Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

I spent Saturday at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral for my second quiet day on the run, last week being at Pennant Malangell.

Our day was split up into times of teaching and times of quite. Two of the quite times where meditative walks. The third walk was on my way from the Cathedral into Liverpool City Centre.

The first walk was a guided meditation round the Cathedral itself looking at some of the features and thinking how they may relate to God. There were hundreds of tourist in every nook and cranny of that large building but what struck me we the way in which all visitors are forbidden to get neat to the high altar. Now I know this is normal for most churches that are open to the public and I understand the reason why, but at that moment the image seemed to be a metaphor  for much more – it was if we were saying to people “this is as far as you are coming to God and no further.”

The day was warm and sunny and yet in the Cathedral it was cool and dark. As I looked at the towering thick walls I couldn’t help but think that what we had created was a mausoleum for God – a place where he could dwell safe from the evils of the outside, being protected by the thick, fortress-like walls.

My second walk  could not have been a bigger contrast. This time I walked in St. James’ Garden, a one time burial ground for the rich and important of Liverpool. Here the sun shone, the birds sang and the wild-flowers bloomed. People were walking about or sitting enjoying the day and suddenly I realised that this place of death was in fact a place of life. It seemed here God was near in a way that he had been missing from the inside.

The final walk was into town and on into the main shopping area. Recession of not people were scurrying here and there with shopping bags or sitting outside the multitude of bars that now grace our town. In the main pedestrian walk a solitary man stud with his placard inviting people to repent. In his hand was a bunch of tracts which nobody took.  Where as God in this situation?

The truth is God was there in all of my walks, what changed was my perception of his presence.  The question is: how how do we get others to perceive the presence of God in whatever path he may choose them to walk. 

St. Mary de Crypt, Gloucester

Last Week Gill and I decided to take a short break in Gloucestershire. On the Friday we visited Gloucester itself and, like dutiful tourists, we visited the Cathedral. Now Gloucester Cathedral is a grand mix of Norman and Gothic architecture,the burial place of kings and has its marvellous monastic cloisters still intact: they are so good they have become part of Hogwarts! However, as we so often find, it is not these grand places that tend to speak to me but those which are smaller and which we often stumble on more by accident than design. One such place was St Mary de Crypt right in the middle of  what is now the main shopping area of the City.

We were fortunate to find St Mary’s open as like many City Centre Churches it is struggling to survive. Built on a more ancient site the present church dates from the 15^th Century and is typical of many built in that period. But the Church is not just buildings – it is people and here St Mary’s has some claim to fame. It was at St Mary’s that George Whitefield  preached his first sermon after he was ordained and the pulpit he used is still in used today. Whitefield’s name along with that of John Wesley has become synonymous with  the 18^th Century Evangelical Revival which undoubtedly changed the course of English history. Whitefield, like so many great men was banned by the Church of England from preaching in its pulpits and so preached in the open air. The same year that Whitefield preached his first sermon a child was baptised at St Mary’s and later attended its Grammar School – that child was Robert Raikes.

Many people credit Raikes as being the founder of the Sunday School movement. Now when we say Sunday School we should not think of what we have today, these were much different. They were designed to give poorer children, many of whom worked long hours in factories and fields, the chance to learn the Three R’s. In an age when educations was only for those with money, this was revolutionary. – Not a bad heritage to have as a church. -but back to our short break.

On the Saturday we visited Cheltenham. Travelling in by bus from the Park and Ride we were deposited outside of some very expensive shops. As we walked along we moved from the expensive into what I would call the ‘everyday’ – shops we would find in most town centres. Further walking brought us into a word of charity and pound shops. One end of the town could not be more different from the other.

We then moved on to Cirencester. Again we entered on end of the town and a quick look in the estate agents window revealed property selling in the region of £1.8 million. At the other end of the town stood a Big Issue seller and outside of the convenience store a man sat begging. This got me thinking – here was a situation that both Whitefield and Raikes would have recognised. And the more I thought the more I realised that the similarities went far deeper.

The 18^th Century was at the end of a long decline in religious values that had begun with the fall of the Commonwealth and the restitution of the Monarchy. People threw off the shackles of Puritanism and became more an more hedonistic in outlook.

There was a rise in ‘folk’ religion and practice

The Established Church had lost direction and was failing to meet many of the Spiritual needs of ordinary people.

In the 21^st Century we see ourselves in a similar position. We too are at the end of a long decline in religious values that reached their zenith in the mid Victorian period. People first reacted to the strict moral standards and prudishness of century before the coming of the First World War that swept away many certainties. Once again we have the cult of the individual and hedonistic lifestyles to rival that of our 18^th Century counterparts.

We too have seen a rise in ‘folk’ religion that is often a ‘pick and mix’ of many different beliefs. Witness the roadside shrines that are popping up everywhere.

Once again the Established Church seems to have lost direction. There is a watering down of the Gospel to fit in with what we think people want to hear. (See readings for today) In many quarters there is a lack of commitment to God and his message and a morbid fascination of trying to ‘get one over’ on those with whom we fail to agree.

18^th Century society saw a breakdown in old certainties. The Age of Reason was upon us which called into question long held belief. There was revolution in France and a real fear the Reign of Terror could spread to England, this lead to brutal oppression of any who challenged the social order.

Britain’s rise as a world power lead to a widening of the gap between rich and poor and the social divide was more and more based on personal wealth rather than class alone.

These are situations not to dissimilar to what is happening today.

Any cursory glance at Church History will show that it is not really the Church as an Institution that changes things – it is individuals, people like Whitefield and Raikes .As Christians we are called upon to bring about the Kingdom of God; often we see that calling as the building up of the Church and that is where we put our best efforts; but the Kingdom of God is not the Church. The Church has its role in the feeding and building up of those  who, with God’s aid will bring about the Kingdom but the truth is the Kingdom of God exists wherever God’s will is done.

At a meeting I recently attended we were shown pictures and asked to divide them into sacred and secular. Going to Church, attending prayer meeting were deemed spiritual but going to the pub, supermarket or chatting in the street were seen as secular. The thing is it does not work like that Jesus saw chatting round a table at a party or encountering people in the street just as important as attending the synagogue or the temple. Whitefield did his best work when he was denied access to the pulpits of the Church and started preaching outside in the places where people naturally congregated. Raikes went out of the Church and into the poorer areas to find children for his schools. Often his greatest opposition came from those inside the Church, not those outside.

There are 168 hours in a week, what percentage of them do we spend at Church? 1% – 2% and how many percent do we spend with work colleges, friends and neighbours? 30% -40% ? It is in that 30-40% that we can do our best work for the Kingdom, but we can only do it if we stop making an artificial divide between things ‘religious’ and things ’secular.’

Here is something which was emailed to me this week a little exercise that may help us

Notice the next person you see.

Are they familiar to you or a stranger?
What impression do they give?

You are looking at an image of God.

Jesus became an ordinary person, one of us. There was nothing in his appearance that made him stand out.

What if instead of a Jewish man 2000 years ago, God had decided to come as that person?

What if God does want to meet with you in that person.

What if God wants to meet them in you?

Today’s society is at one of its low points.

There is a need for the kingdom of God to be active more than ever.

God works through individuals, often outside of the Church.

God wants to use you

I’m not Whitefield or Raikes I here you say – God has not called me to great things

But God works also through the small things. I am here this morning because back in 1996 a young Jewish Girl said just six words that were to bring me up sharp and change the direction of my life. That is how the Kingdom works – in myriads of small things happening every day.

The Quakers have a saying:- All of life is a sacrament. This morning we will treat the Sacrament of the Eucharist with great respect -will we treat whatever we do 9am tomorrow the same?

George Whitetfield

Robert Raikes

This is it you know. 
This is life. 
It’s not a rehearsal or a role play. 
It’s not a virtual reality training course for the real thing.

This is it. We get each moment once.

Only once!

I often seem to procrastinate life.

I’ll pray tomorrow.
I’ll love later.
I’ll be more generous next year.
I’ll grow up and start my real life one day

God’s listening . Pray now.
Who’s in front of you? Love them.
Be generous till it takes your breath away. You might find you start breathing properly.
Live now.

Really living can be scary, but Easter tells us that following Jesus is all about life that overcomes death. Real life, full life, and this is it.

This was sent to me in an email from Dream and I thought it worth relaying

I’ve just finished listening to BBC Radio 4s ‘Thought for the Day’. For some time now there’s been an ongoing debate as to whether the content of ‘Thought for the Day’ is relevant to people today, also whether the views of non-religious contributors should be aired on the daily three minute slot, or whether the slot should be scrapped altogether. After listening to what I’ve just listened to – from a Christian contributor – I have to admit that I’m left wondering if the third of those options above should be the one to go for.

I wonder how we Christians come across to people who listen to such broadcasts. The whole issue of how Christians express themselves and communicate with others has been in my thoughts for some time, and I’m led to ask if people are bothered about a Christian presence in our society? Do they still listen to what Christians have to say? Or, as critics of Christianity claim, don’t they care any more?

To listen to some critics of the Christian faith, people have already decided for themselves, which is why, they say, statistics show a steady decline in church attendance. Certainly, the Church takes statistics seriously and any decline in numbers attending a church indicates that something is happening, and this can’t be anything but worrying. The question is what is happening and why? Statistics can’t totally answer this last question without asking more questions. Such is the nature of statistics. There may be many reasons for the decline in church attendance – a falling out with religion being just one of them. Another reason might be that people perceive the Church as not keeping up with the rate of change in society as it should, and because of this it’s in danger – by default – in making itself irrelevant. The public might see the Church ‘at war’ with itself, unable to reach compromises and solutions to contentious issues that secular society has long since reached or is reaching, or they hear Christians making comments that they regard as ‘out of touch’ with the way that people live today.

I don’t believe it to be the case that the Church has become irrelevant, but in a culture where change is rapid it might be more accurate to say that the Church hasn’t yet found the right words with which to communicate to people living through rapid change.

The last thing that the Church needs to do in the face of negative criticism is to place itself in a state of siege and to start looking inwards. One justifiable criticism, from both those inside and outside the Church, is that looking inwards is exactly one of its problems at the moment.

All this detracts so much from what is happening at local levels throughout the Church. Many churches – of all denominations – are ‘grounded’ in the life of the communities they worship in. The activities of these churches not only answer the requirements of the gospel imperative to be of service, but also contribute something that is beneficial to the communities they live in. This goes some way to debunk the notion that this is a Church looking inward on itself.

Easter is the greatest of the Christian festivals as it celebrates the victory of the risen Christ over death: and not just death, but all of the negative attitudes in this present life that threaten to send us into a spiral of apathy and inactivity too. The message of the Easter gospel is that it gives ‘good news’ and hope to all people.

There is a lot that we can criticise the Church for, a lot in its past that hasn’t been good, but don’t let’s allow ourselves to be persuaded by its critics that Christian influence in the spheres of many aspects of our common life as a society hasn’t been a positive one for good as well as for radical change. Many of the social reforms of the past have come about partly as a result of Christians engaging themselves in the wider life of society.

At Easter Christians affirm their belief in the unchanging nature of God – the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. However, if God is unchanging this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Church must be the same. Rather it has to be otherwise. What has enabled it to do its work in the past is its ability to adapt to different situations and to the needs of the time. The principles that underpin the work of the Church and its engagement with society remains intact, what changes is the way it engages and also how it communicates with the culture of which – I might remind everyone – it is a part.

Robert W. Williams.

The more I have studied Missional, Emergent, Fresh Expression, whatever people may call it, the more I believe that this is the way forward.

Missional vs. Evangelistic

Missional vs. Seeker churches

Characteristics of a Missional Church

Yesterday, my wife, grandchildren and I called in at the Wesley Centre, Chester, for something to drink and eat.

I would just like to comment and say it was one of the most welcoming places I had visited in some time. The place was (to use a modern term) buzzing with people of all ages.

What an imaginative use of Church premises in the heart of  the city and a fine example of what it means to be missional. It is so nice to see an expansion at a time when we hear too many stories of retreat and contraction

We pray God’s blessing on all their endeavours as they minister in Christ’s name.

Check them out here

This morning I read an article in the Daily Telegraph on how the Rev David Rhodes of All Saints’ Church, Totley, Sheffield has banned a Tai Chi group from the Church Hall because of it’s links with Eastern Religion. Perhaps the said vicar should also think about banning Christmas and Easter because of their pagan overtones.  Come to think of it, that was tried before during the time of the Commonwealth and it alienated so many people they restored the monarchy!

When a Church or Minister gets so far out of touch they need to be careful – they may find too many people vote with their feet making the task of being Christ in the World that much harder.

Of course, there is a middle ground. How about combining their Alpha Group with the Tia Chi – now that would be novel!

Original Article

All Saints Website

James Jones, Bishop of Livrpool

The Bishop of Liverpool, The Rt Reverend James Jones has used his presidential address to the March synod of the Diocese of Liverpool to call for Anglicans to “accept the diversity of ethical convictions” in the debate on sexual ethics so that “we will let nothing deflect us from mission”

Read the full address here

This month sees the celebration of two Celtic Saints, David (our patron) on the 1^st March and Patrick on the 17^th. Both of these Saints lived in dangerous times; the old order and stability of the Roman Empire had given way to anarchy and the rise of tribal ‘War Lords’. New invaders in the form of Angles, Saxons and Jutes were arriving on the scene. Patrick, who may have been Welsh, was captured in his youth by Irish pirates who were making the most of our undefended waters. To be a Christian at that time singled you out as someone different in a world of competing pagan religions.

The Oritory at Glendalough

Despite all the danger and opposition David, Patrick and others were able to establish monastic settlements. These monasteries were nothing like those great stone ruins we visit today. The church was often small and made of wood and around it grew up all the buildings needed for community life. There was accommodation, kitchens, schools, libraries and workshops representing many different trades. In reality they had become villages, but villages with a difference, unlike the villages around they had a heart – the Church in which prayers were said regularly throughout the day.

Talking with many people I sense that many people today believe that we are living in dangerous times. I’m not sure how true that may be but there is certainly taking place a breakdown in structures that for many years have underpinned our society. Saying you are a Christian is more and more placing yourself in a minority. A worker with British Airways was suspended for wearing a cross, a long serving nurse was suspended for offering to pray with patient. We have more an more people listening to  the ravings of the likes or Richard Dawkins who has a pathological hatred of  Christians. We have the National Secular Society which would like to see all religion confined behind the door of Churches, Mosques, Synagogues and the like. True, in this country are not yet in fear of their lives but in certain circumstances life can be made difficult for anyone professing their faith.

I started by saying we are celebrating two Celtic Saints this month, but there is one more celebration; this month St. David’s is 70 years old. In 1940, one of the darkest periods of the Second World War, the church opened its doors for the first time to the people of the parish and has been ministering ever since.

The Church at the centre of the Celtic Monastery offered stability and comfort to the people. It was here prayers were said not just for themselves but the whole of the community and the surrounding countryside. That’s how I see St. David’s – at the centre of our community offering stability in a word that has changed much since its doors were first opened those seventy years ago. It is a place where prayers are said each week for all of the parish and its inhabitants.

Hopefully, like those Churches established by David and Patrick we are at the heart of our community. Their Churches were not the domain of a few monks but were open for all the people, men and women, boys and girls, Christian and Pagan. I would like to think we are the same, open to all, whether you are a person of faith or none.

One last character of Celtic Monasteries is their ability to grow whilst maintaining the stability the people desired and that is our challenge at St. David’s as we face the next few years. It is not something we can do alone, we need God, but we need the whole of the community and ultimately that means you.