funky doo

Sermon - St Leo the Great

"Nobody is an outsider to this happiness. The same cause for joy is common to all, for as our Lord found nobody free from guilt when He came to bring an end to death and to sin, so He came with redemption for all. Let the saint rejoice for he hastens to his crown; let the sinner be filled with joy for pardon is offered to him; let the Gentile be emboldened for he is called to life"

(Thanks to Paul for this quote, in last year's Christmas card!)

bah humbug follow up

This interesting little article picks up on some of the stuff I was ranting about in relation to Santa last week...http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/st_nicks_makeover/P6/

There are also some great other fun things on the re:jesus site which is why I often visit to get a better perspective! You should do so too!

Enjoy!

...political correctness and good practice at Christmas - take note!

________________________

SEASONAL REFLECTIONS

The Rocking Song
Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir;
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:

Fur is no longer appropriate wear for small infants, both due to risk of allergy to animal fur, and for ethical reasons. Therefore faux fur, a nice cellular blanket or perhaps micro-fleece material should be considered a suitable alternative.

Please note, only persons who have been subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check and have enhanced clearance will be permitted to rock baby Jesus. Persons must carry their CRB disclosure with them at all times and be prepared to provide three forms of identification before rocking commences.

Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way

A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.

While Shepherds Watched
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

The Union of Shepherds has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available. Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year they should watch their flocks via cctv cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts.
Please note, the angel of the Lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around she / he must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory.

Little Donkey
Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry, also included in the guidelines is guidance regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period. Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles. The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.

We Three Kings
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Whilst the gift of gold is still considered acceptable - as it may be redeemed at a later date through such organisations as 'cash for gold' etc, gifts of frankincense and myrrh are not appropriate due to the potential risk of oils and fragrances causing allergic reactions. A suggested gift alternative would be to make a donation to a worthy cause in the recipients name or perhaps give a gift voucher.
We would not advise that the traversing kings rely on navigation by stars in order to reach their destinations and suggest the use of RAC routefinder or satellite navigation, which will provide the quickest route and advice regarding fuel consumption. Please note as per the guidelines from the RSPCA for Mr Donkey, the camels carrying the three kings of Orient will require regular food and rest breaks. Facemasks for the three kings are also advisable due to the likelihood of dust from the camels hooves.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

You are advised that under the Equal Opportunities for All policy, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence. A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions—including suspension on full pay—will be considered whilst this investigation takes place.

(source unknown, but I got on a Grove Books email)

The Con of Christmas...hear me out!!

This post will also appear on the family blog here.

This has been a post in formation for weeks and I was never sure I felt brave enough to write it in a real way for people to see...but Bishop Nick Baines has got in before and dealt with the stick over the weekend...so I feel a bit like I'm jumping on the bandwagon - but hey, we all do that in the world of blogging!

So, check out Nick's post here Grumpy Bishop. He's recently published a book which I'll say now, just like all the media who have entered the scrum of interviewing him, I haven't read yet. But based on this post, he is from the same stable as me - if you'll excuse the pun! (Cos it was probably a cave!!)

My problem with Christmas (I love it really, don't get too worried!!) came with the arrival of M 3 years ago - her first Christmas didn't really matter as she was only 10 days old. But come her first birthday, followed rapidly by Christmas Day, it was very difficult not to get caught up in the assumption that Father Christmas would be visiting our house in the dead of night and delivering presents.

I love the idea and the legends of Father Christmas and the root of it's story in St Nicholas who was a 3rd century miracle worker, renowned for secret gift giving and whose feast day is this Sunday. But I have a problem with the commonly held assumption that Santa (who is a character developed by cartoonist Thomas Nash in 19th century America and then taken on by mighty Coca Cola), who in contrast to St Nicholas is a jolly, red faced, red suited old man living in the North Pole, are one and the same.

The titles Father Christmas and Santa Claus seem to be interchangeable - indeed in the North East where we used to live, Santa is often Santee (try it with a Geordie accent!!)

But the roots of these characters - fictional, historical, the stuff of legend, whatever - are very different and portray different aspects of the Gospel and the Christmas story. Whilst I am not going to go down the extreme line of saying the whole thing is a lie and Father Christmas can't possibly visit every house in the world in one night etc., I am going to make sure that the traditions we have and the story we tell is faithful whilst also being magical and not ultimately confusing to a 6/7/8 year old in years to come.

Ultimately - I want M to understand that she receives gifts, not because she has been a good girl, but because we love her and because we want to celebrate the wondrous story of Jesus' birth and his life given out for her and for us. It always has everything to do with GRACE - and giving gifts is not because we are good, but in fact the opposite - but we are LOVED, by God and by one another and so we can bless one another...that is our call as disciples.

I HATE it when people ask small children whether they have been good this year and if Santa is going to come - of course they haven't been good...they are small children!! But in our house, M will get a small stocking of presents, outside her door, from us to open in bed and Father Christmas will have visited the house overnight - drinking a bit of something, scoffing a mince pie and maybe leaving some gold coins as the original St Nicholas is said to have done. All her other presents will come from us - real people who love her and know her and want to be part of the pleasure of giving gifts as she is in the giving of gifts to others.

 

Ok, so that's the Santa bit done...

Now a quote from Nick Baine's blog, referenced above: Now, some commentators say that Christmas is about sentiment (feeling), nostalgia and ‘magic’. They say that simple carols are great for children to begin to learn the story. Absolutely right. But the people arguing this are not children, but adults who want to stay as children when it comes to matters of God and faith and so on. Think like a child when you are a child, but, for goodness’ sake, grow up when you are an adult.

 

I find it ironic that for the rest of the year, a majority of our population want nothing to do with Christian tradition in any way but suddenly at Christmas they become hugely defensive of anything being different or changing or being criticised. The depth of understanding of what Christmas and this huge celebration are really all about is missing - and I see 2 reactions as I go about my work and experience life.

Some churches and Christians do nothing to celebrate Christmas...no carols or Christmas services or trees or anything which is vaguely pagan or rooted in tradition - everything just carries on as normal until the BIG DAY. Missing out Advent, in my opinion is the real shame here...but that's another issue! 

On the other extreme, there are many churches and Christians who do everything traditionally and don't question 'why' or whether it's helpful. I remember one of my first parish posts and the whole of December being taken up with either visiting or hosting Carol Sevices or nativity plays - by schools, Townswomen's Guild (yes seriously!), nurseries etc. You did want to tear your hair out by the end and it had slightly lost it's magic in the repetition.

 

My reaction is to try and do something in the middle - I love Christmas carols but hate Away in a Manger and the 'How silently' verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem. Mary was NOT silent in labour, OK!

We'll be having a tree even though it stems from pagan tradition...(!)because it forms a focal point in our home for Christmas celebrations and it is a precious family occasion to buy the tree and decorate it. We will feed people, host people, visit with people - mainly those we know or are related to, although when M is older we endeavour to be spending time with those who don't have the advantages of Christmas traditions and family that we are blessed with.

 

The difficulty of taking an extreme reaction to Christmas traditions and popular culture is that you get bah humbuged by everyone else...which is difficult to take, in what is supposed to be a season of goodwill after all!! But if we Christians can't communicate seriously the true meaning of Christmas, then how can we expect those who only take part in the traditions once a year to really know what we're all about??

+Nick continues: The ‘magic’ of Christmas is fine – up to a point. But ask any clergy and they will tell you about the ways in which Christmas is hard for many people and how the ‘magic’ makes it harder. It is for them that the reality of Christmas hits home: that God has not remained a million miles above contradiction, but opted in to the muck and messiness of the world and meets us where we are – in the vulnerability of the baby in Bethlehem. To tell that story is not to be miserable – but the opposite.

I am just not prepared to encourage people to live in a fantasy world, but doing my job as a Christian bishop in calling people back to the original story. Grasp it – and then celebrate hard and fully. I’ll be belting out the carols and watching the nativity plays along with the rest of them. But I will also be living in the real world and engaging my brain.

+Nick - I'm with you. I'll be doing mobile carolling on 20th December, going into London and experiencing the Christmas lights and soaking up the excitement. I'll be making mince pies and sausage rolls and wrapping presents and sneaking about on Christmas Eve, stopping Andy from squeezing presents and we'll probably be eating and drinking too much. But I hope in the midst of all that, I'll be reminded of why we get to celebrate this amazing event - because it changed the world, it changed my world and I want it to change the world of my daughter and her friends and our families and our community because we tell it how it really is...if you take the 'text' out of 'context' - what are you left with??

Comments awaited!!

Advent thinking, ideas and resources...for YOU!!

 I'm having an at home working day - which is not feeling very sensible as I have builders in and out fixing my chimney and roof where the felt has gone...but I'm getting lots done, snuggled in my hoodie and slippers in the dining room with the fan heater and fire on while the front door is wide open for the ins and outs...ho hum!

I'm getting ahead on various bits of preparation for youth sessions over the next few weeks up to Christmas and also for some training on 8th December and the Labyrinth in Chelmsford Cathedral on 15th January. I love having the time just to go through my Google Reader blogs, see what people are thinking about and linking to, following those links and finding great websites and ideas and stuff to provoke my thinking.

So I'm listing below some of the interesting stuff I've found just in the last 2 hours...and hope it helps you and inspires you - in your youth work and personally - as you prepare for this busy time!

http://www.barefoottraining.com - this is an American based website offering training workshops but it has some great looking downloadable resources to purchase.
http://www.nailscars.com/journal/2009/11/30/creative-christmas-idea-manger-or-cross-reading.html - a dramatised reading useful for Christingle services, 9 lessons and carols or other Christmas service (from the Confessions of an Average Youth Minister website)
http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/advent-blessings-creative-prayer-stations/ - Steve Taylor has 2 posts using prayer stations with a theme of Advent blessings...some great ideas here and the thinking behind it is refreshingly simple yet soundly theological.
http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/celebrating-advent-with-kids/ Christine Sine has some brilliant suggestions for interacting and involving kids (of all ages!) with preparations for the birth of Jesus. I would see these being used in families as well as worshipping communities, during services, home groups etc. Also check out her Advent meditation film, available on You Tube or for download if you want to show it in church or on a big screen.
http://holdthisspace.org.au/ - liturgy, prayers, reflections for all occasions on Cheryl Lawrie's site - click on blog or writing and take some time to scroll through and browse.
http://www.youthspecialties.com/blog/2009/advent-agous/ - I was struck by this reflection when it first came to my attention so I link to it for you to be struck too.
www.thestoryofstuff.com - this is a 20 minute film, highlighting stuff around the materials economy - boring you may say?? well, kinda appropriate as we come into the season of giving and receiving - lots of stuff, where does it all go? This could be a good discussion starter...adults or kids. They also have a new film released today linking into the Copehagen summit next weekend which is current and relates well to our impact on the world.

and finally...for now!
Never Underestimate the power of a Good Story!

De-Christian doctrines

Some of the blogs I read with most fascination ( Phil Ritchie, Peter Kirk, Sam Norton) have recently had this meme - I haven't been directly tagged but the theme has set me thinking...so here's my thoughts for your perusal and comment. Not sure that they are particularly 'doctrines', maybe more observations but nonetheless areas of concern and with potential for devaluing the true Christian doctrines that we should be focused on.

5 Deeply De-Christian doctrines:

1. The belief that the person stood at the front is better/knows more/is more holy or in touch with God than everyone else sitting down.

2. The belief that a certain type of music is better or more worshipfull or gets us into the presence of God more effectively that other types of music - this applies across the board. My preference is more modern, contemporary worship songs...but that doesn't mean that worship cannot be done with organ. choir and music from the 15th century...obvious I know, but a permeating belief. Linked with this is the assumption of course that 'worship' is when we all sing together...

3. The belief that the 'church' will survive just so long as we don't compromise on our traditions and that everyone conforms to the way 'we' do things...wake up and smell the coffee.

4. The belief that there are some sins, particularly sexual sins which are worse than other sins and which take more work or repentance or time to be 'recovered' from. Perhaps if we truly treated sins such as lying, gossiping, jealousy and unfriendliness in the way they should be rather then making them culturally acceptable in our Christian communities we would have more of an impact on those living around us and watching our every move.

5. The belief that 'becoming a Christian' is the pinnacle of our human experience. We have lost the skill of discipleship in our Christian communities and we think that an Alpha/Emmaus 10 week course will get everyone sorted and 'believing'...we've gotta understand the long haul that is the journey ahead of us with hard people as well as those we love.

There you go - I tag paul trathen, jonny baker, mark berry, phil greig - everyone else I woulda tag already has been!

Letter from God

A Great clip and a great track - so many possibilities for discussion starters or to play during a service...there are some interesting theological debates to be had too, if you're brave!! popout

thoughts on Question Time

It's been interesting to read the responses to the Question Time controversy over the last week. I didn't watch it live as I was delivering Child Protection training in Havering Deanery on Thursday night. However, on the drive home there was some live commentary on 5Live particularly picking up on the issue of Mr Griffin's Holocaust denial. 

Some of the most helpful reviews and commentaries on the show itself have been for me:

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2009/10/bbc-commissions-nick-griffin-show.html

http://benedson.blogs.com/benedson/2009/10/nick-griffin---texts-of-terror---immigration.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/nick-griffin-question-time-audience

http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/2009/10/nick-griffin-bnp-and-question-time.html (this post is particularly good for the comments discussion that follows)

My brother in law also summarised the feelings of many I know in his facebook status - asking how it is that Nick Griffin can call himself a Christian? Obviously many heinous crimes have been committed in the name of religion over the decades and centuries and continue to happen. However, for a man who states that Britain should only be for the indigenous British, it seems rather incongrous that he should say he religiously follows a dark skinned, apolitical, Jewish Arab criminal, whose followers, from non-white backgrounds brought the Christian faith to these shores.

Ultimately tho, it is not the usual audience of Question Time, nor the enhanced audience of Thursday night who are Mr Griffin and his cronies 'targets'. My guess - most of those who subscribe to the policies of BNP were not watching Question Time on Thursday, don't care what he said or did. Hopefully, if nothing else it will have shown Mr Griffin for the spineless and inconsistent bully and bigot that he is.

Education and Employment Champion - Job Opportunity

Langley House Trust

    Breaking the chain of re-offending

Education and Employment Champion

£27,877

Location: reporting to Maldon, Essex.

Langley House Trust is a national Christian charity specialising in providing at-risk marginalised groups, including those leaving prison, with accommodation, support and rehabilitation in a supportive Christian environment.

Do you have experience of developing partnerships with education, training and voluntary work providers? Could you interpret our mission in today’s society? Then this role offers challenge, variety and boundless job satisfaction.

Reporting to the Head of Housing Management at our Maldon, Essex offices, you’ll play a key role in helping our residents and other users realize their full potential by coordinating and developing a Trust-wide programme of training, education and voluntary work placements. You will coordinate and provide resources to allow our support workers to deliver initially the City & Guilds 3071 but in the future an extensive portfolio of other externally accredited training programmes. You will also act as our Internal Verifier, monitoring quality and effectiveness. Your other tasks will range from supporting Job Clubs and preparation for employment activities, building links with providers and creating a network of social opportunities for our users to providing colleges with the information they need. At all times you’ll be expected to promote continual improvement and develop a Christ-centred culture.

We are looking for a highly organised person who has excellent administrative skills but is able and willing to travel regularly to cover all our Trust sites. You will also be someone who can motivate and lead others.

You will be capable of developing a portfolio of opportunities that all our service users can access.  These will include a range of externally accredited qualifications, voluntary work placements and employment preparation courses. You will be able to develop appropriate resources that support staff can use to assist in the local delivery of programmes such as the City and Guilds 3071. Your appointment will be subject to a satisfactory CRB check.  This job could change your life. It will certainly change others for the better.

This is a key role which fully integrates the Christian values of the organisation by ensuring the spiritual ethos of the Trust is upheld and promoted in all our business.  The post holder will be a committed and practicing Christian with a passion for working to change the lives of those who have previously offended or who are at risk of offending.

If you wish to find out more or obtain an application pack please visit our website www.langleyhousetrust.org or call on 01993 705999 quoting reference CD/587. Closing date 28^th October 2009

ReSource course

The Resource course, looking at church planting, mission, leadership and much else besides starts in a couple of weeks. Some people from our Diocese received grant money to go on the course a couple of years ago and got a lot from it.

As it's a low budget course in terms of advertising and marketing, I post this link here to spread the word.

http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2009/10/resource-weekends-time-to-sign-up.html