Moving On

Yesterday I took my final assembly as a College Chaplain at St Edward's Church of England School and was given a wonderful send off by staff and students. This is what I said in the assembly:

I’m currently running the confirmation preparation course for our group of churches and in it we start off with the idea that life is a journey on which we can go together with God. The starting point for going on a journey through life with God is baptism and when people are baptised in church we use these three things – oil, light and water – to think about how we start out on the journey. The sign of the cross is made on our forehead to mark us as belonging to God, we are given a lighted candle symbolising the light of Christ that has come into our lives, and water is poured over us as a sign of dying to our old life and rising into a new life together with God.

These three symbols aren’t just for starting out on the journey, though, they are also about the way we can move on. Oil gets things moving again when they have got stuck, light is about seeing the way forward clearly, and water is about going with the flow of God’s Spirit.

This is the time of year when many of us – me included – are getting ready to move on in different ways; leaving day meant that some who had been here are no longer here while in the new academic year we will be a year further on with new and different challenges to face. In whatever way we may be moving on, these symbols of oil, light and water can help to remind that God goes with us on the journey.

Here is a meditation which reminds of their significance.

Oil …

bleeding

from the pressurised

crushed

and wounded

to

free us up

lubricate

our rusting

static lives

and

facilitate

our ever moving

onward

forward

Godward

Light …

revealing our past

lighting our future

shining like a lighthouse

in our storms

burning like a warning beacon

in our wars

warming like the sun

on our journeying

glowing like a fire

through gaps and cracks

in shattered, splintered lives

Water …

cleansing our grubbiness

reviving our tiredness

refreshing our thirstiness

nurturing our liveliness

babbling communication

rippling out our influences

May we -

baptised in water,

anointed by oil,

lit by the Spirit -

live and move freely

like a babbling brook

speaking life

to parched ground

leaping boulders and barriers

sparkling in the ever present

light of the Sun.

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St Edward's School - Cardboard Testimonies.

Leaver's Assembly: Talk and Blessing

This is the talk and blessing that I gave today at the leaver's assembly for Year 11 at St Edward's Church of England School:

Proverbs 3:1-5: My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do. My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life. Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them around your neck; write them on your heart. If you do this, both God and people will be pleased with you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.

John 14:12: I am telling you the truth: those who believe in me will do what I do—yes, they will do even greater things, because I am going to the Father.

John 16:13-14: When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of what he hears and will tell you of things to come. He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you. 

Jesus said many amazing things that people still repeat regardless of whether they follow him or not. But the words we have just listened to must be among the most amazing because Jesus says that those who follow him will do greater things than him and will be led into all truth. When you think how amazing Jesus’ own actions were, it is hard to imagine how people like us could do greater things than that, and, when you think how profound his teaching was, how could we be led into deeper or greater truth than that?

But Jesus was articulating something that all good teachers think and feel; the sense that all the time he had spent with them and invested in them was not so they would be clones of him, simply repeating the things he did and said, but instead he had equipped, empowered and enabled his followers to follow him by using their own gifts and abilities and initiative which would inevitably mean that they would do and say different things from him but still with his Spirit and based on all they had learnt from him.

He was saying that each one of us is a unique combination of personality, abilities and potential and, therefore, each of us can make a unique mark on the world. His followers can do greater things than Jesus because they will do different things from him in his name and Spirit – things that only they can do for him because they are that unique package of personality, ability and potential.

That is also what your teachers here wish for you. That you will use what you have learnt here and the abilities you have developed here to make your own mark on the world and to continue learning, particularly about the meaning of life itself.

What that mark will be we can’t predict, although you hopefully have plans in place for the next stage in your learning, growth and development. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that making your mark on the world and doing great things means becoming famous or making pots of money. Many of the most significant things that people do in the course of their lives don’t make the headlines and don’t build our bank balances! For example, forming faithful, committed relationships is one of the most challenging but meaningful things we can do in life but that won’t feature in the press and media or usually impact on our bank balance. Many of you, later in life, are likely to become parents and will know the joys and struggles of supporting your own children in their development and growth. That is one of the most significant things we can do over the course of our lives; something that is both extraordinary and profoundly ordinary at one and the same time.

Leaving secondary education though is the point at which your choices and decisions about the future begin to come into play and begin to be followed through. Our prayer for you therefore is what Jesus prayed for his disciples that you will go on to do greater things than your teachers by making your unique mark on the world and that you will go ever deeper into truth by continuing learn throughout your life.

Let us pray for God’s blessing on your leaving, your doing, and your learning:

We thank you, Lord, for each one of these your people - for their unique combination of personality, abilities and potential, for all they have learnt while here and for all the friendships they have formed. We pray for your blessing on them as they leave this place and for you to be with them in revision, exams, results and future plans. We pray for your guidance as they seek to make their mark on the world by using all they have learnt here together with their unique combination of personality, abilities and potential. We pray that they might do great things, things that we cannot do and cannot yet predict. We pray for them the blessing of committed, sustained friendships and relationships and the blessing of ongoing, lifelong learning. Most of all we pray that the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit will rest upon and remain with each one of you now and forever. Amen.  

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 The Bluebells with Bobby Valentino - Young At Heart. 

Everyone, everything, everywhere

God has a plan for all people. One where everyone, whatever their job or role in life, has meaning and purpose. Vocation is not just about church employees or priests, but about everyone, doing everything, everywhere. From those at school to the retired, whatever your age or stage, God has a place for you in his story and this day is for you!

The 2012 Vocations Day is for everyone in the Barking Episcopal Area, including those considering a call to authorised ministry in the Church of England. With inspiration and encouragement, practical insights and stories, everyone will better see their part of God’s bigger picture. There will be seminars to explore where God is in your current role. Whether you are in business, health, education or retail, from bin men or bankers all are welcome, because ‘whatever you are doing…do it for the Lord’ (Colossians 3:23).

Saturday 21st April, 9.30am - 4.00pm, St Edwards School and 6th Form College, Romford. For further information about Vocations Day 2012 please contact Justin McKenzie Tel: 020 8539 8437 justinboro@btinternet.com.

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M Ward - The First Time I Ran Away.

RE Lesson: Justice

Yesterday I taught the following to a Year 7 RE class at Seven Kings High School. Tomorrow, I'll be repeating the lesson with another Year 7 class.

Jesus told stories to challenge those listening to him. He wanted them to think outside the box particularly when thinking about issues of justice. This is one of the stories he told – Luke 10. 30 - 35. What do you think his story is about?

To fully understand the story we need to see where it comes in the Bible. This is what comes before and after the story – Luke 10. 25 – 29, 36 & 37. How do you think the story answers the question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’

It will also help us understand the story even better if we know something of what the society of Jesus’ day was like. The relationship between the Jews and Samaritans was very similar to the relationship between Jews and Arabs today, or to any relationship marked by strong racial or cultural prejudice. The Jews at the time considered Samaritans as social outcasts, untouchables, racially inferior, practicing a false religion. They avoided any association with Samaritans, travelling long distances out of their way to avoid passing through a Samaritan area. Any close physical contact, drinking water from a common bucket, eating a meal with a Samaritan, would make a Jew ceremonially unclean - unable to participate in temple worship for a period of time – this may be why the priest and Levite don’t stop to help. The Samaritans responded quite naturally to all this with strong dislike or hatred for Jews.

So, knowing that Jesus is telling this story to Jews, in his time, who hate Samaritans, what is he trying to teach them? Who is the neighbour of the Jewish man in the story? Who helps who in the story? Why is the story about receiving help as well as giving it?

Now that we have worked out what the story is about and what Jesus was wanting people to think about and learn through the story, what do you think the story means Christians should do today about racial injustice? Crime? Neighbourliness?

In a recent assembly on racism at St Edward’s Church of England School I said, ‘Jesus taught that all people should love one another as He loves us and that all people, regardless of race or skin colour, are created in the likeness of God. In Genesis 1. 26 – 27 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth... God said, 'Let us make Man in our own image and likeness ...’ So God made Man in his own image and likeness, male and female He created them.”  This means that there is no reason for racial prejudice, or prejudice of any kind. Because we are all created by God in his image, Christians believe that we are all children of God and life is much better when we share what each race has to give - music, clothes, food, beliefs, skills etc.’

The churches in East London have tried to live this out in practical ways. For example, at the time of the last General and Local Elections, the British National Party (the BNP) had 11 councillors in Barking & Dagenham and was expecting to gain more so that it would become the biggest party on the Council and was also expecting its leader, Nick Griffin, to be elected as the MP for Barking.

The BNP is a far-right political party but one that is rooted in racist and fascist thinking. As Christians we viewed its message as being one of hate because, for example, the BNP believes that white people are genetically superior to black people and that black and Asian people can never be British, even if they were born here. Therefore we decided we had to act to encourage people in the faith communities, including the churches, to vote and to vote for any party except the BNP.

We worked with a national campaign called Hope Not Hate helping to fund a faiths worker who went to all faith groups in the borough explaining why this was such an important issue and encouraging them to vote to stop the BNP from winning. We also leafleted in the borough, organised publicity for the campaign, and held a gospel concert to promote the campaign.

And the great thing is that we won. This is how Hope Not Hate reported the outcome:

"It's official: the BNP suffered a humiliating defeat in yesterday's election. Not only did the BNP fail to elect Nick Griffin or Simon Darby to Parliament, they also failed to take any council seats in Barking & Dagenham and Stoke-on-Trent. The BNP is divided and defeated - and it's all thanks to you ... this ... victory ... belongs to all of us who stood for hope, not hate."

So we’ve looked at some of the things that it is important for Christians to remember as we read stories in the Bible and think about their meaning for us today. We’ve also looked at some ways in which we try to apply to teachings we find in the Bible to issues of justice today.

What I’d like you to do next is to try this for yourselves. I’ve got a different story from the Bible for you and I’d like you to read it and think about the three ways of thinking about stories that we used earlier: 

• What is the story about?
• Where does it come in the Bible? and
• What do I need to know about society at the time in order to understand the story?

I’d like us to read it and talk about it in small groups. When you think you need some extra information, please ask me. Here is the story – John 8. 1 – 11:

“Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"

"No one, Master."

"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

[The Law of Moses is the whole collection of written laws given through Moses to the people of Israel, which consist of many ceremonies, rituals, and symbols, to remind the people frequently of their duties and responsibilities. The Pharisees were a particular group in Jewish society with their own specific interpretation of the Law of Moses for which they claimed Mosaic authority. They are presented in the New Testament as being in regular debate and dispute with Jesus. Jesus seemed to think that the Law of Moses was being used to condemn and exclude people from the worship of God in the Temple when it was intended to draw people to God. He also seemed to think that obeying the detail of religious observances could prevent people from giving much needed help to those in difficulty – this is why the priest and Levite are criticised in the story of the Good Samaritan.]

What do you think this story has to say about the way Christians should think about justice and injustice? Why do you think that, based on this story?

In these two stories – one told by Jesus and one about him – we see him saying that we are all the same, whatever our race, colour, religion, class etc. - in two important aspects: first, we are all neighbours and as a result should give and receive love from one another; second, we are all sinners – those who fail to be perfect like God is perfect – and therefore we should bear with, understand and forgive each others faults and failings while encouraging each other to live differently in future.

On the basis of the kind of actions, stories and teachings of Jesus that we have thought about today, Christians have got involved in approaches to justice like that involved in restorative justice.

Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. Restorative justice aims to create opportunities for victims, offenders and community members who want to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its aftermath. It expects offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused. It seeks to restore victims and offenders to being whole contributing members of society and it provides opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.

Restorative justice has three principles which seem to fit with what we have seen of Jesus’ example and teaching today: 

• Justice requires that we work to restore those who have been injured.
• Those most directly involved and affected by crime should have the opportunity to participate fully in the response if they wish.
• Government's role is to preserve a just public order, and the community's is to build and maintain a just peace.

In restorative justice programmes the victim and offender encounter one another.  This might be done directly in a meeting between the two (and perhaps others as well) with a facilitator assisting them but can also be done indirectly through exchange of letters, videos and by messages delivered by a third party. Stories of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation forcefully remind us of the relational wounds caused by crime and the need to address those. 

Restorative justice seeks to repair the harm done by crime. Whenever possible this repair should be done by the persons responsible for the harm. That is why restorative justice values efforts by offenders to make amends. There are four elements of making amends: apology, changed behaviour, restitution, and generosity. Each element has potential for helping the victim to heal and the offender to become a productive part of the community, although usually more than one will be involved in a restorative outcome. It is the victim and offender who decide which ones are important and feasible in particular cases. That is why restorative encounters are important.

Crime causes injuries.  It also can result in both the victim and offender feeling stigmatized.  Therefore, restorative justice places a high value on the reintegration of the victim and of the offender. The goal is to have them become whole, contributing members of their communities. Reintegration occurs when the victim or offender can become active and productive parts of their communities. To accomplish this, victims and offenders must find communities with the following characteristics: (1) mutual respect for those in the community, (2) mutual commitment to others in the community, and (3) intolerance for - but understanding of - deviant behaviour by members of the community. 

Restorative justice processes are also more inclusive than traditional criminal justice processes in that they actively invite all affected parties - victims, offenders, and community members - to participate in resolving the crime.

An example of these approaches in practice is Sycamore Tree, which:

• is a six session programme, run in prisons, focusing on raising victim awareness, and based on the principles of restorative justice;
• challenges attitudes and behaviour by teaching and encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their actions towards victims and the community – to recognise the wrong they have done, the impact it has had on others, and the need to put things right;
• enables offenders to hear from ‘surrogate victims’ about their experiences of crime; and to reflect on the impact and harm caused, and the need for apology and reparation;
• uses the story of Zacchaeus from the Bible as a framework;
• is run at the invitation of Prison Service Chaplaincy, by trained Prison Fellowship staff and with volunteers from all Christian denominations, who through prayer, practical action and values based programmes, seek to restore those affected by crime; and
• has been run more than 330 times since 1999, involving four thousand prisoners in more than 25% of all prisons.

 “Sycamore Tree made me realise the pain I caused to my victim, the families and myself. I wanted to take responsibility for what I had done.” A young offender

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Julie and Buddy Miller - Broken Things.

Assembly on racism

This is the assembly I gave on Friday at St Edwards Church of England School and Sixth Form College which is adapted from resources at the Collective Worship resource from the Culham Institute:

Liverpool striker Luis Suares has been found guilty by the FA of racially abusing his opponent, Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, and has been given an 8 match ban as a result. He argued in his defence that the word he used isn’t a term of abuse in his culture but his defence of what he did and Liverpool’s support of him seem to have led to a Liverpool fan racially abusing Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi in another recent match. That fan has been arrested by the Police and faces the possibility of a lifetime’s ban from Anfield, Liverpool’s home ground.

Sometimes people argue that it doesn’t matter what people say to each other; that, for example, everyone should be able to think and say what they like and people shouldn’t be punished for shouting abuse at a person because he had a different skin colour. But what we say to each other does matter and does have an effect. Signs around the ground at Anfield make it clear that Liverpool FC should be opposed to racial abuse in their ground but because they seem to have tolerated it on the pitch it then seems to have spread to the stands as well. Therefore, Liverpool FC need to find a way to make it clear that foul language, violence and racism are not acceptable at Anfield; on the pitch and in the ground.      

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to oppose racial intolerance in his own time. Here is the story he told: Luke 10: 25-37. Jews and Samaritans hated one another in Jesus' time as they were different races with different religions but in Jesus' story it is the Samaritan who is the hero and who helps the one who is his enemy. Jesus taught that we are neighbours not enemies and that we should both give to and receive from those who are in some way different from us.

Nearly 19 years ago Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed by a gang of white boys while he was waiting at a bus stop. Stephen was killed for no other reason than that he was black. It was a purely racist killing. It is a sad fact, but for thousands of years people have been persecuted, abused and killed because of the colour of their skin, or for their race, and it still goes on today.

Yet we are really all the same under our skin. In Genesis 1. 26 -28 we read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth... God said, 'Let us make Man in our own image and likeness... So God made Man in his own image and likeness, male and female He created them.”  This means that there is no reason for racial prejudice, or prejudice of any kind. Because we are all created by God in his image, Christians believe that we are all children of God and life is much better when we share what each race has to give - music, clothes, food, beliefs, skills.

For the whole of the 19 years since Stephen's death his parents have campaigned for justice for their son's killing. When she came out of the Old Bailey, Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother said that she would not let her life be ruled by her hatred of the people responsible for Stephen's death. Doreen set up the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust a few years ago to provide financial help for young people from ethnic minorities to achieve their educational ambitions. She has called these young people her 'beacons of shining light,’ showing the world what can be achieved when prejudice is put to one side. She says that if Stephen were alive 'he would be proud of them too'. She says, 'I think he'd be surprised at all the positive changes that have taken place in his name.'

When Stephen's mother returned home from the Old Bailey, she lit a candle in his memory. As we light a candle, let us remember Stephen and all those who have been victims of racial hatred. Let us ask God to give us grace to live our lives fairly and without prejudice.

Father, thank you for the amazing variety of people in your world. Help us to learn to value each other and not to fear. Give comfort to those who are hurt by racism. Make us strong to fight racism wherever we meet it in whatever ways we can and help us to understand that you are on our side. In Jesus' name we ask this. Amen.

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Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again.

The ravaged body of Christ in the context of the AIDS crisis

Today I took an assembly at St Edward's Church of England School and Sixth Form College on the theme of yesterday's World Aids Day:

Marcus Reichert's Crucifixions have been described as being among the most disturbing painted in the 20th century. One critic said of them, 'The image of an isolated human being in the process of being annihilated by the world and his own anxiety is one that speaks to every person.’

They were painted by Reichert after a friend had died from Aids and they were first exhibited as a group as part of a touring exhibition to benefit AIDS services in the American South. Reichert said, ‘The Jesus I painted didn't have AIDS … [but] it wasn't altogether a coincidence that this ravaged body of Christ would be there in the context of the AIDS crisis.’ To understand why that may be, it is helpful to think about another painting.
   

This is the crucifixion by Matthais Grunewald, part of the many-panelled Isenheim Altarpiece, which was commissioned for the Antonite monastery at Isenheim and was intended to give support to patients in the monastic hospital. Christ appears hideous, his skin swollen and torn as a result of the flagellation and torture that He endured. Because he worked in the hospital, Grunewald based his image of suffering on the patients whose torments he witnessed. These were mostly sufferers from skin diseases, which were common at the time.

So this was a powerful image in this hospital where those suffering from skin complaints could see God entering into the same suffering that they themselves were experiencing. And that is the central meaning of the crucifixion; that God comes into the suffering and sinfulness of the world taking it onto himself so that we can be set free from suffering and sin.

As Christians, we are called to love others in the same way. Yet some churches have been unwilling to become involved in work with those affected by HIV and AIDS. Usually this is because HIV is wrongly viewed as punishment from God on individual people who engage in ungodly behaviour. In some places, people who are known to be living with HIV are not welcome in churches. However, as we have seen, Jesus came to save sinners – like us. We must show grace, love and compassion to all people with the hope that they will become open to being transformed by Jesus. Churches should be doing something positive to respond to HIV and AIDS in the light of Jesus’ commandment to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself ’ (Luke 10:27).

More than 34 million people in the world have HIV; over 22 million live in Africa. The global HIV epidemic is most keenly felt in the poorest countries of the world. 90% of new HIV infections happen in poor countries, and 7,500 people die each day as a result of HIV and related illnesses. The disease is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa with approximately 3,600 people dying every day from AIDS.

Churches and Christians are among those tackling this situation and making a difference. For example, Tearfund partner Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) trains church volunteers to train family members in Zimbabwe to care for sick relatives. One-to-one meetings were first held with church leaders to win their support. Once the pastors had been envisioned they invited FACT staff to speak at church services, fellowship group meetings and introduce activities on HIV and AIDS in church youth group meetings. Once awareness had been raised, invitations were sent to churches to recruit volunteers for training. Within one year 125 volunteers had received training. The home care project, which used to reach 5% of those who needed home care support, now reaches 24%.

Let us pray: Loving and caring God, thank you, for You call us to love and serve Your people and you call those who care for victims of HIV/AIDS to be healing hands in Your hurting world. You send them to show compassion, to suffer with those who suffer. Day and night they labour to comfort Your people, often neglecting their own health and families in the HIV/AIDS struggle. Forgive us when we deal lightly with the wounds of Your people. Forgive our silence. Forgive our complicity. In Your mercy forgive our condemnation of people living with HIV/AIDS. May we demand drugs for the sick. May we demand care for the abandoned. May we denounce wastefulness by the affluent. Make us instruments of Your peace. Make us agents of Your transformation. Amen.

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Elton John - Song for Guy.

Free us, Lord, from our addictions

This was my assembly on addiction, given yesterday as chaplain of Venus College at St Edward's Church of England School and Sixth Form College:

Think of something that you really like and that makes you feel good. It can be anything you like; something you do, something you watch or listen to, something you eat, someone you like to be with.

Now think about the feeling that you get and how it makes you feel.

Imagine not simply enjoying that feeling but beginning to crave it; so that, rather than being something great when you happen to experience it, you start to want to have that same feeling more and more frequently.

Imagine now that you begin wake up craving that feeling so that you have to satisfy your craving that day.

Imagine that the craving is so strong that you will lie, steal, cheat, hurt, and maybe even kill to ensure you get that feeling that day.

What began as something good has become something ugly. What began as something you were free to enjoy has become something which controls everything about you. What began as something that enhanced your life has begun to destroy it.

That is how addiction works. We are most familiar with talk of addiction in terms of alcohol, drugs or smoking but we can actually become addicted to all sorts of things and addiction has taken hold when we can no longer cope without the thing to which we have become addicted. 

Earlier in the week I watched an interview with the shock rocker Alice Cooper; someone who has had a well-publicized battle with addiction, often consuming an entire bottle of whiskey each day. He has said, “Nobody ever sees the alcoholism coming. It’s one of those things that broadsides you. There’s never a place where the drug or the alcohol says, oh, by the way, it’s time to stop now. It just keeps going until your body tells you, ‘If you don’t stop you’re going to die.’ I never met anybody who was an alcoholic or a drug addict that ever walked out of it going, ‘Yeah, what a good idea that was.’ For me it was never a great idea.’”

Cooper has said that divine intervention is what broke his drinking habit in the mid-1980s. "I honestly think I was simply and completely healed. I guess you can call it a miracle. It's the only way I can explain it. It was absolutely eliminated from my life." He once told the Sunday Times, "Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call."


So how can Christianity help when it comes to addiction. First, the Bible commends moderation to us. “Moderation is better than muscle, self-control better than political power.” (Proverbs 16. 32) We need to be clear that the Bible doesn’t try to ban the good things in life, but does say don’t allow those things to control by becoming addictions. The way to do that is to enjoy things in moderation. The second thing it encourages us to do is to put God first. “Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5. 18) If we put God at the centre of our lives then everything else will find its proper place and won’t be addictive or controlling.


So, with those thoughts in mind, let us pray:


Lord Jesus, You said, "I have come to set the captives free." We are captive and need Your healing touch. Free us, Lord, from our addictions, so that we will be:
... free from the cares and worries that stifle our happiness;
... free from sins that cling to us, and to which we cling;
... free from all compulsive behaviour that prevents us from becoming what You, Lord, have planned for us.
Bring us, loving Saviour, to the experience of abundant life which You promised. Amen.


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Alice Cooper - Poison.

Servant leadership

This was my sermon for St Edward's Day at St Edward's Church of England School and Sixth Form College on Tuesday:

Thirty years ago Judy Acheson was a Sunday School teacher at St John’s Seven Kings, the church where I work now. While at St John’s, she felt called to serve God in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She went to the Congo in 1980 with the Church Mission Society (CMS) to be a nursery nurse, but, as the children she cared for grew, she carried on caring for them, eventually training and handing over responsibility to local leaders. “When I was first simply doing Sunday school work, I trained someone to take over … I always felt that we were there in a country to share the experience we had and enable people to carry it on."

The recent history of violence in the DRC is legendary. There is a legacy of 30 years of a both brutal and incompetent dictatorship, followed by one of the worst civil wars in post colonial Africa. Almost every participating force has been guilty of massacres and rapes. And the north-east region, where Judy was originally, was described by Human Rights Watch as "the bloodiest corner of Congo".

Judy could have left the country during the civil war but chose to stay and develop pioneering youth work. She says, “it was always my philosophy to empower the young people to do the work.” Bisoke Balikenga was one of her original youth team members. “You could see his leadership potential. People would listen to him and do what he asked. When we had visitors he looked after them.” Seeing his potential, CMS gave him and his wife a scholarship to study at Daystar University in Nairobi, then he took over the diocesan youth work Judy had begun, so she could start youth work nationally. Now that she is about to retire, he has taken over the national youth work as well.

The youth department they set up, called Agape Mahagi, visited young men who joined the tribal militias during the civil war to persuade them to leave the militias, runs rehabilitation centres for young women raped and traumatised during the civil war, and, now the war is over, runs seminars to reconcile those who fought against each other during the war. When the Archbishop of Canterbury visited in July of this year, a group of about 50 former militia members spoke about how the Church, in the form of Agape, never forgot them. One by one, they gave their testimony. "We were taught to repay bad for bad," one said, "but the people from the church came to visit me." One after another they spoke about how, thanks to Agape's seminars and con­ferences on peace, they retuned to God and their families, rediscover­ing the love of Jesus. Many of them were now at college or university, slowly putting their trauma behind them.

Throughout these years Agape was been training young people to think for themselves, to have, give and express their own opinions, and make their own decisions. God began to show Judy, Bisoke and others that he is going to bring mighty changes within the country and has chosen to use children and young people as a means of doing so. This led them to write a manual for young people, Young people, with God, let us rebuild our beautiful country. With Government support this book is being used by thousands of teenagers and young adults in schools and in youth groups with the result that they are learning to make their own decisions and become aware of their role and their responsibility towards their own country.

In our Gospel reading we heard Jesus say to his disciples, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

St Edward the Confessor is an example of that kind of leader. When Pope Benedict spoke about St Edward at Westminster Abbey last year, he described him as 'a model of Christian witness, of fidelity, of humility and obedience, grounded in the example of our Saviour'. There was something in the life of Edward, as King of England, that was regarded as out of the ordinary. He was a man who exercised gentleness and prudence in high office, whose reign between 1042 and 1066 was one of almost unbroken peace. He had a great devotion to the Church, including having Westminster Abbey built. He was humble, and opted for a certain simplicity of life, manifested by his manner of dress we're told, and who was generous, having a special love and care for the poor and afflicted.

One story told about him comes from his particular devotion to the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist. He had made a promise never to refuse alms asked in the name of the latter. One day when he had no money with him, a poor man reached out his hand in the name of St John the Evangelist and the king gave him a valuable ring. Some time later, Saint John appeared to two pilgrims returning from the Holy Land. He gave them a ring and said: “Take it to the king. He gave it to me one day when I asked for alms in the habit of a pilgrim. Tell him that in six months I will visit him and take him with me, to follow the unblemished Lamb.” The King received it from them after hearing their relation of this incident, and broke into tears. According to the story this was six months before Edward died on January 5, 1066.

Edward is a past example of a leader who put Jesus’ words into practice. Judy and Bisoke give us contemporary examples of leaders doing just the same and by doing so having a massive impact on their country. Their story is particularly inspiring because they are clearly ordinary people just like us. If they can do it, so can we. Their story is doubly inspiring because it is about encouraging, equipping and enabling young people to become the kind of leaders about which Jesus spoke; those who come not to be served but to serve, and to give their lives for others.


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Interestingly, after the Service, one of the teachers at the School told me that, as a child, she had been in Judy's Sunday School class at St John's Seven Kings. Judy will be speaking at St John's on 27th November at 10.00am.

The latest news we have comes from both Bisoke and Judy. Bisoke wrote to say, "We greet all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are well in Congo but we are approaching the election in our country please pray for it, we will start voting from 28th of November. Also pray for Judy Acheson because for the moment she is in the Diocese of Boga where she has started her work, and we are going to visit all the Archdeaconry to say goodbye before the 16th of October when she will say goodbye to many people here in Bunia.”

“We are doing well but have a lot to do, please continue to pray for our work because we have a lot of needs for our work to be done. We were in Goma for a workshop and Judy Acheson was with us. While there she said goodbye to our staff. In June we had a ladies workshop in Butembo which helped those who lead the ladies in the parishes and dioceses to manage their groups well. Also in June the Archbishop of Canterbury visited our country and he went up to Boga. The British Ambassador was also here in Bunia to welcome the Archbishop. The Archbishop had his first meeting with the youth which encouraged our young people. Praise the Lord.”

“I would like to inform you that I will be ordained full priest on 9 October. It is amazing because most of us who will be ordained on this date are from the Youth Ministry. It also makes us proud to know that most of us including the Bishop of Boga diocese are the fruits of the work of CMS mission partner Judy Acheson. Praise the Lord! Keep praying for that day and for us who are so eager for this to happen. Pray also for the upcoming general elections in Congo. We need Jehovah Shalom to dwell amongst us during this period.”

He then wrote saying, "Thanks alot for your prayers because my ordination went so well , and many people came to celebrate it with us. It is the first ordination where we had many of the people who become Pastors are from the Youth Ministry Agape. Praise the Lord. Judy was so happy to see her people become Priest and among us one of us is a lady, and that lady is the first lady to be ordained in the Diocese of Boga, and the lady is from the Youth Ministry. Praise the Lord.

Tomorrow Judy with some people is visiting the Parish of Mafifi , Komanda , Sota , Tekele , and Nyankunde . We will come in Bunia on thursday and friday we will go to Kasenyi. The purpose of her visit is to say bye to the people who she worked together for 31 years in Congo."

Judy has also written to say she has now finished her work at Mahagi and has moved to Bunia. She reported that the handover at Mahagi went really well. There is much to be thankful for at Mahagi, including guttering for rainwater harvesting and a new generator. “But the best thing has been our morning bible studies which God has used to talk to each person. We have seen such changes, a growth in faith, love for each other and understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ. Please pray that these studies continue.” Please join with Judy in this prayer.

Judy also writes, “Only just over two weeks before I leave so much to be done and visits made.  But praise God everything is going smoothly.  We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving/farewell service on 16th October.  Please pray for Bisoke and Bishop Willy as they arrange this and that it will bring much glory to the Lord.”


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Neal Morse - The Land Of Beginning Again.

Patronal Festival 2010

We are once again having an enjoyable and stimulating Patronal Festival at St John's Seven Kings. Our Celebration of Christian Poetry on Friday and our Sixties Night yesterday evening were greatly appreciated as the photos above show. This morning we heard from Revd. Alan Perry, Head Teacher at St Edward's Church of England School, who spoke compellingly about the theology of John's Gospel ending with a story about God's patience in accepting the level of commitment we are able to give while also challenging us to give more of ourselves to him.

What follows is my Patronal Festival sermon for our early morning Eucharist and this evening's Sung Evensong:    

The film Made in Dagenham was released this weekend and it includes a famous scene which happened in the real life story of the 187 women machinists from Fords in Dagenham who campaigned for equal pay and whose story is told in the film which stars Miranda Richardson and Bob Hoskins. On one occasion they endured jeers when, on a picket line in 1968, a photographer snapped one of their banners declaring "We Want Sexual Equality" partly unfurled, so that it read "We Want Sex".

That was a classic example of miscommunication, of an incident in which a message was conveyed which was the reverse of that intended. When we come to the writings of John the Evangelist in the Bible there can be a similar issue of miscommunication.

The helpful little introduction to the first letter of John in the Good News translation of the Bible says that its writer was warning those who read this letter against following false teaching which “was based on the belief that evil results from contact with the physical world, and so Jesus, the Son of God, could not really have been a human being.” Such “teachers claimed that to be saved was to be set free from concern with life in this world” yet when we read this letter and the Gospel of John it is easy to come away with precisely the same idea that he was actually warning against when we read statements like:

• “God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him”;
• “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness”;
• “My kingdom does not belong to this world”;
• “I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you”;
• “every child of God is able to defeat the world”;
• “Who can defeat the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”.

It is easy to hear such words and to think that the writer is saying that world, and contact with the world, is bad so in order to overcome the world we must be separate from it and have nothing to do with it. That way of thinking has been a feature of Church life and is encapsulated in the song:

“This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”

I can remember listening to Jim Reeves singing that when I was young on a LP that my parents owned. When Christians have thought like that about the world then they have seen no point in caring for or transforming the world because they think they are going to be leaving it behind altogether very shortly. It’s from seeing the effects of that way of thinking that we get the phrase, ‘he or she is so heavenly minded that they’re of no earthly use.’

Thinking like that is precisely what St John the Evangelist was trying to oppose, however. The confusion comes with the oppositions that we find continually in his writings between: ‘up and down’; ‘heaven and world’; and ‘light and dark’. What he means by these, however, is not what we automatically expect.

Stephen Verney, the former Bishop of Repton, writes that, when John is using these words, he is “describing two orders.”The order or way of life that is described as ‘down’, ‘world’ and ‘dark’ has its “ruling principle” as “the dictator ME, my ego-centric ego”, and “the pattern of society is people competing with, manipulating and trying to control each other.” By contrast, the order or way of life that is ‘up’, ‘heaven’ and ‘light’ has “the Spirit of Love” as its ruling principle and its “pattern of society is one of compassion – people giving to each other what they really are, and accepting what others are, recognizing their differences, and sharing their vulnerabilities.”

What John is writing about are two different ways of living life here on earth and not a separation between heaven and earth. When we know John’s writings well, we realise that this must be the case because he is so focussed on Jesus as both God and human being. In him, the heavenly and human are not separate but joined together and made one. That is what the incarnation of Jesus is all about:

“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.”

This is not just an academic or theoretical belief for us to state each time we say the creed, however. Instead it is vital to our future as human beings. Stephen Verney writes that our survival depends on it because “we can see in our world order the horrific consequences of our ego-centricity”:

“We have projected it into our institutions, where it has swollen up into a positive force of evil. Human beings have set up torture camps where they torture each other for pleasure. We are all imprisoned together, in a system of competing nation states, on the edge of a catastrophe which could destroy all life on our planet.”

“The most urgent question, confronting each of us personally and humankind as a whole,” he writes, “is how these two orders can be reconciled.”

John’s writings contain the answer and the answer is Jesus who holds both together in himself. When we are in him, we too can become places where the earthly and the heavenly meet.

Sylvia Maddox has written that the Celtic tradition contains the idea that places which give us an opening into the magnificence and wonder of God’s presence are called “Thin Places.” There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God. A contemporary poet Sharlande Sledge gives this description.

“Thin places,” the Celts call this space,
Both seen and unseen,
Where the door between the world
And the next is cracked open for a moment
And the light is not all on the other side.
God shaped space. Holy.”

As we are in Christ and become more like Christ we can become ‘thin people’, not in the sense of being size-zero models, but by being those in whom the earthly and the heavenly are combined.

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The Script - Science and Faith.