Christmas!

Children get very excited about Christmas. As soon as the tree went up in our house when we were children and presents began to appear I remember we would shake, peek and stretch paper tightly sometimes so much that we left tell tale tears all in an attempt to see through! I remember very well going on searching missions in all the dark corners of the house for hidden gifts and often saw what we were getting well before the big day. We just didn’t want to wait for Christmas to arrive. These days I enjoy the waiting of Advent far more and tire of people counting down to the big day, and missing the powerful and necessary lessons of Advent, of waiting and seeking hope. Indeed as I have had children of my own Christmas morning has meant piles of ripped up paper and empty boxes which often leave me feeling sad. Not that we have brought the latest toy and our daughter is playing with a cardboard box, but that finally “It’s over.” Soon decorations will get put away and the house will feel so empty and January’s cold will put a depressing hold on our hearts. I think many people feel like this and that’s one of the reasons why the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ has been so popular for so long. Not I wish we could have endless shopping days to spend money we haven’t earned yet, certainly not lets try and create the perfect day all the time, but that the spirit of Christmas could be ours every day; that spirit we all know so well of waiting for hope, of expectation, excitement, wonder, joy, blessing and peace.
Part of the problem is I think that we expect too much of Christmas and not enough from Christ. It’s said if you take
Christ out of Christmas all you are left with is M & S! Yet we do and then wonder why it feels so hollow.
Christmas cannot deliver all our heart’s desires, but Jesus can. What have been your expectations of Christmas? What
kind of fears grip you for 2013? Christ can deliver a holiday that never fades away and doesn’t get boxed up and stored, but instead applies healing to your life directly in the places where you hurt. A relationship that sets you free. A hope that burns bright in the waiting of Advent and the promise of Spring to come.
Would you like to have something to celebrate every day? Invite Jesus in, and you’ll see what I mean.

Neil Adams

What would you think of this church?

It’s a modern, light and airy building. It is obviously well cared for: it’s adorned with window boxes full of lovely flowers; it’s clean and well maintained. A sign at the entrance says “All are welcome here in the name of Christ.”

But as you walk past, you notice an unruly mob of smokers, who have evidently just spilled out of the building. Some of them are clearly intoxicated, some are clutching cans of beer, all are shabbily dressed. They are noisy and unruly…

We are told the church is not a building, but the people who meet there. So what kind of church is this???

Jesus was told off when he insisted on mixing with “shady characters” and thus spoiling his reputation among the “good folk” of his day. He replied that those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. And he had come to call not the righteous, but sinners.

So when a church is displaying smokers and drinkers on its steps, it could just be that its members are seriously following Jesus and using their time, their wealth and their building to welcome those who are in need of a warm welcome. Perhaps there is even a hot meal and a listening ear thrown in to the bargain.

Would you attend such a church?

 

Franziska Herring

Food Crisis

I write this piece on the evening of the 23rd August 2012. This morning the Independent newspaper had the front page below, with the main story being about Chris Mahoney the Director of agriculture trading at Glencore, the worlds largest commodity trading company. Mr Mahoney has said this about the current global food crisis and soaring food prices ‘The environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrary opportunities . . .  We will be able to provide the world with solutions . . . and that should be good for Glencore.’

In short he thinks the fact that people are literally starving to death because of the global food crisis is a good thing because the company he works for will make more profit.

This moment of startling honesty reveals the horrible consequences of a society where greed and the pursuit of money is the only thing that motivates.

Alongside this report was a colour photograph of a malnourished infant in Southern Niger and the news that aid agencies are desperately trying to find food in West Africa to try to avert mass starvation.

If there is to be the kind of justice for the poor that the Bible tells us is so close to the heart of God, then we have to find a way to bring compassion, justice and decency into the market place.

What really made me angry though today wasn’t just this story, it was the other front pages I saw at the newsagents; all of them seemed to think a story about Prince Harry being in a state of undress in private and inside a hotel room was much more important.

To be perfectly honest I couldn’t care less about what Prince Harry gets up to in his own time behind locked doors. It is not important especially when there are so many really horrific things going on that we ignore because we are so tuned into trivia.

I wish the press were more responsible, more a force for good.

I wish we didn’t spend so much time focusing on who is wearing what and who is sleeping with whom, and instead focus on the righteous anger of God that would burn within us when we see the mess humanity has made of this planet.

The Prince Harry news is nothing more than chewing gum for the soul, it is completely irrelevant.

If only we got passionate about starving children and spoke up against the greed and love of money that is rotting our society from within.

Reflecting on this experience today, I couldn’t help but think of how often in Church we are in danger of doing likewise; getting hot under the collar about things that are unimportant and trivial, while turning a blind eye to the real issues and challenges around us.

I won’t forget Mr Mahoney in a hurry. I won’t forget the evil that burns in the heart of human beings who see starving people and respond by rubbing their hands together with glee because more money can be made out of misery, death and destruction.

I pray that God’s anger would motivate us all to work for God’s Kingdom of justice, peace, compassion and mercy in our community and in places like West Africa too.

Rev Joseph Neil Adams

The Parable of the London Olympics

I am sure this is a parable Jesus would have told…  The Olympic Games were coming to London, and everybody wanted tickets for the great event. So the organisers allocated tickets a year in advance: rows of the best seats were reserved for VIPs, for rich sponsors and for media representatives. The rest were sold to the general public via the internet. Bidding was fierce, and all events were sold out within a few days. Those who got tickets counted themselves lucky.

When the actual games arrived, some people went to the stadium anyway, hoping that somehow a few tickets would still be available. So a great crowd assembled outside and the few available tickets traded for £200 each. And yet, inside the stadium, there were rows and rows of empty seats: those VIPs who had been given tickets hadn’t valued them. They hadn’t bothered to turn up. And the organisers said, ‘the stadium must be full: what can we do about it?’

Meanwhile, there was a great thirst in the country for the Water of Life. People turned to all manner of weird and wonderful spiritual practices to quench their thirst, yet in the churches, where this water was freely available, row upon row of seats was empty.

And the Lord of Life said, ‘my house must be full: what will you do about it?’

 Franziska Herring

Love

One of my tutors as Theological college always said that as ministers we should always have the Bible in one hand and a daily newspaper in the other. In his case he said The Sun but I’m still a very big supporter of the Justice for Hillsborough campaign and the phrase “Don’t Buy The Sun” still resonates with me as I was at the Hillsborough disaster all those many years ago. So I use another daily in my hand

The point my tutor was trying to make is that it is vital for all of us to be fully grounded, we need one foot in the spiritual world and the other firmly in the nitty gritty of this world. The news in our papers, radio and TV will constantly challenge us and the outworking of our faith.

That has been the case with the recent shooting at a Cinema in Aurora, Denver, Colorado. It beggars belief why someone would go to the screening of a new film (in this case, the new Batman film), take a gun and gas canisters and cause absolute mayhem. People killed, maimed and injured and the community, country, even the world, in shock.

It was Barack Obama who, when speaking on this tragedy, talked about the “absence of love”. For me, that is a very powerful phrase and takes me straight to Paul’s first letter to the Church at Corinth and chapter 13. It is a well known passage and, perversely, because of that we can actually not take it as seriously as some others.

Paul argues that all of our relationships with every single person we meet (even the fleeting ones) should be marked by the presence of love as opposed to the absence of love. Now that is a challenge on every level for us as human beings. We tend to keep our love for those closest to us but Paul argues that because God is love that means all of our encounters should be marked by love.

Logic suggests that if the Christian communities the world over brought about the presence of love in every situation we could potentially transform our communities and the society in which we live. When there is an absence of love, then it becomes so much harder for the transforming grace of God to be at work.

Perhaps we need to begin with our church communities and make sure that there is not an absence of love amongst each other – that could be our challenge to begin with!

Blessings

Jeff Reynolds

Week 15 – Church Life in Sierra Leone

Shayn jizos shayn
Ful dis land wit yu papa in glory
Ketch spirit ketch, mek ei ketch faya
Watasi ron ful dis neshon wit gres en masi
Gi wi yu wod, Lod en mek wi get layt.*

Yes, I sang the above during worship this morning and knew what I was singing.  It was the second of 6 hymns that were sung during a service that was timed to begin at 09.30 (but, of course, didn’t) and concluded around noon. Do you want a clue?  Try reading it imagining how it would sound with West African intonation and perhaps your inner ear will begin to hear Krio.

Church can be loud (my ears are still buzzing) sadly due to over amplification. Worship incorporates the singing of choirs and congregation with organ and keyboard, drums and tambourines and other percussion instruments that are unfamiliar to me.  Worship can be a feast for, or an assault on, the senses: it is exhausting.  After opening hymns and prayers, drawn from the Methodist Worship Book, we stand for ‘Tem fo sing en dance fo God,’ that which in English language worship seems to be called ‘Singspiration,’ a lengthy series of choruses usually led by a soloist.  The choir that processed in in a dignified order, singing a traditional hymn, now dances, claps and harmonises with the soloist.  The congregation is invited to move their bodies and while the elderly remain in their seats the younger element of the congregation bops along.  From solemnity and dignity we have moved to loud celebration.  A good leader of this part of the service will so use the music as to gradually return the people to a more contemplative mood in preparation for the readings from the Bible.

Bible reading seems to be the preserve of the laity and just as in Britain the quality of the reading is variable, unfortunately the quality of the amplification is even more variable—I do wish that we rehearsed readers because poor quality or inaudible reading does not enable us to hear the Word (this is true of everywhere I’ve ever worshipped!).

Worshipping here, I am struck by the familiarity—the services I’ve attended have invariably followed the format of the Methodist Worship Book, it’s handed out as one enters the Church and the preachers make reference to it and use certain of the prayers.   For example: A few weeks ago at St John’s Maroon Methodist Church I attended a service of Holy Communion that adhered to the Methodist Worship Book, making full use of an Order of Worship that I (and all British ministers of my acquaintance) usually abridge.  The 20-minute exegetical, teaching sermon, could be preached in Britain, save for the references to local culture.  6 or 7 hymns (from Hymns and Psalms) are sung and the Nicene Creed is spoken.  The familiar is also, therefore unfamiliar—there is greater discipline, order and attention to detail here.

Last Sunday, towards the close of the service, I was invited to come forward to hear the prayers of those who came to the communion rail with special thanks or concerns.  This kind of ‘altar call’ seems to be a feature of most services and the prayers embody a theology that regards the whole of life as evidence of God’s mission and His care for individuals.  In a culture where so many people are observant Christians, or Muslims, the rhythms and rituals of worship would be familiar to a large percentage of the population.  Life is framed and cradled in worship and faith is respected.

People who, by western standards, have very little give generously and rather frequently!  I still haven’t figured out why there were three separate offerings this morning.  One offering was placed in white envelopes, we went forward in an orderly manner to deposit our envelopes in the plates at the communion rail.  Another was in brown envelopes that seemed to have been given to only the younger members of the congregation, this offering was also carried forward by each giver.  The third offering was a loose cash one for which plates were passed around the congregation.

When coming to church inSierra Leone, bring plenty of money!  Church here is like the people, warm (some like it hot) and welcoming.

Come and see, come and be, come to worship.

Wendy Kilworth-Mason

Week 14 – St.John’s

Sometimes words can mean different things to different people. Church is one such word.

Just a few days ago now we issued a press release explaining that our St Johns Church in Stone had taken the decision to put its premises up for sale. Though there is deep sadness because there are so many memories tied up in those bricks and mortar, there is also a real sense of relief and excitement.

We know that God is with us and is leading us to a place where we will be able at last to live out our Christian faith without feeling like we are using all our energy to prop up a building that is beyond economic repair; a building which will never be able to meet our needs for this and future generations.

You see we know that Church premises are there only to serve the purpose of the Church, and when they stop doing that and become a huge obstacle to us being Church we know the time has come to move away.

The problem with this word Church is that we use it to describe the people of God while others think it only means the building!

One person came to me having heard our news and said they were very sad that St John’s Church was closing down; I tried to explain that we were moving not closing but I am not sure they understood because for them this word Church was tied so completely to one suite of buildings.

St John’s you see is not closing it is growing!  We are seeing new people come and join us, our worship is vibrant, our fellowship alive, caring and loving, our passion for Jesus and our community burning strong.

For us Church is not a building or tradition or music or leadership, though all of those can be good things, but you could take all of them away and Church will still be there; Church is the people of God gathered in His name to worship and seeking to live out His life in the world.

At St Johns we are following in the footsteps of all of God’s pilgrim people, called to leave behind that which might hold us back and press on towards the goal.

God has a mission for us at St Johns and I know that He does for all of you reading this now in your various communities. It is a simple yet vital plan, to plug into what God is doing in a Church community, to be part of a small group where your faith will grow, and then to live out that faith with your passions and gifts driving you on as you share your faith and live for God. Our communities need us to take seriously that calling, when we do we really are being Church.

I wish everyone could see St Johns in the way we do – not as a town landmark, or a Church building with a history, but as a vibrant growing fellowship with a future because we travelling on this pilgrim journey with a mission from God!

Neil Adams

Week 13 2012 – Honesty!

Honesty is a virtue. If you make a habit of being honest, you may get into a few awkward situations, but in the end, your integrity will remain intact and people will trust you much more readily. So – being honest and open about the things that have gone wrong will be well worth the trouble.

So I thought, but I must admit that I opted out of an honest answer when my friend Jutta recently sent me a thank-you letter for her birthday present … Did I do the right thing? Well,  judge for yourselves:

It all started in January, when an artist friend of mine had an exhibition where she sold her work in aid of a charity supporting Bolivian street children. Most paintings were out of my reach, but I fell in love with a beautiful miniature landscape and decided to purchase it. The postcard sized painting was just within my budget, but it wasn’t framed, so I next went out to find a suitable frame. After much searching, I decided on a lovely silver photo frame: it was just the right size and showed off the painting beautifully.

And then my German friend Jutta had a birthday. She is a great lover of art in any form: whenever I visited, she would take me round art exhibitions; she would spend her holidays soaking up the culture of ancient cities; she would decorate her home with the most beautiful and expensive artefacts. Surely, she would appreciate this lovely miniature landscape. Luckily, I still had the packaging from the photo frame –  good, solid packaging, making sure the painting would survive the stresses of posting.

Jutta’s birthday came and went, and then came the thank-you letter that left me aghast: “Thank you so much for the beautiful photo frame. It is just right for one of our recent holiday pictures and will take pride of place in our dining room.”  HELP!!!

My first thought was to phone Jutta and tell her about the painting: be honest and open like I had always aimed to be, preserve my integrity, practise my Christian principles…. But then, by the time her letter had made it across the North Sea, the painting would already be in some landfill site. Telling Jutta the truth would just make her feel bad.

Alternatively, I could pretend all was well: Jutta was happy, the Bolivian street children had had their benefit from my purchase and I could bring myself to seeing the funny side of it all.

However, when I next visit Jutta and see the photo in her dining room, will I be able to keep a straight face?

Franziska Herring

Week 12 of 2012 – Saints

April the 23^rd is St George’s day and over the past few years this dates has been marked more publicly although the English still have a long way to go to reach the passion of the Irish for their patron saint, St Patrick.  But the question has to be why would anyone want to make a special occasion of a day that’s associated with a man or a woman who died many decades, often many centuries before.  In the case of a national patron saint the sense of belonging and nationhood is probably uppermost in people’s minds rather than the faith of the saint themselves.   Still there are many Christians who today chose to mark the day of a specific man or woman whose Christian faith has been deemed worthy of special consideration, particularly within the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.  But what about Methodism? The Methodist Church in common with most protestant churches calls any believer who is “in Christ” whether in heaven or on earth, a saint.  To put it more simply anyone who can call themselves a Christian is a saint.

So whilst there’s nothing wrong with celebrating St George’sday or St Patrick’s day or even the spiritual life of a particular named individual, the knowledge that all those who are “in Christ” can be called a saint opens up a much more exciting possibility.  Looking back on our own journey of faith we can all recognise those people who have and who still continue to influence the path of our discipleship.  That person may have been the one who first lead us to faith or who stands out in our memory as someone who helped to nurture that faith.  The things that person did might not at the time have seemed very important and its only remembering that we realise what an impact they had on our life.   If we were to sit down and write a list of those people then it’s more than likely that list would be a lot longer than we first expected.  So we should give thanks to God every day for the people in our lives that’ve helped us to come to know him more and not just leave it until special days or certain times of the year.

What about that exciting possibility?  Well, if we can look back and name people who have played a key role in our faith journey then all of us, as saints, will have the opportunity to play that role in someone else’s life.  This doesn’t mean we have to preach to everyone we come across but by getting alongside someone, living out the love of Christ in our lives, being unashamed of our relationship with Him and being willing to share the highs and the lows of that relationship we will make a difference for Him in someone else’s life.  Neither the person nor us may even be aware that we’re making a difference and it might only become apparent many years later but to do this, not for our own gain but to bring glory to God is surely one of the most important callings of a saint, far more impressive than any feat of dragon slaying, real or imagined.

Jamie Challinor

Week 11 2012 – Julian of Norwich

This year instead of following a set of Bible readings during Lent, I led a series of studies thinking about the spirituality of Julian of Norwich.

Julian was a remarkable woman who lived 1342 –1416. She is one of the most important of the English Mystics, though not much is known about her, not even her real name before she entered holy orders.  She lived on her own in a small room attached to a parish church in Carrow just outside Norwich.

Julian had a series of visions on what she believed was her death bed when she was in her early 30’s about the depths of God’s unconditioned love for us. She wrote them down, though they were not read widely or considered important, and it is believed they were forgotten about for around 600 years.

One of her most famous lines was the focus of our thinking in holy week. ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’.

If you come to this though, without knowing something of Julian’s very positive all-encompassing vision of God’s love and grace for all creation, then it makes no sense at all. It sounds hollow – another ‘don’t worry be happy everything will be ok’ bland throwaway line, but this is anything but that. This is Julian’s faith – whatever happens to us we remain enfolded in love and cherished by God.

For Julian the struggles pains and sorrows of life are not ignored, but they are seen through the prism of faith in a God who is love.  Suffering is not a punishment inflicted by God – God loves and saves – ‘All shall be well’ reflects this theology.

Julian wrestled with real life just as we do, she lived in difficult times and experienced deep sadness, but she also knew the depth of God’s love and His faithfulness.  Julian’s positive outlook does not ignore suffering, but her complete picture of God is big enough to hold suffering and pain in tension with faith and hope.

One of the most important things we have talked about during our time this Lent has been the nature of God; Julian referred to God as Mother as well as Father, she called Jesus Mother too.  We thought long and hard about how difficult that was, but also about how important it is to move beyond just using traditional strong male images to describe God like Father, Lord or Almighty.

The Easter story reminds us so powerfully that if our imagery and language is to be whole then it has to contain too something of the vulnerability of our God and the lengths to which Love goes that we might know we are never alone. Part of the revelation of God brought to us in and through Jesus is that God is willing to walk steadfastly toward Jerusalem, towards suffering, rejection and death; His life laid down so that we might know God’s love now and forever.

Of course that vision of Saviour and Messiah was at odds with the Messiah imagery back then for many and remains difficult for some now, but how can we ever enter into relationship with God if we cannot know He is present in the humiliation of the cross?

‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’ is embedded in the knowledge of the faithfulness of God suffering and dying, so shamefully crucified. It is a wisdom that has brought encouragement to me in difficult days and it will I am sure do so in the future.

God is love and His love is ours in Christ; in the light of that we all can know that all shall be well. I pray that if you are walking in difficult paths today that you would know with a real profound certainty that God holds you and always will.

God bless you

Neil Adams