Sermon - Sunday 10 May

1. The VOICE of the prophet

The prophet’s voice was, quite simply, the voice of God.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways… Hebrews 1.1

Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him, "I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you." But Moses said to the LORD, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?" Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country Exodus 5.28-6.2

The connection between the Lord voice and that of the prophet was made possible by the Spirit of God.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1.20,21

The authority of the prophet’s speaking is emphasised throughout the OT hence:

o a typical prophetic word was prefaced by ‘Thus says the Lord….’
o the prophet is often said to have ‘stood in the divine council or to have ‘stood before the Lord’ e.g. 1 Kings 22.19f, Jeremiah 23.18, 21-22
o prophetic ministry was usually preceded by a ‘call’ e.g. Isaiah 6.1-8
o a prophet was frequently known as ‘the man’ or ‘the servant of God’
o the authenticity of the relationship between the prophet and the Lord was what determined whether a prophet was true or false

The thought I would like us all to take away from all of this concerns the nature of the inspiration – the Spirit’s breathing - that gave rise to the prophetic word. These men (and women) spoke authoritatively for the Lord – which is why we should listen to what they have so say - but they each did so in their own unique way and in line with their own personalities and circumstances. In other words, God’s Spirit did not operate like some sort of celestial Wi Fi or Bluetooth whereby the prophet was simply a mouthpiece for the word of God. Rather the Lord worked through the individual prophet to deliver His message.

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1.20,21

The word used implies being blown along.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways… Hebrews 1.1

When we come to appreciate this, it

o firstly, makes scripture – and the God who inspired it – far more exciting. He had a lot of 'attacking options' and, like Alex Ferguson, used them all.

o secondly, raises the thought that maybe God’s work in our church life should have more variety c.f. Pentecost


2. The VISION of the prophet

The prophets, then, spoke a ‘word from the Lord’, but to what end? What was the aim and purpose of their speaking?

Basically it was twofold:

o Criticism

The prophet movement arose as counter to the abuse of power by vested interests – usually the kings - of Israel and Judah. IN other words, they are closely linked to the development of the monarchy e.g.

o who can forget Elijah as the ‘troubler’ of Israel and his encounters with Ahab and Jezebel?
o or Nathan as the accuser of David – ‘you are the man!’
o or Jeremiah and his battles with his fellow priests
o etc

A role reprised by the political interviewer today?

c.f. Radio 4 interview with Harriet Harman

They also sought to act as a check on the corruption in society occasioned by the drift away from God and towards self-interest, as people forget the Lord who had brought the nation into being and abandoned the instruction He had given for the well being of His people and for the good of the world e.g.

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5.24

He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6.8

Theirs was, then, a call to repentance. Sadly, it was never heard

For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighbouring peoples. Nehemiah 9.??

o Comfort

But prophets were not simply ‘doom and gloom’ merchants

c.f. Private Frazer in Dad's Army

Mainly, but not exclusively, during the Exile and in the period following the prophets spoke words of hope and re-assurance to a people who had been shattered by the disaster of the loss of the land, the temple, and every else that they held dear and gave meaning to their lives. This was the other string to the prophetic ‘bow’ e.g.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins Isaiah 40.1,2

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour. Habakkuk 3.17-19

c.f. also Ezekiel 39, Jeremiah 33 etc

Summarising, then, the prophets to use the well worn phrase ‘afflicted the comfortable and comforted the afflicted’ the difference in the message being related to the circumstances in which they ministered and with, at all times, the ‘big picture’ being the Lord’s ongoing purposes.

There is a huge amount to learn from all of this. What I will take away and reflect on is

o firstly, the courage of the prophets. They never shied away from asking the hard question
o secondly,their zeal for God e.g. Eli - Jah
o thirdly, their concern for social justice

Stott poem

o fourthly, the need for wisdom in our dealings with others – when is the hard word appropriate and when the word of comfort?

3. The VOCATION of the prophet

Today is Vocation Sunday, in other words, a time when the church encourages people to think about their call to ministry – in part the licensed or ordained ministry, in part the ministry to which we are all called by virtue of baptism and confirmation.

In what did the prophetic vocation consist?

o anonymity
o abuse
o stress & anxiety
o rejection
o apparent failure
etc

Quote from Wright p.81

Not dissimilar to baptism!

However, this is a job that needs doing and Christians should be doing it and I’m not sure that we are. Not that we are prophets in the OT sense, that our words will be written down for future generations, but guided by the scriptures and filled by the Spirit, we are called to speak God’s word both in the church and in the world.

'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2.17f

What the church can learn from Woolies

The above picture shows the old Woolworth's store in Stockport. Walking past it the other day left me with a distinct feeling of loss (the feeling might have been greater had I not remembered to cash in the £50 or so vouchers from a particular Aunt which had accumulated from the kid's birthdays over the last few years).

The 'glory' has departed and with a vengeance for, once upon a time, FW Woolworth was a bye word in retail innovation and profitability. So much so that in 1913 Frank Woolworth, the American founder, was able to pay cash for the Woolworth building in New York (pictured right) - the world's tallest skyscraper until 1930.

What's all this got to do with church? Precisely this. A business commentator said on Radio Four's Today the other week with reference to Woolies, 'Great name, bad business model.' In other words, Woolworths was a company people wanted to do business with, both customers and suppliers (that same week the CEO of Lego was lamenting its loss), but it had been unable to organise itself in such a way that it could operate effectively in the world of the 21st Century.

Much the same might and has been said about Blue Peter, the great British Pub,Top of the Pops, political parties etc. However, the church is different - its loss from the 'high street' of our society would be catastrophic. It would also be criminal given that, I believe, people, deep down, still want to do business with God and therefore engage with the beliefs and values we represent. All is not lost, of course, for new models and new ways of being church are developing. Now, then, is not the time to throw in the towel, but rather to explore those new models and new ways for all they are worth.

Listening out for the prophet's voice

At the start of my sabbatical I suggested that the role of a minister involves both priestly and prophetic functions, that is being one with, alongside, the people but also, at the same time, at a distance from them. This in order that one could offer a different perspective. Not different for the sake of being different, but different in the sense that God was able to speak to the people of God through you.

Now this probably sounded a little aloof and autocratic, which is possibly why it prompted one of the few comments that I have received on the blog, so let me clarify further. The role of prophet is not one that is confined to clergy! In many ways we are the least likely to exercise this ministry even though we are called to it. No, this is a role for the Christian community and particular individuals within it.

In my time I have heard a number of public 'prophecies' and, to be honest, they have been either tepid and predictable or completely barking. In a similar vein, a couple of years ago I read one on the internet posted by a local Christian ministry informing us, amongst other things, that the UK was the 'apple of the Lord's eye' and that revival was about to break out yet again. I emailed to say that I had been reading Deuteronomy that day, a section about false prophecy, and that I hoped it didn't apply to this one. Clearly it did.

However, there is such a thing, I believe, as real prophecy and it is usually either worrying or irritating or both. For example, at the start of my time in Cheadle someone called at the house to say that the story of Jesus' cursing of the barren fig tree and accompanying parable applied to St Cuthbert's and that we had only so much time to get back on track - scary. More recently, a man known to many of us who is pretty much on the margins of church life started informing me and then, later, insistently reminding me, about the possibility of a mental health project at our church - irritating. But in time the 'Its OK Club' was formed. I think I've said enough for you to get my drift and if you didn't, why not read some Old Testament prophets and discover what angular and awkward characters they could be.

What, then, does this mean in practice? That we have to make time and room for such people's voices to be heard, not least by those of us in leadership and that we have to encourage those who have the gift. After all, prophecy is the grit that might just produce the pearl.

NB above is the prophet Jeremiah in action

Why I ran the Wilmslow Half Marathon

Simon Barnes of The Times said it all on Friday with a brilliant article about the Boat Race, but with a much wider application. Enjoy.

Sport is supposed to be a sorting process, one that separates winners from losers, first-raters from second-raters, champions from also-rans. The Boat Race tells another story: 16 faces alike in distress, two crews united in the democracy of pain.

Winning is bad enough. To lose the Boat Race is perhaps the most devastating defeat in sport.

There is no consolation. There is no money for coming first, let alone second. There is no fame. The Boat Race offers nothing but the staggering drudgery of training, impossibly combined with some form of academic work, and the return to obscurity. Boat Race oarsmen pass from nonentity to nonentity through a brightly lit valley of pain.

And if you happen to be watching the Boat Race with the wrong sort of person, say a would-be intellectual smartarse or a girlygirl without sensible shoes, you know what follows: “Why do they do it? Why? What on earth's the point?” One answer - if you don't know, I can't tell you.

But let's look a bit farther. Most of us who read the sports pages will be sympathetic to the view that there is a point in rowing yourself stupid and feeling agonies you never thought possible. But all the same, what is it?

It's not a bloke thing. I remember, years ago, standing at the finish of the Devizes to Westminster canoe race, an event that makes the Boat Race look like a paddle round the Serpentine. It's 125 miles, takes 20 hours if you're good and if you're less good the agony lasts a great deal longer. Men and women take part and I met woman after woman leaving her slight boat with extreme difficulty and saying: “Never again!”

“The first time it's a challenge to complete the run,” one contestant told me. “You don't even consider doing it twice. Then around Christmas you say to yourself, 'The old DW is coming up again...'” And they're back again, and they paddle again and they finish again, and they step from their boats and what do they say? You've guessed it.

So here are some of the things that bring a person to an extreme event like the DW, like the Boat Race - bearing in mind that women have a Boat Race, too, and it hurts just as much and they don't even get an audience.

Beauty

Rowing feels good. Each stroke contains a beautiful, stretchy moment when, as you withdraw your blade, the boat glides on. It's as if you get more for your effort than you put in. Most sports are in some senses lovely to do: to kick a ball, to run, to ride a horse or a bicycle - these are things people do for the simple pleasure of it. Being very good indeed at such things makes them feel better.

Pain

Your smartarse and your girlygirl will look at the rictus of agony on the faces of the dying oarsmen and sneer: “They must be masochists.” This is a shorthand term we use without much thought, meaning someone whose wiring is wrong, someone who finds pleasure in things a normal person would find intensely disagreeable. But pain proves you have done something. Pain tells you that you have done the best you could. Pain tells you that you have pushed your limits and probably shifted them a bit. Pain is a validation.

Team

Some social anthropologists explain that the English love sport because it is a social facilitator. We use it to get over our awkwardness and relate to other human beings. It's an excuse for intimacy. While I would reject a lot of this (see beauty, especially), it is certainly true that for many people, being part of a team is a supreme experience.

If you share an experience of great intensity, you have links with that person for as long as you both live. A chance meeting with old members of the Tewin Irregulars is not a trivial matter to me. Sharing big matters is a powerful thing. I remember, a few months ago, sharing an evening of quite extraordinary euphoria with a group of strangers after an incredibly close encounter with bears. Sport unites.

Competition

Sport gives you someone to beat. It gives you a simple and irrefutable reason for doing something. In order to be part of us, you need a them. It is a concept that brings life down to a brutal and glorious simplicity. Sport divides.

Elitism

To take on something a little out of the ordinary is to promote yourself. You do something special and you are a little bit more remarkable. You have taken the road less travelled by; and that makes you slightly special. People will run the marathon for that reason. No one runs the London Marathon for charity. Rather, charity is the beneficiary of the urge to be a little special. Raising a lot of money for a good cause by running a very long way - it's an incredibly potent combination.

Addiction

As you push the beauties of doing the thing to a higher level, so you find a new kind of beauty. In rowing, in running, in endurance riding, you find a self-hypnosis, a meditation, a way of stepping beyond yourself that is as near as we get to meditation in the West. It is not purely a matter of endorphins, either. It is the setting aside of self, the ultimate simplification, in which you do not take on a task, you become that task.

Ambition

When you do something that matters to you, you want to do it better. If you run for exercise, you want to improve your time. If you cook, you want the next meal to be the best. If you watch birds, you want to improve your field skills. The desire to do things a little better is part of the pleasure of doing them. You want to go beyond your own boundaries, and as you do so, you are inspired by the thought that you can do still more. You find twitchers who want to see every bird in the world, you get athletes who want to set world records. If you are good at rowing, you want to row still better. A great event, and better, a victory in that event, is a peg on which such ambitions can be hung.

Self-knowledge

There is a strange attraction in the idea of testing yourself. You really don't know whether or not you will pass. You want to be the sort of great person who doesn't break, but in order to find out, you have to put yourself to the test.

Anti-death

All these matters come down to this last. All the guff about dreams and challenges and honour and glory come down to this: the seeking out and accepting of an opportunity to live more intensely. It's about being alive, about knowing you're alive, about celebrating being alive. Look at the losers in their agony - they look as if they're dying, they feel as if they're dying, but they have never been more alive. So don't sneer. Don't pity. Envy.

I'll leave you with a tale told by Sir Michael Parkinson: “We were sitting together watching the World Cup on television and Holland were awarded a penalty. The taker scored but was ordered to retake it because of a technical offence. As he placed the ball on the spot looking nervous, the commentator said: 'Who would want to be in his shoes at the moment?' 'Oh, I would,' said George Best. 'Oh, I bloody would.'”

NB If we're looking slightly jaded its because this was taken after the finish and we'd had to squeeze into the MX5

Tell me a bit about yourself?

John Drane in The McDonaldisation of the Church - the third of his books I have read this Sabbatical - describes how he often ask people he meets to say a bit about themselves. The response, from Westerners at least, is almost always couched in terms of work and other 'externals' and never, normally, in terms of relationships, beliefs, values and the like.

This got me thinking. How would I describe myself? Vicar, Padre, owner of an MX5, climber, runner, lover of red wine. Or would it be father, husband, friend, Christ follower, pilgrim etc. How shallow so many of the former self-references appear, resting as they do on the surface and in no sense probing the depth of the person that is Mike Newman.

Perhaps I, we should learn to be more open and more reflective?

The church's greatest strength - the capacity for renewal

This Sunday I visited Firwood Church in Oldham which, I suspect, is typical of a whole breed of new, though not necessarily 'emerging' churches. I say not emerging because, when you probe beneath the surface a little, and you find a very traditional theology.

Various things stood out from the couple of hours or so I spent there:

* direction and purpose - there is obviously an effective leadership team
* community and belonging - the church has been in existence only a few years and everybody clearly feels themselves to be a stakeholder
* humanity and humour - no silly traditions or rituals to get in the way of normality
* commitment to evangelism - Firwood runs two PHUD outreach teams (Proclaiming His Undying Love)which talk to and pray for people in the town centre on Saturday mornings plus a range of other intiatives. We don't exist to be a club, but to witness to Jesus Christ and win disciples for him was the message that came over loud and clear.
* preaching and teaching - perhaps an over-commitment here as sermons typically last ONE HOUR. Doubtless OK when the Pastor is preaching, not so OK as this week when it is the Youth Pastor. A lovely manner and some good illustrations, but otherwise many tangents and significant rambling, albeit on a tricky passage (Psalm 127)
* involvement of a sizeable body of youth drawn in by, for example, football held after church on a Sunday evening.
* sensitive engagement with the local Muslim community - no demonising going on here
* the effective use of new technologies e.g. video projector, website, vodcasting etc. (the latter is like podcasting but with video - I had to guess :-) )
* most impressive of all was the fact that here in what appeared to be a fairly run down part of Oldham a church was prospering by doing traditional church, albeit with a contemporary edge, very well. But isn't what the church had always done. 2000 years old and still in business.

The picture that says it all about Tough Guy (and friendship)

This one just in. Myself and best mate Simon grinding it out in the desperate last stages to the toughest ever Tough Guy. Yohimbe!

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house

Broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrows is the way that leads to eternal life so the Good Book says. Well here we are living in Cherington Road which, for those who don't know, is situated just off Broadway, one of the premier addresses in Cheadle and very nice it is too. Now I now how the 5% live.

The first few days were carnage with a great deal or sorting out to do. Beds to assemble, boxes to unpack, networks to install and the like. Now, after two weeks, we have reached the equilibrium point after which, if I'm honest, few meaningful improvements will be made.

There are great practical benefits to being here, not least that two of the kids now have their own rooms (the two boys still share), we have more room to manouevre / get away from each other when we need the space and we have appreciably more storage (though being rented means that you can't install shelves or the like)

On the debit side, large houses can be remote and lonely houses, though the people we have met on the road have been very friendly. It is also strange to be so far from church. OK enough during a Sabbatical, but too distant for day to day operations from which you feel disconnected. That's without the hassle of finding a parking place in Stockport Road on a Sunday, though the family usually walks.

Lastly, what about the vexed issue of clergy housing as a concept? There is no doubt that, on the one hand, it is a great perk - though if you don't own another property that has to be weighed against the need to prepare for retirement in some way or other and the costs pertaining to this - for large families which, of course, this provision encourages this is a real boon. On the other hand, the great danger is that as one's accomodation gets larger more luxurious - have you seen the Vicarage at Bramhall?! - one becomes increasingly distanced from the lives of normal people or at least the majority of them. This distance re-inforced the image of the clergy as somehow 'diffferent' and that, in my opinion, cannot be a good thing especially when the difference is in wealth and status.

How to square the circle? I'm not sure. Doesn't the Good Book say something about snakes and doves?

In this sign conquer - the ministry of the Padre

What a strange title the Padre's cap badge carries - the words given by Constantine to his soldiers at the battle of - the point at which, according to many, the decline of the Christian church began with its replacement by Christendom. Just one of many paradoxes and ambiguities than an Army Chaplain has to face.

In the course of my Sabbatical I have kept the Padre-ing going albeit at an ambient level. Having said that, a Burns Night, a ski trip, a visit to soldiers on Ops, a baptism, a funeral, a pastoral visit and a few cups of tea on an have all given me pause for thought.

Here are my interim conclusions on what is involved in the ministry of the Padre

Its is spiritual - in the face of death and the other challenges of life, the Padre is there to act as a witness to God's love and strength by his or her deeds as well as, when appropriate, his or her words.

It is moral - in view of the nature of the military task, which frequently involves difficult and marginal judgements made in a split second, the Padre along with the Commander and others, provides a framework and reference point by which correct and appropriate decisions can hopefully be made.

It is pastoral - in view of the peculiarly social nature of the organisation, with people living, sleeping and fighting together 24/7 sometimes for long periods, the demands made by operational tours, the problems related to any group of - mainly - young men etc etc. the vital importance of a listening, sympathetic and reliable ear is obvious. It is what makes the title 'Padre', first used during the Peninsular War, such an appropriate one.

It is practical - in view of the hostile and difficult environment in which soldiers frequently operate, often with many home comforts absent and with the chain of command taken up with more 'important' matters, the Padre has the time and maybe resources to provide that little something extra that makes a difference.

It is relational - everybody from the lowly recruit to the highest ranking officer needs sympathy and friendship. Many positions can be very lonely indeed. The Padre, uniquely positioned as he or she is, can provide that support, at least in part.


(The picture shows me taking my first ever field service - at very short notice - in Germany back in 2004)

For more information on the work of the chaplain albeit from a naval angle check out this link to a recent Times article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article5903716.ece

Weaving the nets

Although it is not, strictly, exegesis, Frost and Hirsch in 'The Shape of Things to Come' provide an interesting slant on Matthew 4.19 and pars - 'I will make you fishers of men'. They ask what proportion of a fisherman's time would have been spent actually fishing and what proportion repairing the nets? Surprisingly, rather a lot on the latter, the illustrative point being how much time we Christians spend building genuine relationships with those who are not believers? The answer, when it comes to clergy and church leaders in particular, is often shockingly little. These authors also remind us that fishing was a collaborative activity and not an individualistic one, though that is not the way that we have typically been conditioned to think about evangelism.

I'm not sure what it was, but it didn't look much like the Christianity as I know it

Call me a theological dinosaur, but for me sound exegesis is the foundation upon which all Christian worship must be based. That doesn't mean to say that any of us will ever get it right - good enough, workmanlike, call it what you may - that will suffice. But there has to be a cogent and coherent connection between what is written in scripture, above all the Gospels, and what is taught, Sadly the church I visited today - a large, more traditional, Anglican one - was somewhat lacking in this department.

Lets start with the positives:

* a church building that was beautiful, bright and obviously well cared for
* a very creative use of liturgy
* a well structured and well led service
* nice friendly people
* even the dressing up, the genuflecting and processing around, which I don't much care for, would have been bearable had what they were intended to bear witness to been articulated properly.

No I'm sorry, Jesus cleansing the temple equals Jesus wanting to cleanse and bring God's love into our hearts will not do. It comes from theological la la land.

Enough said.

Do you think Someone's trying to tell me something?

The week before last I visited the church several times in connection with the house move and each time I picked up a job. No problem about that, but a reminder of how easy it is to be swamped by the practicalities. On the Sunday it was the Dyson that I noticed was not picking up properly - brush not working, but no simple solution like the drive band. On the Wednesday it was the lock that was broken with no one else around and both Wardens away or busy. So I called in a locksmith and had twenty keys cut (for starters!). On the Thursday it was the fire alarms that wouldn't set and then, making matters worse, the fire alarm buttons that in my confusion about the alarm system I conspired to damage. Then, finally, on the Monday, it was the neighbour whose car had been damaged by the poor installation of the builder's gates that needed some concentrated pastoral attention. D'Oh!

Limited atonement means limited Gospel

Sorry to go all theological, but this Sunday I attended an independent Baptist Church and experienced a quite different place on the theological spectrum.

I found there a great deal to admire - quite a few very normal looking people pace ones stereotype of Reformed Baptists (assuming one has one); a warm and comfortable building which must have been quite a stretch for what is relatively small congregation to purchase; several very positive points of engagement with the local community e.g. a Sunday School in an area of local deprivation a commitment to servant ministry in at least two old people's homes; a number of more traditional hymns, including one on the incarnation to the tune 'Morning has broken' which I'd never heard before but must track down; a varied and keen programme of events during the week which included a meal provided by the church's international students and, finally, a friendliness and hospitality towards the visitor, that is, me. They even had unfairly traded coffee, what more can I say?!

So what's not like to like? Well there's nothing wrong with a bit of angularity, its quite endearing these days given the 'namby pamby' climate that pervades much church life, but, on reflection what's not to like is the subtle and sometimes not so subtle insistence that they are right and everybody else is wrong. Everything appears to be sewn up and there is one point only of authority. Naturally and rightly this is the bible, but the bible as refracted through, at the level of principle, one tradition and, at the level of practice, one man, that is the man at the front leading the service and delivering the message.

Listening to the sermon, prayers and notices during the service and reading through the blurb afterwards, I gained the distinct impression that God's purpose in the world is focused more or less exclusively on the church with little room for anything or anyone else beside. And the reason? Augustine, of course, or rather Augustine as misrepresented and misunderstood by those who came later (though not, on my understanding, John Calvin). As the title makes clear, limited atonement really does means limited Gospel.

By the way, you'll have to work out the picture above for yourselves. Take a deep breath, then follow the dark line down....

Every time I throw away you take a piece of me with you... with apologies to Paul Young

Moving house has proved emotional in every sense. Leaving our home of over fifteen years and the familiar routine we have established there. Leaving the street and the people we have come to know there. Leaving the locale of the church building where you feel involved in all that is going on. Leaving the organised chaos of the old house for the disorganised chaos of the new.

Of course there is an 'upside' to this: a bigger house (on which see the BLOG Thou shalt not covet - forthcoming); more parking space; no urgent requests to, for example, provide IT or other support to sundry church meetings, unblock a toilet or counsel someone in distress; no homeless persons as yet - though we have supplied contact details to our most regular visitor etc etc.

The hardest thing, as implied by the title, is to relive and then relinquish so many happy memories, not least those associated with our four children.

This has been Lizzie and Joe's only home and Martha's and James's since they were two and six months respectively. James's and Joe's room still has the original decorations complete with Winnie the Pooh transfers hidden behind the bunk beds.





Through the soon to be demolished landing window it is possible to view the garden where they have spent so many happy hours, particularly before PS3 and wet summers.



Behind every now abandoned radiator and under every now removed sofa lies the fossilised evidence of what has been transacted in this home. Missiles and small toy soldiers abandoned on the battlefield. Crucial bits of Lego long searched for and items of play jewellery that once enthralled. Scooby Do birthday badges and felt tipped pens and much else besides.

Finally, hardest of all, there are the items that have to be consigned to the bin or charity shop. Yesterday, I lingered long over an Action Man watch tower James and I had made about six or seven years ago from an Amazon box and sticks collected from Abney. Should it be kept for posterity like so much else that fills our garage or should it be skipped? With a lump in my throat I opted for the latter.



What does all this mean? It means that we are mortal and that for all of us time is available in a strictly limited quantity. Intimations of this are naturally painful. It means that we are strangers in this world and long for a home that is permanent and from which we will never be asked to leave. Why not read the Letter to the Hebrews and you'll understand?

A blog about this blog

A few quick points

Firstly, the order in which you view the Blog is not necessarily the order in which it has been written as sometimes I go back to events later on having given them thought and consideration. So, if you like the Blog, why not look back over the weeks for items you may have missed.

Secondly, the blogger is caught between wanting things to look there best and so spending too much time 'gold plating' and doing things 'on the hoof' and so introducing multiple typos. Hence I often rush things out and then edit and correct later on. Please note, though, logophiles, that I am not aiming at perfection.

Thirdly, some time back I read an item by John Piper saying that all ministers should blog. At the time I felt that was to take oneself and one's role a little too seriously (on this note, the subject of a future blog will be to consider the argument that Christians, and Christian ministers in particular, have rendered the ground sterile by all our words) Better, that all Christians or maybe all people should blog is as much as it facilitates honesty and friendship as well as an archive for future thought and hopefully wiser action.

Strange goings on at Eight o'clock communion

In one of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, 'Silver Blaze', there occurs the mysterious case of the dog that didn't bark. My visit to church last weekend also featured a Vicar's dog that didn't bark or, in fact, do anything at all until after the service had ended when he trotted cheerfully down the aisle. It came as a surprise to me, but no one else present as this is all part of the routine. I'll leave the other strange 'going on' to the end.

As time was pressing due to the house move I had opted for an 8 o'clock service and, generally speaking, I found it helpful. Lots of silence before and during - a luxury not usually afforded to me and very appropriate for the start of Lent. The ten commandments in full. People kneeling for prayer (when was the last time you saw that?!) All this added to the atmosphere and was, I'm sure, appreciated by the twenty or so mainly elderly people present that morning.

A couple of deeper issues were framed for me. Firstly, the pros and cons of tailored services. Eight o'clock communions originally served the purpose of allowing domestic servants and those who had to work on Sunday's to get to church and for some reason have continued to serve a purpose, presumably for the reasons outlined above as well as others besides.

Secondly, the place of individualism. Not, in this context, of the more pietistical flavour as explored in the hymns, say Fanny Crosby, or the modern songs to which I have previously referred, but of a more robust and, if I'm honest, somewhat more austere and clinical flavour. Nothing wrong with either sort, I'm sure, as long as such worship forms part of a more balanced diet of more genuinely corporate worship and a lively engagement with one's Christian brothers and sisters.

And the other strange 'going on'? The two readings were followed by... nothing, not even a two minute thought. That absence did not invalidate all else about the service, but it did leave aside one vital ingredient - an explanation and application of God's word with an encouragement to think about it and practice it. Now that really is strange!

The strategic importance of asparagus

Just returned from visiting soldiers from my Regiment, 33 Signals (V), deployed on Op Tosca an operation which represents the British Army's contribution to the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus

This is the first ever (?) TA only deployment and is designed to relieve pressure on regular forces as well as test the mettle of the reserves. Although a benign environment, the UN buffer zone is still located between two heavily militarised areas which means that, without supervision, the current stand off could quickly escalate into something more serious. Presumably not all out war though as Turkey is, like Greece, a member of NATO and perhaps more importantly aspires to membership of the EU.

Stationed in the Ledra Palace Hotel, which was evacuated at the height of the 1974 crisis, 32 Signal Group comprises more than 20 cap badges taken from a large number of units. The lead Regiment is Scottish and based in Glasgow and is a sister Signals Regiment to 33. The hotel, in spite of having recently been kitted out by Ikea, is not in the best of states. Many rooms are in a poor condition, with toilets and showers out of operation and the extra goodies that the Army promised the boys and girls e.g. WiFi have not materialised. There are, I'm glad to say, several messes, a bar and a sizeable gym, but this a house of fun this isn't.

What of the mission itself? The Brits monitor one of three sectors, the other two being managed by the Argentinians and the Hungarians. It takes in the divided city of Nicosia and the surrounding countryside. The signs of the 1974 conflict are everywhere, not least in the city itself where streets have lain empty for nearly forty years with abandoned shops, cafeterias and even a car showroom with several delivery mileage Toyota Corollas still on display.

Only one pedestrian crossing point exists and that is recent. St Sophia's Cathedral is now a mosque with minarets added. Its the first one I've ever entered - minus shoes of course.



Greek and Turkish OP's are everywhere throughout the zone in some places almost touching and are easily identifiable by the ubiquitous flags and although there is little outright aggression, there is a great deal of petty 'tit for tat' with constant minor violations of the agreed codes with the UN somewhat hamstrung in its potential responses.

Finally, some examples of the prevailing mentality, past and present.

- most spectacularly, the Turkish flag located on the hillside opposite the town which was constructed by students painting rocks in the appropriate colours over a period of days and then turning these over all at once one night. Its even illuminated! (see pictures below - Ne mutlu Türküm diyene! is a famous quote taken from Atatük's nutuk that is widely used in any nationalistic contexts. It means: "How happy is he who can say ‘I am a Turk". In other words, 'Up yours')




















- ten brick wall where, originally, the UN a painted a line on a wall to prevent the Turks adding bricks. The only problem was that they kept removing the painted row and then adding others underneath! The answer? Place the line ten bricks down hence the name.

- a new housing development where the Greek builder had constructed what appear to be concrete bunkers at the corners and gun ports at the base. Various attempts to screen these with earth deposited by the UK monitors in the night were soon removed and so several ISO containers have been dropped there since.

- tea chest corner where a barricade had been built using, funnily enough tea chests which, when filled with concrete, can form quite an effective defence. The Turks had turned the chests with the bottom facing out and so there was no way of knowing if they were solid or not. As a result the UN ordered that they be turned around. Unfortunately, they didn't specify a timescale and so they were placed the correct way round at the rate of one per week!

And the asparagus? That grows freely in the buffer zone and is keenly sought by the local Greek population. During my visit we escorted quite a number of these out of the area. Surely, you might have thought, after thirty four years they might have come to acknowledge the buffer and the presence of the UN, but evidently not. And so it goes on.

Note: Memo to self - re-write will before next flying with the RAF

Unperterbed by the two and a half hour delay made in order to accomodate the 'late arrival of priority passengers' we were finally on our way to the aircraft. Past the leased 757, past the row of Lockheed Tristars, down to the group of even more aged VC 10's. A brief wait in the coach. Then the Flight Lieutenant who was the Captain came to address us. We've only got one serviceable aircraft and that's not working though we're trying to fix it. Clearly they're not called VC's for nothing, for at that precise moment my courage started to falter.

Eventually we were ushered on board to be greeted by a standard of décor and levels of wear and tear that would have made Jim Royle proud.

And then the the coup de grace - we were going backwards! An optical illusion caused by the fuel tanker moving away? A slight re-positioning of the plane? No, the seats in VC 10's all face away from the cockpit. Hence the most bizarre take off ever from my perspective. It was enough to make even Aeroflot jealous.

Finally, and of no real importance, the ethics of seating meant that I was morally obliged to take a middle seat directly behind a child whose own seat was fully reclined. I'm not sure then which is the most likely to finish me - the 40 year old plane or DVT?!

Things can only get better.

Footnote: I am reliably informed that all RAF aircraft fly backwards for safety reasons. Maybe we should try it in church? Also all credit to the aircrew as both landings were inch perfect, in other words, no touchdown was felt.

Losing the will to live... thanks to BT

You'd have thought setting up a new phone line and broadband would be simple in this day and age - it isn't. Leaving aside the multiple question quiz you need to complete every time you ring anyone these days - especially BT - and the 'who knows where call centre' which you are eventually put through to, check this out...

In order to save the church money, I decided to migrate my Sky TV and add broadband and phone for a modest amount, leaving my Virgin phone and broadband which can't be split to service the church. Sky said, 'no problem', that only left BT to install the line which Sky utiltise to provide their service.

However, several days after placing the order on line, BT hadn't replied so I rang. May minutes went by and eventually obtained a reasonable date for installation. Then I asked the fatal question: 'How long between the line going in the the broadband being switched on?' Answer from Sky - ten working days! 'Too long', I said, and reluctantly decided to go to BT for the broadband who presumably could activate it straight away as I was now going direct. But no. Time required five working days! It was like being back pre-nationalisation.

So in the end back to Virgin who did the job on time and very well at that. Except they messed up the phones, but that's another story....

Mark 1.38 - a Procrustean bed?

Mark 1.38 A Procrustean bed?
Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.

No Christian can doubt the importance of the spoken word, for the prophetic is central to the bible story, not least the ministry of Jesus Christ. However, in my opinion, it has become routine to focus on the spoken to the exclusion of the enacted word when, in truth, both are equally important. In this regard Mark 1.38 - the lectionary reading for Sunday 8 February - has become something of a proof text.

In the days when I attended Proclamation Trust Conferences - and I have to say they were a great blessing to me - it was axiomatic that Jesus' ministry was primarily one of preaching and in this verse lay the summary evidence. However, this case can only be made by ignoring the context, both before and after. Immediately before, Jesus' heals Simon's mother-in-law, plus many sick. Immediately after, he drives out demons and heals a leper.

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. 32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons....
39 So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. 40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

All of which suggests that Jesus came both to announce the in breaking of the Kingdom of God and to realise its arrival through his actions.

Similarly, Christians are called to share in both the ministry of Christ the Prophet - by declaring the Word of God - Christ the priest - by mediating God's healing and forgiveness - and Christ the King - by sharing his just and good rule over the world that is his.

What God has united - that is word and deed - let no man put asunder, to paraphrase Jesus' words on another occasion.

I will have more to say about this in a later post. Meanwhile reflect on what it means to share the Good News in today's world by viewing the beautiful video below taken from the website of Trinity Grace Church in NYC.

Church meets Crossroads with goody bags thrown in....

Apologies to those of you who don't remember Crossroads, a Seventies ITV soap set in a hotel (and commiserations to those who do!) This Sunday I attended an NFI - New Frontiers International - church called Hope which currently meets in the Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel on Water Street, Salford (just up from Granada Studios for those who know the area)

Hope Church should have been very different from St Cuthbert's given that NFI are a relatively new grouping established by Terry Virgo approximately forty years ago and are independent, charismatic and very much engaged at home and abroad in planting new churches. And differences there were - louder, more contemporary music; no liturgy; little formality; no intercessions or bible reading; very groovy Powerpoints with psychedelic video backgrounds etc etc. They also gave visitors 'goody bags' Mine contained a Why Jesus? booklet, a pen, a leaflet about home groups, a welcome registration form and a box of Maltesers!

However, what stood out most were the similarities - the committed core doing most of the work; the taping off of seats at the back to encourage people to sit forward; the ladies making tea and coffee or trying to because someone had forgotten the milk; the bookstall filled with the likes of authors such as Chris Wright, Nicky Gumbel and John Piper; the kids play fighting in the foyer afterwards; individual members struggling with the adversity of life, to judge by the comments of the lady behind me which interspersed the service etc etc. Seems like church, under the surface, looks much the same everywhere.

Other things worth commenting, I believe, are, firstly, negatively, the music which was very similar to that at the church I visited at the end of January, that is lyrics all about Jesus and me and nothing about anyone or anything outside of that cosy relationship. We MUST do better than this both for our sakes, God's sake and those outside the church.

Secondly, then, positively, here was a group of Christians numbering approximately 130 in total with many of them students who had an annual budget of c. £130K which supported a pastor, youth pastor, administrator and several outreach and anti-poverty projects in addition to which they were looking for special monies of, I think, around £2000 a month to facilitate amongst other things their monthly outsiders event usually held in a hotel or similar. No wonder NFI is growing and prospering.

Thank God for licensed lay ministers

During the last couple of days I have had the privilege of receiving the ministry of two Church of England Readers - soon to be know as 'licensed lay ministers' for reasons best known to someone somewhere at Church High Command.

Firstly, Geoff ?????? at St Mary's, Stockport, who both led the service and preached in the absence of the Rector, Roger Scoones. As reported previously, the prayers were thoughtful and engaging as was the sermon (it was actually two sermons 'sort of' joined in the middle, though I'll overlook that!) What struck home to me the most was when Geoff translated the concept of 'being all things to all people' from 1 Corinthians 9 into his working world which is that of an educational editor. How important, he said, that GCSE study guides should be in '16 speak' and not some more remote and verbose form. Likewise with the Christian Gospel.

Secondly, Malcolm Winton at my own church, St Cuthbert's, who spoke at the funeral of church member George Pullain on Monday. The eulogy was informed, witty and touching, though the highlight for me besides a personal knowledge of the deceased and the evident time spent with the family in preparation, was the keen awareness of local geography and otherwise. As with Geoff's sermon, this 'earthed' things beautifully. The sermon, from Philippians 3, was also perfectly tailored to the occasion, sympathetic and yet challenging.

Where would be without such men (and women)?

a load of (snow) balls

Thank goodness I'm an adult because that way I can have fun and do things like take part in Tough Guy and go skiing. Meanwhile my kids - the ones who really should be having fun - after all, that is, or perhaps better that was, an important part of childhood on my understanding - are not allowed to throw snowballs at school or run when its slippery. Where and when did education turn down this blind and boring alley?

Glad to say that at the St Cuthbert's Old School Nursery the kids were taken out to try a sledge, to play and to learn to appreciate the wonderful world God has made.

Footnote - I did manage to take Lizzie and Joe sledging to Pott Shriggley on Sunday as per the video footage

Of such is the Kingdom...

I visited St Mary's, Stockport today. No service information was available on their website so took a flyer and arrived on time at 10.30.

St Mary's is a huge cathedral like building situated next to the marketplace in the centre of Stockport. It joins several other historic churches in vying for what must be a pretty small slice of population given that people have generally moved out of the town centre.

The congregation was, shall we say, modest and, in the main, of riper years. Likewise the interior was, similarly, showing its age though, to be fair, some ongoing work was evident on the ceiling following the external refurbishment of the tower recently completed.

What the congregation lacked in numbers, however, it made up for in variety and resolve. Surely a group like this should be putting themselves first? Wrong, right at the start of the service they spent a good ten minutes thinking about the work of the Leprosy Mission and later took an extra collection - give 10p or £10 simply what you can.

Surely a group like this would not have the energy to think about mission? Wrong, mission formed the centre piece of both the sermon and the prayers, the latter including the following by John Henry Newman:

Lord, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go.
Let me preach thee without preaching,
not by my words, but by my example,
by the catching force,
the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love
my heart bears to thee. Amen.

The singing was hearty and the fellowship after the service was good. All this in spite of the absence of the Rector, Roger Scoones, who was off skiing (what is it about clergy and skiing?!)

As I stated in the title, of such is the Kingdom of God

Battered, bruised, but not broken (I think)

The Regimental Skiing Trip was a whole new experience and one I'm probably unlikely to repeat. It also confirmed my wife's prophetic powers, 'He'll never ski!'

Actually, I came close to proving her wrong for, after two days of remedial tuition as I had arrived later than the main group because of Tough Guy, I was actually progressing pretty well even as far as 'red' graded slopes. The picture shows a section I skiied down several times without too great an incident though, admittedly, not a great deal of control.

However, at the end of the third things reached a level beyond which I didn't progress. For one thing, besides the many falls that didn't hurt much, I took one that did - on my shoulder coming off a drag lift. For some days afterwards when I ran I looked like a cross between Max Wall = stiff back because of bruising from general falland Napoleon Bonaparte = immobile arm due to injured shoulder!

For another, I was increasingly conscious of the fact that every year at least one person seemed to incur an injury - usually a damaged cruciate ligament which requires an operation and a long period of re-habilitation - and I did not want that person to be me.

Finally, the last two days skiing were on mountain routes - the Felhorn and Nebelhorn - and that added a whole new dimension. Steer wrong here and you're into the safety netting or worse. Suddenly rock climb climbing with its fixed anchor points and safety lines seemed a whole lot safer than hurtling down a hillside on two anti-gravity machines, though I suppose for seasoned skiiers that is the appeal.

In conclusion, a good week especially in terms of getting to know members of the Regiment better, wonderful scenery, a definite physical challenge and that realisation that, perhaps, I'm getting a bit old for some things.

Soooooooooooo cold

Sunday January 32nd it was entitled, Tough Guy 2009, the Year of the Gorilla. 5000 competitors, some wearing as little as a Borat mankini, gathered to the sound of a Scottish pipe band, to do battle with a 5 mile cross country run complete with The Brasher-Disley Steeplechase, the Bracken Maze Torture and Slalom - a fierce and sustained up and down a wooded hillside - followed by The Killing Fields a twenty three obstacle assault course with pleasures such as the Somme Surprise, The
Behemoth, Vietcong Tunnels, the Brandenburg Wall, the Death Plunge and the Water Tunnel.

I'd completed the summer variant which was hard, but not desperate, but in order to prove my manliness to someone - I'm not sure who - here I was again.

The course itself proved relatively easy, especially as I'd worked out last time the most efficient way to drag my somewhat aged and at best rather ungainly bones over, under, around and through the various obstacles. The real problem was the perishing cold - the air temperature was zero at best WITHOUT windchill - and, furthermore,large sections of water that had to be waded through, on occasions at neck height and at one point above head height! I myuldn't feel my feet for the last forty five minutes or so. Crazy, but I made it.

A quick, tepid shower, then on my way to Stansted for a flight to Germany to ski with the Army....

Shallowness, subjectivism and much spinning of plates in suburbia

I'm not going to mention the name of the church I visited last Sunday partly because I don't think that it's appropriate when you have negative things to say, but mainly because the negatives are probably present in most evangelical churches including even my own beloved St Cuthberts!

Let me start with the positive. This is an active, faithful, growing group of Christians with a warm sense of fellowship and a genuine commitment to ministry and outreach. However, tragically in my view, there were serious weaknesses on view last Sunday.

For one, every song and even the 18th Century hymn with which we concluded - evidence that this is a problem not confined to our own age - was radically subjective, in other words, exlusively about me and my relationship with God. Of course, there is a rightful place for the expression of such feelings, as the Psalms demonstrate, but it should be part of a balanced 'diet'. What the many visitors present must have thought one can only imagine? That the name of Jesus was only mentioned in the context of 'me' and that only occasionally says it all!

For another thing, there was no liturgy. This in itself is not wrong - not all must be Anglicans - but it so often leads to shallowness. Thus there was no gathering prayer, no confession, no creed, no structured intercession etc of any sort, not even the Lords Prayer. In my view, sensible and sensitive use of liturgy develops individual grit and corporate identity.

Finally, although the minister did not preach, he did virtually everything else apart from the reading (no pew bibles by the way or print version on the noticesheet) I am sure that I have been guilty of this myself, but when viewed 'from a distance' it feels all wrong as well as very uncontemporary. We have come so far in many areas why not reform and renewal on this?

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Mike Newman

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Coffee and Church

In NYC there is a Starbucks on every street corner - or so it seems. Most days I have breakfast in one - their Perfect Oatmeal with all the toppings and a fruit juice is not a bad start to the day - followed by at least one or two more visits! (my only excuse is that there is no kettle in the room)

eaving aside the debate about Starbucks killing off the competition, usually local and independent, I want to ask, why are these places so popular and what can the church learn? Several points

They are non judgemental. The relaxed slightly bohemian atmosphere is very welcoming particularly to younger people, though interestingly older people seem to feel at home here too. Yesterday, for example, I was joined at my table by a matriarchal looking lady resplendent in expensive gold jewellery and wearing an ankle length fur coat!

You are treated seriously which is a more positive way of saying that you can tailor your purchase to suit your personal wishes - double shot grande with skimmed milk to go!

You are given space - usually - even if you can't get those few comfy chairs. No one hurries you ought of the store so you can read, work, think whatever, though why they don't have free wi fi I don't know.

You can come on your own and feel OK. A bit like 8 o clock communion no one is going to trouble you and everything just happens.

So what can the churches learn?

Starbucks has grasped the culture we are living in - some would say that it has shaped it. Church needs to learn how to tune in.

We need to give people space. Anglican churches are better at this than most.  People need to be able to breath.

We need to learn how to value and respect all those we come into contact with. If they want to be we should let them be. Much of what we do at St Cuthberts already operates along these lines.

We need to articulate our non judgemental philosophy more and apply it consistently as well as explaining it to 'concerned' insiders. People know what they are getting when they come to Starbucks.

There are an increasing number of single people in our society. We need to think carefully about how well we accomodate them?

Made a little less than the angels...

I'm sure that the author of Psalm 8 didn't have this in mind the 2500 or more years ago since he wrote it, but it is worth pondering the miracle of flight. Currently I am being transported across the Atlantic at a speed of 629 mph (jet stream assisted) and at an altitude of 39,034 feet above sea level The outside temperature is around minus 15 degrees centigrade and we have travelled 1640 of the 3300 or so miles between NYC and Manchester. Meanwhile I am sitting in perfect comfort - well sort of - wearing only a T shirt just having been served a hot meal and having enjoyed a glass of red wine - my first alcohol this trip. What ingenuity and power is ours! Let us pray fervently that we use it for good and not bad, for weal and not for woe.

I'm back home and haven't even left the States

InK or two delays at check in though I eventually got through with a slightly overweight bag plus a whole row of seats to myself. At one point we were all re-directed to an adjacent location. The usual dash ensued, as I said to one lady, "just like Tesco". She then proceeded to edge in front me and then quite blatantly jump the queue. I hadn't seen behaviour like it from anybody for, oh let me see, at least eight days. And we say Americans are pushy!

Every valley lifted up... Every mountain and hill made low

Those words from the Book of Isaiah apply quite literally to Manhattan for, prior to the building works in the 19th Century, extensive remodelling of the landscape took place - hence the possibility of the level grid iron street pattern. 'True' Manhattan can be seen in Central Park which has it's fair share of hills and I should know because I've run up and down most of them!

Today, my last day, I wasn't planning to run partly because my legs were tired and also because I needed to vacate my room by midday. However, the weather was and is so good - still cold with lying snow on the Park, but accompanied by warm sunshine - that I thought I must. Didn't do the whole Park, but ran to The Belvedere - a castle like structure set on a rock about half way up. Great view and great joy! Came back via one of the woodland trails and then through E 60 Street and 2nd Ave. Apparently the first NY Marathon in 1970 was confined entirely to the Park. Later ones begin at Brooklyn Bridge, following a painted blue line through all five districts and then finish here. Maybe one day?!

Bethlehem Baptist Church, Brooklyn

I Called down again to the Rescue Mission Wednesday to meet up with the chef Pedro. Everyone seemed pleased to see me even though I wasn't actually helping. That night they fed over 230 and that following breakfast and lunch for the forty or so residents. Residents, by the way, can stay on the basis that they receive basic Christian instruction and in the longer term are prepared to help out with jobs.

Pedro and I travelled to his church, Bethlehem, for the midweek meeting. This consisted in half an hour or so of open worship followed by a brief address. Then into the following groups: men, women and married. This was the most interesting and revealing part of mmy visit. Basically a bible study with a practical thrust what came out was that most had been subject to some sort of addiction and had passed through a 12 step recovery. The men had a wide variety of employment, including several construction workers and all spoke in a direct sort of a way. Not entirely removed from what we do on Cheadle, but nevertheless very different. Turns out the actual Bethlehem church had become home to this new group and that they had breathed new life into it. Seems like this is a common happening here as it is in the UK - old buildings, but with new congregations.

Afterwards Pedro, his wife Shelley and myself went to a Diner then back on the subway, me to Manhattan and they to New Jersey. The very efficient and very well priced system - $25 for a weeks unlimited travel - make this sort of thing possible.

Going out in style - with Roxie, Mr Razzle Dazzle & the Cellophane Man!

Queued this afternoon in a bitterly cold Times Square for half price Broadway tickets. Couldn't decide between Chicago, Phantom of the Opera or Mamma Mia, but in the end went for the former and was sure glad I did. Of course, with a discount, you always need to ask 50% of what, but hey I did get one of the best seats in the house at half price(balanced the books by forgoing the restaurant meal I'd promised myself)

The theatre was compact and I was seated in the middle of the stalls about ten rows back. Sitting next to me was Ray from Korea to whom I had to explain the plot which, for me, took some doing (ask Teresa about my grasp of such things) And who says Americans don't do self-deprecation or can't take the rip out of themselves? Chicago was brilliantly written, exquisitely executed and thoroughly enjoyed even by a cultural and entertainment Philistine like me.

Running in NYC

Whilst over here I have been running here three times. Each time the temperature has been slightly warmer, but on all occasions the Park has been snow covered and the side walks icy.

Running the sidewalk

Only one tumble when a fairly slight lady walked into me from the side and sent me flying. We both fell, she said nothing and simply walked off. I wasn't sure what had happened and so said nothing, though as I was stationery at the time felt no responsibility.

Navigation is easy given that you know your start point as the streets are to a gridiron pattern with horizontals and verticals (not so easy when riding the tube and exit out of one of a multitude of access points) Neither does one attract any sort of attention even when running in a snowstorm, which must relate to the general level of craziness in NYC

Running the Park

Central Park is big - not quite sure how big - and the majority of runners take a 6.2 mile road circuit, though there are many minor tracks and pathways. It is also beautiful with 25,000 trees and a range of interesting buildings and artefacts including something like Cleopatra's needle. On each occasion I have stopped at the north of the Park to watch people skating on one of the two ice rinks (my excuse for a rest anyway). Today I also stopped at Strawberry Fields the John Lennon memorial which had been overlaid with snow in the shape of the peace symbol. On a previous occasion I ran through the Childrens Zoo and saw seals swimming. Those responsible for laying out the Park in the 19th Century have done generations of New Yorkers,both rich and poor alike - and there are many of the former hereabouts, including Bono and Sting - an inestimable service.

It feels so safe here!

Throughout my trip I have been astounded by how much safer NYC has been than I had imagined. Not that I scare particularly easily, but I had visions of rather aggressive, pushy people with an 'in your face' attitude along with restless, if I am honest, mainly black youths, possibly armed, hanging on street corners in the less affluent districts. None of these fears were realised, whether in uptown Manhattan, downtown Soho or across the water in out of town Brooklyn. Even the drivers are markedly less aggressive than in the UK with drivers proceeding cautiously at right turns and being patient with pedestrians at lights and this can't all be down to the price of gas! (the greatest danger comes from cyclists, especially at night, as they dodge about as in the UK, but unlike at home, with no lights). No worries about the iPhone either. Nearly everybody, grannies included, appears to have one and if not they've got a Blackberry!

How to explain the difference? Partly, I think, it is a result of a Citywide strategy developed over the last 20 or so years. Police are everywhere with, for example, a patrol car passing every five or so minutes in Central Park. After all tourism is NY' biggest industry. I also get the feeling from the more deferential attitude shown, that youth and others feel less like messing the police about than in the UK.

At a deeper level, folks here seem genuinely more considerate. They truly do want you to 'have a good day'. This appears to be part and parcel of the American psyche or dream as articulated by President Obama at the inauguration. People here are, it seems, for the most part working hard to achieve a more civil society. Or to put it another way, their individualism is not as individualistic as ours.

Ever spoken to a 32 year old bishop?

Just had coffee - naturally - with Jon Tyson leader of Trinity Grace Church which consists of five congregations across Manhattan. He is Australian, became a Christian aged nineteen, worked in various churches, then came to NYC three years ago and started the church along with his wife and a group of friends! It now totals 600 or so members with an average age of 25!

What accounts for this extraordinary success? Well, John often prays for a couple hours a day, usually from the office roof (the office is in a building recently vacated by hookers and possibly owned by the Mafia). He does a lot of thinking, not least during his two month (sic) summer vacation. He is also in Manhattan at a key moment. Evangelical
churches are few here - Redeemer is the biggest (average age 30) - their membership accounting for only approx 1% of the population. Consequently they can start afresh offering what the others can't, don't want to, or have forgotten. Finally, Jon and his church have received training and finance from Redeemer (100,000 dollars no strings attached)

John isn't, of course, a proper bishop for his church is independent, though affiliated to the Origins movement, part of the 'emerging' church. He has, though, a strong affinity with Anglicanism and even talked of aligning his church with that of the Anglican Communion via an African Archbishop. Even more interestingly, his churches utilise the resources of the Book of Common Prayer in their meetings and individual discipline. This lends a depth and provides a historical frame of reference who would otherwise be lacking. They also follow the church's year e.g. Lent, Easter, Pentecost etc. and also aim to operate the a Parish like system of mission and pastoral care.

These observations, along with various bits of reading I have been doing, cause me to think that C of E churches have a unique missionary opportunity, being both Catholic and Reformed thus, hopefully reflecting the best of both traditions and are also both national and local, having resources to draw on from outside whilst retaining touch with the community near at hand. Finally, there is permission to experiment, given that the leadership, including not least Archbishop Rowan, are encouraging a 'mixed economy' of more traditional church and 'fresh expressions'. Get in!

The final thing to say about John is that he has has the wisdom to build a team to lead TG. He has five governing elders who run the practical side of the church. He also has a growing staff which includes Gary Wiley - Fellowship & Care - with whom I also had a coffee. Gary spoke of the challenge of a new church with so great a number of young members. Many try and fail to 'live the dream' that is Manhattan, struggling to remain afloat amongst so many beautiful and successful people. Others are searching for an identity in a culture where anything goes and so all options. Still others feel they have failed outright. Even given the difference in attitude between the UK and US when it comes to counselling, it is revealing to hear that the church has upwards of 50 people receiving specific help in these and other areas.