In November and early December, we will be holding free singing workshops, generously offered to Northern Lights MCC by Pride and Joy, a project of Proud Northern Voices, our local LGBT choir. Singing is a great way of relaxing, improving your breathing and having fun. There is also that wonderful moment when you are singing with others and you can feel the power that combined voices, singing in harmony, can generate. At one of the most difficult times of my life, singing in a community group with others was a way of replenishing my energy and reviving my soul. Music has an amazing capacity for moving us in a way that nothing else can. It may touch something deep inside, stirring memory and emotion, or capturing our feelings in a new way. Someone once told me that his music collection was an audio diary of his life. Many of us probably agree with that. When we hear a particular piece or song, we may be transported to another time and place, reliving the awkward emotions of adolescence, remembering great friends or touching on key transitional moments in our lives.

Although I am often moved and inspired by the songs and music that we share in Sunday worship, music has not been part of my personal spiritual practise. I am beginning to take notice of the songs that I respond to in worship and listen to them as part of my quiet time, particularly if I am tired or struggling to pray. Song lyrics, like poetry, often capture what we want to say far better than we ever could. It is another way of praying that allows me to receive from God, as well as perhaps asking God for things. If a song has moved me in worship, it might be an answer to prayer in itself. It may offer words of comfort or guidance. Sometimes, it just helps me to clarify how I am feeling and where I am in my relationship with God.

Trying out different ways of praying and listening for God is a way of helping us to grow and to refresh our spirit. Not everything works for everyone. We also go through different seasons over the course of a lifetime. What is a good way of praying in one season may not work at another time. Our ‘Prayer Space’ at Northern Lights MCC is a safe way to try out different ways of being in prayer. You may choose to just sit and listen to the music, or try the different prayer stations that will be set out. There is also the opportunity for one to one prayer, if you would like it. If life feels too busy, or if you feel stuck with your prayer life, this might be a place for you to try something new.  How about listening to music in your prayer time this week?

God bless

Cecilia

Someone asked me recently if Northern Lights MCC was a growing congregation. I was a little taken aback by the question and waffled on for a bit about people coming and going. People generally leave our church for one of two reasons – either they have found what they are looking for, or they have not found what they are looking for. People come to Northern Lights MCC for many different reasons – to give God one more try, to find friends or a partner, to feel safe and included. One of my colleagues has a particular passion for working with the transgendered community. People often attend the congregation he serves whilst they are going through the transition process, and then move on once they feel confident enough in their new life and way of being. Others stay and become part of the safe and welcoming congregation which holds these folk during this challenging and often highly emotional time of their life. In both cases, people have got what they needed. Some stay, some move on.

Growth in church is not just about numbers. It is about the growth of each individual. At Northern Lights MCC, we take our faith very seriously, even though we have a lot of fun doing it. MCC worldwide has “spiritual transformation” as one of its core values. Most people find that their faith changes over time if they become part of our community. We hear each others’ stories, we learn to understand God in new ways, we perhaps start to unlearn some things and take on new beliefs, or reframe long held beliefs. All of this is growth. For me, this is the primary purpose of our existence as a church – going deeper with God. If we are not helping people to grow in their relationship with God, then we are not doing what God has called us to do.

Growth is also about serving others. A phrase I like is “take off your bib and put on your apron”. At times, all of us need to be fed and looked after. This is an important part of being a faith community. There are also times when we are the ones that need to do the serving. The leaders that I respect the most are the ones that I see turning up to serve alongside others and not clinging on to their position, thinking that they are too important to do what needs to be done. It is always wonderful to see people finding the right ministry for them and observing how they grow, as they fully use the gifts and skills that God has given them. This in turn helps the church to grow in numbers, as people find out about us from those using their gifts of evangelism and are welcomed by those using their gifts of hospitality, and loved by those with the gift of compassion, and so it goes on. How are you growing in God?

God bless

Cecilia

On Saturday I attended a Women Leaders gathering in London. There were four different sessions, each informative and inspiring in their own way, with plenty of time to chat and network with other women at the event. The opening and closing sessions of the day actually provided a very interesting balance to one another. The opening session was a panel discussion on ‘Imposter Syndrome’. As one panellist described it ‘comparing your insides with other people’s outsides’ – those situations in life where we feel we don’t really belong and at some point, we will be found out and excluded, humiliated etc. Here’s an example from my own life. As some of you know, I lack confidence in my academic abilities and I am very grateful to Prof. Helen Berry for really encouraging me and coaching me to do further studies. I found my first couple of terms at Durham University really tough and sometimes intimidating (my insides), being surrounded by bright, young, articulate students who (on the outside) seemed so confident in their capabilities and knowing way more than me. In my second term, I had a meeting with one of the professors whose module I was studying. I sat in his office, in the Department of Theology and Religion and calmly explained to him that I wasn’t really a Durham student. Yup, I was an IMPOSTER – didn’t really belong. The panellists at the gathering talked about how we can get over these feelings by focussing on the facts of the situation and also not letting negative voices that we hear outside ourselves become our own critical voice inside, telling ourselves we are not good enough.

The last session of the day was led by a photographer called Jendella Hallam Benson. She shared how she had been inspired to start a photography project focussing on young mothers by things that she had heard at the previous gathering. She had been thinking about it for a while, but was also thinking about the direction in which she wanted her career to develop, as a newly qualified photographer. She had initially wanted to ‘follow the money’ and take shots of celebrities, but then realised “I wanted to do something that makes a difference, tell stories that matter.” Jendella described how, once she had made this decision, all sorts of doors opened for her. It was still very tough to get the project funded and off the ground, but she really felt she was answering God’s call for her. “It is important to get into your groove. You were made for certain things. No-one can do that for you.” When we are doing what God is calling us to do, we are not the imposter, we are in our own unique groove. God needs us to be ourselves, not anyone else, answering our own call, and we will be blessed in it.

God bless

Cecilia


You can find out more about the Gathering of Women Leaders at http://gatheringofwomenleaders.info/ 

In my quiet time reading this morning, I came across the phrase “know it by heart” and it really struck a chord with me. What does it mean to know something by heart? Often we use it to mean that we can recall something perfectly from memory “I know this poem off by heart.” What struck me more this morning was the way our heart, our emotional centre, knows things in a way that is deeper or more resonant than understanding something with our brain, our intellect.

There are a lot of weddings around at the moment. I have attended one as a guest, and have officiated at two, with another towards the end of this month. These couples will all enjoy the formal legal status of being married. It is a thrill to hear “husband and husband” or “wife and wife” being pronounced by the registrar. But long before our relationships were given any legal status, they were given validity by the heart. In fact, unless we know someone “by heart”, the legal recognition is pointless and invalid. We find that special someone, something about them starts to resonate within us, and slowly, or quickly, we begin to know them by heart, and fall in love.

Within my own family, and within our church family, we have children who are adopted. It is a huge labour of love for a couple to decide to adopt a child. The process is long and arduous to even be approved for adoption. Then the matching process begins, which may be heartbreaking, as couples may put themselves forward for several children, before being finally matched with the little ones who will most benefit from their loving care. Once again, the heart needs to be engaged in this most delicate of match making. These children need to be known by heart, they need to be loved and understood, nurtured and held safe, as they grow and develop through the years. No judge offering legal status can make a parent love a child. It is the work of the heart that turns adults and children who don’t know each other into a loving family unit.

As we travel ‘In the Footsteps of Moses’ this month during worship, it is worth reminding ourselves that God also requires us to know God by heart:

‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.’ (Deut 6:4-6). As people of faith, we feel God, we feel what is right and wrong, as well as knowing God through study and discussion, or intellectually knowing the right thing to do. What and who do you ‘know by heart’? Give thanks for that today.

God bless

Cecilia

It is October already. Who made that happen? When I was a kid, conker (horse chestnut) trees seemed quite rare. Perhaps they didn’t grow well in Sheffield soil. Any tree that did exist was stripped bare each Autumn for the big conker fest which then took place in every school playground. To this day, I always pick up the first conker of the season that I see and keep it until the following year. Its beautiful shiny brown shell, all smooth to the touch, makes it such a thing of beauty. What is it that you notice in the world around you? What makes you smile with delight? A friend of mine was going through a particularly stressful time and her faith was taking a bit of a bashing. Her Spiritual Director asked what gave her joy as a child. She remembered that she used to love to ride her bike. She started to do that again and found something that gave her joy and renewed her energy to see her through a difficult time.

Stopping to notice small things, allowing all our senses to come into play, reminds us of all the blessings that are around us all the time. The news on the television may be overwhelming and we may have worries and stresses enough of our own. Yet just taking a moment to notice the Autumn colours, savouring the food we eat or relishing the delights of a lie-in, are ways of connecting with the here and now, with the simple things that are around us. They are ways of replenishing and feeding the soul. This week I put in the winter flowering plants into pots. It felt so great to feel the soil on my hands. I look forward to seeing the plants grow and the flowers appear. It is fascinating to me that even in the harshest of winters somehow the winter pansies and violas survive, poking their heads out from beneath the snow.

Our Wellbeing team has a series of different events lined up over the next few months, aimed at improving the quality of our lives in simple ways. The Bramble Ramble was a good introduction to learning to look after ourselves better, using what’s around us. A lovely walk, good company and a bag full of blackberries, freshly picked, are excellent ingredients for a sense of wellbeing. Over the next couple of months, the team will be offering workshops on mental health and on alcohol awareness. These will be useful for looking after ourselves and also supporting those we care about who might need support at times. Looking after our mind, body and spirit is all part of wholeness and holiness. What might you do this week that will give you a moment of simple delight? God is present even in the small pleasures of life.

God bless

Cecilia