Matters of government...

Had a fascinating morning today. Along with 14 0r 15 other local church leaders I went to visit our local MP, Gareth Johnson, at the Houses of Parliament. Visiting Parliament was an experience in itself; so much history in the building, so many good stories. Truly it is an amazing heritage - with the twist that we don't often remember, that it all belongs to us, the British people. And we have the right to visit, to be part of it because it is our parliament.

Having said that, the heritage and the surroundings I think can be a mixed blessing, creating an illusion of significance for the UK which is maybe just not appropriate in the 21st century; and becoming a "bubble" for the politicians at Westminster, remote from everyday life in towns like Dartford.

But the point of the morning today was that our MP wanted to open lines of communication with church leaders - and that has to be a good thing. It will be interesting to see how things develop.

Keeping up....

Have just worked out that it's now nearly a year since I started this blog....and it has to be said that posting on here hasn't been very regular. Fits and starts is probably the right expression. But I've found it useful to have as a forum for random thoughts and reflections, so will keep going with it, most likely with the same (ir)regularity.

In the New Year, at WCF we are planning a whole church Bible reading programme to tie in with the Biblefresh initiative, and I've said I'll blog some thoughts on that as we go along. So that will force the issue, I guess. In the meantime, it will continue to be as and when I have a thought/get the time...

Hmm.....

Have only just seen this piece, so a bit behind I guess; but have to say it left me quite bemused! Any thoughts?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/09/insane-clown-posse-christians-god

Food for thought

I've been looking again at the writings of Blaise Pascal, probably best remembered now for Pascal's Triangle. I worked in a school in France for a year named after him, in the town of his birth. Interestingly, in light of the last post, he was a devout Roman Catholic, and he has some great insights on the relationship between reason and faith, amongst other things. Anyway, here's a quote for the day:

There is enough light for those who desire only to see, and enough darkness
for those of a contrary disposition.

Is Benedict's visit a blessing?

Ok, so this may be controversial....but I've been trying to ponder how to respond to the Pope's current visit to the UK and the media coverage it has excited.

It seems that evangelical Christians veer (publically at least) from an ongoing tendency to Catholic bashing in some circles, fighting the battles of 400 years ago as if they're still top priority today; to an uncritical acceptance that it must be a good thing that the Pope has come to the UK as it will raise the priority of Christian faith.

So far, Benedict's pronouncements about the dangers of secularism have no doubt struck a chord with many Christians of all persuasions, and probably others too. And there is much to commend and admire in the Catholic church's willingness to risk unpopularity in order to uphold traditional Christian teaching. But, for all that I've no wish to doubt the genuine faith in Jesus of many, probably most, Catholics, I can't help but struggle still with many aspects of Catholic teaching - not just the bits about condoms and the role of women, but more fundamenental things like the official (at least) Catholic view of how we're saved, what happens when we break bread, how authority is to be exercised in the Church, and where it comes from, the role of Mary and the saints...to name a few.

So, while my starting position with individual Roman Catholics is to assume that they are my brothers and sisters, on the same side, and while I admire the sense of history and catholicity (note small 'c') implicit in the Catholic (large 'c') church, I have to be honest and say that I struggle with it as an institution. Hence, while I pray that there may be good things coming from the Pope's visit, my fear is that many secular people will identify what they see on their TV screens as what Christianity is all about. And for me as a Pastor, that is a concern. So, back to the original question: I think at best Benedict's visit is a mixed blessing; but I'd love to be proved wrong.

The Power of a Preposition

Just came across this article in the always stimulating Leadership journal. It's particularly talking about children's ministry, but, it seems to me, the basic point could equally apply to youth work, and to adult ministry in church. The big question: are we ministering to, for or with? And my slightly tentative follow-up: are there circumstances when each one of these would be appropriate, in which case the trick would surely be to know what is right in each situation?

Let's hear it for the BBC!

Well. it's nearly a month since I last posted anything, and now I'm going to post about the trivia of television. But it is August, so I'm sure you'll be understanding.

There seems to be a murmuring from time to time about the BBC; it's wasteful, biassed, dominated by a liberal clique etc. Well, maybe I'm just showing my true socialist tendencies or something, but I think the BBC is great.

Sherlock was a fantastic series - witty, clever, suspense-full, modernising an old text without ruining it. And Rev provided amusement on a Monday evening, was well researched and observed, and seemed to take faith itself with an unusual degree of seriousness for a sitcom (see Johnny's review here).

But for me the beauty of the BBC isn't even in programmes like these; it's in the simple pleasure of watching without advertisments, of not being bombarded by the market every 15 minutes. Yes, the TV License is basically a tax. But at least you see what you're getting for it. And it's a demonstration that there are ways of funding quality other than by market forces. I'm not naive, of course the BBC is under pressure to become more commercial; product placement no doubt still happens in some way, shape or form (I got perhaps alarmingly excited by the fact that in episode 2 Sherlock was using the same BlackBerry as me). But, even if there is waste at the BBC too, perhaps that should remind us of part of its significance - as a symbol of a world where the financial cost of something doesn't necessarily determine it's value. If that's part of what the BBC and it's funding system is all about, long may it continue!