abbotsford.org.uk

Momentary Light

The General Assembly tonight voted to uphold the call of a congregation to their minister who happens to be gay. It showed the church in a grace-filled, passionate, generous and sensitive light. Everyone who took part in the debate, on whatever side they considered themselves, were full of grace, appreciation and acceptance. This is good.

There were other Christians outside the assembly Hall who weren't quite so generous on the grace side and quite a few commissioners spoke to them. That wasn't a good image of the church.

But there is an important thing to say about the decision and that is that the decision wasn't to say 'yes' to gay ministers from now on but the motion was to recognise the debate is not over and there is a lot more water to go under the bridge until the church officially makes a decision about homosexuality. Does that make it a fudge (which isn't always a bad thing because what is really happening is that people are talking and discissing things).

Anyway, tensions has been removed until Monday when we go back to the overture from Lochcarron about sexual relationships of anyone involved in any ministry of the church. So stay tuned.

At the Assembly

It's the afternoon before the debate everyone is worrying about in the church. That's the feeling at the moment. The place has gone quiet because most are away at the garden party but there's an atmosphere where no one is really talking about anything, well not out loud. Usually you get a sense of how things are going to go but not this one. Yet so far the assembly has been a gracious one and indeed generous at times. I hope that will continue. I don't like being uncertain about the generosity and grace of the church. In fact that's a pretty awful place to be. I'm also meant to be writing a sermon at the moment but what on earth to you prepare on the afternoon before the day after the debate?! If anyone would like to preach tomorrow then they are very welcome. See you tomorrow. It might be a different place by then.

Forth in the peace of Christ we go

Off to assembly tomorrow. I loathe the feeling I don't fit and everyone else knows what they are talking about and I just spectate. You can watch all the proceedings online at the Church's Assembly pages (don't tell your boss). I'm sitting under a balcony away from the cameras.

?!

Is this Tuesday already?!

Chocolate Teapots (May 24th 2009)

Acts 1:15-17,21-26

There is the long standing contemporary parable of a management company employed to seek out a new disciple and given the various management and admin skills and abilities needed and the disciple they come up with is Judas as the best choice out of all the 12 candidates. I don't know how search committees or nomination committees as we call them here, do their thing. I've never been on one. But a report of the last few years suggests that in churches people tend now to go more with hunches and intuition and gut feeling about people rather than a good cv.

They don't decide so much on if a person has a call but on what each person's calling is. We also tend to seek consensus in the things we do  today rather than linear rational victories. Those called in the past were seen to have the knowledge but today the person called is someone who helps the whole community discern it's calling and develop its own theology.

In my mind this is a good move. I am certain that many decisions of the church nationally would be far more compassionate and generous if we took this evolution seriously and allowed whole faith communities to shape the theology and decisions of the church rather than just the 'leadership'. I put inverted commas round that because I think the leadership just imagine they are in charge. Those who are wise, know they aren't and are there by the grace of God and the grace of God's community. That in itself shows how generous and forgiving the church is.