Monthly Archives: March 2010

Please help our cathedral!

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We needs as many people as possible to sign the petition to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme – please click on the link and follow the simple instructions to add your voice to the petition.  This is currently the ONLY bit of financial support that the Government gives to Cathedrals, so it’s vital that we try to persuade them to retain it.  Rochester Cathedral has received £49,000 of support from this scheme since 2007, so it’s vital for us. 

Petition to save the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
This major source of funding is due to end on 31st March 2011. The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) enables listed places of worship to claim back 100% of VAT incurred on repairs and maintenance to the building, professional fees and repair works to fixtures such as bells and organs.

To support the campaign to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, beyond March 2011 sign the petition. It will only take you a minute and could help us massively!

Archbishops FX address

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You can now listen to the Archbishops address from the conference I went to at Lincoln via the fresh expressions page here.

It is well worth listening to, as are the other talks also on the page.

new places

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We have just had our last gathering at our home.
It was a good time and we chatted a lot about the parable of the Prodigal in Luke 15.
It was also a sad time as we said bye to people who are not coming on this part of the journey with us.
There is also some fear as we step into the unknown together.

As a small ‘becoming a community’ this is quite a scary time for us and a time where I am particularly aware of how fragile as a group we are. There are a few of us, and we seek to journey together and explore Christian faith in an informal and open setting and in a way that helps us to live out our faith in the 21st century.  We are not really sure what that means, we will try some things and no doubt we will make some mistakes. We do, however, need to try.

We are on the move and our next gathering will be in the Ithamar Chapel in the Crypt of the cathedral. The plan is that this will become our home for the time being as we continue to gather monthly. This is a major step for us as we seek to become more accessible to others who are on a similar journey  – those who wish to have an opportunity to explore more about faith in a  format where they can discuss and question as well as become involved by bringing their gifts and interests to the worshipful life of the community.

As we take this step we look forward to seeing what God will do.  We hope we will join and gather with others as time progresses and we hope we will develop something that is currently missing from the wider body of Christ in this area. We do not believe we are called to create something better or superior … and we don’t believe we are called to duplicate (what would be the point of that?) … we merely feel called to travel together at this point in time.

Personally –  I’m pretty scared! We are out of our knowledge and comfort zone and really do not know what will happen. Please … if you are of the praying kind, please hold us in your prayers over these next few months. I think we are going to need it!

Suu Kyi Barred From Burma Election

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Burma’s dictatorship have finally published laws governing so-called elections later this year. The new laws ban Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the elections, as she has a conviction following the sham trial last year after an American man swam to her house. The Burma Campaign UK is calling on the United Nations Security Council to take action, as even countries sympathetic to the generals can no longer claim the elections will be free and fair. You can view our media release here.

Campaign Success! – UN Burma Expert Backs Calls For Inquiry Into War Crimes
The UN Special Rapporteur on Burma has called for a UN Commission of Inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. For years the regime has been raping and killing civilians, recruiting child soldiers, and using hundreds of thousands of people as slave labour. Now we need to persuade the British government to support the call for a UN inquiry.

Take Action:
If you live in the UK, you can write to your MP asking them to sign a Parliamentary motion calling on the government to support an inquiry. Already 178 MPs have backed the motion.

A few moments of your time could transform the lives of others!

Creativity is not a novelty

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http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10024185&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Creativity is Not Novelty from Transposition Films on Vimeo.

‘We confuse creativity with novelty’
and
‘church is not the place for evangelism’

are two comments from Steve Frost that may get you thinking …. creatively(!?)

Hysterical fabrications

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Hysterical Fabrications opens tomorrow evening at the Nucleus Arts Centre in Chatham.

This is Nigel Adams’ first solo exhibition of his work; so it will be a great event to get to. I love the fact that Medway is becoming a place where local artists can be both encouraged and display their creations.

I’m planning to go along tomorrow to the opening – anyone fancy joining me?

The Prodigal Father

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Today’s Lent thought from Giving It Up was based on what is probably my favourite story from the bible.

Maggi gives a taste of her thinking on her blog today.

‘the first person in the story to throw the cash around was actually the Father, not the son…’ intrigues … go read more!

a safe place

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http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9882718&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Providing A Safe Place from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

some wise words here from Walter Bruggemann on church being safe place for people to come with their pain and their doubts:

‘church ought to be providing a liturgical grid and a safe place inviting people to be honest about their life, because when we get honest that gives us energy for transformation.‘

discuss ……

Mother

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There is an amazing art installation in the cathedral at the moment, which if you are around you might like to make the effort to pop in and see. Actually, if you are not around, plan to come see Mother and then meet me for coffee or lunch afterward (your shout!! lol)!

Mother is an exhibition of Vaughan Grylls, who is one of the lay members of chapter. The images are gripping and provide a real presence in the lady chapel.

I have put some pictures taken yesterday on Flickr here; but they do the exhibition no justice at all, so come see! We have the exhibition here until 26th march.

There is a great news report here from BBC South East which includes an interview with Vaughan outlining the exhibition and his inspiration for the work.

finding the Kingdom in the everyday

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It’s been a good weekend with quality time spent with friends and a mixture of stuff to do at the cathedral. The Gills even picked up 3 points, although the performance was pretty inept and it is crystal clear that the manager has no more ideas up his sleeve and simply needs to leave … but that’s another blog story.

The weekend has been one of those where we have been able to spend lots of time with lots of different people: drinking in the club before the match, being with friends during the match, with friends again after the match at a Chinese restaurant to celebrate Conors birthday. After Evensong this afternoon we popped down to Andrew and sarah’s for coffee … which turned out to be a bottle or 2 of red wine …. that’s a great way to let the rest of Sunday disappear.

In the cathedral itself I have been struck by the quality of our worship. The choir were brilliant as is normal, but today conversations with people seemed to show the depth of love and respect that is around the place as well. It is difficult to put into words, but I think there was something special about today.

I guess I am reflecting on how fortunate I am. It is easy to become complacent. I am part of a fantastic family and group of friends, I work in a magnificent place with an amazing job to do and I guess it is quite easy to take all these things for granted.

In my Lent reading today I read of the lost coin (Luke 15) and Maggi’s commentary on how the Kingdom of God works through the little everyday things that seem insignificant in the wider scheme of things but are personally quite important.

Today I have experienced the brilliance of the Kingdom of God in the normal everyday things of my life.