abbotsford.org.uk

A parable in the making...

The reign of God is like this. One day at church, just at the time the sermon was usually preached, the pulpit remained empty. It was probably the most important sermon the minister ever gave...

You are invited to continue this parable...

Ain't no mountain high enough

Everest is growing. But we knew that. Plate tectonics make sure the Hymalayas are reaching ever higher. But the Napalese are now going to measure the mountain for themselves. This will take two years.

Apparently it is 2 metres higher than it's official height of 8,848m or 29, 029ft. I love the way this planet never keeps to what it ought to be doing. It's always stretching beyond the 'official' line and disturbing what the latest theory is and challenges anything we thing we've got a handle on. But then it's living and life is like that. 'Official' doesn't count for much. Indeed the planet laughs at 'official', so it is not just living. It is healthy too!

I'm glad much of the church, or at least many congregations live the same way: living beyond the official line, or the doctrinal line, or the traditional line. Perhaps those are the parts that have the healthiest faith-life and the biggest adventures, just like climbing Mount Everest, only it will take us a little longer now given it is 2 metres higher. Better be quick to join the adventure before we discover it's even higher than that.

 

Creative Communion

We have our final creative communion for the season on Sunday night at 6.30. Of course there is no end to communion for sacrament is everywhere: the spirit makes sure of that, opening eyes to moments of glory in the everyday puddles and morning frost (yes, even as it is approaching the middle of June, there is still some front available in the morning in some places). So we celebrate not so much the bread and wine themselves, but the breaking and spilling of them. We celebrate the action in creation that breaks open the mysteries and grace of the divine in a very worldly way.

West End Festival

This afternoon CAOS our community arts project were involved with the West End Festival big parade. We had made a plane that kept coming apart and then bring brought together again with people inside it as the theme all about bringing things together and the link with blitz 60th year etc all worked rather well. So well done to CAOS and the kind involved in making the float and being there along with parents. Brilliant.

Apart...

Now coming together

It was a good day and good to see CAOS up there and part of the parade with some of our young folk involved and the parents too. Look fabulous.

 

Handmade [hand-meyd] -adjective

The place is all set our for our craft fayre tomorrow. All handmade by people in the congregation. Looking good.

'Put into the language of your present'

This was a line from Jack Spong tonight when he visited Milngavie. What an excellent way of inviting us into the renewal of our faith and traditions. It works for me with the ascension.

The story given in Acts is not explained in the language of our present. It needs to be redescribed in a way that makes sense of Jesus and our relationship with him and his relationship with the world. How do we start with that one.

But the more important thing to say about putting things in the language of your present is that that present changes as a new generation comes aong and thus the language changes too. It is a dynamic, creative, imaginative living faith.

If only so many in the church weren't so scared of such a faith.

I knew there was something...

...I forgot to mention today.

Big Sing on Tuesday 31st at 7.30 in the hall. Totally forgot to mention it so please spread the word. Some good stuff for the season of Pentecost. It's going to be great.

Remember Tuesday 31st May 7.30. Go tell the world.

Putting faith back into creativity

You can blame the reformers who blamed the Roman Church who blamed someone else. But whoever is to blame, the dumming down of creativity in our faith and worshiping life must serve as one of the biggest mistakes in the encouraging and renewing of community.

We have a community project that is based around community arts. It's called CAOS and it is. I was talking to one of our funders today about it and I am more and more and more convinced that part of any training any church leader is given should include for at least a third of their time training being involved in community development. It would serve a whole lot better than just theology and biblical studies. Indeed if you did either of these correctly, then creatively engaging with the community would be among the most useful and indeed powerful tools available to help people engage theologically and biblically and compassionately in life.

Community art is about process. It's not the end result of a piece of dance, a mural, a piece of urban art, a pottery pot or whatever. It is the means through which people engage with one another, starting from a level playing field, where no one is more powerful than another, no one with more knowledge than anyone else and through the new relationships established, the confidence, the possibilities that come about, renewal takes place, in ways you don't imagine. And all you are doing is working together on making something or creating a piece of drama. But then, of course, there is no  such thing as 'all you are doing'. You are doing everything in that process to make people human, give hope, rebuild confidence, allow dreams to happen, encourage those who have been discouraged and in all that creative CAOS you do something theological: you bring life in all it's fullness. And that's what the church is called to do fundamentally.

So if I was to run the church (and I'm going to speak to the Almighty about this) I'd have everyone out in the community doing renewal, development or art because creativity is the only theology you'll ever need to be church.

All tidy for the new year

I tidied by study (again) the other day. It wasn't really messy. No, honestly, it wasn't. There was a bit of a pile-up on my desk and a few things had migrated into my study from other rooms over Christmas but really is was just a bit of a shuffle and everything was nice and neat and tidy.

The church is all tidy too after the tyranny of joy of the festive season. With the different kinds of services and events we did along with all the traditional ones things got a bit messy but everything is now put back more or less. The new banners and triptych look fabulous: I really love them.

It's all pristine.

And then on Sunday we have this story of Jesus going into the Jordan and if you've ever seen the Jordan you'll know he will have come out muckier than when he went in and it just got worse as his ministry went on.

Perhaps a lesson to spend less time thinking faith cleanses us and more time thinking how we can get our hands even muckier...

Thanks to colleagues on various email discussion groups for the relief this thought brings to my habitual untidiness!

 

Why Not?

I wondered about putting together a top 10 things from this past year in tghe life of the congregation and blog. It's something that I might be able to adapt for the service on Sunday so it is useful beyond itself. But what top 10 things (read: events, activities, moments, images, memories, services, etc) could go into an Abbotsford top ten?

I would put in:

James the shepherd from the Nativity

Lanterns from the Light Festival

 

Any others...