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The Gospel According to...

30/6/2017

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Summer in our communities is strongly correlated with Pride season; in the US, June is Pride month, and in the UK many Pride festivals run throughout June, July and August. It is an opportunity to celebrate our community, our families of choice, and all the things that make up our glorious rainbow community. At Northern Pride, we will have the opportunity to learn more about our health, spend time with our families, and celebrate our lives and loves. When we planned worship for this month, the worship planning team wanted to do something special, and different, to mark this season.

In that spirit, our theme for worship this month is, The Gospel According to..., in which we have invited preachers to share the way in which the work of a musician, writer, poet or artist has shaped their theology. From high culture to pop culture, Caravaggio to Billy Joel, I know we are in for an exciting and thought-provoking month.

When you think about the influences on your theology, who do you think of? Perhaps the first people who spring to mind are religious leaders or writers from the Christian tradition. But if you think about the music, art, and books that are meaningful to you, you might find more influence on your theological thinking than you first thought. For example, in my own reading life, atheist writers such as Philip Pullman and Terry Pratchett have helped me to understand the potentially destructive power of religious dogmatism and they regularly challenge me to think carefully about how I relate as a person of faith to the diversity of people around me.

The first Terry Pratchett novel I read was Carpe Jugulum*, which contains an exchange between an elderly witch and an earnest young preacher, which I have never forgotten, perhaps because I read it when I was first encountering God and church for myself:

There is a very interesting debate raging at the moment about the nature of sin, for example,” said Oats.
“And what do they think? Against it, are they?” said Granny Weatherwax.
“It’s not as simple as that. It’s not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray.”
“Nope.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.
“It’s a lot more complicated than that . . .”
“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”
“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes . . .”
“But they starts with thinking about people as things . . . ” 

I have never been able to get past the idea that thinking about people as things - objectification - is at the heart of human sin. In the book of Genesis alone we see Jacob cheating his father and brother to receive material inheritance, and Jacob's own sons disposing of their brother out of jealousy, not to mention the men of Sodom and Gamorrah who felt that all visitors were theirs to rape. Jesus calls time and time again to love because you cannot fail to see the humanity and divinity in one whom you love - that is the only sure counter-measure against objectification and sin.

In the month to come, as you hear about the diverse ways in which the music we hear, the images we see, and the books we read may shape our views of one another and God, be alert to the influences around you and thank God for the ways in which we can see and experience the Divine in the mundane.

All blessings,
Kate 

*'Sieze the Throat'
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Soul Feast

24/6/2017

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Last Sunday, the prayer ministry team (who lead the intercessions in our regular services) met to share our experiences of prayer in and beyond church, and to explore both the intimate and the public faces of our conversations with God.

Personal practice varied - from routine and discipline to less regular practice (full disclosure - I admit that I tend to the latter!), and from full body prayers to quiet stillness. 

What is your prayer routine? Do you think of prayer as a discipline to be learned and practiced until it comes naturally, or more like a part of a friendship that can be a little more relaxed? Do you use it to nurture your relationship with God, or do you come to God out of guilt or need?

I return often to a book I was invited to read very early in my journey to ministry called Soul Feast, by Marjorie Thompson. In an excellent chapter on prayer and prayer styles, she writes:
"Prayer involves freely entering a relationship of communication and communion with God, for the sake of knowledge, growth and mutual enjoyment."
I take this to mean that the discipline of prayer is one of both speaking (aloud or within) and listening. That it can be fun, and should be a regular part of life. 

I would like to invite you to take stock of your prayer life. Ask yourself, How do I pray? When do I pray? When else, and how else could I pray? Reach out to a friend and discuss it with them, if you wish. What can you learn from another person's discipline? 

Prayer is a discipline as well as a relationship. It needs space and time to enable each of our relationships with God to nurture. It's also a lovely way to give back to your church community. When I write and send these newsletters, I try to remember to take a moment to pray for you all before I press send. When we gather for worship, the leadership team pray for you and for one another. We would all as a community benefit from being held in prayer by all of you.

In prayer,
Kate
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Interesting Times

16/6/2017

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There is a Chinese curse which says, “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. - Robert F. Kennedy, 1966

Although Robert F. Kennedy spoke these words over 40 years ago - and there was in all probability no such Chinese curse - the idea of "interesting times" as a curse has been with me over the past week as we reflect on the political situation that arose out of the General Election of the 8th June. 

The election campaign was one in which the idea of  British values', and how we apply them to building society was at the forefront of political dialogue. In political campaigns, individuals and their experiences are reduced to caricature and distortion, pitting "Benefits cheats" against "the Just About Managing" and "the Muslim Terrorist threat" against the idea that Britain is a "Christian Country", but behind each of these labels are lives and experiences that can't be captured in a soundbite. In the face of the tragic deaths in the Manchester Bombing, the London Bridge attack, and the Grenfell Tower fire. In the stories of schoolchildren and their parents attending a conference, friends sharing a drink, and multi-generational families sleeping in their homes are woven the full narrative of human experience and history. 

Tragedy and turbulence have a way of focusing us on what is important, and it is no surprise to me that the values of people of faith are being examined so closely at the moment. Unfortunately, with Tim Farron's resignation, and the well-publicised Calvinist conservatism of the DUP, the old stereotype of Christianity as an authoritarian and socially destructive force has reared its ugly face. I am grateful, therefore, for our Muslim brothers and sisters whose Ramadan suhoor (morning meal) was interrupted by the news of fire and who took to the streets to provide food and comfort to people watching their lives and families torn apart. They model the faith that I hope we, too, show to our communities. They simply serve, with no questions asked.

The Apostle Paul knew more than most of us about 'interesting times'. When he wrote the letter to the Romans in the 6th or 7th decade of the first century, the Emperor Nero was in the habit of executing Christians for entertainment, and he himself had been complicit as a young man in the religious execution of Christians in Jerusalem. He put himself in harm's way to protect others and share the life-changing Gospel. His perspective on political authority in this context is an interesting one, In Romans 13, he spells out that civic authority is put in place for the common good (Romans 13:4), and that moreover that government's authority is an important arbiter of our values. In other words, we are responsible to the people we elect, but also responsible to consider the role of civic authority when we hold them to account.

If the role of Christians is to offer Christ's hands and feet to the world, and to build the new realm, the question for us in this time of of uncertainty is how we can best do that. The answer, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Creator-Parent, and of the So,n and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." Simply that. Our responsibility remains to spread the Gospel of love, to feed the poor, to clothe the naked, and to love our neighbour. Never has it been so important.

May you be Christ's hands and feet in the world today.

Blessings
Kate
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Emmaus

1/6/2017

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Over the past few weeks I have been reflecting on Luke23: 13-27 the Emmaus Journey. Luke’s story open’s with the two disciples downcast, bewildered by all they have seen and heard. They had experienced the reality of the death of Jesus, the diminishment of life as they had hoped it would be and a loss of their hopes and dreams of a future. This reflection also connected me to the horror, the pain, the sadness and angst of the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena where so many people lost their lives or were injured. As families and friends searched for their loved ones, like the disciples they experienced bewilderment, fear, anxiety, sadness and despair. The fact their life and the life of others had changed. Also on the Emmaus Journey the disciples encounter Jesus even although initially they did not know him. Jesus simply meets them where they are on the road; he establishes trust, reaches out to them and encourages them to unburden their hearts by telling their story. We also see these attributes manifest at Manchester Arena as people reach out with care, concern and support, as well as giving, holding and loving every human person in the midst of death, injury and destruction. We know people opened their homes, taxi drivers took people home distances free of charge and emergency services dedicated themselves night and day to healing and mending those they could. What is evident is what Jesus teaches us that love is manifest and transparent in life through the very essence of our humanity. Just as Jesus on the Emmaus Journey is fully attentive to the disciples, the people involved in and those who surrounded the Manchester Arena are also attentive to the needs of those before them and for that we are deeply grateful.
We pray for all families involved in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, for those who lost their life, who were injured and ask that in the midst of despair, grief and loss they will continue to be held by those who surround them over the coming weeks and months as they voice their story of events.

In prayer,
Lorraine
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