Chaplain’s Blog Stardate 22/01/2023

Give me a pulpit or a chance to preach and I am in my element – it does not matter whether it is to two or two hundred. When preaching one has a certain authority, a certain distance and generally the people listening want to hear what you have to say about faith matters but outside church I find it very hard to strike up conversations about faith.

I am hopeless at evangelising folks I meet in the street, offering to pray for them and the sort of joyous thing that others seem to do with ease. My workplace was always a school and there was little faith conversation away from assemblies.

The on the spot evangelism or faith conversation is right out of my comfort zone, however…..

Stopping to chat or to listen to people’s stories and praying my own private prayers for them is something I do often. I thought the following two examples worthy of writing about and hope that it might inspire some of you to put pen to paper about chance encounters that have inspired you to prayer.

Thought for the Day – Epiphany IV – This link is for Peter Coster’s Thought for the day this week. He attended a Leadership Safeguarding Course and makes some very interesting points.

Quiet Day at Epiphany House on February 10th – details Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith led by Jim Seth – Epiphany House

Chance encounters – PC Binnie

Most days I spend an hour or two walking with Barney a.k.a. Mr Dog the energetic collie. He attracts quite a lot of attention, especially when he sits patiently waiting for people to pass, looking up with a sort of RSPCA expression that pleads for interaction.

Brief conversations with other dog-walkers are fairly frequent but the occasional longer conversations are things to be treasured.

Mr Binnie is a long-retired policeman who must be well into his 80s, who I often see but yesterday I met him twice and listened to his stories both times. The first, as I was about to ascend the long sloping bridle path to the Wheal Euny mine, was about the day he had been instructed to investigate a body that had been found in the brambles at the side of the path. It was a sad story about an old farmer who had been in Barncoose Hospital (once the Redruth Workhouse) suffering with dementia. Somehow, he had evaded the security system and wandered out and made his way the mile or so to where he was found some ten hot July days later. Mr Binnie’s description of the task faced by the police that day was graphic but I won’t go into maggoty details here!

The second time we met outside the infant school as we were a few hundred yards from our homes. I greeted him with, “no bodies to be seen!” Mr Binnie chuckled and asked, “did I ever tell you about the time I was shot?”

Well…. You have to give time to a conversation opener like that and luckily Barney, at the end of his second walk of the day sat patiently while I listened as the story of the chap involved in a domestic incident, high on drugs and alcohol, had fired a cross bow at the police who had been summoned to deal with it. The bolt lodged in PC Binnie’s thigh, perilously close to his femoral artery- he had been lucky not to lose his life! It was also fortunate that the two officers had been called from duties on a roadblock and he was wearing as many layers of clothing as he could fit under his jacket. When the bolt had been shot, PC Binnie’s colleague charged across the room and rugby tackled the follow to the floor where they disarmed him and were able to take him to the police station, and PC Binnie to the hospital.

He went on to tell me about the cot death he was called to of a two-year-old child with connections to the cross-bow family and then of the other sudden deaths of children that had been his misfortune to encounter. I glibly remarked that I was glad I had been a teacher dealing with live children. This marked a good place to wander onwards but I was left with a picture of just how tough the job is for our emergency services and the police in particular. They will be much in my prayers this week.

Of Sick Animals and our Responsibilities....

By contrast I had a long conversation or three with a Lady who explained at length about how sad she was that her little dog had dies a year ago and why she thought she would never have another dog because the grief of losing them was too much to bear. She felt the horrible guilt of dog owners who have to have their dog’s life ended by the vet. There is always that question about whether something else could have been done, would they have recovered and so on. Monty Don of Gardener’s World said in one of his books that we as dog (and other pets) owners are not just responsible for the dog’s life but also for its death. We have a responsibility to make sure the quality of life is good and that prolonging the life of a very sick animal might be more about us than it is about the animal for whom prolonged suffering is a cruelty.

When she saw Barney and me in the park a month or so later she made a bee-line to tell me she was looking out for another dog and how much our previous conversation had helped.

There had been prayers too.

Greetings Reader / LLM colleagues and esteemed others!

Having has a chest infection right across the Christmas period I am only just beginning to get some energy and motivation to do something more other than be dragged out for a daily dog walk by Barney the energetic collie!

Thankfully antibiotics came to the rescue at the right time, but the festive season seemed to pass in something of a blur with the tastiest treat being max strength Lemsip! I am quite certain that I won’t have been the only minister in the diocese to have to miss out. On that note….

The Prayer List!

Reader, Joy Gunter, and others have a vocation to pray of others who are suffering and would really appreciate a focussed up to date list. If you would someone put on the list or if you would like to be on the list yourself please let me know. I will only send the list to those Readers who request it for their own prayers.

Those we have lost and making the most of each day.

In the past year we have lost a number of friends through various illnesses, some well before they should have died. Some have been members of one of our churches and others have been friends from elsewhere but each one has underlined how important it is to make the most of each day. One of those who died recently and whose funeral I will attend remotely was in the first Sunday School class I taught at St Euny Church way back in late 1978- which in many ways marks the beginning of my path to ministry. Simon died in his late 50s as the much loved and respected headteacher of an International School in Pakistan.

When Lez and I first met Simon, I had just taken a job teaching nine year olds at Stithians School and was reeling somewhat at the contrast with teaching in North London where fast, sharp wit was the order of the day.

My first class in Stithians stared at me with some bemusement. Simon and that Sunday school group provided some respite from the puzzled faces of that first village class. He was a Truro school student who came as a pair with his friend Mike. At the age of 12 he wore a cravat and held some quite right-wing opinions setting himself as a fair target for my teasing. Like many young teenagers he had a tricky time negotiating life with his parents and so he spent increasing amounts of time at our house where he enjoyed the discussions and demolition of some of his wilder opinions.

Simon and Mike once decided they would amuse themselves on the tricycle bought for our children who were quite young. Simon pedalled, knees sticking out at an odd angle, while Mike stood on the back. Much jollity was had until Simon forgot to steer and they ended up in the flower bed – the front forks bent beyond repair!

When the curate moved up to Pencoys Church in Four Lanes we followed and the lads followed us, piling into the back of our Yellow and black Austin A40. Simon would be handed a stick and instructions that if the car started to falter on its way up the hill that he had to hit the fuel pump which was conveniently situated behind the back seat. Following the thump with the stick it would burst into life with a wild ticking and the car would recover.

Simon and Mike made quite an impact on our children as they grew up and influenced musical tastes. Both took part in the worship workshop we ran at Pencoys and Simon as he got older would even come and perform his music at school discos and parties where the quaffed blonde hair behind the multiple keyboards would be watched by the adoring ten year olds! I was sent the photographs of the tributes written by his students in Pakistan and it was certainly evident that his youthful charisma had blossomed as he had matured. He will be much missed.

Rest in peace Simon, and rise in glory.

Transforming ministry Magazine

I have just received an email invoice for my subscription for next year at £17.50. It seems quite a lot for a singe digital subscription so I am in two minds whether to bother this year especially as my reading of it is sporadic to say the least….. I always intend to read it thoroughly but more often than not it gets glanced at and then adorns various places on my desk until it is recycled. I certainly could not justify the diocese paying for it for me. Perhaps I will just procrastinate…

The Retreat Association

I have been sent the “Retreats 2023” booklet. If anyone would like it just ask and I will pop it in the post to the first request I receive!

Quiet Day

I am leading a quiet day on February 10th at Epiphany House based loosely around the theme of “Story Telling and Building Every day Faith.” Each period of personal reflection will be preceded with some of my favourite sermon illustrations / stories with some questions to think about. Details in the flyer! Jim Seth 10.02.2023.pdf

Sermons

An ancestor of mine was a Church Minister and I have a book of his sermons. To my eyes the sermons are not particularly easy reading! But it is clear fro the book that the sermons were originally available at a price of one penny in leaflet form. This is, of course, the way some Charles Dickens novels first appeared.

This has got me thinking. Some churches have sermons recorded – facebook, YouTube, church website etc. But most churches in Cornwall do not offer this facility. So why not distribute your sermon to those who may be interested? Or, better still, why not have a brief note or precis to give to anyone who might be interested? People have lots of paper in their lives; so it may be best to keep it short. Of course this can be distributed via email.

Wouldn’t it be great if this prompted some inter action between preacher and congregation?

I have attached a note from a sermon I delivered recently. It adopts a meditational approach. This is an approach well known to those who use Selwyn Hughes bible notes.

The theme is hope. Let’s enjoy that hope as we “chew the cud” from Romans 15.13.

William Hazelton

Romans 15.13 and hope

Are we gloomy about the world? And our lives? And the C of E?….Or hopeful?

Ponder “if you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat” (Matthew 14.25-32) and note:

Hope got Peter out of the boat
Trust held him up
Fear sank him

It all hinged on whether he was focused on Jesus or on the storm

Romans 15.13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

Peter’s focus…where is ours

Biblical meditation…rediscover the “cow, sheep, goat” in you…”chewing the cud”…bolt down food, regurgitate it into mouth, repeat process…absorb into the blood stream…objective

Reconstruction of our thoughts
Refocusing our emotions
Realignment of our wills

Verse:

God is a God of hope…does not discourage
Hope overcomes fear
Hope may be realised soon…later…eternally
He seeks right now to to fill us with joy and peace…all joy and peace
He wants us to overflow…
As we trust
Work of Holy Spirit

Image of sponge…useless without water…pours through us…we need to be refilled…a continuous process

Ponder the verse…meditate…may joy and peace fill your heart…may you move on with a spring in your step…a spring given by the Holy Spirit

Amen

145 CV ADV3 111222 – Peter Coster’s Reflections on the Advent 3 evensong readings.

Prayers answered….. and Other Important News!

Prayers Answered

Many thanks to all of you who supported Lez and me though prayer in the last few weeks and to those of you who so kindly wrote emails.

Lez spent the week in the Cardiac Investigation Unit and is now home armed with a small pharmacy of medication attempting to take things rather more easily and let other folk in church do some of the heavy lifting and running around. She has felt fit enough to do the three days of the craft festival, sing in and direct the Christmas show from a chair (orders of the cast) and go to the toddler group!

Her experience in Treliske was a very positive one, apart from the worry and the investigations. The lady who did her angiogram turned out to have a daughter being taught music at Truro college by our son….. and the chaplain Angela, had been our curate in Redruth just to mention a couple of things! Amazing how things work out- thank you God!

It also shows the importance of asking for prayer-the reader community is a fantastic spiritual resource longing to be used!

Transforming ministry Magazine

Some time ago a survey was sent out about who read what in the magazine because of the quite large price increase to the Diocese. The results were varied but many more folk said they did not read it, or, only read the odd article than those found it a particularly useful resource.

The resulting discussion in the wardens group concluded that buying the full subscription for all readers was not only too expensive in the current climate but also not good value for money so this year Readers are asked to take out their own individual subscriptions if they would like to. Some funding has been put aside to pay for subscriptions for any readers who cannot afford one and would really find the magazine beneficial. We will repeat the survey next year and review the subject.

Local Reader Chaplains and deanery Reader Stewards…….

It had been proposed that each deanery should have it’s own Reader Chaplain (the old DRS) who would form the basis of a committee to feed information to the Warden’s Group however this has proved to be a more difficult task that was anticipated!

The thought now is that we need to try something different at the same time as keeping those things that are working well, e.g. the wonderful work done by Graham Downes and the St Austell group.

So the Warden’s Group would like you all to consider whether you feel called to be part of the chaplaincy team, no matter whether there is already a chaplain / Deanery Reader Steward in post. In the new year there will be the chance to have a vocational conversation with Bishop Hugh and chaplains will be appointed and celebrated at the Reader Day in May. I have the names of the people who transferred from being Deanery Reader Stewards, plus a couple of other people who have expressed a desire to pursue their vocation as chaplain…. If you would like to add your name, or make sure you are on the list, please do drop me a line!

Hacked, Cloned or Conned?

I wonder how many of you have experienced the irritation of receiving an email that at first glance appears to be from me or one of your ministry team along the lines of; “I need a favour ….. “ then when you examine the address it is actually coming from someone entirely different bent on weaving a story to prise away your well-earned cash. It seems the Internet confidence tricksters probably take the names and addresses from the Diocesan online data base as their starting point.

As you will all well know my emails tend to be fairly full with a full signature at the end- so do watch out for the copy cat tricksters. There are many many scams, conns and phishing expeditions out there so if there is one you have experienced that others might learn from do let me know.

In the meantime, if you use Facebook, make sure that you hide your friends list. That is the other place that cloning happens, the perpetrator makes another account in your name, steals a few pictures from you pages and then sends requests to all your friends… hide the friends list and you cut down the chances!

Hacking involves taking over your account, usually by guessing your password. With people making sure they use a mixture of upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols this form of attack in much more rare. The expert on all this stuff is Robin West who used to deal with Internet security for a living.

Ministers in Conversation

Every Monday morning at 10 am. Always something fascinating….. this week it was about ship’s propellers!

see the emails for the address for the Zoom Meeting

143
CV Thought for the Day – Advent Sunday by Didymus

Evensong
Readings Isaiah
ch.52, vv1-12 Matt.
ch.24, vv15-28

As
the late and great John Arlott used to say when commentating on test cricket,
in his lovely Hampshire drawl, “Oh dear!
oh dear! oh dear!”, when another wicket was knocked flying.

One
of the glorious things about the Church of England is that there is always a well-meaning
type who proposes something totally out of context, rather strange if not
utterly barmy. Bless them, they really
do make a pedestrian life much more colourful.

The
latest wheeze (how else can one describe
it?) is to set aside the devotions of Advent in favour of a great football
festival being played in the scorching sand of Qatar, on the premise that
England will not have been knocked out, and nobody will come to church. I read an account in the Guardian, and took
it for a joke, strange for an excellent if serious paper. Apparently it wasn’t. And it gets better! I quote from The Guardian:-

In an effort to avoid a potential
clash between the Three Lions and the three kings, the Church of England is
advising vicars to reschedule Christmas carol services due to be held on World Cup final day. The guidance to clergy, under the
heading “Making
the most of the World Cup final”, warns of the possible difficulties
of holding a carol service on Sunday 18 December. The Sunday before Christmas
is a traditional time for afternoon or evening festive services.

With the final due to kick off at
3pm, the C of E says services “could still be possible if you choose the time
carefully … but what if there are penalties?! It may be best to avoid that day
altogether and host a carol service on Saturday 17 instead.” But it adds: “Despite this clash of dates,
football and faith don’t have to be at odds with one another.” Football and the church have a “conjoined
heritage”, it says, as several Premier League clubs “started up as parish
church football teams, set up for the health and wellbeing of those local
communities”. The guidance suggests
ideas for how parish churches could encourage people to “use the World Cup as a
missional tool this Advent and Christmas”.

And so it goes on. While we laugh or growl at extravagant ideas,
wait awhile, for there serious issues involved here, and not just who sings the
solo in the service either.

Actually it focuses attention on a number of uncomfortable facts. Firstly the observance of the most important
event in world history goes over so many heads, despite the belief and teaching
of the church. That is sad.

Qatar? In many ways a hell-hole,
that criminalises homosexuality and discriminates against migrant workers and
women. It is no better than most of its
neighbours in its savage treatment of those who do not comply or obey. Just think of Iran.

Football? The last time we won
was in 1966 when as host nation we had a bye into the last 16. We had a great team, but so did others. It is just a game, but we hope for successes
for the young men playing. As Bill
Shankly, the famous Scottish manager of Liverpool FC once said “Football?
It’s not a matter of life and death: it’s far more important than that!”

Advent is a time of preparation, a time of prayer, a time to retrace the
events of the past, when God came in human form as Jesus, to speak to us, teach
us and lead us through this mortal life to eternal life. Through his Holy Spirit, he invested his Son
with the power to perform miracles. Do
we understand? Of course not – we don’t
have the slightest idea who God is, do we?

The Supreme Being is neither human nor spirit, neither man nor woman,
but a possessor of infinite power and love who is still creating. He communicates with us by drawing us into
belief and prayer, but we know no more than that, however simple or learned we
may be. It was Abram who first realised
that an awareness had been imprinted on his consciousness. That is as far as we know, for in ancient
times there seems to have been an acceptance that there were limits to the
powers of humankind and a greater power existed elsewhere.

So
there we are, the Church triumphant! Got
your rattle and club badges?

Whenever the game is over, spare some time to pray for the populations
of the Gulf, confined by those who should be praying and loving them, women and
men of all types, migrant workers grubbing for a pittance, and the sighing of
the imprisoned.

AMEN

141 CV Thought for the Day – Remembrance Sunday by Didymus

141 CV REMEMBRANCE 131122 – click this link for the illustrated PDF

After a number of years, I have been asked to lead a Remembrance Service at Michaelstow. My prayer list will have to be extended to ask our Lord to wipe away the cobwebs of unfamiliarity and focus on the Fallen. One of my difficulties is that I have only one sermon appropriate for the occasion. Here it is:-

People of my age often have no medals to wear, unless they volunteered for military service. That is because millions have fallen in the struggles to restore a level of peace in this world. A peace in which my peers and I were born, raised and live. The immense debt that we owe to the Fallen is the peace and tranquillity for which they died. If there were a medal acknowledging that debt, it would be worn with great pride and gratitude.

Recently I was watching Act Three in Verdi’s “Macbeth”, when Macbeth became King, having murdered his way to the crown with his wife’s encouragement. At the celebration, he saw the ghost of his friend Banquo, who was killed recently on his orders. Horrified, he twice interrupted his wife’s aria in a mad seizure. Although he was pacified by Lady Macbeth, it seemed that his power so recently gained was already beginning to decay.

I realised once more how the Bard of Avon had brilliantly depicted the rise and fall of the tyrant, and how that terrible cycle of cruelty and domination had been repeated over the centuries. The list is long. Indeed that madness has seized Russia now, a people that has given us so much in both the arts and the sheer size of their past sacrifices in the cause of peace.

It is a great pity that Shakespeare does not appear to be taught in Russia.

Remembering the millions – let’s be honest – whose lives were torn from them, were they military or civil, it is the beginning of John’s 14^th chapter which is appropriate now. It is frequently read at funerals, linking as it does the crippling pain of losing someone dearly loved with the hope of resurrection to the life beyond this one. Both versions are attached.

When one looks at the photo of war graves, the sheer number of dead is numbing. Remember that this is just one of many in most countries. Now we weep at the carnage in Ukraine being uncovered daily.

The cruelty of this wonderful life is that it never stands still. Yes, sometimes we are very glad that life has moved on, that sickness and pain have been overcome. But we are creatures of time, and whatever we might wish or even do, today’s beautiful newly born will be next century’s grandparents. As it might be said, today’s beauty of Creation will be thrown on tomorrow’s bonfire.

As time goes on we look with increasing hope to the promises of our Lord. Religion and its concept of an afterlife was rubbished by Marx as the opium of the masses, and it is true that life after death is the best kept secret, despite the attentions of Madam Arcarty (Blithe Spirit) and her colleagues. To the Christian, there is not so much of a problem, given the Resurrection of Jesus, but it is understandable that our belief is supported with hope.

John’s 14^th chapter tells us plainly and without circumlocution, that Jesus was the human presence of God. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

There are times when I read scripture and I try to picture the people involved. They were human, emotional, fallible, they laughed and cried as we do. Whenever I hear John 14, and the request from Philip, I imagine that Jesus looked to Heaven, shook his head and clutched his brow. “Philip, Philip, how long have you been with me? Have you not listened? Or understood?”

I would be surprised if Philip didn’t get ribbed about his question at the time, but what a wonderful response it drew from our Lord!

AMEN

New Revised Standard Version

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves.

King James Version

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

²In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

⁴And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

⁵Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

⁶Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. ⁷If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

⁸Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

⁹Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

¹⁰Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

To Pew or not to Pew that is the question.

I am sure that the thorny issue of pews comes up in many many churches for one reason or another and St Andrew’s Redruth is no different – with widely differing views on the subject. Some folk would like to see the church remain full of pews as befits a Victorian building where others would like to remove all of them to make the space more flexible.

It was interesting to turn this photo up from 1945 of the interior when only 18 pews and a lot of chairs which have long since gone.

The great pew debate will differ from church to church because of individual historic significance, how loud the voices are of those passionate about such things and the vision of the Church Wardens and committee members.

The debate raises some questions about the vision of each church about their purpose and how they see how their building will serve future generations.

This image from before the Church was extended in 1930 shows a mixture of chairs and pews. Chairs at the back, at the front and down the central aisle; cramming the folk in!

The argument that the pews are traditional does not quite stack up, unlike chairs, which chosen carefully, can be stacked out of the way!

Whether those pews are of historic importance is quite another matter.

And there is always the vexed question of how long does something need to happen to make it tradition? In terms of liturgical practise probably three times, but with pews….. who knows?

A Couple of Images Showing How St Andrews was Extended in the 1930s.

So St Andrews was extended, the old pews were all pushed forwards and gradually they replaced the chairs so the place was full of pews which at the time catered for the needs of the many folk in the town for whom Sunday worship was a central facet of their lives.

These days a typical Sunday congregation is 30-40 souls who dot themselves around the pews. There are times when the pews are full however, but these are few. For example, very large funerals, Remembrance with all the uniformed organisations (not since covid) and School nativity / carol services. The biggest regular services are Christmas Eve with the Children (about 170-180) and Christmas Midnight Mass (130ish). So those large numbers need to be catered for occasionally and stacking chairs are not cheap!

There is also the nostalgia factor; you know the sort of thing, “yes I know I do not attend services except for funerals, but I do remember that my Granny raised money for that pew and liked to sit there so you can’t get rid of that one!” And…. one must not forget the wondrous tangle of hoops, hurdles and red tape that is the ‘faculty’ which trumps even health and safety and lack of money. “yes we know you need a gate to stop children falling down the granite stairs but it must be a properly designed Victorian looking gate with appropriate hinges and cost ten times as much as the cheap option.” If that is not enough to put people off moving pews out, I don’t know what is!

So why would anyone want to remove pews, either in part or in total?

I have heard the following:

Chairs are more comfortable and easier to move to make a flexible space for multiple activities more suited to the 21st century from Messy Church to Liturgical dance and from Arts Festivals to community groups such as Toddlers and theatre groups. Cafe style church and other ‘new expressions’, discussion groups and training events are all much better unrestricted by serried ranks of heavy pews.

Attempting to make the best use of the pews for the annual arts festival, which draws in the local community. This is a celebration of creativity rather than a market and children from local schools display work as well as taking part in workshops through the week.

The font is at the back so space is needed for baptism parties to take part properly

removing some pews at the front gave room for creative space in family services…

Inspired by a local artist…. not a regular church goer.

The jubilee corgi overlooks a discussion group with empty pews taking up the foreground space.

The St Andrew’s ladies singing group Dhiworth an Gollon (From the Heart) providing background music to the Yskinna Aeriel Dancers working with Local Children…. making the best use of the space available…

Dear Fellow Readers, Readers Emeritus and Esteemed others

Having had a month of resting from Church / Reader things it is time to get things moving again. When I say resting, I still did ZOOM morning prayer each day, attended some meetings for the trial version of the safer recruitment hub, answered copious emails on subjects ranging from the average age of readers to finding volunteers to do the opening worship at synod and from providing face to face basic safeguarding training to what to do when Reader Robes are no longer required…… and my wife got Covid…. Four days after her 4th vaccination.

So…. Need to get rid of anything Theologically based? Try the Clergy Clutter Facebook group…. Clergy Clutter UK | Facebook

Brian writes: “Now that I have retired, I am wondering if anyone could make use of any of my robes. I have two surplices and a cassock + belt. The cassock is an old one , bought in the early 1960s !! and therefore akin to a blanket. Both surplices are Whipple and are size 40. I am 5ft 10ins and weigh 88 kg.”

As I have a stack of theology books that are gathering dust I thought I might try https://www.webuybooks.co.uk/ does anyone have experience of them or any other ideas about what to do with my excess stock?

I still have hopes of compiling a prayer list for Readers and would like your suggestions, however in the absence of a list of names here is a prayer from Joy Gunter.

Creator God. we are made in your image and called into being by your love. We thank you for calling forth men and women to serve your church as Readers. Bless them we pray, with minds and tongues to speak your word of love and sing the song of the heart, that all your people may be encouraged, built up in their faith and helped to reach out in joyful service and witness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

The Monday Morning Conversations from 10 to 11 o’clock will continue on Zoom and the room will be open every week but I am only going to promise to be there every second Monday though I may drop into the others. There may be volunteers who will sign up to host the other weeks! I also wonder about resuming some face-to-face open chats initially at the Penventon Hotel in Redruth. Let me know if that appeals! (the link is in the usual email…. or just ask me!)

Safeguarding and safer-recruitment:

I am doing my best to represent you in matters to do with safeguarding at various levels from training, the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel and the National Trial for the Safeguarding hub. When I get a chance, I do voice your concerns and there is general support that influence needs to be brought on the National Team to make the requirements suitable for smaller churches…. And people who have multiple roles.

The Discipline of Prayer:

At the beginning of the Covid Pandemic we began morning prayer on line each day at 9am in Redruth and it is still going! Smallest attendance 3 but usually more than 7. We even have a Reader from another Deanery who leads the service once a fortnight! It certainly does make the discipline of morning prayer much easier anyone is welcome to join us. (even if you don’t want to turn a camera on or speak!)

The Website

www.readers-chaplain.org.uk has a few things in the recent posts column but it would be great to have some other Readers / LLMs contribute a few paragraphs on bits of their ministry they think might inspire others So if you have been on a brilliant training course, set up a new church initiative or read a fantastic theology book…. Please do share!

In the Group Parish of St Germans, we have been meeting monthly at a local hostelry for about 9 years for Pub Theology. This started as a Death Cafe, part of a national and international model of conversation to talk about our own deaths. Initially sometimes there would only be three of us but that was enough for a good conversation and over the years we have had between four and twelve people.

The topics have naturally varied: generic topics such as love, politics, evil, sex and economics. Direct biblical discussions on fruits of the Holy Spirit, strange stories in the Bible (Jonah, the flood, Job, Abraham and Isaac), the Pentateuch (five different meetings!), angels and books of the Bible seldom read (Lamentations, Jude, Leviticus (again!) and Obadiah I recall). Recently we have had Christian Univeralism and how the church should respond to the cost of living crisis.

In lockdown we met on-line fortnightly which was demanding but much appreciated and interestingly increased attendance.

It is easy in church not to actually discuss theological matters and my experience of Pub Theology is that people want to talk about ideas and wrestle with what we believe. It is important to facilitate the meeting so that it is a genuine conversation and all views are respected. The feedback has been good.

Ultimately we need fora to think through what we believe, acknowledging we will not agree on everything. I find thinking through community conversation stimulating, creative and one of the many ways God can reveal the truth we all seek to live.

Richard Laugharne

Reader

St Germans

Interpreting Amos for Lanner & Four Lanes recently

Amos 6.1a, 4-7

Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished

6Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
   and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
   to whom the house of Israel resorts!
⁴ Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
   and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
   and calves from the stall;
⁵ who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
   and like David improvise on instruments of music;
⁶ who drink wine from bowls,
   and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
   but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
⁷ Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
   and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

A Local Version of Amos 6.

Alas for those who put their feet up in Lanner

and those who feel safe on the top of the Hill in Four Lanes

The parish counsellors and the members of parliament, the bankers &company directors to whom the nations look.

Alas for those who lie on Slumberdown mattresses

And lie on couches from Furnitureworld

And eat lamb from Trevarthens the butchers

And beef from the Tesco cold meats cabinet

Who sing idle songs to the sound of the organ

And improvise upon the keyboard and guitar

Who drink wine from tall glasses

And anoint themselves with moisturiser from Boots

But are not grieved over the destitution of the poor

They shall be the ones who will feel the exile of guilt

And their revelry will be no more……put their feet up

Part One – the picture in my head and a general moan.

My first memories of church on the cusp of the 1960s were going to Sunday School in the building next to the church and one day being told I was too old for the Sunday School and would go to the main church now. The daunting atmosphere made me turn round a few metres inside the door and walk out never to return. Part of that, I guess, is that my parents did not go to church, my father, an elder in the Church of Scotland, never felt comfortable in the Anglican church in England. So I put my hands up that I start from a fairly negative place.

My next church experience in the enlightened 1970s (as an argumentative atheist) at the age of 21 was having to attend church for special occasions with my class of ten- and eleven-year-olds in the North London Church of England Primary School where I got my first teaching job. (God definitely has a sense of humour!) Trying to keep them interested and, above all, quiet was quite a challenge so it did not improve my opinion about the church’s attitude to children, namely that they were definitely wanted to be seen, to be small adults and definitely not heard unless they were singing or reading.

Since then, the growth of Sunday morning sports clubs and the demise of organised religion in general has seen a huge drop in attendance by children and families. Much of life and news is captured in bite sized social media clips for both children and adults and the choice of church or a sporting activity and being with one’s teammates is not really a fair contest.

What does church have to offer children? That is not the same question as ‘what does being a Christian offer?’ which has a different answer entirely.

The large warehouse-based Pentecostal church on the nearby industrial estate offers an indoor skate park side room and ride on toys in the main auditorium for the little ones. The service is loud enough to drown out the noises and so for young parents it might seem a good choice. Other denominations have traditional Sunday School where they have enough children and the children may or may not join the main service at some point.

Over the years in our benefice churches, I have seen and experienced a variety of approaches and to say that I hold fairly strong opinions about some approaches is to understate my passionate for education and how we treat our youngsters. Here are a few examples I have experienced over the last 4 decades…. I am sure you have others that you can tell me about later….

The full high church experience: Children are encouraged to join the choir, robe and be acolytes, incense boat carriers etc and a room might be provided for parents to remove children who are not coping with the service. My suggestion, once upon a time was to make the Lady Chapel in one of our churches into a sound proof room with a screen and a loudspeaker broadcasting the service to any adults having to take children out would still be able to feel part of things…. Of course it was dismissed instantly but I like to put ideas out there!
Children go out for the first part of the service for a Sunday School experience and come back to sit with the leaders, or with their parents at the Peace and report on what they have been doing as part of the notices slot.
The traditional approach of making any children sit quietly in the main service because the feeling was that the discipline of this would inculcate a love of the liturgy. Sunday school provided mid Sunday afternoon.
Family services with and without communion where the attempt is to involve everyone – especially those with a shorter attention span. My favourites for these when we had lots of very small children was a bespoke service sitting in a circle in the Lady Chapel with the children trapped in the middle so they could not run off and became everyone’s responsibility.
Breakfast / café church where there was an activity table in a fairly prominent place where the children could participate in challenges related to the service theme and still be part of the whole service. (Some of these were eucharistic some not – the other advantage of these was that they were in the Crypt / church hall which was much cheaper to heat in the winter)
Occasional Children’s service (annual?) ….. written specifically for children, e.g. Christmas Eve service which is probably the best attended service in the Church calendar apart from the occasional large funeral which will, unsurprisingly, not involve kids.
The Hybrid….. a service aimed at adults but with a bit in it aimed at the children who are expected to sit quietly for the rest of the service. (Personally, I find this sort of ‘keep everyone happy by giving them a bit of what they might like’ service very difficult. More of this in a future post)
Messy Church – obviously aimed at children and totally different to the liturgical needs of most pew-dwellers.
Invitation services aimed at the uniformed and other organisations.. but you have to have something attractive to invite them to. Remembrance services are an interesting example where it might be the be experience in the church year for those people in church.

So roll forward to the early 1980s as a parent of very young children and the weekly battle to keep them amused in the pews – the rigmarole of choosing quiet toys and activities to take and the juggling of attention on them while trying to attend to the service. I really do not blame parents who give up and stay at home.

The attraction of dropping them off for football training, parkour, swimming, cricket or rugby is huge compared with the battle of pew pew-containment. Is it any wonder our churches are shrinking.

Now this is the point where I hope some Readers / readers will jump in and with exclamations about what happens in their church where it is all different and thriving and I would love to hear about how you do it, the demographic of your area etc.