tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31628259850867725082024-03-14T04:55:08.650+00:00All we like sheep...Musings and the occasional bit of poetry on Christianity & church topics. Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-46267376815441131762016-06-22T10:00:00.003+01:002016-06-22T10:07:24.110+01:00God on the marginsSermon for June 19th 2016, 4th after Trinity. Given at St Nicholas, West Tanfield<br />
<br />
<i>In the news this week:</i><br />
<i>The killing of 49 LGBT people and wounding of over 50 more in Orlando, Florida<br />The EU Referendum campaign continues<br />Jo Cox MP is murdered in Yorkshire</i><br />
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gal.3%3A23-29&version=NASB" target="_blank">Gal.3:23-29</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+8%3A26-39&version=NASB" target="_blank">Luke 8:26-39</a><br />
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<br />God on the margins</h3>
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A man on the margins of his society, an outcast, infamous locally, scratting around outside the town where the dead were buried and near unclean animals – pigs. And where does he end up? Restored to his right mind and sitting at Jesus’s feet, attentively listening to his teaching. Someone on the margins ended up at the feet of Jesus, hanging on his every word and finding acceptance.<br />
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St Paul’s letter to the Galatians includes a similar message of acceptance, but the context here is the Christian community. Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female are one in Christ. Both readings deal with how human society so often finds ways to divide people, or find ways to cut individuals off from their community, but God’s way is to bring people together and draw them into God’s love.<br />
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St Paul’s letters to the early Christian communities frequently address a particular knotty cultural conundrum: how to get the balance right between living in the real world and being distinct from it. When it came to the culture around them, the Church had to decide the extent to which they were IN or OUT. Just as the early Christians lived amid an imperfect culture, we live in an imperfect nation and currently live as part of an imperfect political union, the EU. But before I come back to the EU referendum, let’s think about the results of human division and exclusion.<br />
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<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2682723.1465822926!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2682723.1465822926!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
Orlando, last weekend saw a mass killing, the biggest in US history, a hate crime which targeted LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Questioning and Intersex) people. In this country, LGBTQI people are more accepted than ever before, but their acceptance is still not universal, they still face challenges including violent hate-attacks, discrimination, or being made to feel abnormal. Their history is painful. Their sense of exclusion and being considered outsiders, on the margins is still all too real. And our Archbishops have this week urged us to speak up for them and defend them from discrimination as part of our Christian calling.<br />
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2016/06/16/100866741_West-Yorkshire-MP-Jo-Cox-NEWS-large_trans++jJeHvIwLm2xPr27m7LF8meIXyYL3FtpSLfbzyKLr2lI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2016/06/16/100866741_West-Yorkshire-MP-Jo-Cox-NEWS-large_trans++jJeHvIwLm2xPr27m7LF8meIXyYL3FtpSLfbzyKLr2lI.jpg" height="125" width="200" /></a></div>
And then, here in Yorkshire we had the murder of Jo Cox MP, someone who committed her life to defending the poor and vulnerable: people on the margins. She had worked for Oxfam and spent time in war zones and she worked tirelessly as a constituency MP in Batley and Spen, the community she grew up in, looking out for the vulnerable and poor in society. In parliament she was an advocate for children with autism and child refugees – notably those from Syria – and she collaborated across party lines to address the gap in educational attainment between London and Yorkshire and the Humber. We may not yet know all the facts about the motivation for her murder, but what we do know is that it happened as Jo Cox was out among her constituents listening to their concerns, and working hard on their behalf. In her maiden speech to parliament in June last year, Jo Cox said of her constituency:<br />
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<i>“While we celebrate our diversity,<br />what surprises me time and time again <br />as I travel around the constituency <br />is that we are far more united<br />and have far more in common with each other<br />than things that divide us.”.</i> </div>
That’s a vision which echoes St Paul’s words to the Galatians, in which he challenges them to overcome the cultural barriers of gender, social class, religious baggage and ethnicity to live as a united Christian community, sharing fellowship because the unity found in Christ is stronger than anything which divides them.<br />
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The rhetoric of our national political debate, especially in the media, often relishes division, demonising opponents and spreading a message of fear. Certainly, both sides of the referendum debate have featured fear and self-interest as arguments. But as Christians, we are called to view the world through a very different lens. <br />
<br />
I am not in the business of telling folk how to vote, only encouraging them to vote, but it is worth framing the referendum question like this: when it comes to our relationship with the EU, how do we, as followers of Christ, best shine as a light in the world? How best can we change the society and culture we are part of to favour the needs of those on the margins: the poorest, the most vulnerable and those whose needs are easily overlooked – the sort of people Jesus would have sought out? I urge you to think and pray in these terms as part of your deliberations.<br />
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So what do we learn from those on the margins of society? Well, unlikely as it sounds, they should actually be our role models. The man from whom the Legion demons were cast out ended up sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening attentively, restored to new life, and that’s our calling, too. But imagine for a moment what that must have looked like to those who knew the man as he was before: this disturbing, weird outcast, now sitting at the feet of Jesus. The people’s reaction was to ask Jesus to get out of town and fast: they were frightened; didn’t like it at all. Fear of the outsider, of the ‘other’, is hard to let go of.<br />
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The thing is, this is a direct challenge to each of us. I bet for each of us there is someone, or some group of people we find it harder to love that others. There might well be locals, families, types of people of some kind whom we just don’t like, just don’t get on with, and if they turned up in church, we wouldn’t go out of our way to welcome them, and might secretly hope they wouldn’t start to come regularly. We’d find it hard to love them unconditionally. This is human. Which is why we need the grace of God & the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us to love as God loves us.<br />
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We need to actually see ourselves as outsiders, to get a proper perspective. We none of us have earned our own salvation: we’re not heaven-bound by right, or by being deserving. It is not earned – it is God’s gift to us through Jesus, who lived a perfect life of love which led to being shunned, shamed, hated, tortured and killed. Jesus himself, on the cross, was the despised, rejected scum of all humanity in the eyes of the world. To follow Christ is to follow God the ultimate outsider: in Jesus, God came to the extreme margins of human existence and met us there.<br />
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We need to seek out the marginalised and love them unconditionally, in the name of Jesus the outsider. We need to be out there, demonstrating God’s love in word and action, especially to society’s less-favoured: fighting their corner, showing them that their rightful place is here - within God’s loving family, the Church. And as a Church community we should be inspired by the way today’s Gospel reading ended: the man went on his way proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him. When we love as Christ loved us, when we ignore social & cultural barriers between ourselves and others, when we truly invite God to transform us into a community of love, the result is that the Gospel spreads, the Good News of Jesus gets loose. And when that happens, there are no margins, because we haven’t set a boundary: there is only an inclusive, loving community which puts all human models of society, all political structures of nationhood or community in the shade. <br />
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Whether we end up IN or OUT of the EU, let’s ask God to help us build that kind of community here in this parish, Benefice, county, nation, continent…. and beyond. Amen.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-20215533291248214542015-06-07T21:00:00.000+01:002015-06-07T21:00:00.924+01:00Stones at a Remove<h3>
Stones at a Remove</h3>
<i>a meditation on Ripon Cathedral online - for Siân Lawton who is taking over this ministry</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgvji-yBA3_jhoF8DgPV2raAqQ9xigiFtjnMaWI1yvDGFR6dFzgh2SAj0nXQKvzlQiXQB7BM30TbU215q8GldWEgZM8GSvyQX8FEdemwcQd8q4nezdqVYhfgH24Ueun-jC4_Y6NfuFm3L/s1600/2012-04-19+08.59.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgvji-yBA3_jhoF8DgPV2raAqQ9xigiFtjnMaWI1yvDGFR6dFzgh2SAj0nXQKvzlQiXQB7BM30TbU215q8GldWEgZM8GSvyQX8FEdemwcQd8q4nezdqVYhfgH24Ueun-jC4_Y6NfuFm3L/s400/2012-04-19+08.59.57.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
A standing stone,<br />
Place of gathering,<br />
Landmark on a hill.<br />
A place seen from far off:<br />
Somewhere to aim for.<br />
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Speaking of more than stone,<br />
Being more than a beacon:<br />
Emblem of companionship,<br />
Presence of encouragement<br />
On faith's journey.<br />
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Articulating rootedness:<br />
Community of ages,<br />
Speaking of destination<br />
Even to those<br />
Not knowingly on that journey.<br />
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Icon of Light.<br />Sign of Christ.<br />Agent of the Holy Spirit.</blockquote>
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Virtually visible<br />
Yet literally present<br />
Where utterance enters heart;<br />
Where conversations continue;<br />
Where God's love and relationships bloom.<br />
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Witness to life in Christ,<br />
Inviting a threshold-crossing<br />
Into standing in the flesh<br />
Among living stones<br />
Who continue to build, be built and to bless.<br />
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A standing stone,<br />
Place of gathering,<br />
Landmark on a hill.<br />
A place seen from far off:<br />
Somewhere to encounter God.<br />
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<i>6th June, Upper Church, Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield</i></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-36083330947527815332015-06-07T08:45:00.000+01:002015-06-07T08:45:30.867+01:00Why do you seek the living among the dead?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wandering in the grounds of <a href="http://www.mirfieldcommunity.org.uk/" target="_blank">the Community of the Resurrection</a>, I found myself in the Community's cemetery. I was planning on simply cutting through it en route to sitting down in the quarry, but I paused. I read a name at the centre of one grave marker. These stood in rows:wooden crosses with a pitched mini-roof with lead sheets on top to keep them from rotting, these roofs giving the impression of each brother pointing up towards heaven.<br />
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It suddenly felt right to look at each grave and name each brother out loud. It only took five minutes or so, but I systematically walked through the graveyard saying out loud each name as I passed. It became quite a moving roll call, around a hundred years of passing on into glory being declared.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJibcDXqxe1I7Mbx9TFe5v97FE6ekwdqyVFPsm2DSvAU5MrpqJcgbb3IOP-QpYY5a244De3TVvihzICf8mV3ictEUsBgAPswjCAemBDlUkT2fLbPG9sTE07gO_UVvlWVlfJ0UXJaWs8Mg/s1600/20150606_152048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJibcDXqxe1I7Mbx9TFe5v97FE6ekwdqyVFPsm2DSvAU5MrpqJcgbb3IOP-QpYY5a244De3TVvihzICf8mV3ictEUsBgAPswjCAemBDlUkT2fLbPG9sTE07gO_UVvlWVlfJ0UXJaWs8Mg/s200/20150606_152048.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
At the end, I just stood, seeing myself not in a place of the dead, but amid a living community of witnesses to life in the Risen Christ, a true community of the resurrection: a living reality.<br />
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Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.<br />
May they rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-84252457734996329762015-06-07T08:30:00.000+01:002015-06-07T08:54:05.857+01:00The Leavers - II<i>Note: Following on from <a href="http://pastoralsympathy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-leavers-i.html">The Leavers - I</a>, later the same day in a different prayer time together, I had a picture of the same circle of leavers representing different people: Christians of earlier era, monks of the Community of the Resurrection (in whose cemetery I had found myself wandering and praying during the morning). I was struck in this picture by the sense of God's timelessness and, indeed, the hidden sense of eternity which we're part of.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySBAk2xs8xbPzgux0pUNzBvVbXvoGcgLVgiqH5eOnjjotdCfZISq66RIngoLLwh8WnusPa3v-agPduK0fBuXJbrzIqRV_ZWyFno-Upx-bxaT7Dm7tDTLEBE62tjiA6qJwgL97ziumH7Jt/s1600/20150606_151941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySBAk2xs8xbPzgux0pUNzBvVbXvoGcgLVgiqH5eOnjjotdCfZISq66RIngoLLwh8WnusPa3v-agPduK0fBuXJbrzIqRV_ZWyFno-Upx-bxaT7Dm7tDTLEBE62tjiA6qJwgL97ziumH7Jt/s640/20150606_151941.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b><b>The Leavers - II</b></h3>
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Timeless.</div>
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Ageless.</div>
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Ancient beyond our birthday count.</div>
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One with the Pentecost crowd</div>
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Lapped by tongues of fire.</div>
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Yet no tongues here now</div>
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For the Spirit is within us, among us,</div>
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But wild - not constrained by us.</div>
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We are ancient, beyond time, </div>
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Beyond our human-historic frames,</div>
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United by grace with God-before-time,</div>
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God-before-all-that-ever-was-and-is;</div>
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Abiding, indwelling in an eternal dance.</div>
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Eternal procession of love:</div>
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Within, without and through.</div>
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We glimpse but a life-span</div>
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Of eternal truth,</div>
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And this temporal mission,</div>
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Though our calling,</div>
Is but a part of that Eternity Journey:<br />
Deeper, longer, more epic<br />
Than our sense of wonder<br />
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Can contain.</div>
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<i>6th June 2015</i></div>
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<i>The organ loft of Upper Church, Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield</i></div>
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<i>during the afternoon of the Yorkshire Ministry Course leavers' Quiet Day</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T24_V3lQ7YSFQAa2vE9HfxBYCHrtyBpvGEoSFzxHF7Azk4JucKqmh2fQCR6Jd7BOJRi-Ay1VfS6sAebctsc5GNPMhmzi9EDUs13K9sI4qYl1VDuvItuHNd1dxhpy-vv6z842e_rWRR1l/s1600/20150606_151554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T24_V3lQ7YSFQAa2vE9HfxBYCHrtyBpvGEoSFzxHF7Azk4JucKqmh2fQCR6Jd7BOJRi-Ay1VfS6sAebctsc5GNPMhmzi9EDUs13K9sI4qYl1VDuvItuHNd1dxhpy-vv6z842e_rWRR1l/s400/20150606_151554.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-32507698701626686182015-06-07T08:16:00.001+01:002015-06-07T08:32:35.357+01:00The Leavers - I<h3>
<b>The Leavers - I</b></h3>
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I saw us all as children:<br />
Small; daft; vulnerable.<br />
What truth can we know?<br />
What can we do?<br />
Seemingly<br />
Little.<br />
But...<br />
By grace<br />
We are called,<br />
We live in God:<br />
God inhabits us.<br />
Abiding in God's love,<br />
I saw us all as children.<br />
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<i>6th June 2015, Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield</i></div>
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<i>Yorkshire Ministry Course leavers' quiet day</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-XYtP45F0NnVVgMsW-zjE1G1NfANpIPYD2WLBLYFd0nOVS5kmeYXQzQhpTZyzQV0vT0B8TeDAqsiMR33VdUN3MANjC32lB15srUX9meXlutovR1YE4XozrtaHMvEkBlDuWgL9yKKg_9M/s1600/20150606_151733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-XYtP45F0NnVVgMsW-zjE1G1NfANpIPYD2WLBLYFd0nOVS5kmeYXQzQhpTZyzQV0vT0B8TeDAqsiMR33VdUN3MANjC32lB15srUX9meXlutovR1YE4XozrtaHMvEkBlDuWgL9yKKg_9M/s640/20150606_151733.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Note: at the start of the day, as we sat in a circle in Lower Church, I suddenly had a vision of all of us as children, specifically as the individual children we once were. As we prepare for ordination as deacons within the next few weeks, this was a useful image to reflect upon when I went up into Upper Church. As I sat at the east end near the Altar, I wrote this. A different perspective on this theme of our age emerged in <a href="http://pastoralsympathy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-leavers-ii.html">another poem later that day.</a></i></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-23005302547108120852015-04-30T23:56:00.004+01:002015-04-30T23:56:52.711+01:00<h2>
Ascension Day Eucharist</h2>
In the presence of Christ,<br />The risen Word of God<br />Who still lives among us;<br /><br />In the presence of Christ,<br />Our ascended high priest<br />Who intercedes for us<br />At God's right hand;<br /><br />In the presence of Christ,<br />We stand as the Body of Christ<br />Who, in the power of the Holy Spirit<br />Continue to witness to the glory of God<br />In our fullest humanity.<br /><br />In the presence of Christ,<br />We proclaim Christ crucified, risen, ascended<br />Until Jesus returns.<br /><br /> - St. Peter's Harrogate, Ascension Day 2014<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-13498661270414161962015-01-18T16:11:00.001+00:002015-01-18T16:50:50.184+00:00Epiphany poem<i>During a meditation and reflection time today, the following poem / song just sort of 'happened', bringing together Canon Barbara Clarke's reflections on the Epiphany with themes from the weekend's teaching.</i><br />
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<b>Epiphany</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
God's 'Yes', adored in Bethlehem,<br />
A light, revealed.<br />
Returning home now another way,<br />
Lovingly concealed.<br />
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God's' Yes' to life in new life disclosed:<br />
Light from above,<br />
Revealed in a helpless child, sustained<br />
By a mother's love.<br />
<br />
Borne by our hearts, the light will roam<br />
To nations wide, to hearth and home;<br />
That 'Yes' to love, that 'Yes' to pain,<br />
That 'Yes' to Calvary and shame.<br />
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The 'Yes' to all-things' fresh rebirth:<br />
God shows Creation what it's worth.<br />
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God's promise kept,<br />
God's love revealed,<br />
Light of the world:<br />
A world, healed.<br />
<br />
God's 'Yes', adored in Bethlehem,<br />
A light, revealed.<br />
God's Covenant with the world he loves<br />
In love is sealed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-37847606629881571292014-12-18T21:04:00.001+00:002014-12-18T21:04:07.338+00:00The TableA video version of a poem written on Christmas Eve, 2011 which appeared in this blog back then,<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WeLiGKas6VE?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<br />
You are welcome to use this at no cost in churches, schools, home groups etc. There are subtitles available (by clicking the CC button, bottom right to turn these on and off). It works best if you set the resolution to HD.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-63137510618025944572014-09-03T21:38:00.000+01:002014-09-03T21:45:57.936+01:00Twitter as a bridge to the contemplative<h2>
Twitter as a Bridge to the Contemplative</h2>
<br />
A short paper presented on September 4th 2014, at St John's College, Durham during <i>Mystical Theology: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition, </i>a three-day conference exploring the tradition of mystical theology from contemporary academic and practitioner perspectives. Organised by Durham University (Project for Spirituality, Theology and Health, and the Centre for Catholic Studies) in collaboration with St Mary’s University, Twickenham.<br />
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The following is a presentation which includes extracts from research, some illustrative Tweets and some additional notes. The text of the paper is posted below, together with a link to download the text as a Word doc. (The asterisks are merely reminders to the author to click the presentation to advance it!)<br />
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<a href="http://prezi.com/9fnbkivxunof/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share" target="_blank">Link to Prezi presentation for download</a><br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B25UHt-APnV8QkZIeU13NEstZ3M/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Link to Word doc of paper</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://prezi.com/embed/9fnbkivxunof/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=1&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0&features=undefined&disabled_features=undefined&html5=1" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="550"></iframe>
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<h3>
Twitter as a bridge to the contemplative</h3>
<i>reflections based on Ripon Cathedral’s online Twitter ministry</i><br />
<i>Nick Morgan, August 2014 </i><br />
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Ripon Cathedral has developed a distinctive online presence using social media over the past couple of years: on Facebook and Twitter in particular. This is a preliminary paper which takes as its starting point some aspects of the experience of the Cathedral’s use of Twitter and attempts to address how, if at all, this has helped people to re-engage with the contemplative. <br />
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The obvious thing to acknowledge right at the start is that Twitter is, by its very nature, not a contemplative medium. Socially speaking, it is often the equivalent of being in a rather noisy pub. For the uninitiated, in brief, this is how it works:<br />
<br />
A Twitter user will write a message of up to 140 characters in length. Other Twitter users who follow that Twitter account may see that message appear in their Twitter feed. I say “may” because it will be one message among an often very busy stream of messages, so followers may not see a particular Tweet at all. There is a large degree of serendipity involved in which messages you read. People don’t, as a rule, scroll down through the hundreds of Tweets which come into their Twitter feed throughout the day – it is generally used casually. In the pub analogy, this is akin to popping into the part of the pub where people you have chosen to follow hang out and overhearing what they are saying at a particular moment in time. And, just as you might in the pub, you can reply to them and end up in a conversation. If you like what they say, you might repeat what they say yourself and rebroadcast it to those around you – this is called ReTweeting. You might want the person to know you like what they say, or it might be something you want to think about later so you can mark it with a star – this is called favouriting a Tweet. So, from this you can see that the medium is untidy, noisy and transitory – because most Tweets do not get engaged with by others. Not the most promising medium in which to engage with the contemplative, you might think. Yet it is exactly because Twitter mirrors the disarray of a fallen world, and is full of people struggling to engage meaningfully with others amid the noise, that a still, small voice, prayerfully introduced, can be an instrument of a sense of mystery and ‘the other’.<br />
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Case study *<br />
Ripon Cathedral every night at around 11pm sends a single Tweet which is an excerpt from the Compline service. It carries the hashtag #compline (a hashtag is a form of indexing on Twitter, so people can search for Tweets which include a specific hashtag to read what users worldwide are Tweeting on that subject). Over the last two years, these Tweets have proven to be the most popular and engaged-with Tweets * sent by Ripon Cathedral,(examples) * * so research was undertaken to see how Twitter users themselves perceive these Tweets, and how they respond to them.<br />
<br />
RESEARCH *<br />
Over a single week in August 2014, followers of Ripon Cathedral on Twitter were invited to participate in a survey. * There were 39 respondents, only 69% of whom self-identified as Christians, and 46% were regular churchgoers. We recruited respondents using Twitter itself, tweeting requests to participate at different times of day over a 6 day period. We also posted a link to the survey on the Ripon Cathedral Facebook page.<br />
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* We asked people what kinds of material they remembered seeing among Ripon Cathedral’s Tweets. By far the most memorable was our prayerful material such as the #Compline tweets. Memory is an important marker of the impact the material has. Whether people can remember specific Tweets which are prayerful, or specific #Compline Tweets, these have left an impression on them. Bearing in mind that reading a specific Tweet has an element of chance and serendipity about it, and the Compline tweets are only posted once per day, this is a remarkably high figure: 36 out of 39 respondents.<br />
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More interesting was the response when we asked how they felt about these different kinds of Tweets. * The most markedly positive response was to the prayerful tweets<br />
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So, we see that prayerful material, exemplified by these #Compline tweets, has an impact on memory, and is largely received positively. Digging a little deeper, we asked about how people had specifically responded to these prayerful tweets, and the response indicates a contemplative theme. * People could choose as many of these responses as they wanted:<br />
<br />
Note the most popular responses: almost ¾ of respondents paused to reflect. Around half had an emotional response or smiled as a result of reading a compline tweet. ¼ of them prayed, and a few reported some kind of spiritual experience. Note that nobody said it prompted them to visit a church, and only one person read the Bible as a result. These results point to a response which is often deeply personal and immediate. * In addition to knowing that #compline tweets are memorable and elicit a positive internal response, we see in the variety of specific responses, there is a sense of the whole self being engaged: a physical smile, emotions, prayer, and the significance of pausing to reflect in the midst of the often noisy, argumentative and chaotic medium of Twitter. Some kind of personal sacred space is possible to imagine being created here, engaging not at the level of the typed words alone.<br />
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In terms of online presence, Ripon Cathedral on Twitter seeks to embody a sense of abiding: conforming to Christ’s life and living from God into the world. The Cathedral’s online interactions with people provide an opportunity for them to encounter Jesus and therefore the use of the Twitter account has to be seen as an exercise in Incarnational ministry. The mutual nature of abiding also means that @RiponCathedral needs actively to see and seek Christ in others. The Benedictine concept of hospitality (on which Ripon Cathedral itself was originally founded) has a strong tradition of seeing Christ in guest as well as host. * The mutual indwelling of the Godhead (Perichoresis) described in John 14 is reflected in this sense of abiding with the world. The presence of divine love in the disciples is to mirror the mutual indwelling of the Trinity which, as John of Damascus puts it, is “ without coalescing or mingling, but cleaving to each other.” We are called to abide with the world as God abides with and in us; yet, at the same time,* to follow Christ means we have nowhere in the world to lay our heads. Online spaces, if anything, make this easier to deal with: in the constantly shifting environment of Twitter, we are called to be God’s presence among others there, abiding as a divine presence alongside others in a dynamic environment. This also resonates with the Old Testament sense of God’s Shechinah presence which both moves and can be fixed: the tent and the temple. Ripon Cathedral’s Twitter presence seeks to extend its role as a sacred space beyond its physical confines, to take God’s presence online in a moveable tent model.<br />
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However, postcolonial theologians such as Tod Swanson have questioned whether the holiness of sacred places can ever extend beyond their physical space. Swanson, in his exploration on Johannine Christianity and the collapse of ethnic territory concludes that “the meaning of sacred places cannot really be extracted and captured in a text or a photograph or a recording. Photographs and recordings taken from holy places and arranged into the morphological patterns of the imagination cannot really capture the meaning of a place. In fact, they will only make pilgrims feel the absence of the place more acutely. And therefore the best comparisons will happen when the pictures and the texts are recognized for what they are: the comparative signs of the absence of irreplaceable places.” While Swanson has in mind the colonial appropriation of sacred places and artefacts, the same principle applies to the question of whether sacred spaces can exist online. If Swanson is correct, then any online presentation of Ripon Cathedral is merely a sign of its absence to the reader of its Tweets.<br />
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I take a different view to Swanson. There is of course a long history of various media being used to encourage contemplative spirituality. I’m thinking of media such as the architecture of sacred spaces, devotional and mystical writings, or Gregorian chant. Twitter as a medium to encourage the contemplative lies in a slightly different tradition of the Immanence of God being found among the ordinary, sometimes in essentially secular media. Think about shrines at a roadside, encounters with people whose simple acts of gentleness or kindness remind us of divine love, or even examples in opera, where the sacred or mystical is used for dramatic effect in a secular storyline: Massenet’s use of an offstage children’s chorus in his opera Werther as a dramatic foil to Werther’s death in the foreground, for instance. This kind of effect is part of what we see in the response to prayerful Tweets I believe: an emotional, personal response carries a spiritual weight for many in the audience. A variety of forms of expression – both secular and sacred in their nature - have mediated between native secular cultures and sacred inner spaces of contemplation for a very long time.<br />
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I contend that the cultural resonance of the Cathedral as ‘sacred space’ is likely to be a factor in the response of people to the Compline tweets and it would therefore be interesting to undertake further research, comparing the response to individuals who Tweeted identical Compline material to @RiponCathedral, to see whether the resonance of a sacred space (i.e. the Cathedral) was indeed a decisive factor in their responses. However, the remainder of this paper works on the assumption that this resonance does exist and puts forward the beginnings of an explanation of how we might encourage the exploration of sacred spaces online. What follows is my own personal take on this which, I hope, will encourage further explorations.<br />
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Ripon Cathedral, very visibly an ancient place of Christian worship in its profile picture, creates on Twitter a cultural resonance beyond those who self-identify as Christians. Only 69% of respondents to our survey identified themselves as Christians, yet the response from those who did not identify themselves as such was not significantly different. I suspect that part of the success of Ripon Cathedral’s Compline tweets stems from the emotional response results: a Cathedral is recognised and understood culturally as a sacred space. Clearly place and space are important in themselves as bridges to the contemplative, and locations which are dedicated places of prayer, such as monastic foundations and Cathedrals cannot be simply translated into exact equivalents online. We need to recognise that something different is happening in online spaces: the cultural, emotional and spiritual resonances of a physical sacred space seem to work at a personal level in drawing people into creating some kind of personal sacred space. The mystical, emotional and contemplative response of some of those who follow Ripon Cathedral on Twitter can be understood in terms of them finding an internal sacred space in which they encounter God’s abiding presence.<br />
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So, what are people doing when they respond to the Compline tweets of Ripon Cathedral? Brief compline tweets do not throw intellectual meat for people to grapple with. Some of the imagery does create external imagery to be engaged with, e.g. “He shall cover you with his wings and you shall be safe under his feathers; his faithfulness shall be your shield and buckler”. * However, most of the tweets abstracted from the full liturgy offer at the very least some resonance with the act of Night Prayer, or acknowledge, or invoke God’s presence: “O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us”, “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth. I commend my spirit”. Because the text is so abstracted from the full liturgy of Night Prayer, but presented with resonance of the contemplative embodied by a Cathedral, for some people, there is the possibility of a sense of Immanence amid the noise of Twitter: being suddenly aware that we are, indeed, immersed in the Divine, and in our emotional, prayerful, or spiritually-aware responses, we are prompted to engage with the Divine in deeply personal ways. There is a tapping into awareness of God, and of the deeper self.<br />
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In terms of the wider picture on Twitter, is there a sense of sacred space being created in which the mystical and the contemplative might find expression? Members of the Body of Christ are engaging with each other and with the wider world online in a variety of ways. There is some sense of Christians “gathering” online which increasingly is crossing traditional boundaries of denomination and churchmanship which is very encouraging. There is an opportunity online to call people out of their native cultures, and out of whatever conversational cultures they are engaging in on Twitter, and to call them into encounters with God. There is sending out and drawing in going on online: the Church engaging in mainstream culture, but also presenting the Christian counter-culture which God calls people into: the Body of Christ which has the worship of God as its missional focus. This is not a Fresh Expression of Church – it is simply a calling into the Church: into focus on God and worship. This is why I bring the wider picture in: because there is scope in online interactions, in our online presence, to put worship and mystical encounter at the heart of Christian mission as we express it in these online spaces. We do this by abiding with people, perhaps also by overt sharing of faith and having deep discussions, but also by encouraging reflective and contemplative encounters with “the other”. As we have seen in the case of the Ripon Cathedral #Compline Tweets, it is possible to present a window into a sacred space, a space in which the contemplative, the meditative and the mystical can be engaged with, even in an often profane and argumentative medium such as Twitter. In itself, this is worship: a focus on God which is beyond the typed text, a focus expressed in prayer, perhaps, but also in a moment of reflection, or in an emotional response such as a smile, or in embodying love in ones response to others, in the way we abide online.<br />
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<i>The following section was omitted from the presentation on September 4th for reasons of time:</i><br />
<i>These moments of worship can happen on Twitter. I have a personal example of this which does not involve Ripon Cathedral, but which, as you will see, shows a different example of creating sacred space online. During the Greenbelt Festival of 2013, a number of people who were not attending the Festival used the hashtag #notGB40 (mirroring the official festival hashtag of #gb40). These people were drawn from many different denominations and traditions, and they were brought together simply by being non-attendees of a Festival. The #notgb40 hashtag was mainly used for jokes and lighthearted conversation through the weekend and there was a sense of a group of people who were Christians of very disparate kinds culturally, but thrown together in an apparently random way through following the #notgb40 hashtag. However, on the Saturday night, quite late, a Compline service was suggested on the #notgb40 hashtag . There was a lot of interest, and I asked if someone would share the leading of it with me. A curate in the south of England volunteered. I chose a Northumbrian Compline which was available online and we arranged that we would Tweet the liturgy antiphonally. That is to say, one of us would Tweet a sentence, then the other would. The version of compline we used had short sentences which lent themselves to this with minimal additional editing to make it fit the medium of Twitter. We announced that the service was to begin. The #notGB40 hashtag stream went silent except for the two of us. There were long pauses between the Tweets as we carefully cut and pasted the next sentence each time. Silence reigned in these pauses. When we reached the prayer section of the service, we asked people to tweet names of people or places they wished to pray for. The response showed us that dozens of people were following this service of Compline. At the end, a priest among the group pronounced the blessing and silence followed, as if we were departing in silence as per the rubric. Later in the weekend, many said this had been a special time of worship for them. The limitations of the medium had created a very distinctive and contemplative act, mainly due to the long pauses between sentences. The Cathedral resonance was obviously not present when this happened. This was individuals leading an experimental act of worship. However, there was a sense of a gathered worshipping community which itself was the sacred space. We felt God among us as we shared liturgy, as we shared long pauses between Tweets, as we experienced togetherness borne of focus on God. What we had shared was worship: experiencing the presence of God among us as the gathered people of God and finding ourselves focussed entirely on God.</i><br />
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It is clear to me that there is scope to seek sacred spaces online. It relies on us as the Body of Christ to place ourselves there, abide with people by giving of ourselves to them, and to actively invite people to worship. At its heart, that is what we are doing when we Tweet these excerpts from Compline. Through our Twitter ministry at Ripon Cathedral, we hope, by the grace of God, to challenge people to pause amid the noise of online spaces; and in that pause, to reflect, to pray, to invite God to abide with them and to glimpse the unknown in an unexpectedly sacred space.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Select Bibliography</b><br />
Avis, P. Reshaping Ecumenical Theology (London: T&T Clark, 2010) p.62-65<br />
trans. Barry, P. Saint Benedict’s Rule (Ampleforth: Ampleforth Abbey Press, 1997)<br />
Davison, A. and Milbank, A. For the Parish: a critique of Fresh Expressions (London: SCM Press, 2010)<br />
Inge, J. A Christian Theology of Place (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003)<br />
Quash, B. Abiding: the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2013 (London: Bloomsbury, 2012)<br />
See especially p151-160<br />
Swanson, T.D. To Prepare a Place: Johannine Christianity and the Collapse of Ethnic Territory, from Shomanah, M.W.D. & Staley, J. John and Postcolonialism: Travel, Space, and Power (London: Bloomsbury, 2002) p.31<br />
<br />
<b>Online resources and further reading</b><br />
An overview of Twitter (note that Twitter tweaks the way it operates occasionally so this is not entirely up to date, but remains a useful series of primers for the uninitiated:<br />
Taylor, B. <a href="http://bryonytaylor.com/twitterguide/" target="_blank"> http://bryonytaylor.com/twitterguide/</a><br />
The DigiDisciple project at St John’s, Durham:<br />
Articles posted under the #DigiDisciple category: <a href="http://bigbible.org.uk/category/digidiscipleship/" target="_blank"> http://bigbible.org.uk/category/digidiscipleship/</a><br />
A brief overview of what a #DigiDisciple is: <a href="http://bigbible.org.uk/digidisciple/">http://bigbible.org.uk/digidisciple/</a><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-7758395983545286152014-06-20T13:29:00.003+01:002014-06-20T13:31:16.698+01:00Dropping offline? Ripon dwellers need to report it<h2>
Superfast Broadband in Ripon?</h2>
Andy Ryland over at Superfast Broadband North Yorkshire sent me the following advice after I'd been talking about broadband in Ripon.<br />
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First thing to note is that Ripon is geared up for superfast broadband. If you live in Ripon and want it, ask your current supplier (or take the opportunity to shop around) and see what deals are to be had. I'm told it might not be much more expensive (and if you shop around, it might even end up being cheaper if you're on a pricey deal at the moment!). There's info on the various suppliers <a href="http://www.superfastnorthyorkshire.com/providers" target="_blank">on the Superfast North Yorkshire website.</a><br />
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<h2>
Broadband cutting out in Ripon</h2>
The main thing I wanted to flag up though is about some people in Ripon who have a problem with their broadband dropping out whenever their landline gets used for a phonecall. I remember some chatter on Twitter about this about 2 years ago, and got the impression this was a widespread problem locally at the time, but haven't heard people complain about it much since.<br />
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Then, over the last couple of weeks, we've started to have the same problem at our home close to the centre of Ripon. Every time the landline gets used either to dial out, or to receive a phonecall, broadband disappears for a good few minutes. We've taken to never answering the phone in the evenings and just calling people back using our mobiles. If we ring BT, they confirm that there is "no fault". It looked like there was nothing we could so... but apparently there is.<br />
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If you have a similar problem, Andy advises the following:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The problem of cutting out has been experienced elsewhere.<br />
In some villages the promotion of broadband has precipitated people making<br />
comments about their phone lines and has resulted in BT relaying the telephone<br />
lines. This is first time that the issue has been raised in a town and the team<br />
were interested, if it's still a problem and how extensive it is. If it is still<br />
a problem and is extensive they can take the issue up with the BT engineers.<br />
If you can get people to send the comments to Carole Haywood-Pool at <br />
<a href="mailto:info@superfastnorthyorkshire.com">info@superfastnorthyorkshire.com</a> she will try and see if there is a pattern in<br />
Ripon and if necessary make inquiries with the BT engineers.<br />
Ripon was again raised as a town they would like to raise the number of people<br />
signing up to superfast so they can hit the 20% target.</blockquote>
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So there you have it. Please email info@superfastnorthyorkshire.com if you have this problem of broadband cutting out in Ripon and it might get sorted out. I must admit that the reliability of the actual phone line is one reason I've not been interested in exploring superfast broadband - if the infrastructure here couldn't cope with a phone call and a game of Candy Crush at the same time, I didn't hold out hope for a reliable superfast service!<br />
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So thanks to Andy for raising the issue with the Superfast Broadband team.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4, UK54.13564 -1.527333999999996254.09843 -1.6080149999999962 54.172850000000004 -1.4466529999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-17956920742917710512014-05-05T18:22:00.001+01:002014-05-05T18:23:31.129+01:00Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley: A New MBTI(AC) MethodThe best response so far to my previous blog about Myers-Briggs...<br />
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<a href="http://cyber-coenobites.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-new-mbti-method.html?spref=bl">Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley: A New MBTI(AC) Method</a>: Unshaun Sheep has been burning them up with his view of Myers-Briggs Typothingy I-something (can never remember what the last two stand for...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-75768442098941473472014-05-02T00:34:00.000+01:002014-05-05T18:22:24.927+01:00The Church of England's Personality Test Disorder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Church of England uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test pretty widely. This is a psychometric test designed to probe your decision-making processes and to help you reflect on how you come to decisions and what that tells you about your personality. Which all sounds perfectly reasonable. Part of the process of "formation" - i.e. the training which clergy go through - involves developing self-awareness, reflecting on one's practice and how this impacts on leadership style, group dynamics and so on.<br />
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To be honest, I had assumed the MBTI was something which must have been and gone (I remember hearing it being derided back in the early 90s by psychology students when I was at university) but it seems that it has since continued to build itself up as quite a brand, beloved of human resources departments, business leaders and management consultants. Somewhere along the line, the CofE bought into it and invested heavily in it. So we now have a widely-used test which the majority of our clergy will have had to undergo at some point. But there are several shortcomings with both the test itself and how it is often used by test subjects themselves and by some parts of the Church of England.</div>
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<b>How it works</b></div>
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The MBTI seeks to discover a person’s preferences using four pairs of personality variables: two basic attitudes / sources of personal energy (Extroversion or Introversion), two kinds of perception (Sensing or Intuiting), two styles of seeking order (Thinking or Feeling), and two kinds of orientation towards the outer world (Perceptive or Judging). This produces sixteen possible combinations (personality types) which are expressed in shorthand by a four-letter code. The contention is that, while everybody uses all of the eight preference-poles at some time or other, each of us will tend to prefer one of each of these opposites for each of the four pairs depending on what kind of personality we have. The objective of an MBTI is to identify these preferences. All the questions are presented in a forced-choice format so that the respondent must choose between two mental functions or attitudes each time.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Self-knowledge is actually a good thing</i></td></tr>
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<b>The Positive Side of the Process</b></div>
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What<i> is</i> good in the process of undergoing a Myers-Briggs test is the act of reflective thought. We gain insights into ourselves and others when we are encouraged to step back and consider our thought processes and become more self-aware and conscious of how we approach problems and mental processes. As the Spirituality and Worship tutor of one clergy-training course puts it, ordinands undertake a Myers-Briggs test as "part of that process whereby we grow towards God, inwardly to our deepest selves and outwards to other people... Clearly, this is a process that begins long before training and continues for life. While we will always remain a mystery to ourselves, it’s especially vital for those entering ordained ministry to desire and discern self-awareness, without which a relationship with God and others is impaired."<br />
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Self-understanding is indeed a Biblical concept in the context of recognising oneself before God. Paul speaks of this journey into self-knowledge in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+13&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 13</a>: <i>"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." </i> But this reflective process has to be done with humility and in recognition that our self / soul / person is fully knowable by God alone. It is God who is the key to self-knowledge: to knowing our personhood. We are a sacred mystery which defies simplistic description. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+139&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">Psalm 139</a> recognises that God alone knows us fully, better than we ever know ourselves; who knows us even at the most primal level before we have articulated our thoughts or our responses to the world around us. The Psalmist acknowledges that we do indeed have a self - since God knows us as individuals - and should therefore strive toward a similar knowledge of self. And it is God to whom the Psalmist turns at the end for help in transformation: <i>"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."</i><br />
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However, it is not the act of reflection, nor the quest for self-awareness which is the problem with MBTI but rather what is surmised from the data collected as a result. The science and the theology of Myers-Briggs are both cause for concern.<br />
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<b>The Science Bit</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Appreciating one's own abilities and limitations is an<br />important part of formation for the priesthood.</i></td></tr>
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The science of the MBTI is dubious on several counts. In terms of its scientific usefulness in measuring personality, it fits neatly alongside horoscopes and Facebook quizzes such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth?client_id=120268941322914&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.facebook.com%2Fzquiz-azmibgdr%2F%3Ffb_sig_app_id%3D120268941322914%26fb_source%3Dsearch%26ref%3Dts%26fref%3Dts&state=5107beb34c62454a369be749727f4a86&scope=" target="_blank">"Which My Little Pony Are You?"</a> Both horoscopes and the My Little Pony Quiz offer a fixed set of categories as outcomes which people find useful and which seem positive. The MBTI is of course more useful than either, simply because the act of considering the decision-making questions which form the test is obviously a useful piece of reflection on one's mental processes. However, its outcome (the 4-letter personality type) is arguably no more useful than knowing that I am a Scorpio. But then, <a href="http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/zodiac-signs/scorpio.htm" target="_blank">us Scorpios are deep and intense types</a>, so you'd expect me to say that, wouldn't you? </div>
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The Myers-Briggs test gives an output of 4 letters which denote a personality type. These are strictly either-or outcomes. The test does offer a more nuanced, individualised set of results to show how far one way or the other you are between each of the pair of poles on average, but the fact remains that one of sixteen 4-letter personality types is the output of the test.</div>
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A big concern with Myers-Briggs is that it
implies a rigid and inflexible approach to personality that, in the field of clinical psychology, would normally only be associated with individuals with severe psychological and emotional difficulties, for example, individuals
diagnosed with so-called ‘personality disorders’. These individuals are so-described due to the rigidity
and poor adaptability of their beliefs, thinking styles and behavioural patterns
which often lead to extreme distress and
dysfunction. Please tell me that the Church of England does not assume its clergy to be similarly afflicted as a matter of course? </div>
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Modern theories of
personality stress the importance of psychological flexibility and adaptability
to changing circumstances as a feature of a healthy personality. However, the bimodal (yes/no) response style
of the Myers-Briggs assumes that people rigidly respond in only one way or
another in all situations (e.g. I prefer to be alone/I prefer to be with
others) rather than recognising that healthy individuals have a range of
cognitive and behavioural responses to adapt to different situations. When people are then ‘diagnosed’ with their
personality type, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy: “Well, of course, I’m an INTJ so I
will be doing X”. Even more worryingly,
people start to judge each other on the basis of their diagnosed personality
types: “Oh, you’re such a typical ESFP…”.
This is similarly heard in
discussions about astrology. “Of course I did that, I’m a typical Gemini”, or
“She’s always such a Capricorn”. These comparisons between astrology and Myers-Briggs are too strong to ignore. They are both pseudo-science and neither have
a place in the Church. In the words
of the mental health service user movement: labels are for jars, not for
people. And probably the most damning indictment of an alleged psychometric assessment is that psychologists do not use it within their own profession.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Everyone's a winner with MBTI</i></td></tr>
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Incidentally, this self-affirmation is partly how the whole MBTI system works. Any disconnect between what we actually see and what we think we see is explained away if it does not fit our paradigm of thought. In the case of the MBTI test, subjects are likely to self-fit into categories which they are predisposed to think they belong to, using cues from the questions themselves. We "feel" the result is right: we have been asked to consider how we respond and think in specific situations, are told this is to help us identify how we respond and think, and get a result which states how we respond and think. Basically, we have told ourselves what we want to hear about ourselves. Everyone's a winner in their own minds. So where is the prophetic voice in this? Where is the voice of God challenging us about how we perceive ourselves? Psychometric testing offers static reflection, not the dynamic, challenging transformation demanded by encountering and responding to the risen Christ.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Is the MBTI fit for purpose as a psychological test?</i></td></tr>
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Professor David Pittenger, a professor of psychology who has undertaken a survey of statistical and other research on MBTI, comes to the conclusion that: “<i>it appears that the MBTI does not
conform to many of the basic standards expected of psychological tests. Many
very specific predictions about the MBTI have not been confirmed or have been
proved wrong. There </i><i>is no obvious evidence that there are 16 unique
categories in which all people can be placed. There is no evidence that scores
generated by the MBTI reflect the stable and unchanging personality traits that
are claimed to be measured. Finally, there is no evidence that the MBTI
measures anything of value.</i>”</div>
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<a href="http://anglicanmemes.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/evil-vicar-a-bit-spiritual.gif?w=584" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://anglicanmemes.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/evil-vicar-a-bit-spiritual.gif?w=584" height="172" width="320" /></a><b>The Theology Bit</b></div>
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Isabel Briggs asserts that Jung’s theory of psychological types (and therefore MBTI) will be helpful for clergy (see the preface to Briggs & Meyers 1980). <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+12%3A4-8&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">Romans 12:4-8</a> is cited (Briggs & Meyers 1980 p211) so clearly the authors believe that the test is compatible with scripture and see these eight preference indicators as a means of helping the individual, made uniquely and in the image of God, find their place in the Body of Christ.</div>
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However there is a fundamental problem with attempts to measure the personalities of human beings. To be fair, Jung himself rejected this idea: <i>"the very concept of personality is so vague and badly defined in common usage that hardly two minds will take the word in the same sense. I should like to consider everything that I say… as a mere attempt to approach the problem of personality, without making any claim to solve it"</i> (Jung 1940 p281-2). Later in the same chapter, Jung also writes that it is only our actions which reveal who we are, and in this we can see the echo of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A15-29&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">Matthew 7:15-29</a> in which Jesus points out that our actions reveal us to be his followers (and conversely, that false prophets can be judged by their fruits). Myers-Briggs goes far beyond Jung's intentions for his system of psychological types and seeks to define personality in terms of decision-making preferences alone.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Myers-Briggs is frequently used to guide clergy, readers and<br />pastoral workers in developing their team-working</i></td></tr>
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As humans, we have the unique ability to be in fellowship with God as well as with each other. As followers of Jesus, we continue the Incarnation: this is what it means to be the Body of Christ. We don't commune with God, we commune with each other and God. That is why we have the Peace: we come to the Lord's Table corporately. Personality type is only one factor which influences our behaviour and decision-making as humans, and it certainly does not define our personhood as part of the Body of Christ. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Myers-Briggs does not claim to assess anything to do with interpersonal or team working styles.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>Worrying, then, that within the Church of England, we frequently see the use of MBTI as the basis for workshops on leadership or team working styles. In some Dioceses, clergy, readers and pastoral workers are required to undergo this assessment in order to promote team working in churches. One Diocese even ran<a href="http://www.newcastle.anglican.org/news-and-events/events-details.aspx?id=466" target="_blank"> a prayer event last year based around Myers-Briggs types</a>. Clearly, the huge investment made by the Church of England in this system is leading to its use in areas it was never designed for and in which it has never claimed competence. Myers-Briggs could almost be said to have the status of a cult within the denomination: we use it because... we use it. To question its use is often equated with a reluctance to be self-reflective at all. While it may be the case that some clergy are averse to any kind of self-reflection (and this is indeed a problem where it occurs), my observation of discussions involving clergy in social media settings indicate that it is concerns about the misuse of Myers-Briggs by the CofE together with its dubious scientific value which are far more common reasons for disquiet. Lloyd's analysis of Christian opposition to Myers-Briggs <i>"showed five principal areas of concern: misuse of personality typing in spiritual formation; personality typing as a simplistic analysis; personality typing as a restrictive pigeon‐holing; unethical use of personality typing; and the Jungian derivation of personality type theory."</i> (Lloyd, 2007)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAARVCZuOWH8I70N393x_hHa85D-4NMFJIwYw06vXuogZqME62k06QS76n5_oDV5a63MwYfWfLL3X1YHAi647bMnH11ItodvzwDTp3GIcKzrxQj4H84DJL9-i-5VTNXWL-RW2T8g6EUmby/s1600/chekmistrycat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAARVCZuOWH8I70N393x_hHa85D-4NMFJIwYw06vXuogZqME62k06QS76n5_oDV5a63MwYfWfLL3X1YHAi647bMnH11ItodvzwDTp3GIcKzrxQj4H84DJL9-i-5VTNXWL-RW2T8g6EUmby/s1600/chekmistrycat.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a>Our inter-relationships with other members of the Body of Christ and with people outside the Church are far more revealing of our personality and leadership styles than anything in the realm of psychometric testing. MBTI is an individualistic test and says nothing about the way our personality expresses itself communally. </div>
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Personality Types should not be confused with personality itself as the latter is connected to our personhood: our soul, our being, our reflection of the image of God. If MBTI is presented as a personality type indicator which in any sense defines or underpins our personality, I question whether this is appropriate for a Christian context at all. And, despite being misapplied to the field of team development and group dynamics (including leadership styles), it is an individualitic view of personhood which completely overlooks the communal nature of our being. As humans, we are a communal creation: created for communion with our Creator, with each other, and with the whole of creation. This is something which defines what is is to be human and therefore defining of what personhood and personality are. MBTI ignores this fundamental aspect of our being.<br />
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<b>Individual, or part of something?</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Being a Christian means doing things with </i><br />
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Since the mid-twentieth century, Western society has, according to Küng and others, experienced increasing individualism alongside a decreased sense of community (see Küng 1996 p763). Some have sensed that individual identity is undergoing a crisis in confidence alongside this (see Kirkpatrick 1995 p11). This has created a cultural paradigm for the western church in which the quest for personal meaning has taken centre stage. Church has, in some contexts, become a lifestyle choice with its members thought of as consumers and styles of liturgy and worship as a product to be marketed. The Church of England's embrace of psychometric testing is another such echo of the wider culture's quest for personal, individual validation. This means that the MBTI types, which are all presented as optimistic, fit neatly into this quest for assurance and validation (see Long 1992 p294). MBTI is actively encouraging a worldview in which Christian leaders (remember that clergy were explicitly identified as target consumers of the MBTI product) embrace these familiar values of the world. The 16 types all resonate with thought and behavioural patterns which are familiar and seem acceptable to most people. This means that the test falls foul of the <a href="http://badpsychologyblog.org/post/33441629830/the-forer-barnum-effect" target="_blank">Forer (Barnum) effect:</a> i.e. the tendency of people to consider statements about their personality as highly accurate, even though these same statements could apply to almost everyone else. This is also generally true of astrological readings.<br />
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The assumption that our personality type is fixed is also dubious theologically. Throughout scripture and Church history, we see personal transformation as the norm: those who follow Jesus receive new life, become a new creation in Christ, changed. When Briggs & Myers quoted Romans 12 (see Briggs & Myers 1980 p211), had they looked a few verses earlier they would have also read <i>"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect."</i> (Rom.12:2). Renewed minds, open to complete transformation by God to conform to the Divine Will is what we should be about. Our culture around us changes us profoundly, as do our experiences, our companions on life's journey, and indeed<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Cor+3%3A18&version=NRSVA" target="_blank"> the Holy Spirit as we are transformed into the likeness of <u>the Lord</u>.</a> (2 Cor.3:18)</div>
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Black's foreword to Briggs & Myers (1980) states that career, marriage and the very meaning of life itself are affected by MBTI-defined personality types. This is similarly problematic. The concept that personality types are unchanging, can be measured, and are innate is not one I recognise and seems incompatible with scripture. I am reminded of the world of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076987/" target="_blank">Blakes 7</a>, in which the Terran Federation categorise their subjects with terms such as Alpha grade (used of Blake himself) or Delta grade (used of Vila, a member of the criminal underclass) to categorise, utilise and control the population*. Interestingly, Vila claimed to have faked his personality test to avoid being drafted as a spaceship captain - so even in the futuristic world of the Federation, psychometric testing is not infallible! A church which categorizes its members in similarly unchanging and limited terms is not taking sufficiently seriously the transforming power of the Holy Spirit among the people of God.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*For the uninitiated, Blakes 7 was a piece of dystopian sci-fi, not a blueprint for church organisation.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsUxYUQ34ks_NME6T3kIaoNVbjjNTF2dQSlc5YpU2FpMIIaCrQGpqywEH7inehbpf9rHYrF-y3rYzy9Qd6j1x-XWCDEnGPnj5DseZjAmkE0kL3Fwou4Rtk5Lf-prbfYESbdXXRQN4h0bf/s1600/sortingbiretta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsUxYUQ34ks_NME6T3kIaoNVbjjNTF2dQSlc5YpU2FpMIIaCrQGpqywEH7inehbpf9rHYrF-y3rYzy9Qd6j1x-XWCDEnGPnj5DseZjAmkE0kL3Fwou4Rtk5Lf-prbfYESbdXXRQN4h0bf/s1600/sortingbiretta.jpg" height="400" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Myers-Briggs can be misused as a kind of<br />"sorting hat" for leadership styles</i></td></tr>
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<b>My Management Structure is Not of This World</b></div>
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The Church of England spent well over a year probing and testing me to check whether they agreed that God was calling me to be a priest. Among other things, my ability to develop as a leader was looked at as one key factor. I am now being trained with a view to eventually becoming a deacon and priest. Somehow I now find myself in danger of being labelled with a secular management category which is seen by some within the CofE as defining of my personality, my leadership style and my likely role and abilities within teams. I truly fear carrying 4 letters as an albatross around my neck for a future colleague, Archdeacon, Bishop or Diocesan Advisor to latch onto as a label to prejudge my likely calling, performance or role in a given situation, context or team. Even if an MBTI outcome gives data which its subject finds useful, then the fact that subsequent retests may give quite different outcomes even after a short period should make its use in management generally questionable. Even after just five weeks, there is <a href="http://www.recruiter.com/i/critique-of-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-critique/" target="_blank">a 50% chance of one's personality type changing between tests.</a> And in terms of the Body of Christ, to rely on such a blunt instrument of discernment would be a mistake. Can we not look to more Biblical models of leadership, of teamwork and of discipleship? And I repeat: where is our vision of the God who transforms, who equips, in whom we seek revelation, rest and knowledge of ourselves and our calling? And where is our vision of the Body of Christ - our Christian brothers and sisters being part of a shared journey of self-discovery, of growing into the image of Jesus together? Can we turn the commendable motivations behind using blunt instrument psychometric tests into something more flexible, more useful and more open to the transforming nature of life in Christ?</div>
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<b>So what is the alternative?</b></div>
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Dr. Ruth Sutherland, a clinical psychologist who laments the Church of England's reliance on MBTI in clergy training, offers a way forward:</div>
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<i>There are, however, alternatives. For trainee priests, this should start with
the recognition that they are starting a journey of developing a new identity
(self-as-priest), and that this needs to be supported, both in terms of their
own self awareness and development, but also within the context of their
family, friends and community. They need
to be supported in developing resilience, self care and personal wellbeing, and
in understanding the potential obstacles to these developments. Personal therapy might be one option – an
opportunity for exploring the life experiences that have already shaped them,
the beliefs and thinking styles that inform their behavioural choices and
emotional responses, and how these might impact their development as priests. An all-too-obvious example is the
preponderance of perfectionist beliefs and high expectations of the self
among priests. The impact of this can
be catastrophic, especially when combined with the expectations of
parishioners. Physical and mental health
problems are far too common among the ordained. But this could be avoided with better
preparation. I don’t see any evidence
that Myers-Briggs is doi</i>ng <i>anything useful for our priests and lay leaders. It’s time for change.</i></blockquote>
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I believe Dr Sutherland's approach reflects existing good practice in training establishments. Certainly I recognise that my current training as an ordinand puts a high emphasis on developing self-awareness and reflective practice, including lectures encouraging this, collaborative work in small groups and reflective tutorials with personal tutors. Myers-Briggs is offered as merely one element among a wider programme which encourages the ongoing development of such practices. I question the wisdom of using Myers-Briggs at all, though. Its scientific shortcomings risk the Church of England inviting needless ridicule for using it. Its theological shortcomings call into question its suitability as a tool for the formation of Christian leaders.<br />
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Thinking about ordinand training more generally, perhaps some form of mentoring akin to that of a Spiritual Director, but which includes a strong element of personal therapy focussed on the areas Sutherland suggests (though with a focus which takes account of the theological issues of self- and communal-identity outlined above) might replace reliance on this, and other, dubious forms of psychometric testing which are, when all is said and done, little more than an affirming, self-fulfilling form of horoscope dressed as science.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: The Myers-Briggs Type lndicator and MBTI are Registered Trademarks of Consulting Psychologists Press.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I am indebted to <br />Dr Ruth Sutherland for her insights from the world of professional clinical psychology<br />Clergy friends who have been willing to share their concerns and experiences of MBTI as used in the CofE<br />Anglicanmemes.com for most of the images used in this article.</span></i><br />
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<b>Further online reading:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.indiana.edu/~jobtalk/Articles/develop/mbti.pdf" target="_blank">Professor Pittenger's report </a><br />
<a href="http://www.ajol.info/index.php/actat/article/download/72867/61774" target="_blank">A.R. Tucker's theological assessment of MBTI, a primary source for this blog post</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.recruiter.com/i/critique-of-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-critique/" target="_blank">A critique from a business journalist, April 2011</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1997.80.2.611?journalCode=pr0&" target="_blank">Academic psychology critique, 1997</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/mar/19/myers-briggs-test-unscientific" target="_blank">An article from The Guardian, March 2013</a><br />
<a href="http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/15/myers-briggs-problems/?iid=obinsite" target="_blank">Fortune magazine raises queries from a business perspective, May 2013</a><br />
<a href="http://badpsychologyblog.org/post/33441629830/the-forer-barnum-effect" target="_blank">More on the Forer/Barnum effect</a><br />
<a href="http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=hss_pubs" target="_blank">Psychometric shortcomings of MBTI investigated in a paper from Bond University, Australia</a><br />
<a href="http://cyber-coenobites.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-new-mbti-method.html" target="_blank">The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley's light-hearted alternative to the MBTI</a></div>
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<b>Bibliography used in preparing this blog post:</b></div>
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Black, J. <i>Publisher’s Foreword in Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter B. Myers. Gifts Differing </i>(Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., 1980)</div>
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Briggs, I. & Myers, P. <i>Gifts Differing. </i>(Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., 1980)<br />
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Francis, L. J. <i>Psychological-type theory and Christian theology: a conflict between implicit and explicit religions? </i>(Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 2013, Vol.16(9), p.964-974)</div>
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Jung, C. <i>Psychological types </i>(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, Ltd, 1938)</div>
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Jung, C. <i>The integration of the Personality</i> (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, Ltd, 1940)</div>
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Kirkpatrick, T. <i>Small Groups in the Church</i> (New York: The Alban Institute, 1995)</div>
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Küng, H. <i>Christianity, Essence, History and Future</i> (New York: Continuum, 1996)</div>
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Leech, K. <i>Myers–Briggs. Some critical reflections</i> (Croydon: The Jubilee Group, 1996)</div>
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Lloyd, J. B. <i>Opposition from Christians to Myers-Briggs personality typing: an analysis and evaluation.</i> (Journal of Beliefs & Values, 28(2):111-123, 2007)</div>
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Long, T. <i>Myers-Briggs and Other Modern Astrologies</i> (Theology Today 49(3):291-295., 1992)</div>
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Pittenger, D. <i>Measuring the MBTI... and Coming Up Short </i>http://www.indiana.edu/~jobtalk/Articles/develop/mbti.pdf</div>
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ed. Rozensky, R.H. et al<i> Psychology Builds a Healthy World: Opportunities for Research and Practice</i></div>
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(Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2004)<br />
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Tucker, A.R. <i>An assessment of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator from a practical theological perspective</i> (South Africa: Acta Theologica 2011, 31(2): p 295-314)</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-66023764632066296552014-02-18T07:46:00.001+00:002014-02-19T06:01:10.194+00:00A Pastoral Letter. No, not that one.<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.375px; margin-bottom: 1.625em;">
<em>Following the publication of the House of Bishops Pastoral Letter regarding Same Sex Marriage, an unofficial Tent of Non-Bishops have issued their own pastoral letter.</em></div>
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Dear Same Sex Couples,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIw260DPA32BImolNS2zk7DJH5VolcuDXCSxvaMP43RQ-o9yKt7olp7FzGtw8m6UBnE3GCFqqfrNDxTcDgj_NEVJg73KM8TsciD0qnmNYdJA6gXyzPvZeYVVPl9Dr0ac3zyp_2u4JL_uUA/s1600/bishop+says+no.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIw260DPA32BImolNS2zk7DJH5VolcuDXCSxvaMP43RQ-o9yKt7olp7FzGtw8m6UBnE3GCFqqfrNDxTcDgj_NEVJg73KM8TsciD0qnmNYdJA6gXyzPvZeYVVPl9Dr0ac3zyp_2u4JL_uUA/s1600/bishop+says+no.jpg" height="154" width="200" /></a></div>
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We (quite a few members of the Church of England) would like you to know the following:</div>
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1. We love you, albeit a pale reflection of how God loves you, but we're doing our best.</div>
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2. If you're in a civil partnership or married, we will do our best to support you and love you both, and affirm and celebrate your fidelity to each other.</div>
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3. Like those who oppose your relationship, we take sin seriously. So we look forward to continuing to confess our sins to you as our brothers and sisters in Christ. <i>Fingerpointing works so much better when the finger is pointed (lovingly) towards oneself. *Mumble... mumble... <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A1-5&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">splinter... eye... plank...*</a></i></div>
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4. For those of you whom the Holy Spirit calls to the priesthood who are in committed same-sex relationships, we regret that you will have to forswear marriage in order to pursue your anointed vocation. We will love and support you as best we are able.</div>
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5. Actually, now we come to read 4, for 'regret', please read 'are outraged and find it baffling'. Lord have mercy.</div>
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6. We will not define you by your same-sex relationship. If we define you at all, it will be on equal terms, as a a precious human, made in the image of your Creator God. We will seek to see and nurture all that is Christlike in you, as we seek to see it in ourselves and in each and every child of God.</div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;">7. We love God and we love you. </span><span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+john+4%3A7-21&version=NRSVA" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+john+4%3A7-21&version=NRSVA" style="color: #1b8be0; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;">We love because God first loved us.</span></a></span><span data-mce-style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;"> How can we do otherwise and call ourselves followers of Christ?</span></div>
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8. er... that's it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And we're sorry that our Church is hurting you.</div>
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Did we say that we loved you yet?</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-88151725978036292652014-01-16T17:02:00.000+00:002014-05-09T18:14:15.553+01:00The Body of Christ - valuing all its members?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTG1iuFBakmsXvVlKbwFkmc10WnnkkhD15msk9kB0LFEuPrhYJV2Lhqc2b11tFaErFTIZ59QbB1kQmY6TfFZjW451_jZeP48smhC4iTBj4sIZkfVmLpISlyuEeAhTLkj6avNaUi7OZjhZ8/s1600/no+dog+collars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTG1iuFBakmsXvVlKbwFkmc10WnnkkhD15msk9kB0LFEuPrhYJV2Lhqc2b11tFaErFTIZ59QbB1kQmY6TfFZjW451_jZeP48smhC4iTBj4sIZkfVmLpISlyuEeAhTLkj6avNaUi7OZjhZ8/s1600/no+dog+collars.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
I've noticed, among the legitimate celebration of the <a href="http://www.churchgrowthresearch.org.uk/progress_findings_reports" target="_blank">Church Growth figures</a>, notably among things labelled <i>Fresh Expressions</i> and Cathedrals, a strong seam of anti-clerical sentiment. There seems to be a sense that we are involved in niche-marketing of the faith in some respects. This isn't true of most <i>Fresh Expressions</i>, mind you - when you look at the more successful ones, they tend to be very aware of their local communities, meet local needs but integrate getting alongside people with gathering as a church across the whole communities.<br />
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However, alongside all that is worth celebrating in these figures have been comments which imply that clergy are no longer welcome in the Church of England, as reimagined by some lay-led groups. "Why do we need a priest or a bishop to do baptisms when our own elders can do it?". A bit of selective re-translation of <i>episcopae </i>into <i>elder </i>rather than <i>bishop </i>and Bob's your Church Leader. There is a sense in which whole-community churches on traditional models and clergy as leaders and overseers of mission are seen in some circles as problems to be overcome rather than intrinsic to God's Mission.<br />
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<b>So where did this strand of anti-clerical sentiment originate in this latest form?</b><br />
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The Turnbull report's response to the Church Commissioners losing most of the C of E's money in the 80s and early 90s was to create a new narrative: one which means that the mission of the Church is equated with a marketing model. But we're not selling membership, we're about introducing people to Jesus and leading them in discipleship. The problem was that there was no pot of money to pay clergy pensions - even the existing ones - so the thought of recruiting clergy at traditional levels filled the accountants at Church House with dread. Understandable. But hardly missional as an approach. Alongside this, the very scriptural understanding of the 'priesthood of all believers', and the model of active discipleship rather than passive affiliation were widely discussed. Now the latter were, and remain, good things. Churches grow not when there is a Vicar-shaped Church but when the whole Body of Christ in that place discerns together how to communicate the Good News of Jesus and lets the Holy Spirit get to work through them. Alpha, Pilgrim and other courses emerged, at least in part, to re-energise the Church - to invite Christians into deeper discipleship and break away from any sense that faith was something best left to the clergy. And of course these helped church communities reach out to people too and they became followers of Christ as a result - praise God! So there were lots of things going on, parallel developments, but a deep financial malaise at the centre.<br />
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We now say we cannot afford clergy as if this is Gospel truth. It is only true if we make it so: it is a choice. If we are serious about being a missional Church, serving our communities, we need to continue to discern who is being called to be priests - not forgetting that this is only one aspect of vocations: we need to help everyone in the Church listen to what their vocation is: "how do I serve? what now, Lord?" should be a prayer for all believers. It is not enough to look for managers, elders, marketers, group leaders, administrators, worship leaders, preachers, pastors etc and say that church leadership is all sorted. These are important roles in the Body of Christ too. But so are those of priest, deacon and reader. The Holy Spirit is still ordaining deacons, priests and bishops and the Church is continuing to acknowledge and affirm these callings. We have certainly neglected the concept of "priesthood of all believers" and Church-as-Body-of-Christ will all called to a vocation of mission and ministry in the past. It is a nonsense though to say of a body that, since we have historically undervalued elbows we now no longer need feet.<br />
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It is tempting I know, to rewrite early Church history in romanticised ways to pretend that an episcopally-led, sacramentally worshipping community led by deacons and priests was not part of how the Holy Spirit moulded the Church over the first few centuries. It is our heritage, which is not to say it is set in stone as how the Church must always be, but we need to have a reason to change better than simply "it's old". Reimagining the C of E as growing out of a Mediterranean housechurch movement with lay leaders does have a certain appeal, but it's a romance, at least in the way we now seem to be reimagining it. Rewriting things that way does make us all feel more affirmed - and that does indeed highlight a problem: that we have ended up with a hierarchical view of the Church with lay people at the bottom and clergy (in a hierarchical structure at that) at the top. This is of course absolutely wrong, unscriptural, and FX has been an excellent way to challenge that mindset.<br />
<br />
But if we ditch Anglicanism to embrace a lay-led housechurch only model, we will find that we're reaching out to people and welcoming them into an empty shell: a Church created in society's image alone and not that of Christ. We do need to pursue a generous vision of vocation for everyone in the Church: where do we fit in the Body of Christ? To what are we called as disciples and servants of Christ? Priests and Deacons are not any more indispensable than anyone else in the Church. But they are called to a specific function in the Church. They are no more indispensable to the Body of Christ than any other member. But they are no less.<br />
<br />
Let's pray for a Body of Christ which grows, reaches out and nurtures each of its members to discern its vocation. Some leadership is lay and let us affirm that. But let's not continually discourage our clergy by denying their vocation to their place in the Body.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-1155650559485005912013-03-15T13:58:00.001+00:002013-03-15T13:59:45.670+00:00Before Jerusalem<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before Jerusalem</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The palm trees untouched.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The donkey still tethered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we watch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we listen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <i>Via Dolorosa</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is just another road.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The upper room:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just a room upstairs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We watch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We listen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And down the road,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far away</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That we cannot watch,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We cannot hear,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A jar breaks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And beauty fills a room:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perfume sweet,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An outpouring of love;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grateful tears</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a house of dear friends,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of a man who was dead</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But is now alive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Precious love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More precious than</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The adoration of crowds,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More joyful than</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Any shouted Hosannahs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No premature triumph here,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But a King i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">s anointed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a house is filled</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With beauty.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12&version=PHILLIPS" target="_blank">based on John Chapter 12</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-23568267729875461462012-11-22T15:29:00.001+00:002012-11-22T15:29:27.871+00:00Thanksgiving & Incarnation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJdB0-ovsYDt_tJ31ond_-QKJyWCAHr_5qXnFL9KyoXUrMwz0GLWK0YJFFmZUzoSdniQtykNUpHwJUZ_fhbRMc5tH15FeF6pz9R419m9p62uND5a9X2sMGSbz3dkwwHrKz56FU9vWFOZzy/s1600/women_bishops2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJdB0-ovsYDt_tJ31ond_-QKJyWCAHr_5qXnFL9KyoXUrMwz0GLWK0YJFFmZUzoSdniQtykNUpHwJUZ_fhbRMc5tH15FeF6pz9R419m9p62uND5a9X2sMGSbz3dkwwHrKz56FU9vWFOZzy/s1600/women_bishops2.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3>
Thanksgiving</h3>
Today, November 22nd, it's Thanksgiving in the US and St Cecilia's Day throughout the Church. So, as women and thanksgiving seems to be the order of the day, and this week more than most, it seems appropriate to combine these themes in a personal prayer for women priests, and priests-in-waiting who have had an impact on me. It's not a prayer of intercession that they might some day all aspire to be Bishops, rather it's that I need them to know how valued and loved they and their ministries are in what is most probably a pretty negative week for them. It must be hard not to take the General Synod's decision on the Women Bishops legislation personally. And, actually, if I were them, I'd take it personally too. So now is a good time to give thanks for them all, and for all women priests.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Lord I give thanks for all the women priests who've inspired and sustained me so far.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Rev Dianna Gwilliams for giving such sensible advice and care to us as a young family and giving me friendship, space, encouragement and, where necessary, prods to get on with my personal ministry.</i><br />
<i>Rev Karen Gardiner for showing me a great model of calling to ministry and just getting on with it.</i><br />
<i>Rev Sarah Hartley for first teaching me some of the ways of the anglo-Catholic and kicking my backside into gear about being serious about evangelism.</i><br />
<i>Rev Barbara Lydon who came out of retirement to officiate at my marriage.</i><br />
<i>Rev Jan Goodair for her thoughtful and practical help and advice.</i><br />
<i>Ven Janet Henderson for her online encouragement and wise example of thoughtful blogging.</i><br />
<i>Rev Ruth Hind for showing me a great example of how to love a rural community.</i><br />
<i>Rev Elizabeth Sewell for her infectious enthusiasm and good sense in tackling new challenges.</i><br />
<i>Rev Lindsay Southern for her integrity and commitment to the work of WATCH.</i><br />
<i>Rev Kate Bottley for being authentically herself online.</i><br />
<i>Not-yet-rev Bryony Taylor for her online friendship and invaluable insights into online ministry.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Thank you Lord.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<h3>
Moving on towards Advent</h3>
I'm sure others have lists just as long, or even longer than mine. I think it's important for all woman clergy to know that so many of us in the laity of the Church of England are wholeheartedly behind them, even if the House which is supposed to represent us has not listened to our consistently expressed support for your ministry, and that our reasoning is one of theology rather than mere liberal humanist pleasantness and wanting things to be 'fair'.<br />
<br />
As we head towards Advent, it is all the more important to reflect that we await the coming of Jesus: God incarnate. The Incarnation is about God being among us. Its significance lies not in Jesus being a man, but in him being, like us, a human: the image of God. I believe that the events at Synod this week challenge us to theologically engage with the issue of the Incarnation across the Church of England. Once we address our own humanity in the light of the Incarnation of God, we can move beyond the language of equality and fairness (which the House of Commons will join the mainstream media in using on pretty much every contentious issues facing the Church of England) to our identity as images of God. This is a wide-ranging conversation we need to have and will encompass issues of gender, sexuality, genetics, disability and the very definition of what it means to be human. These are issues of theology, no matter how much they intersect with questions of science, legality, rights and sociology. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203:26-29&version=NIV" target="_blank">In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female</a> - and we need to engage with how that list might be added to in our times. Then, recognising the significance of the Incarnation and how it applies to all humankind, we need to replace the word <i>Christ </i>with the word <i>Humanity </i>and work out what that means for our ministry and for what it means to 'be Church'. Then we will become a Church which more truly reflects the Incarnation, but also has a deeper understanding of the true, human-wide scope of salvation through Christ's death and resurrection and the scope of our mission and ministry.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-36140531533134012782012-10-21T22:14:00.002+01:002012-10-21T22:35:58.364+01:00Year 7 Homework is hard in Lincolnshire<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q-XyfIzILfay5vxxieiPnvFq7j-EkbDKT6pF8MNcV0PD-wSPa5MwRw4OipwFWyTiBAblc0IWk-5oxVAd5NxvJ6pA4kIPCbNtlxnbLChPoJfEGda7OATI7XJIY7wIywaZE8iOZa50SqXP/s1600/Image054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q-XyfIzILfay5vxxieiPnvFq7j-EkbDKT6pF8MNcV0PD-wSPa5MwRw4OipwFWyTiBAblc0IWk-5oxVAd5NxvJ6pA4kIPCbNtlxnbLChPoJfEGda7OATI7XJIY7wIywaZE8iOZa50SqXP/s200/Image054.jpg" width="200" /></a><i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><i>A friend of mine, Barry Coward, sent me and other Christians of his acquaintance, an email this weekend. In it, he explained that a local 12 year old daughter of friends of his had been asked to write an essay on "Why do Christians Believe in God?". It's been ages since I actually thought of something so foundational, so I wrote the following in a stream of consciousness... I'd be interested to hear what others would have said in the same circumstances.</i></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear young, Lincolnshire friend of Barry,<br />
<br />
That's a tricky bit of homework you have there!<br />
<br />
For a lot of Christians, I think that this homework title seems strange. God tends to be the 'given' - the 'obviously there' thing that we just know, experience and accept already. I believe in God and am a Christian, but it's not that I came to the conclusion that God exists following a lot of reasoning-out, which seems to be the way the mainstream media, the British Humanist Association and even the RE curriculum imply I should!<br />
<br />
All I can do to help is share my own experience of being a Christian and what I know of God from that.<br />
<br />
Christians believe that God created humans in the image of God. This doesn't mean that God looks like a human - it's more about the kind of spiritual beings we humans are. In all human diversity, whatever our gender, nationality, culture, sexuality or age, there is something of God in every person. This is one reason why Christian morality focusses on loving others. Jesus taught that the most important rules to live by are to love God and to love each other.<br />
<br />
The Incarnation - what Christians call the historical event of Jesus being born - is about God physically being on earth as a human being. This wasn't done because God somehow had to prove he existed, but was part of this same story, about a relationship between God and those who have been created to be like him: we didn't create God in our own image, as some perfect, never-dying kind of super-human. It was the other way round. God created us to be individual reflections of God, and to reflect all that is good, wonderful and God-like in ourselves to each other. Once you start to see other people in this way, and look for the Divine even in those who hate you, the imperfect world of humans starts to look more hopeful.<br />
<br />
For Christians, the question of God's existence is closely linked to Jesus. The message of Jesus isn't so much his teachings - indeed, other religions have made similar points about loving God and each other. Rather, the point is about who Jesus is: the Son of God who was with God at the very beginning of everything and then was born and lived just like you or I at a particular point in human history. So it is because Jesus is God in human form, he himself is the message, and the message is "God is with us". Jesus is a huge reason why Christians believe in God.<br />
<br />
In the end, though, it isn't a question of proof of God's existence, but of faith. St. Paul wrote "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1).<br />
<br />
There's a huge amount I haven't written, and some people spend their lives writing book after book on this, but I hope this personal take on your homework helps.<br />
<br />
Kind regards,<br />
<br />
Nick Morgan<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-75956265453698946412012-09-29T21:53:00.000+01:002012-09-30T00:00:09.720+01:00Yorkshire Diocesan Reorganisation: a view from the fringes.<br />
<h2>
A reorganisation based on community and mission. Or is it?</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWwFophHQ8FVDUhcjR_5Qi5N5nu-FJlSOW6NY9hv_HihyFnhElkXbBlBm3CP9F1B4SvC682vOQSHMK0s-VNt3kjzHsFgKLZCQXjP757McLYSVZ_tLEVqlm9WjxWCXcEwDsq2Yx-H1rhyphenhyphenv/s1600/sandcastles1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three Cathedrals or one insuperable mound?" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWwFophHQ8FVDUhcjR_5Qi5N5nu-FJlSOW6NY9hv_HihyFnhElkXbBlBm3CP9F1B4SvC682vOQSHMK0s-VNt3kjzHsFgKLZCQXjP757McLYSVZ_tLEVqlm9WjxWCXcEwDsq2Yx-H1rhyphenhyphenv/s320/sandcastles1.jpg" title="Three Yorkshire Dioceses are to merge. A view from the fringe..." width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Three Dioceses are to be merged, </i><i style="text-align: center;"><i>but</i></i></div>
<i style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></i><i style="text-align: center;"><i>how will this look from the rural fringes?</i></i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i style="text-align: center;">
</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As Bishop Nick Baines explains in his blog, the <a href="https://nickbaines.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/west-yorkshire-diocese-proposals/#comment-20935">West Yorkshire Diocese proposals</a> have been agreed upon in principle. The title of Nick's blog entry is telling, though, as it makes no mention of North Yorkshire, significant parts of which are affected by the proposals.<br />
<br />
For those of you unfamiliar with the story so far, the idea is to combine the Dioceses of Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon & Leeds to create a mega-diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, the rationale for which is i) that the current way things are organised are based on historical factors which no longer reflect the communities the Church of England is serving, and ii) combining the Dioceses and restructuring will help mission. These are both reasonable enough grounds for reorganisation, but I am uneasy about whether the proposals, as they stand, will address either issue effectively.<br />
<br />
My interest is that I live in the part of North Yorkshire concerned, and I'm commenting as someone who has campaigned on rural issues nationally, has experience as a teacher of <a href="http://www.atl.org.uk/publications-and-resources/report/2009/profile-nick-morgan.asp" target="_blank">working in rural communities</a> whose issues of poverty, lack of social mobility, access to services are largely ignored politically, but where the Church, and notably the Church of England, does a great deal of good. And I'm commenting as someone who lives at the Ripon end of the current Diocese of Ripon & Leeds where I see excellent things going on in the rural parishes, the excellent support given to these by their <a href="http://archdeaconinthedales.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Archdeacon </a>, <a href="http://ruralriponandleeds.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Rural Officer</a>,<a href="http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/kids_3.html" target="_blank"> Children and Young People's Officer </a>and many others, and a friendly, outward-looking Cathedral engaged in supporting its <a href="http://www.riponcathedral.org.uk/churchlife.php?chpg=109&passsec=4" target="_blank">local community</a>, engaging in <a href="http://www.riponcathedral.org.uk/cathedral.php?chpg=154&passsec=2" target="_blank">moral issues in society</a> and acting as a focus for mission in the Dales already. And, I also have recent experience of life in a rural parish elsewhere in North Yorkshire over in neighbouring York Diocese and can't help worrying that they are another area not really being taken seriously in this re-organisation.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Rural Fringe - off the map?</h3>
The first rationale for change is that current boundaries are historic hangovers, and this is true. Ripon, historically, was a <a href="http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Maps/WRYParishes.gif" target="_blank">West Riding</a> city and the Bishop of Ripon oversaw a Diocese which took in a lot of the West Riding before the other Dioceses were created (in response to massive social changes in the industrial revolution and beyond). However, the reality for the communities of all the areas under discussion today is different. Ripon is firmly North Yorkshire in feel nowadays with more in common with Helmsley, Northallerton, Richmond or Thirsk than with Leeds, Halifax, Dewsbury or Bradford. As a community, Ripon looks to its north and north-east as much as it does to its south. It is not part of the West Yorkshire industrial conurbation which it is proposed that it remain bolted onto. Ripon is one of those places which gets bolted onto other places in reorganisations. Bizarrely, it shares an MP with Skipton, a town to the north of Halifax which is lovely, West Yorkshire in its architecture and major road links, but with which Ripon has no other link and very little similarity. Rather than wondering what to do with this weird bit of the county which doesn't really fit easily with what the rest of the West Riding to its south has morphed into, the Church of England might well be missing a trick. Why pretend that Ripon and most of the Richmondshire Archdeaconry is the northern fringe of West Yorkshire? By embracing the reality on the ground and using Ripon as a missional centre for the communities it really does resonate with, something far more exciting could emerge.<br />
<br />
<h3>
A less timid re-organisation</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEb48aArYnp2iBScE69iJ3EPNPiGMQXC5rw0Zg4jq4lTJbFY6ElXOOFjrJFTUvhHFow7pmVd3YUEM0c3Dcbz_6M4BIBQfgWBCu2rDpRB3R8nL1EAAKbEGilDHa0gMqNPvFVczXQW1ShCWz/s1600/brimham01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEb48aArYnp2iBScE69iJ3EPNPiGMQXC5rw0Zg4jq4lTJbFY6ElXOOFjrJFTUvhHFow7pmVd3YUEM0c3Dcbz_6M4BIBQfgWBCu2rDpRB3R8nL1EAAKbEGilDHa0gMqNPvFVczXQW1ShCWz/s400/brimham01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radical shapes often work well.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A more radical and mission-shaped way organising things around the reality of many North Yorkshire communities would be to create a North Yorkshire diocese stretching from pretty much the east coast, across <a href="http://www.northernryedaledeanery.org/" target="_blank">Northern Ryedale</a>, Mowbray and into the eastern Dales. Expertise from across these rural areas could be pooled easily. Communities have a lot in common and share similar challenges, notably from being rural or market towns. Road links run east-west across this area, straddling the A1, A168, A19 and A170 - the railways were taken away from this area (with the exception of those parts which lay on the main North-South links, such as Northallerton and Thirsk) in the Beeching cuts. Fast rural broadband is (we hope) being rolled out in North Yorkshire, and there is growing expertise across all these rural areas about how to harness social media and the internet for mission and serving the community (including those not online). It is realistic for these areas to support each other in mission and work together from an ecclesiastical base in Ripon and from Diocesan offices created in Northallerton, the county town.<br />
<br />
Conversely, the parishes to the north of Bradford in the western Dales would be a long way from a rural centre of mission based in Ripon. The present proposal puts the two together, but that is not how these communities work in practice. For significant amounts of time each year, people in the western Dales cannot drive over to Ripon due to weather and poor road links. And as for those rural parishes on the western fringes of Wakefield diocese, perched on the very edge of Lancashire, they already find getting to Wakefield difficult enough given the road links and rail timetables available to them. Being on the edge of a mega-diocese can make the fringes feel unloved. A reorganisation which doesn't take account of the sheer isolation and relative difficulty of getting around from many of our rural parishes isn't taking them seriously enough as vehicles for mission. I suspect some similar new boundary moving outside familiar Diocesan lines would benefit this area too. So one of my criticisms of the proposed merger is that it does not go far enough: why merely merge existing Dioceses and not consider where the actual boundaries should be based on a mission-centred model for all the communities involved, rural ones included? The shape of churches on the ground is changing, <a href="http://archdeaconinthedales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/churches-radical-or-reactionary.html" target="_blank">as Archdeacon Janet Henderson notes</a>, and I think that there is a lot to be said for making sure that we think in terms of encouraging effective networks rather than shoring up hubs.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Numbers Game</h3>
One problem - and I may lose one or two friends in saying this - is that the Church of England has got drawn into the numbers game in the way it thinks about resourcing. For example, a while ago, the Bishop of Ripon & Leeds moved house from Ripon (the geographical centre of the current Diocese) to Leeds because "that's where 75% of the population of the Diocese lives". But I question this logic. Our mission is to communities. It is not a numbers game. To "make disciples of all nations" is to minister to communities and preach and live the Gospel there, whether they be densely populated areas of cities, market towns, small villages, or mainly isolated dwellings. Are there actually more <i>communities </i>in Leeds than in the Richmondshire Archdeaconry? I am not convinced.<br />
<br />
The rural poor and disadvantaged. They are invisible in the media, electorally insignificant and therefore ignored politically, and the rural church often does very well at being there for them. There is much <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rgs/tibg/1997/00000022/00000002/art00005" target="_blank">academic research</a> which shows that life in rural areas is far different from the cosy <i>Vicar of Dibley</i> vision of popular culture. North Yorkshire has long been an area where higher than average numbers of people are in, or on the margins of poverty definitions, but the indicators which create that data only tell part of the story as the 'norms' are all based on urban life. The reality can be quite harsh for many on low incomes in rural areas.<br />
<br />
If we only think in terms of the number of people we serve, we'll get the equation wrong: we are to <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:19&version=NIV" target="_blank">make disciples of all nations</a>, which means preaching and living out the Gospel in every community where there are people, irrespective of how many people live there.<br />
<br />
The trump card which those who support the centralising of power and the subsequent sidelining of rural areas (though this is never how it is actually termed, of course) is, of course, the "stewardship" card. It is surely good stewardship to concentrate resources on where 'the most good can be done'. In other words, put the money, clergy, real-estate and administrative resources in the urban centres where most people live. Organise a diocese around the urban areas and use the relative affluence of some rural parishes to help fund urban ministry. I don't have a problem with a flow of cash from richer areas to poorer, incidentally, but rural parish ministry needs to be valued for its own sake, rather than just as a diocesan cash-cow! Seeking God's Kingdom first is the key... building up our own empires is a real danger.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Putting the cart before the horse?</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-FxrKrXebO6xG7oyvsMD2iERWPRWQy-v8dH52rXOtNmmE9uy9QW3XI6MZtQ1CNJC9b9S31_9Of0hooMQzVdJNzaTnM6Un0JChqpZowOuFItf4XvRS65KN6QeubqBaXCYaYupdqvfyZg9/s1600/ramp01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-FxrKrXebO6xG7oyvsMD2iERWPRWQy-v8dH52rXOtNmmE9uy9QW3XI6MZtQ1CNJC9b9S31_9Of0hooMQzVdJNzaTnM6Un0JChqpZowOuFItf4XvRS65KN6QeubqBaXCYaYupdqvfyZg9/s400/ramp01.jpg" width="346" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Are we re-organising around the right things?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Organising resources and centralising decision-making 'where the most good can be done' in the most densely populated areas is a great way to run a business and looks great as far as Diocesan accounts goes, but it can be a lousy way to organise the Church for mission unless it's accompanied by a genuine empowering of churches at the local level throughout the mega-diocese. Pooling administrative and back-office functions is one thing, but if resourcing, personnel and decision-making are too centralised, I can't see that ending well.<br />
<br />
The pull of the numbers game and the world's way of measuring success and effectiveness is all-the-more alluring when control is centralised. It's easy to go native and behave like an Empire builder if you... er... build an Empire. Faithfulness to the great commission is a suitable measure of success. Pew numbers is not. No really - you did read that correctly: the number of people attending Church of England services is not our yardstick for doing our jobs as the people of God. Increased numbers in church is often the result, the fruit of our mission being faithful, but, counter-intuitive as it may sound, it shouldn't be what drives our sense of mission. God's grace is the driver of salvation, we are the vehicle and we have to work at it, but let's remember which way round this works: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+2:11&version=NIV" target="_blank">"for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people" </a> It's also worth remembering that David counted his followers <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20samuel%2024&version=NIV" target="_blank">and was judged for it</a>!<br />
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This might seem like I'm just messing around with words: church growth is important, but it is not actually our job to set this as a goal. In faith we believe it will happen. By God's grace, it will happen. By preaching and living out the Gospel wherever God has put us, it will happen. But it isn't a goal, a result to be planned for. A results-led model where we create a bigger, more important edifice is as far from the wonderful, rural potterings of Our Lord, proclaiming the Kingdom of God around a backwater of the Roman Empire as I can imagine.<br />
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<h3>
The Servant of All</h3>
The Holy Spirit moves through the people of God. Our job is to allow ourselves to be used in service, in mission and in ministering to communities. If we are to re-organise, please let us not use the world's way of measuring success. We are not primarily after value for money, whatever those who have to deal with Diocesan finances might have to say on the matter (and bless them, their service and work is important and appreciated). We are after God's values being incarnate in our Church structures, in the way we organise ourselves, in the way we resource mission and in our ministry. After all, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9:35&version=NIV" target="_blank">"anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all."</a> and so our structures should reflect the servant ministry of Jesus and exalt the humblest, less visible, less valued communities, including those rural ones which are, so far as I can see, not entirely on the Dioceses Commission's radar.<br />
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<b>My questions are:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>are we seeking to make disciples of all nations, all communities, or just the ones where it looks like we'll harvest the biggest crops?</li>
<li>how will the re-organisation promote mission in the areas on the edges?</li>
<li>how will mission in rural areas be enhanced by the changes?</li>
<li>is this reordering mistakenly using 'value for money' as a driver rather than mission?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-29889130219258477312012-07-25T12:41:00.005+01:002012-07-25T20:30:20.853+01:00Consultation paper on female Bishops<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevHglJKAkxXIJGmY15ekOwkkMlyGI3LebycIj3SeZHMyVNwIYceo5gk-6z3SLccX9tnbYOriN2aK1502ZUkaO4-RI9g9dGuMqzIwW-XPkw_24oGY-XbDvt8lCeQEKYN7R_P1FZhGHzIop/s1600/women_bishops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevHglJKAkxXIJGmY15ekOwkkMlyGI3LebycIj3SeZHMyVNwIYceo5gk-6z3SLccX9tnbYOriN2aK1502ZUkaO4-RI9g9dGuMqzIwW-XPkw_24oGY-XbDvt8lCeQEKYN7R_P1FZhGHzIop/s1600/women_bishops.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>The Church of England</b> has today published <a href="http://churchofengland.org/media/1508558/gs%20misc%201033%20-%20women%20in%20the%20episcopate%20-%20the%20final%20legislative%20lap.pdf">a consultation document on "Women in the Episopate - the Final Legislative Step".</a> which you can read in pdf form.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://churchofengland.org/media/1508558/gs%20misc%201033%20-%20women%20in%20the%20episcopate%20-%20the%20final%20legislative%20lap.pdf">It can be read in pdf form here.</a><br />
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<br />
<b>What happens now?</b><br />
This paper also goes into the procedure for how this process works and lays out the timetable. At this stage the next deadline appears to be August 24th by which any comments on this paper need to be emailed to <a href="mailto:william.fittall@churchofengland.org">william.fittall@churchofengland.org</a> <u>by Synod members and members of the House of Bishops</u>. If you are not one of these, now is the time to be getting in touch with those who are, once you have read, pondered, prayed and worked out how to help them reach a decision, of course.<br />
<br />
After this deadline, August 30th sees a Standing Committee meeting, the result of which will be a "more focussed paper" in preparation for the HoB meeting on September 10th-12th. This will be discussed on the afternoon of September 12th.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Interesting excerpts which struck me:</b><br />
They seem to be allowing the House of Bishops a reasonable amount of room for manoeuvre, giving the option of leaving the amendment (Clause 5(1)(c) "as is", amending it or replacing it with a new clause, plus discussing the Code of Practice alongside the Measure itself. This seems wise and could provide a way forward in terms of making it explicit how things will work in practice. There is an "illustrative draft" of the Code of Practice at the very end of the paper.<br />
<br />
That being said, it is only this Clause which the HoB will tinker with at this stage - the terms of the General Synod resolution make any other amendments beyond this one clause impossible within the part of the legislative process we've reached.<br />
<br />
November will see a vote on whatever the Bishops come up with as a result of their September meeting. There will be no scope for further amendments, so the HoB have to come up with a response which will be passed or rejected. In other words, the whole legislation seems to hang on them getting this bit right. The document points out that this is, in fact, the proper role of the HoB under Article 7 of the Synod's Constitution - another reminder that it is this kind of ecclesiastical power and role which we are discussing whether women can fully participate in.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The paper is well worth a long and prayerful read. It says it offers 5 options (which somehow end up being 7 options by the time you read on to the actual options themselves!) which they believe they will discuss but leaves the door open for others to suggest other possibilities. The mechanism for suggestions is detailed above but needs to be done via a Bishop or General Synod member.<br />
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<b>Sheep suggests you read the paper, discuss and send prayerfully considered thoughts and suggestions to member of Synod and the House of Bishops.</b><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-91997979033586481602012-07-15T22:44:00.001+01:002012-07-16T22:07:13.182+01:00I need to know about these hedgehogs...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQEghcGY6K2PnsTBCAZCVZreEFq_vgW3znobWp1XS-lZJIHqjGssUOA7nfPW4yHWTwiMIIJQYQYpcl8PrI02nTQpSNb_MKrBKhM2IHWf5v2m9F_2TWWp4Ebdx1hfzgaLbqtjO4kKxVaet/s1600/hedgehog_pillars_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQEghcGY6K2PnsTBCAZCVZreEFq_vgW3znobWp1XS-lZJIHqjGssUOA7nfPW4yHWTwiMIIJQYQYpcl8PrI02nTQpSNb_MKrBKhM2IHWf5v2m9F_2TWWp4Ebdx1hfzgaLbqtjO4kKxVaet/s1600/hedgehog_pillars_small.jpg" /></a></div>
I was reading through <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zephaniah+2&version=NASB">the book of Zephaniah</a> this evening. This book is famous as a kind of 'double bluff' pub quiz question: "True or false, Zephaniah is a book of the Bible." It's not widely quoted, not famous for anything in particular and hides in the last few millimetres of the Old Testament, so as a pub quiz question it's quite a good one.<br />
<br />
As I was reading through its prophetic words about destruction, I came across an interesting verse concerning what was going to pan out in Nineveh:<br />
Chapter 2 verse 14 in the New American Standard Version reads: <i>"Flocks will lie down in her midst, All beasts which range in herds; Both the pelican and the hedgehog will lodge in the tops of her pillars; birds will sing in the window, desolation will be on the threshold; For he has laid bare the cedar work."</i><br />
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<b>The pelican and the hedgehog? What?!</b> Ah, there is a footnote at this point... it says that instead of pelican, it might be "owl" or "jackdaw". Right, interesting, but I was more struck by the "hedgehog" reference if I'm honest. Picture the scene: the city of Nineveh (you know, the place which Jonah was so keen not to go to that he did the whole going to sea and getting eaten by a massive fish thing) is desolate, left parched of water and in ruins, so much so that livestock roam in their flocks and herds among them and on the top of the ruined pillars both pelicans and hedgehogs lodge.<br />
<br />
<b>How did the hedgehogs get up there? </b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
I'm sorry Zephaniah, I have no clue now what your book is about. I cannot shake this knotty theological problem about the hedgehogs out of my head to make space for what I am sure you intended to challenge me with.<br />
<br />
If anyone can help explain how the hedgehogs got up to the tops of these pillars, please let me know so my theological studies can continue. Till then, my mind is full of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLz07TaTDEA">Terry-Gilliamesque images.</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: For 'pelicans and hedgehogs' on 'pillars', the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zephaniah%202:14&version=KJV">King James</a> has 'cormorant and bittern' on its 'upper linterns', while the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zephaniah%202:14&version=NIVUK">NIV</a> has 'the desert owl and screech owl' roosting on its 'columns'. And people wonder why I love the NASB!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-32217417086336813212012-07-09T11:33:00.001+01:002012-07-09T11:33:23.001+01:00The bottom line<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Throughout history, there have been occasions where a whole society's assumptions get overturned and things change. One way of looking at these occasions is that they were when people challenged "the way things are" because they recognised that they were based on a fundamentally flawed way of looking at things. To put it another way, they're based on a lie. Very often this "lie" has been about the value of people, and often these changes have been spearheaded by the church - or more accurately, by groups of Christians (occasionally at odds with their leadership) who find their faith so at odds with some aspect of the environment they find themselves in that they act against these lies . By 'lies', I mean these ways of doing things which are based on accepting untrue statements which society tells us about people (or accepted ways of treating people) as a justification for "the ways things are". These are "big picture" changes, not merely changes of government or ruler I'm talking about here. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>For instance: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Recognising the lie of slavery: that some people are less than human and only have value as a commodity. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">People argued and fought against that lie and truth won.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Recognising the lie of women not having the vote: the lie that some people, based on their gender alone, are not suitably qualified to participate in democracy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">People argued and fought against that lie and truth won.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>So how about the lies of the moment? What are they?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are many, but this is the one which is on my heart at the moment: the lie that it's fine to sacrifice some people for the sake of the nation's economy. Will the truth of the intrinsic, universal value of people as being made in the image of God win against this lie?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The weak, the poor and the voiceless are the ones suffering most from the current economic turmoil and it seems that they are considered expendable in the grand scheme of things "for the greater good of the economy". Surely the economy is the servant of people, not its master? This isn't just a little, local issue. It seems to me that the way we have chosen to organise our world economy is based on this lie, among others. Whole nations are considered expendable for the good of western democracies and have been so for many decades. Now this issue has come centre-stage in our own society, and that of many other western democracies, this is surely the time for people to question this lie and get the true value of each person centre stage in how we organise ourselves. This is not a call to a politics of Left or Right, but a call for a far deeper culture change in the political debate to be centred around the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Those on the margins who are being disproportionately affected by recent changes include </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/rural-youth-feel-harsh-edge-of-recession-7922528.html?origin=internalSearch">young people in rural areas,</a><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9263453/500000-to-lose-disability-benefit.html">the disabled</a> and <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/pm-promises-more-pain-children-and-families">children in low-income families</a>. The media campaign of vilification of those on benefits, especially incapacity, is not based on fact (a mere 0.5% of the Disability Living Allowance budget was down to fraud) but even without the facts being on the side of those bearing such hardship, followers of Jesus should always be fighting in their corner.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My faith leads me to hope that, in the footsteps of those within the church who argued against slavery, Christians will lead the way on this as they, more than anyone, should be aware that each person is made in the image of God, is a glimpse of the divine and thus is not expendable, not merely some part of a fiscal numbers game, but is the bottom line itself.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-7923751781359290552012-06-27T21:14:00.001+01:002012-06-27T21:39:29.639+01:00St. Paul, hamsters and the Twitter joke trial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>I sometimes think that reading St. Paul's pastoral letters is a bit like this. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">St. Paul's letters were certainly powered by the Holy Spirit, but sometimes we lack perspective on why he was writing what he was to the particular church to whom he wrote. Just like Hattie, St. Paul is no longer around to explain exactly how all that he wrote was to be taken. When we take this and that extract from Paul's writings, are we looking at core theology, pastoral advice, chastisement for making a bad call on something cultural or something else? We have to remember that we are often coming in halfway through a conversation and that Paul had lived among these communities he was writing to, so a shared experience, a relationship, a history and a known cultural context is unwritten. We have a lot of Church tradition to help us unpick this, as well as historical research and secondary sources from the early Church, but looking at the texts alone is to hear only part of what is going on. I am sure we sometimes misunderstand Paul because of this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There's a social media analogy for this kind of thing which happened to me this week. A person I follow on Twitter (disability campaigner Sue Marsh <a href="http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/">whose blog 'Benefit Scrounging Scum' you can read on my links on the right</a> - and please do, she is incredibly well-informed on these issues and a hero of mine) posted a tweet saying <i>"if I wrote about most of what I actually do, I think people would just think I was a delusional glory-whore".</i> I replied <i>"Memoirs of a Delusional Glory Whore would be an eye-catching title tho". </i>Sue replied <i>"Hey! Good point!! Wouldn't it?"</i> then retweeted my comment, as did a few of their followers. It was a light-hearted bit of banter. Something and nothing and, in the grand scheme of things (especially given <a href="http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/making-appeal-infomercial-by-ministry.html">the really important issues</a> Sue tweets on) an insignificant bit of pleasant human interaction on Twitter. However, one person who came late to the conversation and read just my response but hadn't seen the original tweet assumed I was insulting Sue (and you can see how they would think that, to be fair). They told me off and ordered me to apologise. Now this was very quickly smoothed over by Sue who explained the context - the offending phrase was something she herself had said and it was just banter. There was no harm done and we all came away not thinking ill of each other as far as I can tell, but it did make me think about the importance of context when we come into conversations part way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The current <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Paul_Chambers">Twitter joke trial</a> is another case in point: a flippant remark which the Twitter followers of the plaintiff would have clearly known to be a joke was later seen by someone in airport security who didn't consider it to be a threat but passed it onto the police anyway as a matter of routine. They seem to have then read it out of context as a literal threat to blow up Finningley airport. Unwise to tweet this, given the anti-terrorism paranoia surrounding airports at the time? Perhaps. But seen in the context of a series of increasingly frustrated tweets about flight delays and allowing for a typically British sense of humour, context should have informed the authorities that this was an annoyed and frustrated traveller rather than a terrorist. As <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/twitter-joke-trial-celebrities-attend-court-to-support-man-who-joked-about-blowing-up-nottingham-airport-7893434.html">the Independent reported it </a><i>John Cooper, QC, for Mr Chambers said it was wrong to read any terrorist connotation into the message. “If that be the case, and I don't mean to be flippant, John Betjeman would be concerned when he said 'Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough', or Shakespeare when he said 'Let's kill all the lawyers’," Mr Cooper said. He added that the tweet was clearly a joke. “It was an expression of humour, it might be the humour of an acquired taste, but not even a threat.” </i>Let us never become so po-faced as a nation that we end up stifling this very British way of expressing ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Being authentic online is often discussed in the online Christian community, but I hope we never become too afraid of being fun and lighthearted in case we offend. We have to be ourselves online rather than just donning a suitably respectable, holy disguise. If we're salt and light, we need to be rock salt and daylight rather than refined table salt and fairy lights. <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(My bid for clumsiest Christian blogging analogy of 2012, strategically released halfway through the year...)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's fair to say that St. Paul drops some bombs in his epistles. Nearly 2000 years on and he's still challenging his readers. I'm not saying we should not be challenged by them and I'm deliberately not picking out particular knotty texts here. All I'm asking is: are we sure we're always reading what he's actually saying? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Context doesn't mean brushing away things we're uncomfortable reading. But it does mean doing Paul the honour of listening to what he is truly saying, not just reading his words without engaging with how the Holy Spirit was using this obedient servant of Christ to pastor the very earliest Christian communities in truly tricky circumstances very different to our own.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-27521946145176392662012-06-12T19:11:00.001+01:002012-06-13T22:43:59.067+01:00What you won't read in the papers this week<br />
<i>Meanwhile, in a parallel universe in Sheep's brain, the following was splashed across the national press one morning this week...</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYFFIqGnM5sWBguqozKCt6S7TNsWXV5slgGqxC7XDUU9-vEdrCnGSQLO6ZIQoR49AEMd6F79RJXDTVk3IDlm6ZcVycuhpnsbaENWtRKOufvUfcqtzEcgkc_7ldKjwvuUUVQPLj1YL7cjI/s1600/mail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYFFIqGnM5sWBguqozKCt6S7TNsWXV5slgGqxC7XDUU9-vEdrCnGSQLO6ZIQoR49AEMd6F79RJXDTVk3IDlm6ZcVycuhpnsbaENWtRKOufvUfcqtzEcgkc_7ldKjwvuUUVQPLj1YL7cjI/s1600/mail.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Church of England Criticised by Tories</b></span><br />
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In a harshly worded statement, David Cameron launched a blistering attack on the Church of England today. This follows yesterday's press release based on a report into the consultation by the Archbishops' Council into Anglican attitudes on government policy.<br />
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"The Church of England should stick to what it does best," blasted a clearly unchillaxed Prime Minister, "namely responding to voice the concerns of its most reactionary elements on issues regarding human sexuality, inclusivity and the role of women. While I do not often agree with their views, this is an appropriate area of discourse between matters of faith and matters of politics. But by straying into the areas of policy addressed in this report which are quite beyond the remit of the established Church, the Archbishops' Council is threatening the relationship between Church and State in a way which we have not seen for over 500 years."<br />
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The report found that the majority of Anglicans were incensed by government attacks on the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the vulnerable and children. In the words of the Council, "our members overwhelmingly believe that this is such a disgraceful and sustained attack on the very weakest in society that, when asked "What Would Jesus Do?", the most popular response was "Disestablish the Church of England to completely dissociate ourselves from the hellish vision of eugenics and social cleansing which this nation state is rapidly descending into.". This surprised us as it wasn't actually one of the tick boxes we offered in the consultation."<br />
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House prices in solidly Anglican areas, such as the South London HTB-Church-Plant belt, are expected to plummet.<br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">BHHDWEPDSZWV</span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-1013340530275255312012-06-07T12:26:00.002+01:002013-02-16T12:53:22.101+00:00What about unity? Lindsay Southern on Women Bishops legislation<i><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In Sheep's first guest blog, Anglican curate and <a href="http://womenandthechurch.org/index.htm">WATCH</a> member </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lindsay Southern challenges the logic behind amendments to the Women Bishops legislation.</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">'Like all walls, legislation is the lowest<br />common denominator of relationship.'</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What about unity?</b> </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/005510.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">amendment to clause 5</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> will not promote unity - it fosters a church within a church where we define ourselves by the theologies on which we disagree, rather than the ones we hold in common, or our shared identity as children of God and heirs of Christ. At best it will allow us to live apart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am old enough to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, I have lived in Cyprus and walked the green mile and in Northern Ireland where communities lived apart. Like all walls, legislation is the lowest common denominator of relationship, further provision will create additional barriers to working together, to learning to respect difference, to celebrating all that we do hold in common. I suspect it will lead to segregation and ghettoisation within the Church of England.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b>Provision mutated</b></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">When provision was first proposed this was not what was intended. In 1993 during Synod debates about the Act of Synod the then Bishop of Birmingham <b>Mark Santer</b> said </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #274e13;">"we must not build walls or dig ditches that people find they cannot cross".</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b>John Hapgood</b>, then Archbishop of York, also said that </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #274e13;">"what we seek to provide are opportunities and safeguards which we hope will be used in a pastoral rather than a legalistic way so that none of us is trapped in unnecessarily rigid divisions..."</span> </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">and <b>Archbishop Carey</b> in 1993 debates made it clear that there was no intent to set up parallel episcopal jurisdiction stating that the provision was designed to provide appropriate pastoral care </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #274e13;">"working with and through diocesan bishops" "without undermining the authority of diocesan bishops".</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">So the legislation we had before us was in keeping with the spirit of the Act of Synod, but the amendment will go far beyond it and create something that our predecessors wished to avoid. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lord Runcie</b> saw the special provision even then as </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">"symptoms of an illness which replaces trust and good will with the flawed logic of two integrities"</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> It is time to move towards restoring our spiritual health, rather than perpetuating further illness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am not sure they would recognise what 'provision' has mutated into now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Clause 5 and unity</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As an assistant curate in training I have benefitted from the insight, wisdom, encouragement and faith of those who do not agree with my ordained ministry. It is precisely because I value the ministry of those members of our church who disagree with this development, because I wish to remain as close a relationship as possible, because I think there needs to be space for us to demonstrate genuine generosity to one another rather than mere adherence to law, that I supported the original legislation that was approved by 42/44 dioceses. The more I look at the implications of the amendment to clause 5, the more disturbing it is and the less I want the Church of England to journey further down this path under the delusion that it will foster unity and inclusivity.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0ffzbMM3A6ckqgOad34u6Wuz81rxgkAo0G8AS5RiB7f8eKVvZD0Nb9sbd4-BfsHFpgnuFXxRQq4AF7yL9b4KlNxwRrVvOtRsW1OCIWGkrqisQdwyXvj8fF9B-t_OZFYFTFlyOw-0wvwK/s1600/lindsay_southern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0ffzbMM3A6ckqgOad34u6Wuz81rxgkAo0G8AS5RiB7f8eKVvZD0Nb9sbd4-BfsHFpgnuFXxRQq4AF7yL9b4KlNxwRrVvOtRsW1OCIWGkrqisQdwyXvj8fF9B-t_OZFYFTFlyOw-0wvwK/s200/lindsay_southern.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lindsay Southern</b> is a curate in a rural North Yorkshire parish in the diocese of Ripon and Leeds </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and her open letter to the Archbishops on the subject of Women Bishops in 2010 was published in the Guardian.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">WATCH's press release about its members' response to the House of Bishops legislation </span><a href="http://womenandthechurch.org/press.htm" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">can be downloaded from their website</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and <a href="http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/005510.html">the texts of the actual amendments themselves are reproduced on the Thinking Anglicans site.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Photo credits: Hadrian's Wall -<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> Nick Morgan, General Synod - Getty Images</span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3162825985086772508.post-17372401648740902642012-06-05T16:35:00.000+01:002012-06-05T16:49:56.657+01:00Space invaders. When to blast through and when not.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was thinking about the old-school type Space Invaders. You know (well, if you're a certain age you do), the ones before any kind of home computer that you'd get in arcades? Well, having seen a<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150975763894191&set=a.205578924190.127899.183714029190&type=3&theater" target="_blank"> blimp flying above Ripon Cathedral</a> earlier in the week, I was put in mind of Space Invaders and created this image:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The premise of the game (for anyone who didn't have a mis-spent youth in the 80s) is that you're defending yourself against aliens and have handy buildings to hide behind. These are there to defend you, protect you and give yourself something solid to retreat behind when there's too much incoming fire from above. One thing about Space Invaders is important to know, especially on the higher levels when the aliens start to zip along and fire more laser blasts at you: an effective tactic is to blast a hole through the buildings to get at the aliens, as seen in the pic. You're sheltered well from incoming fire at the expense of damaging your own defences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With this in mind, my thought is: how do we use our church buildings and the outward signs of our church communities and even our human resources? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do we hide behind our traditions, rotas, buildings, ways of doing things? And, if we do, is this necessarily a bad thing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Blasting through?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sometimes it might seem useful to just blast through the stuff that's there to protect and defend us - there is something to be said for doing things which fly in the face of feeling too cosy if it is hampering our mission. For instance, if we are so concerned with the upkeep of buildings that our only contact with our communities is when we're seeking donations for a roof appeal, perhaps we need to find a way to turn this state of affairs around. I know from my experience as churchwarden of a lovely Grade II listed building how easily the upkeep of ancient monuments can threaten to eclipse effective ministry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And it's not just buildings. Changes to staffing patterns for clergy, especially common in rural areas where priests are increasingly thinly-spread, mean that church communities are challenged to question how much the laity need to take over roles traditionally done by clergy: around the country there are more lay-led services, home communions, hospital visits, pastoral visits, school assemblies etc. than there used to be, and especially so in rural areas. This is invariably and increasingly unquestioningly presented as a good thing: challenging all of God's people to share in the mission and ministry of the Church. The question which gets asked is: which aspects of the priestly role are appropriate for delegation and which need to be prioritised and staffed by the clergy? Any empowering of God's people for more active, considered and mission-shaped ministry is a good, and soundly Biblical concept, though the arguments used tend to be managerial and practical at heart rather than being borne of understanding the difference in role between priest and laity. <a href="http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/colson_rolelaity1_oct06.asp" target="_blank">An article on this by Carl. Olson</a> - a Protestant evangelical turned Roman Catholic makes for challenging reading for those whose model for reorganising is principally practical and managerial rather than theological.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We can lose sight of the fact that the buildings and traditions we inherit are of value to our ministry in ways which might not be apparent if we're too focussed on a particular target. The things we inherit as Church were usually put there for good reasons. If we simply let our buildings rot, don't value them and don't keep them going, we can discover by its absence that the simple witness of a church building's ancient stones was actually one means in which the Holy Spirit was, unseen, moving in people's hearts. Maintaining buildings actually can be one simple means of outreach. Those outside the worshipping community who value the church building sometimes get involved practically and financially in keeping things going and feel they have some stake in things. Many of the key-holders in my previous parish (those who took turns on a rota to unlock the church for visitors during the day and lock up at dusk) were not members of the congregation but valued "their" church being open to all. Many families outside our benefice's congregations were greatly comforted by our vicar's presence and prayers at their loved-one's hospital bedside as they faced their final hours or days. Lay people could have offered prayer and presence just the same, but there is something sacramental and incarnational about the ministry of a priest which even those outside the Church instinctively sense and value at these crucial times in life. As Olson puts it, "</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Priests, by virtue of their ordination, are a living witness to the sacramental realm and the reality of the Incarnation." </span>I </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">know some parishes have a lay-ministry which does pretty much all the home and hospital visits and would love to hear from people who have found that this has been successful, and God bless anyone who does this difficult ministry, but my experience has been that visiting the very sick (and especially the terminally so) was a role which a priest did best as </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">part </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of the overall ministry of our benefice. To put this role into the hands of a lay-ministry team would have, I believe, had weakened our witness and represented a misunderstanding of the role of the priest within our Christian community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Where each church draws the line is different on this and where I would draw the line may not be where you would. All I'm saying is: be careful which bits of church and ministry get blasted through when you're trying to renew how you are doing things or reviewing your use of resources. <a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/595655" target="_blank">Even in Space Invaders <i>(which you can play on this link - yay!)</i></a><i>,</i> being too focussed on a distant target, too focussed on blasting away and racking up a high score can lose you the game in the long run if you blast away too much at the very things which should be there to help.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpastoralsympathy.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault"><img src="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://labs.ebuzzing.co.uk"/></a></div>Unshaun Sheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10127836325693544974noreply@blogger.com0