Last Blog until September! Having just seen £143.88 disappear from my bank account for the ZOOM subscription for the next 12 months I am hoping I shall not need it quite so much but it has been useful for Morning Prayer, Spiritual direction, chaplaincy meetings and readers in training ... so it has shown its value.... I am sure there will be things that will never leave the online forum now that we have it. We had the Wardens Group this week, on Zoom, where we looked at the report and recommendations for the future of Reader Ministry among other things and it is pleasing that there is a plan of action which has apportioned various sections to the people who can do something about them. I am still hopeful that I shall retain my Reader license in October 2022 and not have to seek permission to officiate after I hit the spurious target of 70 in February! We shall see! I have had some interesting conversations about Living in Love and Faith with Readers in the last few weeks, although nobody else has come forward wanting to do the course. Bishop Hugh tells me that many parishes are due to begin face to face courses in the Autumn and that the time period has been extended. I have a feeling that because the issues do not affect some people personally, that they don't see the need to do the course. It is a bit like saying, "well I know I am not racist, therefore I have no need of doing an equalities course." So one last plea..... please, as Licensed Lay Ministers (or those who have permission to officiate) please do register with the Church of England Living in Love and Faith site and at least watch the story videos even if you don't look at the course material. Personally, I think as Ministers in Ministry teams we should be leading the way and enabling the discussions.... I am having a break from doing Morning Prayer each morning on ZOOM, although the ZOOM prayer room will be open for folks to drop in. here are a couple of useful links for materials to lead morning prayer online: Morning Prayer (Contemporary) on Saturday 31 July 2021 | The Church of England Morning Prayer - Northumbria Community If you have any other suitable sites please let me know. Next Saturday Morning 7th August I shall break my ZOOM fast leading the Post Licensing Group in some sessions about Worship which we will begin at 9:00 on the Morning Prayer Link..... with an order for Morning Prayer, unsurprisingly. Others are welcome to join us. Then we are delving into Holy Communion by Extension and looking carefully at the the materials sent out by Bishop Philip. I am taking my first HCBE service at Treleigh tomorrow which should be interesting! Back in September - possibly with a revamped and updated website. Prayers and blessingsJim
From a book called "Fearfully and Wonderfully Weird!" - it made me laugh. Fearfully and Wonderfully Weird: Amazon.co.uk: Peterson, Doug, Tutte, H.Winfield: 9780310287315: Books SALTS of The Earth (Matthew 5:13) The first part of this week the tide was out far enough to exercise the hound at Portreath. There are usually very few people about just after dawn but the holiday season has certainly had an impact if only in the amount of litter left lying about from the barbecues and beach parties from the night before. and sometimes the stray revellers themselves sleeping it off at the top of the beach. This week I met with a couple from Barnsley, down for a two week stay with their grandchildren. They were on honeymoon, having married at Truro registry office. In the course of a 15 minute chat during which the hound got bored and went down to investigate the flat sea I discovered that he was an ex-coal miner and heard of various exploits and that she had been litter-picking, because that was 'what she did at home'. Later in the week we came across her again with a full bin liner! What a community minded lady! A true salt of the earth.On Thursday I did a funeral visit to the friendly and welcoming family of a chap who had worked in South Crofty Tin mine and various other places in the local area. A man of a thousand stories the vast majority of which are too rude to tell. He had been brought up in a strict Plymouth Brethren family, his sister becoming a Methodist and him rejecting religion. This was especially when he was told in no uncertain terms that he was not good enough to attend a funeral function at a local church.. When I asked what the children had inherited character-wise from their dad the reply was, "oh... swearing (laughter) and tattoos and straight talking..... ' The more I sat and listened the more I thought that if one wanted to find Jesus, he would more than likely be sitting with this chap and his family or joining the lady on Portreath Beach to pick litter at dawn.It is a great privilege to be able to listen to people's stories to congratulate them on their weddings and to console them at their family funerals.... what a joy it is to be a Reader.
Following the email from +Philp this week with materials for the Service of Holy Communion by Extension - I met with our Rector, Caspar on Thursday afternoon for a discussion about and exploration of the materials, the issues and the practicalities around making sure that we could do it justice. I note that there is a page on the diocesan website ; Public Worship with Communion by Extension - Truro Diocese : Truro Diocese unfortunately at the time of writing this there was nothing in it apart from the title. However here is a link to the excellent PILGRIM course on the Eucharist. The Eucharist (Book 6) (pilgrimcourse.org) If all goes to plan I should be doing my first Holy Communion by Extension Sunday Service at St Stephen's Treleigh in coming weeks if their PCC decides they want me to do it..... I will be interested to see, More on these services as the year unfolds. Whatever the outcome of CBE and whether or not we build these services into our rotas as part of the rich tapestry of ministry in Redruth the opportunity to sit and talk at depth about things at the heart of our faith and practice are to be treasured. The latest from Reader John Wallis - se more of his work here: John Wallis’ – Illustrated Poetry Gallery – Chaplain to Readers in the Diocese of Truro (readers-chaplain.org.uk) or follow him on Facebook for the regular updates. Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary t Anne and Andrew Hicks for Wednesday 14th!
I have been leading a ZOOM version of the Living in Love and Faith Course which is something of a curate's egg in that some things are very good and others less than efficacious. The videos which explore the experiences and lives of Christians in different circumstances are by far the best part of the course and have opened up the greatest amount of discussion and conversation. The young, but very worthy presenters have had a number of reactions from the group including being rather patronizing, like play school presenters, reminiscent of Chris and Poy and speaking as if the official view of the established church is what "we believe" which, as the group has progressed is inaccurate at best.The thing that has struck me most is the pain that many LGBTQ+ Christians go through in their journeys and specifically the pain caused by attitudes engendered by specific theology or doctrine.My personal take on this from my lofty and somewhat privileged demographic as an AMHCB (Ageing Middle-class, Heterosexual, Christian, Bloke) is that all our attitudes and opinions should stem from the very simple premise that it is about being good disciples and following Jesus' command that we should love one another as he loved us. Us AMHCB's are pretty insulated from the difficulties many others face in their journeys so I am only too aware of the way in which pieces like this can sound patronising! Listening, Talking, discussing and learning are important here but more than anything else we should be seeking to listen to people's stories so that we may understand their situations and have some empathy for their pain. (an that also goes for the issues faced by women, especially women in ministry.) Reader / Licensed Lay Minister Colleagues I do urge you to take part in this, to register and to look at the stories no matter what your theological stance on this.******A couple of weeks ago I volunteered to be on the Church of England Ministry Mentor Directory and signed up to do the training which was very interesting and although I learned nothing new it did affirm that which I did know and have been practicing.During the course I had a conversation with Keiren Bohan who is the coordinator of the Open-Table Network and is a Living in Love and Faith Chaplain and part of the National Team. His organisation seeks to support LGBTQ+ Christians though a network of Churches and it might be helpful to know the links in case you need to pass them on pastorally to help someone..... or indeed if it provokes you to have some more practical response.The Open-Table Network's response to LLF is worth Reading - here.... Open Table Network trustees respond to Church Of England's Living In Love & Faith project — Open Table NetworkI have just purchased a book that poses the question "Is it possible to hold a positive view of same-sex relationships while being a biblically rooted evangelical?" Jayne Ozanne ed. anthology https://journeysingraceandtruth.com/with contributions from a wide variety of people including several…
The Reader Service October 9th 2021We are hopeful of, and in may ways counting on a service in Truro Cathedral this year which I would like to think will be streamed on the Internet as well for those who cannot join us there. The preparations begin shortly and Reader Claire Saltzman is coordinating the preparations. The Warden's Committee chaired by Bishop Hugh meets on the 27th of this month where possible preacher, readers etc. will be discussed. In the last few years those who have been licensed for the first time have been asked to assist with Chalices- I wonder if we will be using them by then!If you are feeling called to preach, lead the intercessions, deacon or read a lesson and would like your name mentioned please do let me know. When I preached at the service I was asked to choose my own readings and allowed about eleven minutes. If you know another Reader whose preaching is outstanding but might not put themselves forward please do let me know. I did like the hymns suggested by the group about to be licensed but sadly these were vetoed and we were told that we would have the previous year's hymns.If you have any thoughts about the service that you would like the organising group or the Warden's committee to consider please do email me and I will make sure your views are represented.
Of Communion by Extension and the lost art of Matins. Writing when in need of a holiday :) When I began my training as Reader back in 1986 my role, and indeed my vocation was very different although it was still focused on working with parts of the community as someone with some theological training, some communication skills and a real call to change things for the better. My duties: Sung matinsSung evensongthe occasional sermon for a Sunday communion service. reading lessons (readers robed for this) no-one in the congregation was asked. Some sick communionsLeading a youth group and a house group Somehow in the three and a half decades up to the present day many of those non eucharistic services disappeared and the diet of communion services became "what we have always done!" and, not only what they have always done but, "if we can't have the service as we have always done it then we will go somewhere else."I have always resisted discussions about Communion by Extension (not including sick communions or residential homes) because I did not want to be what I thought of as being some sort of second class ordained person. But in a few weeks time I am taking my first "Communion by Extension" service at St Stephen's Treleigh, where I used to do my sung Matins.Times change and the needs of the people change but I am still mildly uncomfortable at preserving the status quo as a "not quite the real thing" version of "what we have always done." I do wonder as we prepare to take on board the "On the Way" programme in September where we go from here! The energy I had for change in my late thirties is harder to come by and chaplaincy, spiritual direction, funerals the occasional sermon together with chief ZOOM service operator are more he order of the day. I hit the magic Permission to Officiate mark in February and one is tempted just to go with the flow rather than being the prophet who stirs the pot! Tomorrows readings are interesting - I love the Ezekiel line "4The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ " which reminds me of when I have tried hard to change things in the past in church. In the Gospel reading we have that wonderful line from Jesus who says " 4Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town'" which sums up many a reader's position, being prophets in our home towns while ordained clergy are largely moving through. But we keep on keeping on and looking to God and to the community to seek that which will serve the people best and....... and this is important...... grown the kingdom not merely keep the status quo. Your answers on the back of a postage stamp, stuck to an envelope and addressed to Never-Never Land. Cornwall – we need you!Can you talk with passion to audiences both large…