov 2009.

I saw Athlete perform at this year's Greenbelt Festival 2009 and when they performed this song it was one of those special moments when, despite the conflict of emotions the song deals with, you are lifted up to another place. This morning I read the lyrics as a form of Intercession in our Family Service which preceded our main Remembrance Day service.

P

Never mind the bollocks...

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Last week was quite a tumultuous week with the Pope launching his surprise reclamation scheme and BBC's Question Time getting its highest ever audience. Although I have discovered this a little late I do think it is worth drawing attention to, an excellent blog from Jonathan Bartley on how the church needs to react:

Why the churches should listen to what Nick Griffin said on Question Time

Having listened to a bit of the Bishop of Chichester's keynote address on the Forward in Faith website I feel my opinions about FiF being primarily an inward looking initiative were reinforced. Frank Skinner articulates it much better than I ever could:

My Church is not a safe haven for bigots

And finally a heart warming story which was a kind of summary of last week. I found it touching and greatly encouraging (as a wishy-washy C of E liberal type who loves mainstream music!):

Dean Martin and a fitting send off for my Uncle Sid

I need(ed) some time to think...

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Random beliefs

Rev Sam tagged me with this yonks ago! I'm supposed to 'Post a collection of 10 things you believe, ethical, philosophical or theological' and here, finally, it is:

1. I believe music is, therefore I am!
   
2. I believe I am in a good place most of the time.
   
3. I believe it's time to leave the sinking ship.
4. I believe food and feasts, with love, can change any world.
5. I believe listening is more important than trying to shout loudest.
6. I believe it's better to build bridges rather than walls.
7. I believe the veil of the temple should always remain torn in two.
8. I believe I am ok with being a servant yet struggle with being a slave.
9. I believe I don't do enough good things to help others.
10. I believe it is essential to individually do what would make a difference even when it seems everyone else won't.
    
11. I believe complication leads to confusion. (As a muso my amp goes up to 11!)

Now I'm going to tag: Phil R, James W and Joe H (please forgive me if I hadn't seen you've already been had!)

And on that Sunday...

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This Sunday, just after hearing the sad news about Stephen Gately's untimely and unexpected death, was driving off to a busy day at church and turned the dial to Radio 2. Out came the dulcet tones of the very wonderful Martyn Joseph singing 'Cardiff Bay' on the Aled Jones morning programme. This is a highly moving and evocative song and it was so good to hear it unexpectedly on such a strange Sunday, especially as the song revolves around happenings and recollections on Sundays.

Most music journalists would class Martyn's songs in the folk and protest song genre, however, my view is that what sets him apart is whilst his songs do indeed 'protest' he does not abdicate or pass responsibility on to others like most of his songwriting peers.

Meanwhile for many their world this Sunday changed so abruptly and would never be the same again. Oh how I wish they could also have felt the peace that came over me as I listened on a Sunday...

Respect.

P

Benedictus Benedicat... Amazing Graces!

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In my upbringing saying Grace before meals was never missed. I have tried to maintain the tradition and am pleased to say, on the whole, have managed to keep it going. I feel it is an important moment to take in our day as we effectively break bread together and to give thanks for our daily manna.

Love this one for brevity:

Good food, Good meat, Good Lord, Let's eat. Amen!

(attributed to Rick Edmondson)

And a poignant one:

For food in a world where many walk in hunger;
For faith in a world where many walk in fear;
For friends in a world where many walk alone;
We give you thanks, O Lord. Amen.

(Source: Huron Hunger Fund, Anglican Church of Canada)

Blowin' in the wind

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Maybe I am becoming more tolerant as I get older? I know I do tend to resist becoming institutionalised and, hopefully, as my roots grow a bit deeper, I can sway more readily as Rob Bell so beautifully described at this years Greenbelt Festival.

In stark contrast I am concerned there is an undercurrent developing amongst some Christians who prefer their Worship to be that which they perceive as only happening when singing so called Worship songs. Evidence of this is clear in the hurtful responses on the Greenbelt website to a request for feedback on this year's (2009) Communion Service. The majority of the complainants stating that Tim Hughes should have ‘led’ the Worship are the very ones with the most unforgiving and consumerist views!

So, is this the future, I wonder? A new breed of Christian who only wants to Worship exclusively their way and with their preferred style of music who don’t get the idea of a ‘community’ of fellow travellers?

I was deeply saddened to read some of these comments on the Greenbelt website, I thought the service was fantastic. It was obvious there were some issues with the music, but, frankly, the music has been grim at around 225 of the last 250 communions I have been to in the last 5 years or so and Greenbelt has only run 36 since 1974. The vision of the service was so much larger than who led worship and whether the music was inspiring.

And why do I sway more? Well, regardless of what I think of so called modern worship music (not a lot!) I do stand up and play it when needed, I don’t walk away from services because ‘the worship is doing nothing for me’ and I try to be sympathetic to other points of view even when I don’t necessarily agree. I am no saint and I often think my preferences are best for everyone but I accept there are times to just let things happen around you for the greater good.

Ok, ok, I have to confess I would really struggle if Greenbelt sold out and did get Tim Hughes, or one of his ilk, to lead the music at communion ;-)

P

Sacred idleness...

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Work is not always required; There is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is fearfully neglected.

George MacDonald (1824-1903)

The two kinds of new...

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Here is a collection of assets to support the audio of Rob Bell's second talk at Greenbelt 2009. Viewing the youtube.com videos will fill in music missing from the audio for copyright reasons.

The first picture he showed was a photograph taken on his cellphone (bet it's an iPhone!) of Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama embracing when Rob was up close and personal at a special event. Have Twittered Rob to see if we can add his pic, meanwhile:


Then Rob talked about round the globe sailor Joshua Slocomb, 1st pic from GB official photographer Jonathon Watkins:


This was supported by a picture of the vessel, 'Spray', which Joshua had rebuilt over a 3 year period and then set sail in (my view from afar!):

After Rob showed a lady of 73, he also showed a photo of legendary composer and producer Brian Eno at 60:


Having already introduced some of Johnny Cash's work in his Saturday talk, Rob showed the sensational video of Johnny's cover of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt':

It would be impossible to capture the interaction Rob had with the lady signing for the deaf, you had to be there! The picture he put up was of Flo-Rida and the 'hit' was played, here's the song with a pic:

If you haven't already bought the audio, available here from the Greenbelt Webshop I thoroughly recommend listening, it was hugely inspiring, uplifting and challenging.

Raising my Ebenezer...

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It's OK, I know we ALL know about Ebenezer's and that they are, well, a really good thing! A new start...?

Every so often you read someone's Blog in the morning and it cracks you up! And a substantial part of the joy is the resonance with where you are and where you've got to, so, folks, here it is, thanks to Revd Sam for sending me the link...

Comparative Religious Exam Paper 1 - Modern Christian Songs

Love it!

P

Of All The People In All The World at Greenbelt...

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(Photographed by Samuel Banks)

This year at the Greenbelt Festival I made it a personal mission to check out more about physical art as well as the usual reasons I go. The latter are, primarily, for the edifying and inspiring talks, the music and, additionally, for all the 'chance' encounters whether they be with folk you already know or complete strangers.

One of the first and most talked about pieces of art, more of a complete and dynamic installation, was the display in the Christian Aid tent by Stan's Café entitiled 'Of All The People In All The World'. This inspiring and challenging piece is based on a grain of rice to represent a person and from there piles of rice to represent various juxtaposed worldwide statistics. Seeing this brings into stark focus our Western unbalanced World View. Click to expand the picture above to see the largest heap of rice represents all the people who have died in the Congo since the conflict began in 1998, the medium sized pile to the right is the number of civilian deaths in Iraq since 2001 and the adjacent relatively tiny pile represents all the forces' casualties in Afghanistan (again since 2001).

I also attended one of the panels discussing use of Art as part of Alternative Worship which was also inpsiring but I will return to that again as they dissed the use of music because of the conflicts that are raised between using traditional and modern worship stuff... the short answer is use pop music as well as hymns, see here!

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On a more general level the whole Greenbelt 2009 site had lots of complementary 'vibing' which just seemed more complete this year from the start of the festival along with some very accessible (in every sense of the word!) sculptures.

So, myth one about Greenbelt dispelled, GB is NOT just a music festival!

Fresh Icepressions...

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... and looking the other way, on the left is the Ice Cream Hut (yes, that's me at the front of the line-up ordering a Caramel Cowmotion!), in the middle is the Café and on the right hand side is the entrance to the church itself... so glad they don't call it the 'Christian Ice Cream Hut' along with a 'Christian Café'!

One of the most exciting parts for me, as well as the taste of my selection, is that the surrounding community has labelled it 'The Ice Cream Church' rather than some obscure title coming from inside the church community... but when you see the sign (previous post) then there is still some thinking that needs redeeming and forgiving ;-)

The Ice Cream Church!

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A brilliant place near Halifax in Nova Scotia. Not at all comfortable with the naff Christianese jargon wording on the sign but the ice cream was yummy! This place is known throughout the area as 'The Ice Cream Church' and folk come from miles away and queue up (sorry, line up) to sample the delights. The Avodah bit is a café with chowder and coffee where diners are encouraged to hang around and chill. When I asked why the big sign was branded differently from 'The Ice Cream Church' there was a stunned silence followed by 'I don't know'. The good thing is because of the impact of this hip and happening place in the neighbourhood it does encourage new folk through the door of the church. Love it!

Losing my religion....

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Go away for a couple of weeks and all sorts of things happen. Seems this is just like any other man decided Covenant, potentially exclusive and divisive. Bravo for all the sense talked in blogs here and here not forgetting Rector Sam's blog here.

A Prayer cross this evening...

Own resources - as it is known here!
And everyone prayed - taking part...

Knowledge of good and evil?

A fascinating Podcast from Monday 20/07/09 on BBC Radio 4:

Religion and the Web

Fellowship of Confessing Christians

A truly excellent post from Alice Smith, youth adviser for part of Chelmsford Diocese. I have responded with a fairly lengthy (for me) comment:

An Anglican at odds with herself...

I concur with her e-pistle!

We have so much to learn...

An amazing film from BBC Wales of Amish folk with such resonance for my early life and father's ex-communication (for studying the Bible) from the Exclusive Brethren....

Trouble In Amish Paradise - (H/T Brian McLaren)

Never underestimate kids...

Was asked to cover for the Prayer moment in church today - then when I arrived for an earlier service found I had not even noticed I was on the rota for Prayers there too. As I read the above and placed my own emphasis I was struck by how profound the notion of making 'us' the responsibility for the issues which we tend to expect others to sort out or expect God to sort.