January 28, 2009 • 8:50 pm
Here beginneth the first posting of what I hope will be a series of stories told at bishops’ expense. After all, there is something rather ludicrous about putting your coat and hat and stick on to go inside… One Sunday so the story goes, a mother shook her son awake, telling him it was time to go to church. No effect. Ten minutes later she was back: ‘Get out of bed immediately and go to church.’ ‘Mother, I don’t want to. It’s so boring! Why should I bother?’ ‘For two reasons: You know you MUST go to church on a Sunday, and secondly, you are the bishop of the diocese.’
And Joseph de Maistre tells the story of a bishop conducting a mass baptism near St Petersburg in the early nineteenth century. When a baby slipped from his hands and disappeared into the freezing waters of the River Neva, he just shouted, ‘Give me another one’, and carried on.
Ouch. Both stories are told at the beginning of Timothy Radcliffe’s book “Why Go To Church?”, the ABC’s Lent Book for 2009, which I’m just starting to read, to limber up for Lent myself. It looks like an excellent read of the thoughtful, take-it-slowly kind. It’s published by Continuum, ISBN 978-0-8264-9956-1.
And did you know that John Lennon used to go to church until the vicar threw ut for laughing? Oh dear. At least it wasn’t the bishop.
Filed under: Humour, Wisdom from others! , bishop, jokes, Timothy Radcliffe
January 27, 2009 • 12:20 pm
January 26, 2009 • 9:34 pm
Earlier in January I had the privilege of giving the Bible Study at our diocesan Bishop’s Council ‘longer meeting’, in which the 
Council went on to do some great work in developing our approach to the new developments in the area, and integrating Mission Action Planning into our diocesan structures. I took Jesus’ teaching on the Vine and the Branches from John 15 and drew out from it a message that many will have heard in my sermons in the diocese: that as Christians and Church we need to be in vibrant relationship with God, with deep roots of faith and prayer; that in the strength of that we can grow strongly in relationship with each other in the fellowship of the church, with shoots of new life for all; and that this life is given us to be offered by us to the whole community in which we live, the fruits of God’s good news as the whole creation comes once more within his kingdom and thrives as it was always meant to. I think that something of the same message is there in Archbishop Rowan’s talk that I summarised a few postings ago.
To read notes on the Bible study click on “Read More” or on this link which will open it as a Word document: the-vine-and-the-branches.
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Filed under: Sermons and Talks , 3D Church, Bible Study, Diocese, Ely, MAP
Christian Aid has have produced a novel Lent resource for this year, and in light of the recent incursion into Gaza, might have especial resonance.
It’s an ‘online’ pilgrimage inspired by the real pilgrimages that were organised by the Mission and Public Affairs Department last year. The pilgrimage will resource the traditional period of spiritual reflection and self-examination by focussing the thoughts and prayers of Christians on the Holy Land, though a ‘virtual journey’ around the holy sites. The idea is to capture some of the experience of actually going to the Holy Land and make it accessible to people who, for whatever reason, cannot go. It will allow people to experience both the religious and political dimensions of visiting the place and encourage people to learn more and become more deeply involved with the people who live there.
The sign up page is already live and people are encouraged to start signing up here www.christian-aid.org/pilgrimage There is also a trailer video on the sign up page that gives some idea of what will be on offer
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Filed under: Resources , Christian Aid, Holy Land, Lent
January 24, 2009 • 7:12 pm
In the desert with Elijah – from 1 Kings 19
We have a family board game at home called Rollercoaster Hippo, and great fun it is too, as you shoot down slides onto sofas (imagine it!) and all the rest.
Christian life and ministry can be a bit of a rollercoaster too… Elijah swings from the high of Mount Carmel to the low of fear as he feels the wrath of Jezebel. His self-worth plummets and he wishes he was dead. Recognise the feeling, especially when the knife of criticism is put in just after a wonderful time of worship, for instance?
It has all the hallmarks of spiritual warfare – note Jezebel’s reference to ‘gods’ for instance, the death-wish, and also an element of untruth. Why should Elijah need to be better than his ancestors anyway?
The underlying question, though – ‘What’s to become of me?’ – is so right for how we feel, as we turn in on ourselves at times like these, and just want to curl up and forget it all. I can remember one vivid occasion when I did just that after a car breakdown; and another after I was on the receiving end of a very pointed attack. How about you? Elijah runs into the desert. Where do you run? Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Sermons and Talks , Bible Study, Elijah, silence
The Archbishop spoke yesterday about trust as a real problem in our society. It’s been a theme in public discourse for some time. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important . Recent research publicised on the news today makes the point.
“In a recent survey UK youth came 3d in Europe to Bulgaria and Slovakia as being without trust and disaffected. Britons are more bored, tired and less likely to know their neighbours than other Europeans, a study suggests. But think tank, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), found UK residents were among the sixth happiest nations. Data from more than 40,000 interviews from the 2006/07 European Social Survey was used to draw up the table. According to the NEf, the UK was among the bottom four of the 22 nations on the basis of feelings of trust and belonging, including how close they were to their neighbours. While the over-75s scored highly in the same area, for the 16-24 age group, the UK reported the lowest levels of trust and belonging anywhere in Europe. The NEF researchers said the UK’s poor performance on this “key element of social well-being” was indicative of a “highly individualistic culture”.
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/nationalaccountsofwell-being240109.aspx
And just today, visiting the big local firm of growers Shropshire’s, I heard that their own first and key value is trust. Is it ours?
Filed under: Current affairs , trust, youth
Mark Greene writes in the excellent Connecting with Culture email from LICC:
In 2001, Jim Collins wrote Good to Great, arguably the most influential business book of the decade, pored over in the offices of NGOs and charities, as well as in the gleaming HQs of multinationals. Collins analysed what turns good organisations into great organisations. One of his key findings was that the character of the CEO was vital. Two qualities distinguished the great leaders from the good, the bad and the mediocre. It wasn’t their ability to cast a vision or their personal charisma or their soaring communication skills – all of which Obama has in brimming measure.
No, the two key characteristics of the truly greatest leaders were humility and iron focus. Humility – because the humble leader puts the needs of the organisation before personal preferences, ego needs or whims. Iron focus, because great leaders always retain crystal clarity about their long-term goal. The resonances with the character of the one who came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many are hardly surprising.
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Filed under: Current affairs , Barack Obama, LICC
January 23, 2009 • 9:45 pm
Address by the Archbishop to the clergy of the diocese of Ely 23rd January 2009, after his visit to Cambourne (photo)
Resumé by Bishop David
David Cameron speaks of us as a broken society. What is our brokenness and what has the church to say into it.
Thomas Brown (s.xvii): “there is another man within me that is angry within me.”
Part of our brokenness is seeing ourselves as what we do not want to be (cf. St Paul).
Previous generations saw this in terms of soul vs. body. We are preoccupied with substance and image. A sense of brokenness in ourselves aggravates brokenness in relationships. We are as a society short on trust; we separate private and public; we ask for much accountability; and the present economic crisis adds to our disorientation. ‘We’ve forgotten that our business is at some level about relationships.’ ‘We have forgotten that relationships take time.’ (Canary Wharf business leaders)
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Filed under: Wisdom from others! , Archbishop of Canterbury, Life, Stories
