It can be hard trying to remember everything that has happened in a year. Our recollection might be different from the person next to us, because some events are more significant to us than to them, and vice versa. In recent years, at the Annual Congregational Meeting, I have collated a slide show of all the worship themes that we have reflected upon in the previous twelve months. It is always a revelation to me, and a great way of reminding me how seriously we take worship at NLMCC. Although we are fabulous at eating, we are generous and pro-active in social justice and we excel at outreach, our main focus is worship. We are a worshipping community, a faith family, a congregation of travellers - however you want to describe us. When I was first visioncasting for the Board about us getting our own building, I used the image of a basic flower, like a daisy, to describe how I saw what we are called to do. The petals of the flower are all the different activities of the church, socials, social action, personal and spiritual development etc. The centre of the flower, to which everything is connected, is worship. We need to keep our worship of God as the centre, at the centre of all that we do. That’s why it is so important to remind ourselves of our worship year as part of the ACM, as well as the budget, the elections and the reports.
 
I describe our worship planning as ‘lectionary light’. Some Christian traditions follow a set series of bible readings, over the course of a three year period. This series of bible readings is called a lectionary. It is way of making sure that congregations hear a broad spectrum of scripture and it stops preachers just preaching on our favourite passages, or topics that we like! We use the lectionary for some of our worship themes. (We use the Revised Common Lectionary.)

The rest of the time, the Worship team may choose the readings along a specific theme, or just choose the theme and allow the preachers to pick the readings that speak to them. More recently, we have also used worship resources developed by the MCC Office of Church Life and Health. I think this ‘lectionary light’ approach allows us to enjoy the rich tradition of the Christian Church. It also enables us give attention to what the needs are of the local congregation to learn and grow in God. Worship planning requires a good ear for the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. We sit in worship team meetings chewing over ideas, reading scripture, reflecting on what we have done in worship and where in the church year we are. We play with words, until we get just the right tone for what we want to convey. I love that moment in the room when everyone goes “Yes, that works.” Knowing the variety of opinions, ideas and traditions in the room, to get that moment where everyone agrees seems to me to be the work of the Holy Spirit.

God bless
​
Cecilia

 I was 13 when I came out to my parents. At that time, my father was also seriously ill, although that was not shared with me at the time. Once I hit puberty, I went from being a skinny kid to a very well developed young woman. This, and comfort eating after the death of my father, made my weight and body shape the personal interest of anyone who felt like commenting on it. I remember being mortified by one of the neighbours, who asked me at the bus stop how much I weighed now. After my mother died and I went back to visit the family home in Sheffield as an adult, my weight was the first thing that the same neighbour commented on, publicly and loudly in the street. So here I was, a teenager struggling with my sexuality, not comfortable showing all the natural womanly curves of my body and not being able to dress in a way that reflected who I was. I look back on family photos and remember how I felt inside, compared to what I was having to wear on the outside. Truly, wearing my tie and blazer for school was a delight, not a restriction for me!
 
And then Victoria Wood arrived into our homes via television. I had already been warned off her by my mother, who said she sang lewd songs about condoms (VW, not my mother, to clarify). Finally, here was a woman who looked like I wanted to look. She was northern and funny and confident – at least on the outside. She loved Joyce Grenfell, someone I already delighted in from hearing her on the radio. I still have her biography bought in my teenage years. (‘Nursery school’ tracks on YouTube if you are interested). Victoria Wood wore suits, or jackets and trousers, and commanded the stage.  Finally, I had a role model and a style. One of my sisters used to describe me to others as being like Victoria Wood and I felt confident enough to go her wedding in a bright pink linen trouser suit, shirt and bow tie. The trousers had shrunk significantly in the wash and I hadn’t realised until the day itself, so my outfit was not all it could have been. But oh the joy of not having to wear a skirt or dress! I went to see Victoria Wood live in Bristol, my body ached from laughing so much and at one point, I seemed to have even run out of laughter, she was so funny.
 
I was so sad to hear of Victoria Wood’s death yesterday. I didn’t know her, yet she was such an important person for me, when I so badly needed to see a different way of being a woman in the world. This is the thing about being a role model. We don’t necessarily intend to be one, but when we are fully ourselves and let our light shine through, we influence others and help them to grow, even if we never know it. Thanks Victoria.

God bless

Cecilia

What is the difference between doing things right and doing the right thing? When the scandal broke a while ago about MP expenses, the defence used by some MPs about their claims was that it was ‘within the rules’. I was particularly disappointed when an MP I admire used this reasoning. She was ‘doing things right’ by following the rules for claiming her expenses. My disappointment was that she did not (in my eyes) do the right thing and question the fairness or appropriateness of the rules in the first place. We are now looking at another financial scandal, where some companies and individuals appear to have been evading paying tax. I really do not claim to understand much of what is being reported. However, there is again the balance between doing what is allowed within any rules and examining the rules themselves.
 
A friend of mine had a young relative come and do some jobs for her over the school holidays. She paid him an hourly amount and at the end of the time, presented him with a wage slip, showing what he had earned and included deductions for tax. The youngster didn’t know what tax was. My friend explained “Generally, people think it is important that you have a good school to go to and so we all get together and give a little bit of money so that you can get an education. We think it is a good idea to have hospitals and places to look after people, so we get together and each give a bit of money so that we can pay the nurses and doctors, and keep the hospitals running.” I liked this explanation. It is easy to moan about paying tax and what we get for it, but when people are willing to co-operate, we can make the world a better place for everyone.
 
Some will rightly point out that there are always individuals who will take advantage of every situation. This is true. There are people who make money out of other people’s misfortune and misery. I was horrified to read about a gang who were selling life jackets to refugees, which were filled with packaging, rather than buoyancy material. They knew that anyone wearing these life jackets would not survive in the water, yet they were willing to trade on the desperation of others to make money. When we hear stories like this, it is possible to lose faith in human goodness. However, I believe that people are created to do and be good. Individuals and families are opening their homes to refugees, offering them food and clothing, helping them to learn the language of their newly adopted country or campaigning for better conditions. These acts of human kindness and generosity are a welcome counterbalance to those who intend to hurt and harm. We are all capable of doing the right thing. Sometimes we just need courage to do it.

God bless

​Cecilia

Our worship theme from this Sunday until 8th May is ‘Resurrection People – transformed…’ Transformation is a big word in Metropolitan Community Churches. In our denominational Mission Statement we say ‘Be MCC: Transforming ourselves as we transform the world.’ One of our Core Values is Spiritual Transformation:  ‘We believe that when people are invited to experience God through the life and ministry of Christ, lives will be transformed.’ In other words, we expect to change and to be changed in our faith journey. Most people come to MCC because they are looking for something different or new. We are not everyone’s cup of tea and many people still need to keep searching. Some folk do find what they are looking for and stick around with us, often for the rest of their lives.
 
Transformation is not always an easy process, even when we want it to happen. We may have to shed old ideas, beliefs or habits. We may need to leave the comfort zone of what we know well, even if it is a harsh or difficult place to be. How many of us struggle to accept the fact that God loves us unconditionally, that we are fabulous and beautiful? This should be so easy to accept, but it is easier to stick with the negative ‘tapes’ that play in our heads and our hearts. We have to work on changing the messages that we tell ourselves, in order to change our internal landscape and listen to what God is saying to us.
 
There may be other parts of our faith that change too. People come into MCC from all sorts of different traditions and none. If we are brought up in a particular tradition, we may use words or phrases without necessarily thinking deeply about what they mean for us. In our Lent group, we talked about such topics as salvation, what it means to call Jesus ‘King’ and what the cross means to each of us. Some of us had changed our understanding of these and other things over time and some of us were still grappling to learn what they mean for us in our life today. This rich diversity helps us to glimpse other ways of experiencing the Divine. One of my favourite quotes about this is from someone who took our ‘Creating a Life that Matters’ course. We were reflecting on how the course might have changed our understanding of God. She said “My understanding of God hasn’t changed. God has just got bigger.”
 
As we celebrate the transformation from death to life, from human life to divine eternity in the resurrection of Jesus, I encourage you to offer up an area of your life that needs transformation. Our God is a transformational God!
 
God bless
Cecilia