Future Shape Of Church: June 2013

29.6.13

From a Wedding Homily

So much that a preacher would normally say to a couple and their families at a wedding has no need to be said this day. So much that I could say has been expressed in language far richer than I could muster.This leaves a homily stripped of its humour, its practical application, and reduced to a raw heart, of Love.

God is Love the Scripture tells us. Like hot coals, love burns the Scripture tells us.

With love comes pain and joy, the delight of sharing souls and the participation in one-another's hurts and harms. To love is to give that which one should not be willing to give. To love is to take that which one should not be willing to receive.

Such is the love of God, exuberant in its self-sacrifice, joyful to the point of solemnity. Such love transforms us, never denying the past, but shaping that past into a part of the future.When we are joined together in holy matrimony we acknowledge that shaping - and willingly submit, not just to our beloved but to love itself.

In that mutual submission, new life is born. To reduce this to a merely physical expression would be to dismiss the reoccurring Christian narrative of spiritual birth.When we love another with the love that God is, then we are a little more in the image of God, and so His creative action flows out of that union. Those closest to us can be caught up in this spiritual procreation, bringing blessing to household, family, friends and community.

For although marriage is deeply personal, marriage is not a private thing. Expressed in the laws and liturgy of the church - through public proclamation, the reading of banns, the use of nave and chancel not drawing room and study, the ringing of bells even; the love that we celebrate today is explicit in its publicity.

It is great pleasure to share in this celebration with you. Although I joined your hands this day, they were I think already joined in love. May the love that God is be at the centre of your life together as you bring all that you are, together to shape what shall be.Amen

25.6.13

Where are the Christians on G+

It's bigger than Twitter, growing faster than Facebook ties together a whole range of services, offers easy to understand privacy tools, and yet G+ is still a Ghost Town. Except it is not, if your interested in Technology, Photography, Gaming, SciFi, or Atheism then +Google+ is the place to be - as my stream shows.

And you can understand why, because of its rich feature set. G+ Communities can replace web forums. Circles of friends can be shared with new users with ease, making it far easier to get into the social network than Twitter. Add to this Hangouts, rich integration with other Google services and the growing sense that G+ makes the whole web a social network rather than being a stand alone site.

For Christians some of these features are particularly important - especially in Ministry. Using circles and communities you can control your public and private profiles, and follow whole sets of active users. Facebook has caught up with many of these features, but few clergy I know use them.

This goes beyond clergy. Increasingly the only professional people on Facebook are Social Media Professionals.

For many of us Twitter provides the space outside of Facebook that we need for quick fire conversation and debate. But even here clergy are withdrawing behind locked accounts.

G+ makes a lot of sense. And it needs a Christian presence. In the past Christians have been slow in embracing Social Media, always a step behind. Google may well be building Web 3.0 and so far we are not taking part.

24.6.13

Missing the Miracle in the Song & Dance?

First things first. I think The Rev'd Kate Botley is brilliant. Would I do a Flash Mob in a wedding? Probably not - now Kate has done it first! See it is very easy to disapprove of something once it has been splashed all over the media.

I am however a huge proponent of participatory church as +Vicky Beeching writes about it in the Indy. Lots of us are out here exploring participatory worship for a generation who have forgotten how to participate, and have only been taught how to consume. Vicky is in a unique position to help raise awareness of this Christianity that brings together vibrancy, participation, and tradition - the living faith of the dead.

And now the discomfort. The media circus seems all a bit too Vicar's got Talent.

The reality is this. Two people got married, as they do in countless parishes across the land. What happened between them was a sacrament, a mystery and a wonder, as they were bound together in a threefold cord with God in lifelong love, procreation and companionship. A living miracle of love.

That is what the song and dance was all about. I am certain Kate and the couple would agree.

And I suspect that, in all the song and dance, what the media is missing is the miracle itself.

Update: Kate has said much the same thing on the BBC.

The Press, Pagans and the Parish

It must be silly season, because strange stories about the church are in the press. Especially about the Church of England's plans to pinch pagans. It has to be said the not much in modern life is more counter-cultural than being committed to ancient spiritual paths, gathering for dawn rites, and doing it all in fancy dress - and I am sure some pagans get up to fun stuff too.

The best place to start is to read the explanation that +Steve Hollinghurst has given himself but I do have some positive thoughts about what I am going to call the 'Earth Traditions' and the Christian Faith.

Contemporary Christianity and Modern Earth Traditions share some common roots. Before the Reformation, between the 7th and 17th centuries there was a different religious settlement, bringing together a range of rites and traditions. From pre-Augustinian Christianity's pattern of the year through to the herbalists of the reign of Elizabeth I there was an evolving tradition that in many ways respected Christ and creation. The interface was not always easy, as anyone who was accused of murder by witchcraft could contest, but celebrating lunar, solar and earth festivals was very much part of the Christian year.

Depending on your point of view these rites and traditions were either appropriated by the Christian Church to convert poor pagans, or were deviations from true Christian faith. I am sure Steve has a mailbag full of people of both persuasions regarding his work with Fresh Expressions. Both views however are deeply wrong.

Emailing the Vicar

Twitter has revealed a a difficult question. How do you email a Vicar?

The thing is Reverend is not a title, it is not used like 'Dr' for example. It is in fact used in pretty much the same way as 'Honourable' for Members of Parliament. So next time you use it in conversation do the MP check in your head. I haven't checked how to email an MP, but let's get to letters.

A letter to a Vicar would be addressed to:

The Rev'd Lucy Bruce
The Vicarage
Great Smallding
Cranchestershire

And begin

Dear Ms Bruce,

However an email has no way of indicating the orders of the clergy-person being written to. Vicars themselves should have no problem with this, but some people writing to Vicars obviously do. Otherwise they would not have asked the question on Twitter.

Switching to Blogger

When I started blogging again a couple of years back I went straight for the management system I knew best, Pivot. Updated to PivotX it ran nicely on my web host and enabled me to customise and design the blog to within an inch of its life using CSS, HTML and the odd bit of code. I am still pleased with the way it looks.

I am not so happy however with how easy it is to maintain. Sure the formatting and editing options are great from a PC browser with mouse and keyboard. And yes my main computing OS of choice +Android has fantastic mouse and keyboard support, good file management and editing options. But PivotX was not designed for use on smaller displays and keeping everything ticking over requires firing up the desktop or the laptop. In the meantime +Blogger has blossomed into a system that is professional and accessible.

And then +Google+ happened. I know that not many in the UK Church Twitter-sphere have got into G+ yet. How ever in tech circles it has quickly become the most important social network. For those of us who have already abandoned Facebook (check I am no longer there!) it is also a great way to share updates, photo's and news with family and friends - even if they are only on email. G+ offers communities with forum style organisation, and integrates beautifully with other Google services, such as +Google Drive and +YouTube . It is almost, but not quite a blogging platform in its own right.

Blogger is now integrating further with G+, as you can see from this post. So I have decided to make the switch. It is going to take some time to get everything looking the way I want, and working the way I want. In the meantime old posts will still be available at http://old.future-shape-of-church.org/ and I will be working on some new material too.

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