Called by God

It has been a great week - a week full of visiting architects and discussing hopes and dreams. That has meant lots of good chat, and not a lot of time for writing blogs.



I am aware that some people dont like podcasts, and also how last Sunday's sermon differed from what I had written. So I hope that for this week, you will allow me to just provide the text of what I had written for the sermon, rather than what was preached.



See if it opens up any new avenues of thought.



God Bless,



Ian







There is something therapeutic about clay

In one way, what I want to say is very straight forward

Unless we are willing to be molded by God, like the clay that Jeremiah observed the Potter using, then we cannot be put to all the uses that God has for us

It’s a simple message – and one that we can all nod at if we so choose

But it is when we look at the second half of the reading that we see that this is a great deal less to do with small things and a great deal more to do with big things that define who we are

A friend of mine, called Mark, told me a story

He had been for an interview in a pub, and since this was in the Sybase world, he dropped in my name
as someone he knew. The guy said “Ah yes, he found God didn’t he”.

The subtext to the story is that this IT manager at least, seemed to think that once you have a particular understanding of God, you can’t live in the real world anymore

It’s a negative comment – but in some ways it is also a true comment





You can’t take on board the presence of God and carry on doing what you did before

Certain things have to give

So if we have all “found God” – we should expect to not only be changed by this, but we should expect to continue being changed by this – and the things in our lives which worked before, may not fit any more

And this will seriously impact upon our lives

I wonder if part of Peter’s reticence at following Jesus was that he realised just how much responding to God’s call upon his life was going to change him

Many commentators naturally draw links between this and the almost identical story in John 21. In that case Peter would have a very natural reason for his response – he had denied Jesus and run away, how could he be in Jesus’ presence any more

But here we are in a very different context

Throughout his ministry, Jesus has many stories that he tells that point to how following him results in change and division



You only have to think of the parable of the guests who refuse to attend the wedding but there are many more

Likewise, Jesus is pretty uncompromising on how we need to reject all those things that hold us back

In the English translation we read that you cannot love him with hating your father and mother

Always a fun passage to preach on, until you explain to folk that the problem here is translation

since the word we translate as “hate” – the Greek “misei” is a Semitic expression. It actually means to “turn away from” or to “detach oneself from”.

When we see it in this way, we realise that he is telling us that the cost of being a disciple is that you will need to turn away from your family, detaching yourself from everything that can hold you back

Think of the story that Philip told us the other evening:
How when he came to faith his mother said “my son is dead”. To Philip’s parents – to be in their family was to be a Hindu

Therefore, if Philip was not a Hindu, he wasn’t in the family – full stop




And so it is that I wonder of Peter is going
"I can’t do this, I’ll stick to what I know that I can do"

The issue here is that Jesus’ response to Peter is to tell him that he has plans for him, and once that happened then Peter has to make a choice

He either denies Jesus, and refuses to be changed, or responds to the call, and sets out on a journey, where, like the potter’s clay, he will be moulded again and again

As we set out on the next part of our journey, we too, need to be willing to be constantly being remolded

Now I probably need to stress here something very key – before anyone thinks I am attacking anything to do with past life of the church

Father Ian a priest who used to be at St. Mary's in Willesdon explained to me once, about how, if the Spirit is at work we only belong in one place for a short period of time. For if we are changing and the place is changing, there will be a time when we are the same shape, but then, we end up being a square peg in a round hole. He told the story regarding being a priest or a minister – but I think that it is true of all of us.

There is a point at which you fit. If you are growing and willing to be changed, and the thing that you are called to is also alive and growing and changing and there will come a point where you are the wrong shape for it

So there is nothing in this that says you should not have done something – but we are acknowledging that now we should be doing something else

I wonder how often the work of the kingdom is frustrated by the church that insists on doing what it was called to do 20 years ago

It may well be that the role has changed, circumstances have changed, the people that you are serving may have changed – but if you haven’t, how can you serve them

Story I was told last week, by someone who had visited a building – walked through the door, you knew that it had been modernised in 1957. Story then told – when we did the redevelopment – lots of young people came, now, they don’t come any more. The suggestion being that is was the young people’s fault. In fact, the problem is that the young people that they are equipped to serve, don’t exist anymore, and the young people that are there, they are not now the right shape to meet their needs

And because we constantly try to hold our shape, to change once you have reached this point is painful, because it has to be a major piece of work, rather than a progression

Once you start holding onto things, then you stop changing, and being open to change

Hence why Jesus says that to follow him, you must be open to constant change

You must always be clay in the Potter’s hand

Willing to be moulded, not rigid and refusing to change

Last week we met with all four sets of architects who are bidding for the job of being our architect

Beyond saying that on the basis of last week, we cannot make a bad choice, I will leave it there

But in so much of the conversation that we had – there was a great deal about how the project that we are engaging in is NOT about bricks and mortar and buildings

Hence why we are looking for someone who will engage in the process of journeying and exploring with us, much more than someone who can draw plans

There is no way that we can do what we are doing in isolation

We need to be exploring how we grow and change the worshipping life of the church

We need to see the mission opportunities that we are being called to engage with, both here at home and overseas

We need to think much more about how we grow the spiritual life of all the people who are part of our family here – not just the few who choose to come to house groups, but how we can help everyone

There are so many areas of work that we need to engage with – and now is the time to start that engagement

Now is the time for each and everyone of us to put ourselves in the place of Peter on that boat and ask – OK God, what are you calling me to do going forward

And it may be a very different role that the one that we have had historically

I am not aware of any church members who are fishermen – but if we had, then I suspect that they would agree that fishermen to evangelist and apostle is a fair old jump

In going into this process we need to willing to be clay in the hands of the potter

We need to be willing to be moulded by God to meet the calling that he is laying upon us

And it will require all of us to be willing to change and let go of those things that could hold us back, and make us rigid and unchanging

Jeremiah understood that if a nation, or a group of people, sought to deny the will of God and God purposes upon their lives, then they were “evil”

If we tried to resist change and implementation of the vision that God has given us, then I would argue that we would be in the same place

Will you join with me, over the next four weeks, leading up to harvest, to see what God is calling you to do in the weeks and months ahead and we work for his glory in this place

Will you be willing to be changed, just like Jeremiah’s potter’s clay – being moulded into something new

Will you be willing to listen to the Call of God upon your life, and see what part you are going to play in transforming Harwood Methodist Church

Will you be prepared to come to worship on the morning of the 3rd of October ready to respond to the call of the man from galilee upon your life – even if you are being called from the familiar to the unknown

I realise that these are scary concepts – hey, even Peter, when confronted by Jesus in person, in his boat, responded by telling him to “Go away from me”

But in the same way that Jesus reasssured Peter, so he reassures each one of us that we will not fulfill our calling alone

This is the challenge that this Methodist year ahead brings to us

May we embrace it – and may we always seek to be clay in the hands of Potter who is love, and whose love for us is inexhaustable

Amen

Called Into Life

In the coming weeks, we will be looking at the theme of "Called into Life" - both at church and in our house groups.

The structure of this will be:

w/c Sunday 12th September
“Called by God”
Sermon to be preached at Longsight in the evening of the 12th September and then podcasted via the website.
Housegroups - Tuesday the 14th September at 7:30pm and Wednesday the 15th September in the morning

w/c Sunday 19th September
“Called to conversion”
Sermon to be preached at Tottington Road in the morning and Longsight in the evening of the 19th September and then podcasted
Housegroups - Wednesday the 22nd September in the morning and Thursday the 23rd September at 7:30pm

w/c Sunday 26th September
”Called into community”
Sermon to be preached at Longsight of the 26th September and then podcasted
Housegroups - Tuesday the 28th September at 7:30pm and Wednesday the 29th September in the morning

w/c Sunday 3rd October
“Called into mission”
Theme to be explored at Longsight of the 3rd October and then podcasted
Housegroups - Wednesday the 5th October in the morning and Thursday the 6th October at 7:30pm

So please come back to be a part of these discussions.

God Bless,

Ian

The Transformed Church

This week we are thinking about the Transformed Church, and the Bible Readings are:

Matthew 17 vs 1 - 8
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

1 Peter 2 vs 9 - 10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1PE 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

OK, I’ll break the habit of a lifetime (well the last six weeks), and I will actually base the Blog on one of the Bible readings. I love the story of the Transfiguration, it is a glorious story that once you get beyond the imagery actually tells you so much about the way that the world really is. Let me just list a few points to begin with:

• It highlights how God is revealed through the person of Jesus Christ, and the law and the prophets. This reminds me that I need to spend time with my Bible.
• It shows that the disciples had no idea what was going on. I like this – it is where I live most of my life, and the fact that Jesus’ constant companions had missed something as obvious as who he was makes me realise that there is hope for me yet.
• In Peter’s reply it shows that his immediate response is to try to bring it all back down to a level that he understands. Whether this be, as some suggest, by constructing tabernacles because many people of the time believed that after the Son of Man had come, the children of Israel would all live in tents again, or whether this was just the babbling of a confused man trying to be practical, who cares. Peter has no idea what he is saying, but he feels that he needs to do something – great, I make this mistake as well.
• It all happens on a Mountain Top. We all need Mountain Top experiences of God to affirm us in our faith from time to time. If you don’t go there, then you start to run dry. I need to be reminded of this – it is not all about me and what I do.
• And so on . . .

But there is another point, a point that goes back to why we are asking “Which Way?” and why we are wrestling with what the buildings are that we need to support us in the project that we are undertaking, and it is to ask the question, why did Jesus glow?

And the answer goes back to Moses, and what happened when Moses went up Mount Sinai to speak to God. For when he came down, he glowed – he glowed because he had been in the place where God was and is. On the Mountain Top, in the Transfiguration, the veil between Heaven and Earth became so thin, that the disciples who were looking on caught a glimpse of the big picture – and the world became dazzling white – it glowed. Surely, this must be our hope and our dream for our new building. That through all the activities that happen within it, whether they be worship, or community based activities, that those who are gathered are given a glimpse of heaven – a glimpse of the world as God see’s it, and that they will glow, maybe not literally, but through having a new found joy in their hearts that affirms who they are before God, and that they matter, just like the disciples. The disciples understood all that they saw, through the characters of Jesus Christ, Moses and Elijah; but what those three characters represented was a world view that was very different from the predominant view that was around them, and through gazing upon that different world view, they saw a different set of values and understandings, and these revealed a glimpse of heaven – God’s world view.

And to the disciples, just that glimpse was life changing. Surely this must be our primary goal for what we going to do. That it be a place that gives those who enter a glimpse of heaven, a glimpse of a different way of viewing the world, a glimpse that will change them forever, as they meet with the risen Christ who comes to them, and who tells them not to be afraid, because he is with them.

And just in case you think that I am being a bit too ethereal in laying this out in this way, then answer me this; what are we doing in church every Sunday morning, if it is not adding our praises to the worship that goes on around the throne of God, and not spending time listening for God to speak to us?

On March the 7th we will Catch the Vision, and in a full day we will try to hear what God is saying to us. Please be there and be part of the journey that is only just beginning, as we gaze upon the Mountain top, and through reflecting upon Jesus Christ, the law and the prophets, we will attempt to see what God is saying to us, and catch a vision that will change us all, forever.

In our groups on Wednesday and Thursday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. In the light of our exploration over the last five weeks, what is our dream for our worship space? How can it be re-arranged to speak more clearly of the glory of God, of our life together, and of our concern for those outside?
2. In particular, how should the liturgical foci of font, ambo and altar be so arranged as to do justice to who we are and what we have to offer? What is the liturgical sequence that is best for us?
3. How urgent a priority for us is the re-ordering of our worship space and building?
4. What are the obstacles to the implementation of a re-ordering scheme?
5. How can we best share “good news” about the formative process of re-ordering and liturgical renewal?

Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

The Teaching Church

This week we are thinking about the Teaching Church, and the Bible Readings are:

Numbers 21 vs 8
And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

John 12 vs 32
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

Firstly, sorry that this is so late. Secondly, sorry that this is coming so close to the Blog entry for week 6.

I have to confess that I think that of all the areas that we fall down as a church overall, it is in our teaching that we can fall down most seriously. I get very seriously concerned about how many Christians commit themselves to Christ, and yet that is as far as it goes. In spiritual terms, I am concerned as to whether they have ever left kindergarten. The notion that their faith commitment is the entry of a lifetime’s work of wrestling with scripture, and applying the teachings of Jesus Christ to each new situation and discovery, is something that we can often fail to mention. I could, of course, simply blame Paul and his doctrine of justification by faith, since this is often taken to mean that simply having faith is enough, but Paul himself is quick to point out in his letter to the Galatians

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Galatians 2 vs 15 ff)

Even stronger than this is James’s comments in chapter 2 of his first letter:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2 vs 14 ff – this continues for the rest of the chapter).

So, if we take this on board, then we need to take seriously both our study as Christians, and our thoughts about how we put our faith into practice. Likewise, when issues arise, answers of “well we have always done this” are simply not acceptable, as they point to a lack of re-evaluation and testing that needs to be a constant part of our life as a church. Circumstances change, and the world around us changes as well, this means that we should be constantly re-evaluating our practices against scripture and the latest understandings of the contexts that surrounded the scriptural texts being written. But in order to do this, we need to be educated in the ways of our faith, so that we don’t just know what scripture says, but so that we can take it, and use it, in a way that is relevant and consistent with what it originally meant, not least by getting beyond the fact that we work with it in English!

Let me give you a simple example. The Internet. What does the Bible say about the Internet? Well you could argue that it says nothing, and that therefore as a church we should not make use of this, because we have survived 2000 years without it – you could, but I would argue that you would be wrong. In fact, scripture talks a great deal about the ways that we communicate the Gospel and the importance of communicating the good news in any way that we can. It also gives us examples of the early church communicating in the equivalent new ways of their times. Paul, in his sermon delivered in the Areopagus, doesn’t quote scripture, but instead he quotes two Pagan poets – Epimenides – Greek philosopher who argued against the Stoics (600 BC) and Aratus, a Cicilian poet of about 300BC. Why? Because he was communicating in a place where he needed to use the people’s own terms of reference in his argument – rather than quoting things that they would have not understood, such as the Jewish scriptures. We need to speak to our society in the same way – using terms of reference that are common currency to them, and communicating via modern media such as this Blog. Likewise, we need to be a church that is constantly seeking new input to challenge us, and to lead us into ever deeper faith in Christ, as we discover that his words, spoken 2000 years ago, are still as relevant to us today, as they were back then, and that they speak to the Internet generation, in the same way that they spoke to those coming to terms with the industrial revolution, and so on.

In our groups on Tuesday and Wednesday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. What sign or symbol dominates your worship space, or is it a jumble of confused visual images? What symbol would you like to predominate? How should it be incorporated into the space?
2. What impression of your community and its worship is given by the arrangement of the principal pieces of liturgical furniture? E.g. is your altar table accessible or distant, on the floor or up steps, open or fenced? Make a similar assessment of lectern/pulpit and font.
3. Is there duplication in the liturgical furniture? Is there more than one altar or font in your worship space, or more than one place for the reading and preaching of the word? If so, what should be done about it?
4. What impression of your community and its worship is given by the seating plan? Does the seating plan suggest active participation or passive observance? How do the seats for leaders and specialists (e.g. singers) relate to those for the rest of the assembly?
5. Is the font like a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” or a dried up well stuck in a corner? How might water be made use of, at the point of entry into the liturgical space as a sign of God’s life-giving generosity and of our baptism?

Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

The Hospitable Church

This week we are thinking about the Hospitable Church, and the Bible Readings are:

Luke 19 vs 1 – 5
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

Acts 16 vs 14 – 15
14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Revelation 19 vs 6 – 9
REV 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,
"Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.

REV 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;

REV 19:8 to her it has been granted to be clothed
with fine linen, bright and pure"--
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

REV 19:9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

At the risk of more comments regarding definitions, the word hospital, actually comes from the rooms monasteries historically used to offer hospitality to passing travellers. This hospitality was offered not only to pilgrims and patrons of the monastic establishment, but also to the poor and the sick, who would be cared for by the brothers and sisters of the community. Hence why we use the word in the way that we do today.

Since the role of binding up the sick, and caring for the destitute now falls to the medical profession and the state, and is funded from our taxes, this leads me into asking - what is the role of the church in the 21st Century in regards to offering hospitality? Since our historic role of caring been taken over by others, is offering Christian hospitality now solely about making people feel welcome when they come through our doors, and serving good (fair trade) coffee and nice (fair trade) biscuits whilst we chat politely to them after the worship? Well, I think that it is a great deal more than this.

Let me place my cards on the table. I am a firm believer that part of MY role is to be what the Rev’d David Rice calls “a professional non-professional”. It is to do all the different areas of my role professionally, but to recognise that I am not a professional at any of them. This means that I try to value other professionals to whom we should do refer when the circumstances require it, and rely upon them as required. This means that I need to recognise that I am not a Social Worker and so I work in partnership with Social Services, in the same way that I know that I am not a medical professional, and so, as required, I work in partnership with the medical providers. I still consider it a sign that we were getting something right, when I received a phone call from a local GP who asked me to work with him in caring for one of our members who was struggling with issues regarding the death of her friend. This recognition that we both had a part to play and had something to offer was, I felt, was a good thing, and showed that we were professionals working together for the good of those we are called to serve and care for

I think that as a church, we should be thinking in the same way. This means that whilst we offer hospitality, not only in terms of the friendship that hopefully everyone who comes through our door encounters, but also in accommodating other agencies within our walls that we could work in partnership with, to provide a complete solutions to some of life’s problems. This means that rather than being the ones who try to offer everything, instead we are the ones who enable the professionals to do their job, whilst recognising that we have a part to play within that mix. This, I believe, is part of what it means to offer hospitality.

Someone I used to know, used to have a big problem with MAYC that he voiced widely to anyone who would listen; he used to argue that MAYC thought that by giving someone a balloon and singing a bouncy song it made the world’s problems go away. Whilst I may not totally agree with this very cynical attitude, I know what he meant. We are called to be alongside the weak, and the poor, and the vulnerable, and that does not just mean talking about issues, or even collecting money for people, I believe that it is to offer true hospitality, to be a companion on the road, going where we are sent, and journeying with those that God brings to our door. We need to be ready to receive those that he brings, and to be able to offer solutions in a professional manner, recognising that we are the non-professionals that we are.

For examples of the sort of thing that we might feel called to, please have a look at:
• The Healthy Living Centre, Bournville, Weston super Mare - http://www.forallhlc.org/ (this is the estate where I did a year’s placement as a student – before this was built)
• West London Mission caters for inner city needs, much like our own Victoria Hall http://hindestreet.org.uk/Groups/99397/West_London_Mission.aspx
• Bolton’s Victoria Hall which Mark brings his experiences of on Sunday http://www.boltonmethodistmission.co.uk/projects.html
• For an example from across the Atlantic; this is the church that I used to attend in the US http://www.trinityberkeley.org/index.htm

The needs of our community are different to the needs addressed here, but the concept I believe remains valid.

In our groups on Wednesday and Thursday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. The enjoyment of a meal, of a party, is a constant New Testament theme. How does the experience of coming to visit our community of faith measure up?
2. How might we redesign the entrance to our building to make the experience of encountering our community an easy and happy experience for the newcomer?
3. Do we have the basic facilities e.g. a kitchen and a toilet, to make our hospitality more than a smile and a handshake? If not, what are we going to do about it?
Supplementary question from me: What are “the basic facilities”? Does this mean, the kitchen and the toilet, or does it also include things such as a private and safe counselling area where conversations can be held that cannot be overheard, or a safe place where children can play freely and from where worship is observed?
4. What is the first thing that people see when they enter our worship space? What dominates it visually? What should dominate it, if warm and open hospitality is to be the message?
5. What are the obstacles to putting these things right?

Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

The Church Building

This week we are thinking about "The Church Building", and the suggested Bible Readings are:

Luke 4: 16

“When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom”

Luke 9: 57 – 58

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA


At Foxton Methodist Church, when I arrived as the minister, we had a church building that was cold, damp, and which needed a great deal doing to it - it was also not very flexible. We also had 12 tired members, for whom this building had become a major drain on their energy and time.

In the centre of the village was a new, modern, village hall. After much heartache, prayer and meetings, we made the decision to let go of our building, and to move the church, from our building to the village hall, where we began worshipping in the bar. For the joint acts of worship with our Anglican friends we used one of the bigger rooms, in which case there were two available to us, one holding about 80, the other well over 120.

Our last service in the old building was Palm Sunday 2007, meaning that our first act of worship in the new place was Easter Sunday morning. On the morning of Easter Sunday 2007, we all stood at the end of the worship in a circle. One of the members stated what we were all so aware of, “God was with us”. Rarely have I felt the presence of God in such a real way as with those dear friends on that morning, as we stood together having just shared the Lord’s Supper together. Where was the church? The church was gathered in the bar at the village hall! From here on, they were a people set free to explore new ways of worship and to express their faith. In the next year, they leafleted the whole village twice; once to tell them what we were doing in our “Month of Evangelism” and once to ask the people what they wanted from their Methodist Church so that we could serve the community better. At the harvest festival, which began on the allotment by the way, they had approaching 100 people attending the worship. They had been set free from their building, and this allowed them to be the church. What we saw was growth in the members, growth in attendance, and growth in the membership. Not everyone can do this, but I believe that this shows how much our buildings can hold us back, and what having the right building can do to set the people of God free.

The discussion material for this week, starts by highlighting that we use the same word for the community of the faithful, the building that they meet in. I feel that in fact you have to add to the list the fact that actually we use this word for Universal gathering of the saints, the collection of all the Christians, the local gathering of a denomination, the gathering of denominations in a place, and so on – it's confusing isn’t it?

The word “Church” is simply our derivation of the German word Kirche, which you can trace back to the Greek word kuriakon – meaning a thing that belongs to the Lord. What is interesting is that we then use this word to translate a different Greek word, the word ekklasia, which was the word that the early church used of themselves. It was a word that the church knew from everyday usage, but not as a religious word, but instead it related to an assembly of people from self governing city - a council if you like.

Now depending upon your point of view, this is either fascinating or boring – you decide, BUT. . . the reason that they used it, was because in the Greek version of the Old Testament this was the word that was used to describe an assembly or congregation of Israelites, especially those who were “within the covenant”. Suddenly we are back on Methodist home ground – Covenants are things that we understand, for we are people who re-enter into the eternal covenant that God offers his people every January. Likewise, we understand, that Jesus' blood was shed to bring in the New Covenant, hence why this forms part of our understanding of what happens at the communion rail.

So, we are a group of people who are within the covenant – I like that, I like that a lot. It means that we remove barriers of denomination, geography, and churchmanship. It takes me back to my belief in the One Holy Catholic Church, and my Methodist Catholic Spirituality. It means that I understand that we are a group of people who have entered into a covenant relationship with God and who are simply asking what our role is – no caveats, no limitations. It means that in terms of what we are called to do, we are ruling nothing in, and in terms of who we need to be in partnership with we are ruling no Christian partner out. It also means that it is ONLY when we have done this, that we can then ask the simply question, “now what buildings do we need?”, recognising that some of those building may already exist, and that some of them may not be owned by us, but only rented.

In our groups on Tuesday and Wednesday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. Is the common use of the same word to describe both the community of faith and the building it meets in helpful or confusing? If confusing, which description should we change, and to what?
2. Is the building the physical structure that gives identity to the community of faith, or merely the frame around the picture? Do we serve the building or does the building serve us?
3. Is our building in the right place? Is it the right building? Or is it the right building in the right place but unsuitable for present day needs?
4. Where does the shoe pinch? In what ways does our building need overhauling and re-equipping if we are to be liberated in our worship and effective in our work together for God?
5. What should we do about it? Let the ideas flow!

Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

The Environment of Change

In the second part of our “Crash Course on the Design of Liturgical Space”, we start to think about the environment of change, and the session begins by inviting those attending to read two Bible readings. These are:

James 4: 13 – 14

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Hebrews 13:12 – 14

12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. 13 Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

One of the saddest things that you may ever observe, is to get a bunch of old, frazzled, computer scientists together in a room, and just to let them talk. Speaking as one of this breed, it will not be long before we start to reminisce about “the good old days”. “Do you remember paper tape?”, someone will ask, and following the slow nods from the bearded heads around the room (yes, we all have beards) this will lead into a discussion about punched cards, paging operating systems, front panels, and so much more that is lost in the myst of history. The discussion will end in a similar manner to Monty Python’s Four Yorkshiremen sketch, where they say “and you tell that to the kids of today, and they won’t believe you”. Yes, we truly are a sad and dieing breed.

And rightly so, the world has moved on, technology is now in a very different place from when I started working with computers all those years ago. In 1979 a computer with a screen was considered the very latest thing, and we had one for the whole computer science A level class; today Powerpoint is an accepted way of life, and last night, at 11:06pm, I still had 16 friends who were online and available for a chat in Facebook, or videoconference if I so choose. The world has changed.

We can no more stop this constant motion of change, than we can stop the world from spinning, but then again, why should we? Arn’t we are the ones who follow in the footsteps of the creator, The book of Genesis says;

“1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

1:27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

and since science tells us that God created all things through an evolving revelation (as does the book of Genesis come to that), shouldn't we understand that part of the role that God has entrusted to us is to continue his work of creating. This is not to say that everything that we create will be good, clearly this is not the case, but we contain within us the image of the creator, and therefore creating is part of what we are capable of. This means that being agents of change is part of what makes us human; we are capable of changing the world in which we live rather than be entirely subject to it, like the rest of the animal kingdom. Likewise, as Christians we should be the ones who seek to cause change to happen in accordance to the will of the creator.

At the risk of repeating myself, isn’t this what “Which Way?” is all about? Us, being the agents of change, but making sure that what we are doing is in accordance with the will of the creator?

Let me end this session with another scenario, one that would be even sadder if you like. To have a group of Christians sat around, talking about “the good old days”, but where they then point to how nothing has changed from that day to this – how sad that would that be. Especially because I suspect that the conversation would end with the same punchline as my story at the start “and you tell that to the kids of today, and they won’t believe you”.


In our groups on Wednesday and Thursday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. What are the main technological developments that have transformed our way of life since childhood?
2. To what extenet has social change affectedthe concept of our nation as a Christian country? To what extent is the average person aware of the Christian Church in every day life?
3. In what ways is the Church today a different sort of organisation from when we were baptised?
4. In what ways has the experience of worship and church membership changed over our lifetime?
5. In our society should the Church be primarily a bastion of stability or an agent of change?

Taken from “Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

Tent or Temple

In our groups, and on this blog, we are setting out on what Richard Giles calls “A Six Week Crash Course on the Design of Liturgical Space”. As we begin this journey, he challenges us to ask the question “Tent or Temple”.

The session begins by inviting those attending to read three Bible readings. These are:

Numbers 9 : 15 – end

15On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant; and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. 16It was always so: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. 18At the command of the LORD the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. 19Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the LORD, and would not set out. 20Sometimes the cloud would remain for a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they would set out. 21Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out. 23At the command of the LORD they would camp, and at the command of the LORD they would set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

1 Samuel 7 :1 – 13

1 When David was settled in his house,
and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

2 the king said to the prophet Nathan,
'See now, I am living in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God stays in a tent.'

3 Nathan said to the king,
'Go, do all that you have in mind;
for the LORD is with you.'

4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:

5 Go and tell my servant David:
Thus says the LORD:
Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

6 I have not lived in a house
since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day,
but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.

7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel,
did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel,
whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying,
'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'

8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David:
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
I took you from the pasture,
from following the sheep
to be prince over my people Israel;

9 and I have been with you wherever you went,
and have cut off all your enemies from before you;
and I will make for you a great name,
like the name of the great ones of the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel
and will plant them,
so that they may live in their own place,
and be disturbed no more;
and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel;
and I will give you rest from all your enemies.
Moreover the LORD declares to you, David,
that the LORD will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled
and you lie down with your ancestors,
I will raise up your offspring after you,
who shall come forth from your body,
and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

2 Chronicles 6 :18 – 21

2CH 6:18 "But will God indeed reside with mortals on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19 Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you. 20 May your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where you promised to set your name, and may you heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 21 And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

The readings clearly show us that there is a tension between our being a people who are extremely flexible, fully able to move at the whim of God, but where the physical structures that they have available are very flimsy, and in terms of their ability to be used by the wider community, inflexible, and the desire for permanence and constructing a building that is something which is worthy of God and available to be used by the whole community, but which means that the people are less able to move at short notice.

The tension that we can see, is the same tension that we still have, and we could choose to go either way, if we so desired. We could build something which is truly an impressive worship area, Harwood’s own version of the Crystal Cathedral (http://www.crystalcathedral.org/about/architecture.php) – and you could argue that anything that is not up to this standard, is somehow is falling short of what we have the capability to achieve. That said, you could, (and I would) take a very different point of view and point to the challenges that face so many of the people that live around us, and ask what are we saying to them if they see us building something of this size and scale. Likewise, on a day when we have seen destruction on a scale which is, to the majority of us, unimaginable, there are issues of where our money is needed most that we must wrestle with and address.

Please don’t think that these tensions are anything new. Even in Jesus’ time there was a commonly held belief that one of the things that would happen, when the Messiah came, was that people would all live in tabernacles (“tents”) – that they would return to being that mobile, flexible and available people once more. Indeed, there are a number of theologians who understand this as being the cause behind Peter’s statement at the transfiguration, when he offers to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

We have to recognise though, that we are a different set of people from those early Christians. We are not nomadic for a start, and whilst we might want to argue that we should be, speaking as an itinerant minister, trust me that the way that this impacts upon your family life, your kids education and schooling, and the career of your spouse, points to how we live in a country where for most of us a nomadic itinerant way of life simply is not possible. Now if you were in Nepal, then things would be different, but we are not.

So, if you want my point of view, and this is a blog after all, I think that we do need to have a building, but that the building that we have needs to be simple enough, and flexible enough, to do whatever God calls us to do, not just for today, but in the future as well. Effectively, the building becomes a tool that allows us to go where God leads, rather than a monument that anchors us in a place where we used to be. It needs to include spaces which are sacred, and where we can become more aware of the presence of God, and places which are less sacred, where we can discover God in other ways. In addition, we have to change our mindset that suggests that “the church” is the only place where we practice our Christian faith, and that our success criteria, is to get people to come to us. In reality as a church we should be involved across the community, in other people’s tents and temples, as well as our own – and our success criteria (if we should have one at all) should be to see people’s relationship with God growing, in whatever form that takes.

Henri Nouwen saw churches as places where people should be provided with “safe spaces” where they can discover “their faith and their God”, rather than “your faith and your God”. I would agree with this, but only if you see that those safe spaces take on lots of different forms, and can be in lots of different physical locations.

There is so much that you could add to this, not least of which is a discussion on stewardship, and how we understand the parable of the talents, but this is meant to be a discussion starter, and promptings to get everyone thinking, and so I will leave this here. The blog is here to be used – please use it for positive discussion and discernment as we ask the question “OK God – Which Way?”.

In our groups on Tuesday and Wednesday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. Discuss the tension between the tent and temple, nomadic and static traditions, evident within these readings and within to Old Testament as a whole.
2. What was the attitude of Jesus to the Temple in his day? Compare Mark 11:15 – 17 with Mark 13:1 – 2.
3. At what point in the life of our own community of faith is there evidence of tension between the tent and temple aspects of our worship and life together?
4. Which aspect do we think is closest to the insights and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth?
5. How can we give clearer expression to this priority in our worship?

Taken from Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

Please may I add another question, which goes back to the keynote from the 3rd of January.

6. How does the understanding of “shrines and vines” challenge us move away from our historic dependence on bricks and mortar, and to adopt a more radical view of our buildings?

Further reading:

For those with access to Re-pitching the tent, may I suggest that you read chapter 27 – Nurture and Neighbour as part of your thinking on this topic, likewise I would refer you again to Tom Stuckey’s book Beyond the Box.

Which Way?

In an attempt to allow as much input as possible from across the church family, especially from those members who are not able to get to the House / Study groups, this blog has been set up to allow discussion, and to be a place for us to talk about the things that matter in each of the categories that we are discussing that week.

Give it a try and see how you get on, as together we ask the question - OK God - Which Way?

Each week I will place a Blog entry that will contain the biblical material for that week, as a way of priming the discussion. The study groups will then be exploring this, and hopefully giving us their feedback, and the rest of us will then have the ability to feed into this. This will hopefully be a way of keeping all of our discussions open and shared by as wide an audience as possible.

If you have friends who are not online, but who still want to be a part of this, you may want to mention to them that we will be having "Blog Boards" at both of our sites, onto which people can place written comments. We will be trying to have some two-way feedback between the two areas.

Please use these resources wisely and in love, as we ask the question "Which Way?".

God Bless,

Ian