I presume this is well-known in the USA, but it certainly brings a new slant on the phrase ‘Fresh Expressions’ for those of us in the UK.

(and no, this is not a comment on what I think of the ‘Fresh Expressions’ church movement in the Church of England.)

What I’m interested in is the Archbishops’ Rowan and John and their (failed) attempt to amend the plans to provide more protection to traditionalists.

Our two Archbishops’ were given quite a lot of stick for their proposed amendments. Some of the stick came because they suggested their amendments after the Revision Committee had completed their work and so it felt ‘anti-Synodical’. Others gave them stick because they felt they were giving too much ground to traditionalists and/or because they felt the Archbishops’ were being anti-women. Some people gave them stick because it felt like they were throwing Arch-episcopal weight around (which is most unAnglican). Some people gave them stick just because they always do and seem to be keen Archbishop-baiters (or should that be Archbishop-haters?).

As I reflect on what happened and how the Archbishops’ subsequently lost their amendments and watched the plans move on unchanged, the following thoughts occur to me:

• Archbishop Rowan and John are both highly intelligent men.
  They must have known the amendments would fail.
• They must have known too that they were likely to get grief for suggesting the amendments.
• Indeed, it must have cost them both a lot to take this on.
  If the press and blogosphere is anything to go by, they must have got it in the neck big-time from all sides – in public and in private.

So why did they do it? Why would you deliberately take pain on yourself in order to knowingly fail? It begs the question – could it be that the Archbishops were being incredibly savvy and expecting/hoping to lose their amendments?

The logic is this. The Archbishops now look like kindly and supportive allies to traditionalists. They can go into meetings with traditionalists and say ‘well, we tried… but the mind of the Synod was clear’. I would imagine it gives them some kudos on that side of the church as well, having stood up for them in Synod. After all, they have a pastoral responsibility for those traditionalists (just as much as the rest).

Sure, it cost them. It must have been very painful. I have the utmost respect for them both and I know it must be a thankless, hard and lonely job to be an Archbishop. But if that is what was in their mind – taking pain on themselves for the sake of others to try and help hold it all together, then even more kudos.

I guess the only way to know would be to ask them….

or perhaps have had them on a heart-rate monitor when the vote was being done. I wonder if they started to panic when it started to look for a while like their amendments might pass!

Cap available for purchase at zazzle.co.uk. Proceeds to charity.

There’s a great deal being written on the subject of priesthood at the moment. I guess ordination season will do that for you. Anyway, I just thought I’d gather together just some of my favourites.

I know some of these link lists tend to be massively long. When I see a list like that on other blogs, I instantly switch off and don’t read any of the suggested articles. So, here’s just a small handful from some of my favourite bloggers for your interest as and when you get your own chance to ‘take a deep breath’ and reflect.

All these pieces spoke to me. I hope they speak to you too if you decide to follow them up.

• Jody reflects on whether you are a priest, or is a priest who you are and what it means to be yourself when you also hold an office/designation/role.
• Rob hits the missional ‘wall’ and reflects on calling when things are tough.
• Jody (again) shares a poem by Stuart Henderson.
• Lesley reflects on what it means to be a priest.

Cap available for purchase at zazzle.co.uk.
All profits from the sale of this particular cap go to Stephanie Butler to help with her lung transplant expenses.

Given this blog occasionally includes some of my own reflections on priesthood and to celebrate this occasion for my good friend, I’ve invited Tiffer to be my very first ever guest blogger on this website and to do some reflecting of his own now that he too is a ‘wannabepriest’ no more.

So over to Tiffer…!

I am yet to hear a robust defense of the current system, and I see the negative effects of it throughout our clergy and laity – the perception of the parish priest as a manager, clergy who see certain things as beneath them and the general feeling that the priesting is the “proper” one, with the first ordination almost forgotten about.  How many clergy do you know who celebrate the anniversaries of their ordination to the diaconate?

The other reason is that I like being a deacon.  It fits the role of an assistant curate perfectly.  I am not primarily a leader in the churches in which I serve, I am a servant, both of the clergy and the congregation.  I realise that I remain a deacon for life, but I see the office of priest as relating to leadership, and my job description hasn’t changed overnight; it has simply had a couple of things added to it.  I have more 8.30 Eucharists to do!

So it was with a certain reluctance and apathy that I prepared for my ordination to the priesthood – I did all the usual things, I received the sacrament of reconciliation, I went on an individual retreat for a few days, read all the books.  But I never knew what to say when people asked me “Are you excited about next week”.  It often felt that some of the people in my churches were more excited than me (those that understood the concept that is).

The retreat went surprisingly well.  We were together with the deacon candidates, in a smallish retreat house, but there were long periods of silence followed by Pimms in the evening.  The retreat conductor was a retired Evangelical Bishop, and although the way he put things was not to everyone’s taste I broadly agreed with him, and he was quite inspiring about ministry, although didn’t say much about priesthood specifically. I did have some good times of prayer,  which is rare for me, but the day of the priesting, which was on the Saturday evening, was more boring than exciting, a lot of waiting around.

Then came the service itself.  It was very strange, being in exactly the same positions in the  procession as last year, walking in to the same litany, sitting in the same seats.  It made me remember with nostalgia the excitement, the worry and the newness of my first week as a deacon, wearing the collar for the first time.  What was particularly special was seeing old colleagues and friends sitting in the priests stalls, who weren’t able to be there last year. Their presence reminded me of my journey to ordination, one being my sponsoring priest, one being a close friend during selection and another my prayer partner from college (that would be me, Ed).

My wider family who are largely unchurched commented that the only difference from last year was that all the people in the funny dresses crowded round with arms outsretched during the laying on of hands, and although that isn’t quite right, it is probably what stood out the most for me.  I was surprised how moving it was.  Although I had my eyes closed, I could feel this mass of people around me, it was welcoming, embracing almost.

As I looked up I saw my training incumbent, someone I have observed, learnt from, argued with, laughed with, and who gives me permission to minister alongside him, as well as other benefice and deanery clergy and the visitors I mentioned earlier.  I felt truly welcomed into this college of presbyters, odd bunch that they are, and that memory will sustain me when I am feeling isolated and lonely in some godforsaken parish in the middle of nowhere sometime in the future (don’t overanalyse that last sentence…)

The next day on the Sunday was my first Eucharist, or as it was labelled on the buffet menu afterwards “Father Christopher’s First Mass”.  The planning of this service had been a little contentious, as I wasn’t playing ball with those who were keen for me to do “First Blessings” and give roses to my mother (who wasn’t there!), but I chanted, wore a chasuble and genuflected at all the right moments, so I hope that has redeemed me somewhat.  I was incredibly emotional just in the 10 mins before the service began, and I suddenly felt hugely unworthy, as perhaps I still do.

Two things had a special significance for me at the service, aside from the honour and priviledge of presiding over the Eucharist, which was very moving.  One was being vested – after my incumbent had done a brief introduction, but before the service began, he and my preacher, who were both in alb and stole, led me to the altar and there put my stole around my neck and vested me with the chasuble, and it felt the same as being under that holy huddle the day before.  It was them asserting my new role in the community, my new office of ministry.

In his introduction, my incumbent mentioned how much having a brand new priest was to be a cause of celebration to the congregations, and they gave me a round of applause, a theme which was continued in the sermon, where my friend called me a panda.  Even people I previously thought did not like me seemed overjoyed at the occasion.  I was presented with a gift at the end, of a very smart and expensive home communion kit (much nicer than Dave’s) which had been the result of months of passing a hat around our eight parishes.  The bun fight afterwards had a real buzz about it, and the congregations of our sometimes struggling churches seemed to have a joy about them which is not always as obvious.

This week has been odd.  I had a couple of days off to recover (!) and yesterday got up at the same old time to go to the same old church for morning prayer with the same old people, and had the same coffee and cakes which I do every Wednesday, but everything seemed endowed with a certain newness and excitement, the same smells and weather of last year and the same sticky feeling you get when you wear a tight collar in high temperatures.  I found the experience quite odd, and needed to go and find refuge in a neighbouring church to recover, but my incumbent was on top of the world, more chirpy than I had seen him in a long time.

So I think my main reflection upon what has been a slightly crazy week is that it really hasn’t been much about me.  That might sound odd, but it is true of so much in ministry, having to deal with projection and vain flattery, we do have to learn to distinguish between who we are and the role we fulfil in any given situation.  In this situation my own internal feelings mattered less than what my ordination meant to the Christian community, the college of presbyters, and those who were more excited than me about the whole event.

In many ways my feelings reflect the tradition of the Orthodox church where the candidate is dragged to the Bishop by deacons, and given no choice in the matter – but the people are still asked to say ‘We do’.”

To deal with the criticisms first, it kind of annoyed me that they had to start the series off by him waking up with a hangover, then proceeding to swear regularly and smoke at every opportunity. It’s too easy and too fatuous a laugh to portray the sort of Father Jack (from Father Ted) school of priesthood, burnt-out and only able to smoke, drink and swear. On another level, however, I am not sure if my annoyance is with the programme or with my fellow clergy who I know behave just like that. Long before Rev Smallbone was seen on my screen, I’ve felt my hackles rising at the clergy who sneak out the back for a ciggie at events I’ve attended. So maybe it was just well researched.

Don’t get me wrong, conscious of planks and splinters in eyes and all that, I know that I come home from meetings occasionally and proceed to swear like a trooper. Indeed, I’ve come home and poured myself a generous glass of single malt on more than one occasion. I have plenty of other vices that I prefer not to broadcast on the Internet. Clergy are human after all and Tom Hollander’s Rev was portrayed as human as the rest of us. However, at heart, I know too that the Christian message transforms lives and it was pretty clear (from the praying in the episode of which more in a minute) that Rev Smallbone had a relationship with God and a clear sense of calling to the broken-hearted and the lost which all forms part of that Christian message of transformation as well.

Of course, we all swear from time to time and, of course, we all feel like we need a drink from time to time as well. However, at the same time, I would hope and pray that clergy everywhere were on some level seeking a process of personal transformation and holiness as well if we are to hold out the Christian message of transformation and hope with any integrity.

It’s a funny business really. On one level, smoking and drinking is small-fry and a distraction when it comes to living a holy life. Some Christians, I know, get incredibly hung up on such things and I really don’t want to be like that. It seems to me that living with justice and mercy and love and hope and integrity are far more important to God than whether I happen to have an addiction to nicotine. On another level though, it does matter and it annoyed me that they had to portray Adam Smallbone that way.

However, on the upside, there was a great deal to be positive about in the programme. The incidents were all brilliantly observed and as has been noted on a number of blogs in the aftermath of episode one, most clergy watching would be able to relate entirely. I know I’m fairly new to this priestly business, but the discussions and incidents all felt very close to home and I’m sure most clergy have all been there to some degree or another. It gives me great hope for the rest of the series that this is not going to be Dibley, but a genuine (if comedic) look at what it’s like to be a clergyman in England in the twenty-first century.

Hollander says of the programme in an interview with the Scotsman: “In a very modest way, it is pro the church and pro this vicar. I emerged from this show with a great deal of respect for vicars. They put up with a lot and do really good work for people having a bad time.” I’m glad he’s felt able to say that, to come through his research process with a respect for what is done in God’s name by clergy, and it gives me hope too that the clergy are not just going to end up as the butt of every joke every week.

Perhaps the best moment of the first episode, a moment of pure brilliance, that even brought a tear to my eye was when Rev Adam prayed. Apparently, in each episode, we’ll get a moment of this inner monologue where we hear Adam pray and, if so, that’s a stroke of genius. It moved me because it was genuine and I have certainly prayed prayers like the one he prayed. To paraphrase, he said something like: ‘You called me to help the lost and the broken-hearted, and all that I can focus on at the moment is this flipping window’ and it feels like that often. Every clergyman has one of those ‘windows’, whatever it might actually be in their situation and it was both poignant and moving as Rev Adam struggled for a sense of the divine and his genuine call in amongst the mess of everyday life. Quite moving.

I’ve set-up a Series link on the Sky+ box and I’ll be watching the rest of the series for sure. Just a shame it’s only six episodes. If you missed it, go watch it on iPlayer now while you still can.

It’s good to finally know who my Diocesan Bishop is going to be going forward from this point and it’s great to be able to welcome Bishop James to the Diocese of Rochester. Now all I need is a Vicar!

It has got to be a hard thing to be newsworthy on a day when the country is being given an extremely harsh, ‘wake-up and smell the prune juice’ budget from the Chancellor and the nation’s ability to digest such financial news is diluted and diverted by a do-or-die World Cup game for England in the offing (now thankfully over, and thankfully game won).

It’s possibly even harder to be newsworthy when the appointment seems to have come out of left-field. Various names were mentioned, various favourites were being named openly around the Diocese in the last twelve months since Bishop Michael resigned, and not once can I remember hearing of James Langstaff. I quite like that, I think. It spikes the guns of all the factions for a time while they all try and work out if they won or not!

One of the favourites that I heard mentioned (Bishop Nick Baines) has blogged about the appointment. It is certainly good and interesting to hear what Bishop Nick has to say as someone who obviously knows Bishop James and for him to give the appointment his support probably means a great deal; especially to those who had Nick chalked up as the short odds favourite for the post.

So, I guess like many clergy in this diocese, I’m trying to suss out what lies ahead.

So what can we know? Well, from Crockford, I can tell you that our new Bishop is in his mid-fifties and so probably has ten to fifteen years still in him. Good news.

First ordained in his twenties (I wonder how long it will be before we see fewer and fewer Bishops able to say that?) with nearly thirty years of ministry in the can. Crucially, he has actually been a Vicar and has plenty of parish experience (not true of all Bishops by any means) and has several jobs behind him as a Priest-in-Charge or Incumbent. Big tick on that front I think.

Went to St John’s College, Nottingham, and has some parishes behind him that have some evangelical credentials so it looks like the sizeable number of evangelical churches (of whatever hue) in this Diocese will be happy with that. On the other hand, he’s quoted in the diocesan press release as saying of his time as the Suffragan Bishop of Lynn ‘the concept of a Christian presence in every neighbourhood is one that I value greatly.’ Could that suggest a incarnational/catholic approach that might please those of other persuasions?

From the press release and biography on the Rochester Diocesan website, we can glean that Bishop James has a particular interest in urban regeneration initiatives and social and affordable housing. He is also Chair of Housing Justice, the national voice of the churches on housing and homelessness. That to me sounds very interesting – could it be that the powers-that-be have looked to the needs of the Medway Towns rather than the needs of the far more affluent Sevenoaks/Tunbridge Wells areas? If so, it would be a welcome turn-up for the books.

In both the press releases and Bishop Nick’s commentary, much is made of Bishop James’ international experience of partnership with Dioceses in other parts of the world. I have to say for me personally, that would have been less of a draw and less of a serious criteria in choosing my next Diocesan Bishop.

Of course the international angle is important – and maybe the House of Bishops wanted to strengthen its international hand amongst the Diocesan Bishops at an uncertain time – but in the big scheme of things, I’d rather have someone who could lead us forward in mission with great vision and also someone who is going to grab a few parishes by the short and curlies and take them to task over the non-payment of parish share. Rather that than someone who might be good in talking to Harare. Right now I can’t tell whether missionary vision and sorting out the recalcitrant parishes and clergy will be Bishop James’ forte or not, but here’s hoping and praying that he can address those big and serious concerns that I think the Diocese has.

The final word has to go to someone who knows him and has worked with him. In their view, Bishop James has demonstrated a high level of pastoral care. The clergy, by and large, like him. (My own thought is that if he’s been a Vicar, he at least has to understand and have a feel for the demands of the role) and, has been said officially in the press release, his main claim-to-fame is to be very active in social deprivation issues where he has, apparently, done great work.

So, interesting stuff… I’m looking forward to the future and seeing what Bishop James has to bring to us. I like the fact that people are going to have to listen and learn and engage with their Bishop rather than just assume they know what he’s about. Michael Nazir-Ali he ain’t and maybe that’s going to be a good thing… perhaps even a very good thing.

HOWEVER!! I do have one idea to share which went down very well.

The service as a whole was looking at the subject of the church with one definite thread looking at how we contribute together as a body and all need to be using our gifts to benefit one another.

For one of the prayer stations, I did a Jobs Board. Ahead of time, I asked all the different groups in the church if they had any jobs that needed doing. We got all sorts of responses from the usual need for more children’s workers to very specific things like wanting a Bass player for one of the worship groups!

To set-up the jobs board, I used some very simple Word-style templates straight out of my Mac Pages template section (see this image for example) that picked up the idea, very familiar from universities, of a pull-tab flyer poster where you can rip off one of the contact slips at the bottom. We did a whole bunch of ‘jobs’ in this way and put them up on the wall.

It worked really well and we had a nice double effect going on. On one hand, people ripped off the tabs and so had something to take away with them and to act upon. The other effect was that people following them could see which ‘jobs’ were popular and which had yet to receive interest. Worked really nicely, recommended.

As regular readers will know, I’m a football fan. In fact, for once, I have more reason to be cheerful about football than usual given that my beloved Tottenham Hotspur have actually managed to achieve something and qualified for the Champions League next season.

Even more important to me, however, than Spurs’ impending European adventure is the hope that I will one day live to see England win their second World Cup. I wasn’t around for the first one and the thought that I might never see my compatriots lift the most-hallowed trophy in football fills me with dread. So I will be watching the games, an anxious knot in my stomach, knowing that the chances of failure are more real than the chances of success. I’ll be watching knowing that if we foul it up, it’s another four years until we get another chance. However, I will also be watching hoping and praying that England actually play to their potential and beyond and conquer the world.

All that aside, however, this World Cup represents the first opportunity for me to actually influence church activity during the tournament. I’m intrigued and fascinated by the way our nation changes once every couple of years for a month or so. England flags appear everywhere, people actually talk to each other in the street, enormous crowds gather to share good-natured community, the stock-market goes up and generally the feel-good factor is enormous. It’s also, I think, a great opportunity for the Church to engage with our nation, to share a common passion and to show that some of us at least are actually normal people… just people who happen to believe and trust in God.

So, at the church where I serve, an eight foot banner is going on our church wall that states ‘We’re praying for England’ across a large St. George’s cross. The banner is intended to highlight that we do pray for our nation every single week but also that we’re praying for a good World Cup in the same manner of the recent official Church of England prayers (and not, I swiftly add, praying that God will give England victory which seems dodgy theologically to me).

We’re also hosting a free BBQ on June 12th to celebrate England’s first game and will be showing the England 1966 game on our big screens before the current crop of players takes on the USA.

Finally, rather than doing something separate all through the tournament, it seemed better to just get stuck in with people locally. So we’re working with our local pub to support their trade for the other games and join with everyone who gathers there in hopefully celebrating an historic England title. We can but dream after all… and let’s face it, if it comes down to penalties, I’ll be praying – whether it’s dodgy theology or otherwise.

Lord of all the nations, who played the cosmos into being,
guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup.
May all find in this competition a source of celebration,
an experience of common humanity and
a growing attitude of generous sportsmanship to others.
Amen.
(Official Church of England prayer for the 2010 tournament)

The first I heard was when the Bookseller magazine covered stories north of the border where the Scotsman was reporting that The Saint Andrew Press was under threat from the Church of Scotland’s mission and discipleship council, which is trying to address a £1.2 million budget deficit.

Hmm, that sounds familiar, where have I heard a story like this before where a publishing arm of a central church organisation was an easy target in cost-cutting measures?

What I find particularly interesting is the differing reaction north of the border to this news, when one compares it to the situation that faced the Church of England recently with Church House Publishing.

In Scotland, we have the former Bishop of Edinburgh clearly linking the lack of a publishing department with a lack of vision and a lack of mission-mindedness when he was quoted as saying it looked like the Church was “pulling up the drawbridge”. In addition, the Publishing Committee was firmly resisting the move.

Both episcopal and institutional support ought to have meant that they had a much better chance than CHP did of avoiding the job losses and the severe reduction in publishing reach being mooted.

Unfortunately, we hear now (again in the Scotsman) that the axe has been swung. General Assembly has voted and Saint Andrew Press will have its very heart ripped out. The second article was interesting in letting us know that the Press, over the last five years, had averaged a deficit of around £120,000 a year. While loss is still loss, it might be worth noting that such figures represent considerably better performance than several other Christian publishing houses in recent years.

It’s also worth noting that the Press managed to increase sales last year by 10%, in the midst of one of the worst recessions in living memory. You do wonder whether people were paying any attention to the wider economy in their discussions. With such a positive indicator in their publishing programme, one has to suspect that their fate was sealed long before the General Assembly’s debate. Clearly, some people just wanted rid.

The new plan with just one member of staff essentially means very little future publishing. They’ll marshall the back-catalogue as best as they are able, but expect The Saint Andrew’s Press’ reputation for contributions to church life north of the border and to the wider ‘public square’ to wither and eventually die. They won’t have the resources to continue producing new material in that arena with only one person on staff.

In terms of the Christian book trade, this is, of course, just another one in a long line of companies and churches in recent years to either to go the wall or be severely pruned. Very sad news indeed. As with CHP, I suspect the Church of Scotland will eventually live to regret this withdrawal from the public arena.

I was involved in two stations this month. You can download the details as a pdf file.

The first one used a video clip called ‘The March of the Unqualified’ which highlighted the fact that nobody is perfect and we are called to follow God regardless of our imperfections and weaknesses. Indeed, it is often in our weaknesses that God is able to work.

The second station talked about needing to be a ‘Living Sacrifice’ and how we can sit back in church and not participate, even if we’re there and present and even doing things. The station called upon people to examine their situation from a different perspective and then recommit themselves to getting back onto the altar, being a sacrifice to God.

Both were essentially fairly simple stations. The only complicating factor was the need to download the video clip and I was fortunate enough that a team member had it already, downloaded and paid for. You also have to put up with an American accent on the video, but otherwise it’s very good!