​Last week was the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which runs annually from the 18th - 25th January. Ending on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is symbolic because it reflects his role in creating global Christianity as we understand it today, and the way in which his conversion changed him from persecutor to peacemaker.

This year, it also coincided with the much-scrutinised transition between US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Some of our LGBTQ+ family in the USA have voiced serious concerns about the way they might be treated by the new administration and what kind of legislation could result. It is important that we take their concerns seriously and listen to their requests for support and solidarity. 

Today, the Church of England circulated a press release to say that the House of Bishops' report to General Synod, "upholds the teaching, recognised by canon law, that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman". This follows a long process of Shared Conversations designed to hear the voices of 'lesbian and gay' [sic] people. The response from our LGBTQ+ family in the Church of England has been one of feeling hurt and let down by a process that was designed ostensibly to hear from them but may need to no positive change at all. For bisexual, trans, and other groups that were not consulted and whose needs have not so far been considered, it represents a further indication that they may be waiting a long time to be taken seriously.

It would be possible, as people affiliated with an inclusive church, to rest on our laurels and congratulate ourselves on what we see as our own achievements in progressing queer causes, but I am reminded in the words of LGBTQ+ Anglicans today of the feelings expressed my our MCC siblings of colour at General Conference last summer. They told the white people present that we have asked for their voices but not heard them. That we have wanted them to be angry only when we were also angry, and that we have silenced their anger if it was directed as us. We tried to be allies, but had not created a safe space, and needed to be held accountable. 

I hope you will continue to pray for Christian unity, LGBTQ+ safety, and the peace of God. I hope that when you do so, you are also able to listen for the voice of God as it concerns the actions of our own movement and church, and take the opportunity to speak where you hear injustice in any house of God.

Blessings,
Kate

I can hardly believe that 2 weeks of 2017 have already gone, that Christmas and New Year have been celebrated and are over. Life seems to go on just as it did in 2016. One of the joys of any New Year is the return of many favourite series on the TV, from Sherlock to Call the Midwife and as I sit and write this we are waiting for the snow to come! The weather has certainly turned colder so it is lovely to sit snuggled up indoors in front of a real fire.

This time of year can be dark. Although the shortest day has been and gone and the nights are getting lighter the mornings are still dark and the cold weather just seems to add to the feeling of a never ending winter.
However there will come a time when the days get longer, the nights get shorter, the leaves once again appear on the trees and finally spring arrives and then the summer. How do I know this, because it happened last year and the year before that and for thousands of years before that. This is one of the things I cling onto in the dark days of winter.

For me it’s not so much New Year meaning new beginnings but the New Year building on the previous years and all the things I have learnt already. It’s about smoothing the rough edges and polishing what were once rough edges but are now smooth. It’s a bit like a pebble on the beach being shaped by the movement of the waves. My life and who I am is shaped by the events of the previous years and is smoothed out and polished up. Like that pebble on the beach there is nothing I can do but be shaped and changed by what happens, but like that pebble the end result is something incredibly smooth and very beautiful.

For this reason rather than thinking about new beginnings I can look back to both the joys and pain of previous years and know that these are the things that have made me stronger and a more rounded person.

As you look forward to the rest of the year, I pray that you will draw strength from where your path has brought you from and know that you are not alone in your walk.

God Bless
Charlotte W.