Prayer for mission and unity

Following the recent vote in General Synod on ‘Women Bishops’ in November the Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt. Revd Stephen Cottrell is calling the Diocese of Chelmsford together for a Day of Prayer on Thursday 10 January 2013 for the Mission and Unity of God’s Church.

Bishop Stephen says, “There are important lessons to learn from what has happened and the first of these is trust. We must trust God; he loves his church and will lead us to find the right way forward. And we must trust each other, looking for ways to live together with our disagreement. Jesus prayed for unity so that the world may believe”.

Bishop Stephen invites the whole diocese to join together for this Day of Prayer; whether it is praying in the Cathedral, in our parishes, or at our places of work, the invitation is to stand together in prayerful solidarity.


Bishop Stephen says, “I hope many people will come to the Cathedral to pray, but of course many won’t be able to, and so I am also issuing a prayer, and asking everyone in the diocese to say it at least once on the day wherever they are”.

O Holy Trinity,
three persons but One God,
open our minds to know your will;
open our hearts to receive your peace;
open our hands to do your work;
give your church the unity which was Christ’s prayer;
help us live with conscientious difference;
forgive us when we gain the world and put our souls in danger.
You know what is good for us:
come by your Spirit and change us,
let your church reflect the beauty, diversity and
hospitality that we see in you,
lead us to a place of graceful concord:
a self-forgetful love,
a turning back to Christ:
for with your grace to help we can be one,
and in your strength can strive to serve and bless,
and by your will can see your kingdom come.
Use us to the full;
and when we are empty, fill us afresh.
We know you love your church,
help us to love each other.
Unite us in the effervescent joy of your declaring,
but not just us – we ask it so the world may believe.
And in these days of uncertainty, we ask it in the name of him
who is our foundation, our salvation and our end,
even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

At St John's Seven Kings we will be having two hours of prayer from 12 noon to 2.00pm. We will organise this time in half hour blocks with a variety of prayer styles and opportunities so people can come and go for as short or long a time as they can manage. We also intend going to the Eucharist that Bishop Stephen will celebrate at 7.30pm in St Margaret's Barking.

Other Deanery Eucharists and Prayer Gatherings in the Barking Episcopal Area include:

• Epping Forest Eucharist at Waltham Abbey 8.00 pm
• Harlow Prayer for the Deanery with Heart4Harlow at Harlow Town Centre St Paul 8.00 am
• Followed by Celtic Prayer for Mission and Unity at St Paul’s 9.00 am
• Eucharist at 12.00 pm and Compline at 7.30 pm – all at St Paul’s
• Havering Eucharist at Harold Wood St Peter 7.30 pm Bishop David presiding
• Newham Eucharist at Stratford St James 7.30 pm
• Ongar Prayer at Chipping Ongar St Martin including Morning Prayer 8.30 am & Evening Prayer 5.00 pm
• Eucharist Fyfield 12.00 midday
• Redbridge Eucharist at Ilford St Margaret 10.30 am
• Waltham Forest Prayer at Walthamstow St Mary 9.00 am [20 mins]
• Prayer at Walthamstow St Michael and All Angels 12.30 p.m. [20 mins]

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Mark Heard - Rise From The Ruins.

Treating the Bible like some vast jigsaw puzzle

Tom Wright wrote an article for the Times in the wake on the Synod decision on Women Bishops which was also posted on the Fulcrum website and aimed to nail the lie that 'people who “believe in the Bible” or who “take it literally” will oppose women’s ordination.' He wrote:

"All Christian ministry begins with the announcement that Jesus has been raised from the dead. And Jesus entrusted that task, first of all, not to Peter, James, or John, but to Mary Magdalene. Part of the point of the new creation launched at Easter was the transformation of roles and vocations: from Jews-only to worldwide, from monoglot to multilingual (think of Pentecost), and from male-only leadership to male and female together.

Within a few decades, Paul was sending greetings to friends including an “apostle” called Junia (Romans xvi, 7). He entrusted that letter to a “deacon” called Phoebe whose work was taking her to Rome. The letter-bearer would normally be the one to read it out to the recipients and explain its contents. The first expositor of Paul’s greatest letter was an ordained travelling businesswoman.

The resurrection of Jesus is the only Christian guide to the question of where history is going. Unlike the ambiguous “progress” of the Enlightenment, it is full of promise — especially the promise of transformed gender roles."

Among the comments made on the Fulcrum website about Wright's article is this: "The meaning of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 is clear - the only question is whether we choose to obey the instruction of the apostle who was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ to open the eyes of the nations and turn them from darkness to light (Acts 26: 17-18), a teacher of the nations in faith and truth (he speaks the truth in Christ and lies not) (1 Timothy 2: 7)."

Giles Fraser comments in The Guardian today that: 'Conservative religious people are generally locked in a self-referencing worldview where truth is about strict internal coherence rather than any reaching out to reality. That's why they treat the Bible like some vast jigsaw – its truth residing in a complex process of making the pieces fit together and not with the picture it creates.'

So, St Paul sent greetings to friends including an “apostle” called Junia and entrusted that letter to a “deacon” called Phoebe.  He clearly accepted women in his ministry teams and among the leadership of the churches with which he worked. Yet on other occasions and in different circumstances and contexts he made statements such as that in 1 Timothy 2. 11-12. 

To take the Bible seriously surely means to live with the tension of the different and sometimes contradictory statements and actions found within the Bible, both taken as a whole and in relation to its key protagonists instead of trying to 'treat the Bible like some vast jigsaw – its truth residing in a complex process of making the pieces fit together and not with the picture it creates.' To my mind that also includes taking context, both then and now, into account in seeking to understand what God was saying and doing, both then and now, and not simply insisting that particular statements originally made for particular contexts and times necessarily have literal validity for all times and contexts.

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Lone Justice - Don't Toss Us Away.

The 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not shoot thy self in thy foot

Allison Pearson's satire in this comment piece from The Telegraph is acute and deserved after Tuesday's Synod debate and vote:

"Like most woolly Anglicans, I assumed that, after an interminable period of reflection, the C of E would muddle its way to the right decision. For heaven’s sake, if Swaziland has a woman bishop, surely Suffolk should be allowed one? A great religion should not be in the business of causing disbelief. But that’s precisely what the Church of England did on Tuesday."

As a complete contrast, in that it is non-satirical and straight out sincere, try this post from 'The Year':

"I know it is not my responsibility to defend the Church of England and actually that’s pretty difficult right now anyway, but please don’t judge those within it by the decisions being made at the moment.

Be assured that those who are not looking forward, are in a minority in the church. Be assured that there are good, faithful, Priests out there who love their communities and their parishioners. Be assured that whilst it may seem otherwise, God is completely relevant in our society today. Perhaps more so now than ever before. Be assured that the church is full of people who love not hate. Be assured."

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Victoria Williams and Dave Pirner - My Ally.
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