what do i think of ‘parish’?

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A few people have been interested in this book and asked for my comments as I am a pioneer and ‘into  the Fresh Expression thing’ (their quote not mine!)

I have not read it and not likely to in the very near future but there have been some interesting reviews, one from Giles Fraser who I normally agree with (but not on this occasion) and Ben Edson and Ian Mobsby who both respond well.

As I said … I have not read the book and can’t really comment. Like others, I do believe we need to look at ecclesiology and practice, but starting from a premis of stating that Mission Shaped Church is a ‘flawed document’ is not a good premis to thoroughly investigate from.

Anyway … people have asked what I think … clearly not a lot …. but that’s because I don’t really know a lot because I am still spending brain time trying to work out what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Dickens angels

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I have now started to think more about the ideas we have been having for the Dickens Festival. We see between 10000-15000 through the cathedral doors over this weekend. My task is to work with others to develop ‘stations’ or some way that people can encounter God as they pass through the building.

This can be a tricky task at normal times, but during ‘Dickens’, being near to Christmas, people always seem to be in such a rush unless something really grabs them. Last year we ran with the theme of ‘pause for thought’ and this year we are using the theme of angels. In my conversations with people I have noticed angels cropping up in conversation quite a bit. There seems to be, at least a local, interest and so it makes sense to me to take this as a theme and see what happens.

We are going to take a bit of a gamble this year and run with a similar set up to how we worked at the Sweeps Festival with a mind body spirit theme overarching what we do. We will be offering prayer for healing, a space for meditation, prayer beads and the ever popular and valuable foot and hand massage and you will again be able to experience a Jesus Deck reading. Our ‘giveaway’ will invite people to spend a week with the angels.

I’m looking forward to the weekend and hearing peoples stories – it’s one of the privileges of my role!

The team is looking good, but if you want to get involved please let me know)

photo Friday: liquid

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This weeks photo Friday entry …. liquid

peace-ful gathering

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The gathering, err gathered again this afternoon. We considered, contemplated, talked about peace.

This was a good collaborative gathering and I didn’t really know what was happening until it happened. In that sense it was exciting, particularly as things came together which showed a God imprint on what we were doing. Things seemed to flow which gave the impression this was all carefully planned … but it wasn’t!

We looked at some quotes on peace and were challenged by:

Peace: it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. (unknown)

Before moving into our Open Space time we listened to Cyndi Laupers ‘True Colours’ which Jim had put together with some images. The stations of Open Space saw us making cranes of peace, thinking about what things we use when we think of peace at home (books, chocolate, wine etc.). We also looked at a great resource from the Methodist Church called a Gift of Peace.

We ended our time together with this Celtic Blessing from the Gift of Peace before we shared drinks and cake.

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ, of Christ, the light of the world to you
Deep peace of Christ to you.

I was challenged and made to think today … thanks everyone.

remembrance

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As with many other places today the Cathedral hosted Remembrance Services. My role today was to speak – something that I have been a little worried about.

The experience, though, was special and quite an honour. I used the iconic image of the poppy in my talk moving from the deaths of Flanders (using that beautiful yet poignant final scene in Black Adder Goes Forth)  and hope I left those there with a sense of hope for the future.

The emotion today was raw and tangible. As expected there were family members and colleagues present who had lost loved ones within the last year. We owe those people a great deal, and we shall remember them.

1 free … 2202 to go!

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Aung San Suu Kyi is released.
For this we give thanks and celebrate.
But …the fight continues for the release of the other 2202 political prisoners held in Burma.

The Burmese generals may be releasing Aung San Suu Kyi as a publicity stunt, to detract from their sham elections last week … but the west can continue with pressure to ensure real freedom is reinstated within Burma.

Please don’t think the campaign is over. Please continue to support the wrok of Free Burma UK … now is a key time from which real transformation could occur.

and the winner is …

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Rochester Cathedral won one of the Medway Culture and Design Awards this week .. another reason why you should visit the cathedral, grab an audio guide, and discover how special and amazing a place the cathedral is.

Adrian writes:

“I thought you would like to know that last night at the Medway Culture and Design Awards, held at the St George’s Centre, our Ancient Stones Untold Stories project won the ‘Tourism’ category award. Given the competition it was up against (including the Dockyard’s stunning ‘No 1 The Smithery’ project), this was a remarkable achievement and is a wonderful acknowledgement of all the hard work put in by so many different people. It reflects well on the Cathedral as a really significant partner organisation in Medway, and it demonstrates the quality of work put in by members of staff here. I know how demanding this project has been on people’s time and energy, and I think that it represents in some measure the thanks of the wider community for everything that people have done to make this such a success.”

Congratulations to Deaf Cat also who won the best newcomer award … and well deserved as this is an excellent place, with lovely people serving wonderful coffee.

Burma: please don’t be fooled!

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There are reports coming from Burma that Aung San Sui Kyi is about to be released. Her detention expires on Saturday 13 November and under Burmese law she should be released. 

There is much speculation about whether or not Aung San Suu Kyi is about to be released. Burma’s generals may be calculating that by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi they will receive so much positive publicity it will counter the negative attention on the election. 
Obviously, we hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released. However, if she is released, the international community must not make the same mistake it has made in the past, hoping that this is a sign of change. Aung San Suu Kyi has been released twice before without there being any political change in the country. It is more likely that the dictatorship will try to use her release to try and persuade the international community to relax pressure on them.
Download our briefing on Aung San Suu Kyi here.

Show your support for Aung San Suu Kyi – wear our Free Burma t-shirt!
They are fairtrade and organic and all profits go to the Burma Campaign UK.

a life of passion?

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The Secret in Their Eyes was a simply beautifully engaging movie, and is probably one of the best films I have seen in a while. The film has a strong plot and an ending (well one of the endings as there are a series of stories within this story) which does challenge you over what is justice all about. The ending I am referring to it quite grotesque in many ways … but I won’t spoil it for those of you that may want to try and watch it.

The film one the Oscar for the best foreign film. I particularly loved some of the filming … there are a great series of opening shots at a railway station that are very engaging which I adored  – much more in fact than the very special scene swooping into a football stadium and chasing a person through tunnels and terraces.

In particular I was truck by the running theme of passion. part way through the film one of the characters realises, when they are looking for the suspect, that people don’t lose their passions, and that there passions determine how they act. That simple line actually sets the tone, clues and behaviour for the rest of the film.

It has left me with so many thoughts on that passion stuff. In the gathering when we started to look at our rhythm of life we started by asking ourselves what we were passionate about. There was a resonance there for me. No matter what happens, our passions remain intact – and if that is so then passions are pretty influential in governing how we live our lives. If we have passion for justice, we will live in a way to support fairness; if we have a passion for money, we will live to increase our balance.

Passions determine how we live … I find that quite thought provoking.

Next weeks film at The Other Cinema is The Girl who Played with Fire – it’s probably going to be quite a popular one which means lots more people. Looking forward to it!

rebirth of sacrament

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I stumbled upon Abbotsford this week thanks to Graham.
The language used is some areas is beautiful, in others it is earthy and challenging. I particularly love Rebirth of Sacrament as I feel it resonates with my thoughts last week when I was speaking of a rolling reformation. 

Silently, waits the promise
buried in the earth
dark it’s days of longing
to be reborn in grain and grape
(you can read in its entirety here)

I love the thoughts of the earth giving birth to sacraments daily so that life is simply constantly renewed. I’m challenged by the words and image of ‘broken sacrament’ – broken because we do not bless those around us.

 I’m glad I have found this community and will be challenged by their creativity and thoughts.