Mission Shaped Kathryn?

Off and on through the past year, though far less regularly than I'd hoped, I've been part of a group exploring "Mission Shaped Ministry". The course finished just a week ago, and I've been reflecting on its impact on me and the ministry of the church in my parishes.

At the same time, I've been part of other conversations around the work of our Deanery pioneer minister, - so the mission theme has been bubbling away quite close to the service this week.

We're blessed with a very able pioneer minister working as a curate in a nearby parish, but also giving 50% of his time to developing a Fresh Expression of church in the town at the centre of the deanery.

This neighbouring town*  is a wonderful mixture...some very down to earth people born and bred here....some spiritual explorers with alot of energy and commitment to alternative spiritualities...many devotees of Rudolf Steiner....lots of artists, thinkers, askers of Big Questions.

Altogether, it's an extraordinary place where it's never hard to find something interesting and thought-provoking going on, but sadly the Christian presence does not, to my mind, really seem to connect with the essence of the town. We've tended to hide in our churches, or to offer an attractive but specific model of evangelism through "Churches Together" - which has, I think, depended heavily on inviting people to some well-organised events, sometimes with big-name speakers. Of course, this approach does bear some fruit, just as it always has - and there are thriving independent, Baptist and evangelical Anglican churches about the place who are deeply committed to it, and who draw in good numbers through Alpha, "Praise in the Park" and, no doubt, through last year's Deanery mission.

Regular readers in the "glory days" of this blog may not be surprised to hear that this isn't quite where I am. I felt called to these communities for a ministry of incarnation - offering practical support, sharing where I can with the struggles and joys of life on the estates of my parish, above all trying to encourage people who rarely look up, to dare to lift their gaze and notice God at work in and among them every day. I also felt a vague tug - nothing as clear as a call - towards the spiritual explorers of the neighbouring town. I love being with those on the edge, always have.It was, actually, the one thing that made my much-loved title parish frustrating at times - for life was so comfortable and certain for the majority there. I'm famously keen on multi-sensory (aka touchy feely?) worship, on tea-lights, pebbles and plainsong in a darkened church, -so, when it came to the mission last year our contributions in the valley were based on helping to reclaim the community centre FOR the estates community and offering a labyrinth, as a toe in the water experiential prayer opportunity for those who will never engage with the black and white certainties of evangelical Christianity. 

No - we didn't,as a result, bring lots of new Christians to baptism but both ventures were valuable in quite different ways, and connections were made on which we continue to build.

You see, for me it's all about community....About affirming the communties that do exist and helping them to see God in one another...About doing all that I can to help build community where there seems to be isolation and struggle (Messy Church is an important part of this)...About remembering again and again that God IS community - the community of the Trinity...into which we are invited. The vacant seat at the table in Rublev's icon. 

At the heart of my calling as priest is the need to invite others, wherever and however I can, to experience the hospitality of God - in ways in which that will be recognised and welcomed.

I love inherited church. It has formed me, given me a route to ministry, sustained and supported me through a whole host of life crises (and been noticeably missing at others) - but even at my most optimistic I can't say that I expect it to "work" for a majority today.

So, I also love the climate of exploration and discovery that has emerged in the wake of "Mission Shaped Church"  but the thing that really excites me most is the invitation "to find out what God is doing and then join in".

I'm pretty sure that while God is undoubtedly at work in and through God's Church there's an awful lot more to God's mission than our limited, church-shaped imaginations will allow. I wonder what God is REALLY doing among those alternative seekers...and how best I can join in and celebrate.

*our boundaries touch - til I lived here I believed that valley parish was part of hippy dippy Town...now I know better :)

A bit of a rethink

If you've spent much time in these parts, you'll know that I am very fond of my FabBishop, - who ordained me both deacon (just after he became a Bishop) and priest, and who has taken trouble to ensure that he has a real and informed pastoral connection with all his clergy. He talks some really good sense, and is famous as a liturgist (which suits me very well, thank you) so though this doubtless sounds dreadfully sycophantic, I've always been extremely glad that he is my bishop.

This doesn't mean that I wasn't shaken and deeply disappointed when, 2 weeks ago, he spoke at the diocesan clergy day on the then imminent ordination of +Mary Glasspool and its implications for the Anglican Communion.

I'm a paid up member of Inclusive Church and to hear FabBishop speaking was both sad and painful. Like ++Rowan he clearly feels that the bishop's role as a focus of unity takes precedence over any personal inclinations...so though his heart might encourage one viewpoint, he is constrained by his episcopacy to act against it.

So in the two weeks since the clergy day, I've struggled a bit with feelings of disappointment...

When FabBishop's statement appeared online and attracted all sorts of negative responses, and not a little vitriol, I was uncomfortable, sad all over again, but on the whole I didn't leap to his defence.

I didn't blog either, because it seemed to me that either I would be criticising someone for whom I have great respect and affection, or I would be compromising my own integrity and commitment to an inclusive church.

All very sad and uncomfortable - a miserable microcosm of the pain and anger that is being expressed on a much larger stage across the Communion.

But on Saturday I was given the opportunity to see things differently.

I was at a truly excellent Fresh Expressions Vision Day, and found myself sharing a cafe table with FabBishop and working with him for much of the day.

We weren't engaged in anything to do with issues in human sexuality or with the ordination of women, of whatever orientation, to the episcopate.

We were, rather, thinking about the urgent need to translate the gospel into a language that makes sense to the huge numbers for whom traditional church will never connect.

As part of this, we were asked to think about the cost of mission...of how it might feel to respond positively to that question

"Will you go where you don't know and never be the same".

We thought about being vulnerable in strange situations, with people whose language, lives and priorities were unlike our own.

But we didn't just think in abstract. We were led to experience it for a few minutes...and I learned alot.

To begin with, we were invited to lay aside an object that we valued, to place it on the table in front of us.

Most of the time I wear a heavy silver bangle I bought in Bangalore...

I think it's beautiful in itself, and for me it carries the added beauty of memories of my wonderful weeks in India, all the learning and growing, the friendships made and prayers offered...It's one of my most precious possessions - so off it came, leaving my right wrist feeling a bit naked.

After just a few seconds to adjust to this, we were next invited to pick up something that our neighbour had placed there.

Then we were told to put it on.

So it was that for several minutes yesterday I found myself wearing FabBishop's episcopal ring.

It was heavy....both literally and figuratively, as I imagined how it might be to wear it all the time, a constant reminder of the responsibilities he bears for us as the Anglican church in this diocese, and as a leader on a wider stage.

It didn't fit me very well - I was uncomfortable with it in every respect.

No surprise there. Being a vicar is quite enough of a leadership role for me, thank you kindly!

But it taught me something too.

You see, around the stone is engraved in tiny letters that you'd not notice if they weren't pointed out to you, 

"ut unum sint" "that they may all be one".

Whenever I preside at the Eucharist I'm reminded of the day when I knelt before FabBishop while he anointed my hands, and made them forever a focus of the priestly ministry of consecration, reconciliation and blessing entrusted to me at my ordination.

I'd imagine that when FabBishop looks at his hands he remembers not only that shared experience of priesthood but the particular focus of episcopacy.

"That they may all be one"

I still wish he hadn't had to speak as he did, I still hate that it seems impossible for the church that I love to be the fully inclusive church I dream of, but perhaps I'll have a little more patience from now on, as I remember how heavy that ring felt on my finger.

What I said this morning....Pentecost sermon

What does Pentecost mean for you?

Would you prefer Whitsun?

Did you know that today is one of the Big Three celebrations of the Christian year?

I guess it might seem rather a Cinderella festival, lacking the obviousl appeal of Christmas (you can't go wrong with baby, star and angels) or even Easter (which at least balances tricky theology with the delights of chocolate over-kill)

But PENTECOST...the celebration of the Spirit...the launching of the church as a missionary body...

what does that mean for us?

If we're honest, we might admit that it's not always easy to claim this feast's potential for ourselves.

After all, we're Anglicans....not generally noted for exuberant outpourings of any kind....We tend to prefer our spirits watered down, or at least tempered by a goodly measure of decency and order!

So there's something about the events we remember today that may almost frighten us. After all, nobody hearing the account from Acts can imagine that decency and order were much to the fore.God's Spirit loose in the world...a prospect almost as alarming as it is joyful.

But what does it mean to us?

What gift would you ask from the Holy Spirit today?

You don't have to be the Archbishop of Canterbury to discern that the church in the west is, overall, in a pretty poor state.

Too often it seems that we lack confidence, that our preferred vision is to be found only in the rear-view mirror as we fix our gaze on rose tinted images of "how things used to be'.

We need some radical transformation if we're to live out our calling to be signposts to, & agents of the kingdom.

We've lost heart...we are both fearful & nostalgic.

We need help.

Much like the disciples, in fact...A group huddled together, waiting without knowing why...A group bereft, unhappy in the present, uncertain of the future.

It was to this frightened gathering that the Spirit came, and in her coming brought fresh hope, fresh vision, and gifts beyond anyone's imaginings.

That sounds like a welcome solution for a fearful church, - and yet......

can we, dare we, really embrace change?

Yesterday I was with a group of Christians from across Gloucestershire and beyond, exploring ways in which we might connect with that majority of our friends and neighbours who will never cross the thresholds of our churches.

At the beginning of the day we heard the story of Pentecost from Acts....and I noticed again how that huge crowd from all round the Mediterranean heard the good news of Jesus In their own languages.....

I remembered that God will go to any and every length to communicate with us....and reflected on the different languages He has used to communicate with me....the language of music, of poetry, of friendship, of childbirth...

I wonder how he first spoke to you.

I guarantee that it will have been in a way that you could understand, even if you didn't instantly recognise its significance.

Perhaps, like me, once God had awoken you to his presence in your life, you found the church a natural and comfortable place to continue the conversation.

Your language and that of the church had just enough over-lap to enable on-going connection.

But look around you today and you'll realise this isn't so for the majority.

Many of you have shared with me your disappointment that your families have apparently turned away from the faith that you taught them in childhood.

Again and again, as I take funerals or talk to couples who are planning their wedding, I hear the same story. These are people who are interested in God, wanting to take their spiritual journey seriously, but finding the customs and structures of the traditional church completely unhelpful, - so remote from their worlds that we might as well be speaking a foreign tongue. There is no official language for God, for God the Word comes down and speaks ours, whatever it may be. Learning another’s language is a real challenge, but the church includes liberals and evangelicals, thinkers and feelers, those passionate about justice, and those passionate about conversion, - and we need to communicate, hear and be heard even within our immediate church family. We’re not called to create a monochrome church, full of people like us but to be as creative in translating our faith as God is in calling us to relationship with him. Beyond the church, there are countless souls who aren't yet aware that the conversation could include them, that God has good news which concerns them too.

So it is that Christians are walking out through the doors of their churches to form new communities, the fresh expressions of church that connect with different aspects of our culture in many and various ways. Be it Messy Church, Cafe church, Surfers church, the Holy Spirit is still impelling Christians to set out from their safe spaces, the rooms where they were huddled comfortably together with those of like mind, and gifting them to engage with those who need to get the message in ways that they can understand.

Of course, such mission is not without cost. Change never is.Those who set out in the power of the Spirit will leave gaps behind them in their home communities and may find themselves in thoroughly unexpected situations, in places where they are out of their comfort zone AND out of their depths.

The American priest and writer Barbara Brown Taylor speculates

“"If I had been in that room on the first Pentecost day, would I have prayed, 'Oh God, if you are about to pour out your Spirit and this is what it looks like, would you please skip me?' and I think that many of us, reflecting in the pre Pentecost world, would have shared her anxiety.

But that's the point.

When we look at the Christian task, our calling, from the outside, it all looks much too scary.

When we realise that with the help of the Spirit, we'll find ourselves engaging in ways that we'd never have imagined, we may wish we could run and hide

But when we remember that it is this same Spirit who will not only lead us into all truth, but gift us to communicate the truth of God's love wherever we may find ourselves, we can perhaps begin to relax, to open clenched fists, to allow the words to come from our startled mouths.

So let's spend a few moments in prayer, reflecting on the reality of the church we're part of, thanking God for the ways we have met him in this place and these people.

[pause]

When this service began we took time to pray “Send us the Spirit”

Soon, as we do every week, we will approach the altar and receive God's self in the precious gifts of bread and wine.

Before we leave here we will see the candles we bear lit from the great Easter fire – a reminder that WE are now apostles, WE are now sent in the power of the Spirit to bear good news to the world.

May it be so

Amen

Synod meets Fresh Expressions

At diocesan synod on Saturday, after the inevitable and painful discussions of the budget, we heard a presentation on Fresh Expressions from +Graham Cray.
I'm rather in favour of Fresh Expressions myself, though it did seem to me that +Graham managed to make them sound a bit like a dodgy form of car insurance...but what really struck me was the force of anti FE feeling that was abroad.

It seemed that some simply could not hear the assurances that we were moving into a "mixed economy" church, where fresh and traditional expressions can and do co-exist happily.A catholic colleague serving a rural benefice was certain that fresh expressions were a purely urban phenomenon, (this was firmly refuted, but it saddened me that he was so instinctively opposed that he hadn't explored the many rural contexts where new ways of being church are being born).Another in a deprived urban parish raised serious and legitimate concerns about network church in the sort of poor communities where no networks seem to exist. That is certainly an issue for the estate part of Church in the Valley, where our current impact is minimal, where we don't have much contact even through occasional offices, where some sort of fresh expression might well need to emerge.

The great blessing of an open-ended committment here is that I don't immediately have to worry that no obvious way in has opened...though I do have to be careful that I'm not so up to my ears in everything else that I can't take it any opportunities, or enable others to do so, if that's part of God's plan for this place.

One tweedy gentleman who was rather older than me claimed that thanks to liturgical revisions and unhelpful publicity, nobody now knew what the C of E was, or why it existed. As he talked, it seemed increasingly possible that he had no expectation that belonging to the church, might imply a relationship with God...His sights were firmly anchored on the institution (not entirely sure if that's a mixed metaphor?) without a recognition of the Church as Body of Christ. He talked about moving too fast, about confused identities, but never paused to recognise that Jesus "is already gone ahead of us into Gallillee", that God "makes all things new". Combined with the reaction of a couple of people to the very mild liturgical revision we tried out at Church on the Hill yesterday, I found this profoundly depressing.

I am utterly committed to the existing ministry of the Church. At a time when I'm so stretched personally, with funerals and death-beds taking up most of the working day, the comfort of knowing that I'm part of an army of faithful priests who have simply spent their lives loving and praying for their people and celebrating the Sacraments is immeasurable,- but I'm passionate too about the Church's calling to be an agent of transformation, - of individuals, congregations, communities.

There is a picture at Holland House, Worcester diocesan retreat house, with swirling circles of energy and colour
"We are followers of the running God, who goes to the periphery to make it a centre of light"
Sometimes keeping up is very hard work, but I know God will wait for us, that we won't be left for long wondering "which way now?"

Wise words

from Archbishop Rowan yesterday

We have... a story, a drama to show you: if you live inside it, letting your own life be lit up and shown to you afresh by it, you may find that it begins to mould your story and give you a new sense of what's possible. Here's the story of how the maker of everything became part of the world he'd made – letting go of his mystery and otherness to be one of us, so that we might find our way into the mystery and otherness of his love and discover a new way of being at home with ourselves and at home in the universe. This is a lifetime's work .

It was also the task that confronted Mary, as the angel appeared to her

God our Father
the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary
that she was the be the mother of your Son.
Though Mary was afraid
she responded with joy to your call
Help us, whom you call to serve you
to share like her in your great work
of bringing to our world your love and healing.
We ask this through Jesus Christ
the light who is coming into the world.

Coventry Pilgrims

When I left home yesterday morning, the sunrise was quite breath-taking - a child's paintbox fantasy of pinks and golds spread lavishly across the hills. It made getting out of bed bearable - but I was so wiped out that I was less excited than I might have been as I drove up to Coventry.

Silly woman.

Yesterday, the Pilgrimage Day for Catholic/Contemplative Fresh Expressions was quite simply one of the most encouraging and restorative experiences I've had for a while. Coventry Cathedral was the perfect venue - the Basil Spence building which was so startling in its modernity when it rose from the ruins of the medieval original, bombed one night in 1940, having all the space and lack of clutter that the most creative liturgist could demand....and of course, in its juxtaposition of old and new it provided an instant parable for the day, where ancient heritage was brought into new light.

It was all quite wonderful.

High Mass without an ounce of ponce, but with splendour and creativity in profusion.
++Rowan on cracking form (and without any signs of being the compromised version of himself, that I'd feared that the woes of the Anglican Communion might have brought about)
Abbot Stuart ditto
So much to inspire as we were reminded of the missionary roots of Catholic Anglicanism (again I found myself reflecting on the impact of my beloved St John the Divine Kennington on those inner city estates, and on the incarnational impulse that had planted the church there in the first place), the multi sensory worship that has happened for centuries before anyone recognised that it was "multi sensory" at all, and the evolving and communal nature of faith (a journey, not an event).

There were moments of mild hysteria (standing in a close packed crowd at the font, we were invited to prostrate ourselves as a sign of our submission to Christ as we reaffirmed our baptismal vows...I don't think I was the only one there who wondered if I actually knew my neighbours well enough for this as we reflected on the proximity of faces to toes and other still more alarming areas)....of perplexity (who does it matter so much, when we are all outside our parish contexts, to be identifiably ordained? - I don't think I've ever seen so many black clerical shirts outside the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday - just don't "get" this aspect of catholicism at all.)

There was frustration too. When it came to the single workshop slot the choice was almost too rich...How to decide between Looking with Mary to God's possibilities, New Monasticism or Body Prayer in the Christian tradition (during the Mass, Philip Roderick led us in a whole body Lord's Prayer which was quite stunning...one single voice and so many arms praying in united movement)?The excellent input in our workshop on catholic mission (where my book of the year, Take this Bread, also got a mention, confirming my excitement that the "Help yourself" food cupboard we are launching at Church in the Valley feels right on every possible level, including connection with the heart of mission) didn't last for long enough for discussions to even scratch the surface of where we might as individuals go from here.

I wanted to hear more, then to have space to tell my stories and to explore where they might be leading...To be with people who would truly see where I am coming from was thoroughly exciting. I hope that the southern province learning/discussion forums which were mentioned aren't exclusively London based - I so want to take this stuff forward.

So - it wasn't all perfect but there were also many moments that were truly and deeply moving...
I found the sight of the elements being passed to the altar from pilgrim to pilgrim quite breath-taking, underlining ++Rowan's reminder that we live out our faith as a community...we need each other.


After lunch came a quiet hour (which was actually more of a quiet 40 minutes, - nothing like enough to experience the numerous prayer stations that so many creative and thoughtful people had installed for us) and then a single workshop slot.

I lost track of time as I knelt for a while by the chapel of the Crown of Thorns where there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament - time to know myself loved and precious, to recognise that, as I rejoiced in being there, God was glad I was there too...


Altogether the day was a huge blessing - the Quiet Day that I needed (somehow, amid all the excitements,there was lots of space to listen to God ,..when there was "official" space to pause and listen I found that we were already in mid conversation), but more than that an opportunity to remember why the catholic roots of my faith matter so much to me.
I came home (via Cambridge) inspired, encouraged -and ready to polish the thurible!
...

Other accounts of the day on line from Fr Simon (who helped put it together) and from a CPAS staff member (interesting to have a very different starting point)
The concensus so far is that it was Well Worth Doing.

Coincidence and Discernment

When I blogged on Wednesday about my misreading of the lectionary, I was quite tickled at the way things had worked out so that I was able to continue the train of thought started at the Fresh Expressions meeting.
I was even more delighted to read Jonny yesterday, mulling on the same passage (and joining some dots for me, which I'd kind of scribbled over in my eagerness to engage with the hard parts of the message for one who loves traditional church)...He offers sensible comfort for those who love church as it is, as well as a vision for those longing for church that will be

the thing that struck me about the story last time i read it was the last line about old or vintage wine. once you have drunk the good stuff why would you bother experimenting with the new... so if you are in or have people who are drinking at the well of good vintage wine in churches, then great - let them keep drinking.but if there is going to be good vintage in the future we need pioneers who will go and find new soil and plant vines to begin the process of developing new wine.

Now Maggi has picked up the theme as well, and writes here
I'm particularly struck by her comment that we need to discern which wines will improve with keeping, and which will be anything but enjoyable a few years down the line.
I love the concept of a mixed economy church, which offers both old and new ways of meeting with God, -but I wrestle with my own propensity to try and do it all (a danger built in to "mixed economy" models)...and I know that this would be neither healthy nor, I suspect, manageable.

So for the moment, all I can do is to wait and listen and listen and wait, trusting that as I learn what lies at the heart of these communities I will also come to learn how to help them fruitfully engage with God in the future.