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In recent years Eritrea, a former Italian colony, occupied by the British in 1941, has become
one of the world’s most secretive countries. According to Amnesty International, military conscription is mandatory and indefinite. Prolonged periods of conflict and severe drought have adversely affected Eritrea’s agriculture-based economy and it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. Between 1998 and 2000 more than 150,000 died of a population of nearly 4.5 million. By UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have fled the country in recent years, making the perilous journey across the Sahara and the Mediterranean to Europe and some have made their way to Medway.
‘Only the mind cannot be sent into exile’ were the words of Ovid, a Roman poet who went into exile in AD8. The same can be said about many of our brothers from Eritrea who journeyed through the treacherous currents of the Mediterranean Sea to escape child-soldier recruitment for a chance to live, and possibly better life chances like any aspiring youth in any part of the world.
Reliving the account, Simon Habtom, shared his story; ‘From the age of 15 years, you are recruited whether you are male or female. Many of us fled on
foot to nearby Ethiopia, en route to Libya via Sudan. With little food in our stomach and barely any water, we trekked the Sahara Desert, seeing corpses on the freedom trail. Packed on to a small boat, we crossed the Mediterranean Sea wondering if we would ever make it to land as the waging wind tossed us here and there. It was the worst journey of my life’.
For many of the Eritrean youths, arriving in the UK is not without its challenges of being hurled around, asking fundamental questions of belonging. Coming together with other young Eritreans has not only offered resourcefulness to thrive in a new community but a hub where faith and cultural heritages can be preserved. St Mark, Gillingham, has been able to offer a safe space to do that and not just that, coming alongside these vibrant youths to build relationships, finding out their needs and offering resettlement support.
Beyond their immediate aspiration to speak English fluently, some are keen sportsmen, competing at cross-country races. Some are avid learners with hopes to go to university in their chosen fields. Whilst others are very entrepreneurial in nature and are well engaged with local businesses in learning various trades. What is quite inspirational about these young Eritreans who have sought refuge amongst us is their resilience. The notion that they exiled from their home country but their minds didn’t is food for thought.
Walter Kaiser, an Old Testament scholar, says that the Hebrew Scriptures warn “no fewer than 36 times of
Israel’s obligations to aliens, widows, and orphans. Most important here, Israel’s obligation is to be motivated by the memory that they had been aliens in Egypt.” Scriptures are very clear on how we should treat ‘outsiders’. The repeated command to ‘love the alien’ reminds us that our response should be one of compassion, generosity and openness, rather than defensiveness and hostility.
Amidst the escalating anti-refugee sentiment, the presence of young Eritreans has been a great gift to the church, a timely reminder that the Bible we read together is a story of a people who were a “movable treasure” (cf. Exod. 19:5) but perhaps more strangely it is a story of a God who seems to be “on the move” with the strangers.
Siju Adeoye is a member of St Mark, Gillingham advocating the cause of refugees in Medway.
Changing World / October 2017
ochesterLinkYour Church and Social Media
Eritrea to Gillingham: God in the shadows see page 11
Members of the Eritrean church and the Ven Simon Burton-Jones at a Pentecost service at St Mark, Gillingham
The Rev Siju Adeoye
2 ochester Link
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CONTENTS:
Eritrea to Gillingham: God in the ShadowsEditor’s LetterMeeting Bluewater’s New Lead ChaplainWhat moving out of church has meant for Holy Trinity, GillinghamYour church and social mediaGrow old with me. The best is yet to be.To celebrate or not to celebrate?Bexley church backs foster carers and adoptersPoverty and Hope Appeal 2017What makes a strong leader?Tackling Hard QuestionsComedy and Christianity
Editor’s LetterBy the Ven Simon Burton-Jones*Welcome to the era of disruption. Digital start-ups are subverting and re-structuring industries across the world. Uber has disrupted the taxi industry; Google, information; Airbnb, hotels; Spotify, music; Amazon, publishing; Instagram, photography. None of these names were known only a few years ago; they are now leading global brands, turning established industries upside down. Few prisoners have been taken; countless jobs have been lost. Disruption is in vogue and those who perpetrate it wear the badge with pride.
Those who object to the job losses incurred by the digital revolution are compared to Luddites standing in the way of history. When the debate is framed this way, there is no argument to be made. However, more searching questions should be asked of the new environment. In hollowing out a huge number of jobs, the digital entrepreneurs have only just initiated a revolution that will sweep the working world. People become much less whimsical about economic change when it arrives at the door of their office or factory.
Major economic revolutions are often accompanied by a rise in religious practice as people seek solace, meaning and an anchor in life. In the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit is cherished as a comforter, a unifier and a peace-giver. These are all true, but he is also - dare it be said - a disrupter too. As the Holy Spirit came in power at Pentecost, the Temple, the law and the status of Israel were all disrupted. Gentiles were included, a priesthood of all believers was established and spiritual gifts were distributed to all.
These may have been history defining moments, but the Holy Spirit has continued to disrupt the Church when it has grown complacent and self-seeking, or so cold in its love there is no warmth to share with those who do not know the love God has for them. Periodic revivals in history across the world are evidence of the disruptive power of the Holy Spirit. We long for these moments without truly understanding the impact they would make on how we live.
Joseph Schumpeter described the economic process where economic structures are built, subverted and overcome by newer forms as ‘creative destruction’. It has become a creedal statement of capitalism and thus one which does not receive much critical scrutiny. The overturning of established industries is an inevitable impact of competition and may be preferable to the overweening power of some entrenched businesses, but should destroying something be described as a creative act? He, and others, may have unconsciously heard the echo of a deeper melody: of death and resurrection. Schumpeter depicts the process of creative destruction as a ‘gale’, a word customarily used to describe the effects
of the Holy Spirit.
There is one big difference between the creative disruption of the digital start-ups and that of the Spirit. Where Silicon Valley hollows out the role and skills of many people, the Holy Spirit newly empowers more and more people with gifts to use in service of others.
The Church has often been resistant to the creative gale of the Holy Spirit because he changes us inside out and this is initially painful. We prefer life support to death and resurrection. Authentic Christian living compels the Church to keep a theology of the Holy Spirit which is rooted as much in his disruptive force as in his comforting touch. And the Church in Britain needs this more than ever.
In this edition are examples of some of the responses we are making as a Diocese, with others, to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Welcoming refugees, offering chaplaincy to retail staff, adapting to social media, and the needs of older people are reflected on. So too are ways to debate publicly the major issues of our era, the nature of leadership and living without a church building. We learn about the annual Poverty and Hope appeal and also the acute need for foster parents. We ask one of our Swedish priests to say what the Reformation – five hundred years old at the end of this month – means to the Church of Sweden and how this compares to the Anglican experience. Finally, we look at the sometimes uneasy relationship between comedy and Christianity. Surely laughter originates in the heart of God.
* Archdeacon of Rochester
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Meeting Bluewater’s New Lead Chaplain
By the Rev Ann Richardson*
Holy Trinity Church, Twydall, is an iconic church, built
in 1964 by architect Arthur Bailey. Unfortunately its unusual modern design, while striking, has presented the worshipping community with an endless stream of problems almost since it was new. With failing electrics, a perishing cedar shingle roof and ineffective heating, it finally closed for public worship in 2010 and the worshippers moved into the church hall next door.
Seven years on, we are still in the hall, and the GradeII listed church remains frustratingly closed, in spite of several plans to create something creative and twenty-first century with it.
When I applied for the post of vicar at Holy Trinity, several people quite openly asked if I knew what I was taking on. After all, who wants to be vicar of a parish without a church … or rather, with a church with so many problems? I cannot deny that there are frustrations around trying to find space for “church” around the plethora of slimming groups, children’s parties and dance classes that make use of the hall, but on the whole there is something very beautiful and
liberating about being church without being defined by the building.
Moving out of the church was a wrench for many, but the move has changed us in largely positive ways. The church building seats three to four hundred people, so a small congregation could easily get lost in it. A much tighter-knit community is formed on a Sunday in the hall where we only put out as many chairs as we will need, drawing everyone together. Losing the traditional layout and furniture of church has given a fresh perspective on worship and allowed us to be much more creative in what we do, while maintaining, on the whole, a traditionally Anglican pattern of services. Whenever I officiate at a service in another church, I am mindful of how much more “separated” I am from the congregation than at Holy Trinity, where services feel so much more of a collaboration and a conversation.
Returning to worship in the hall (which was the original church) has also allowed us to relate to local people in new ways, since most people have been to the hall
f o r parties and functions (or to get weighed!) even if they never came into the church. Where Holy Trinity is no longer an attractive proposition for weddings and funerals, it is a great space for lunch clubs, friendship groups and informal drop-in style worship, which we run on Saturday mornings.
Given the choice, and with unlimited funds, we would dearly love to reopen the church building. It is the only
building of any architectural merit on the estate and is part of the history of so many local people. Were this to happen, however, it would need to be part of journeying forward, and carrying into that space all that we have learnt about being a missional worshiping community from our time in ”exile” in the hall.
*Vicar at Holy Trinity , Gillingham
What moving out of church has meant for Holy Trinity, Gillingham
By the Ven Simon Burton-Jones*
David Byrne, in the frenetic Talking Heads song ‘Once in a
Lifetime’ posed the question: How did I get here? Many people feel the same having set out to follow Christ, only to find he leads them into unexpected places. The new lead Chaplain of Bluewater, Ella Sibley may be one of them.
Having left the Devon family home to study Mathematics and Economics at Sheffield University, she was primed for a career in allocating the scarce resources of public healthcare but stopped to pose the question: What might God actually want of me? In conversation with her spiritual director, a different image began to form. Having helped out with the chaplaincy at university as an undergraduate, she had a sense that maybe her next step lay in this world.
Speaking with Ella over coffee in Pret in the early weeks of her role at Bluewater, there was a sense that her three years as chaplain to Roehampton University had naturally come to an end, having seen one cohort through to their degree. When asked what she felt most strongly
about this group, Ella paused to think – characteristic of her poised, reflective personality – and said their aversion to religion and its institutions but a genuine sense of the spiritual. Walking alongside them in this exploration had been a privilege.
Ella’s own arrival at faith had been as a teenager, joining a church youth group to counter loneliness. The opportunity to visit and work with a project in Brazil in her gap year made a lasting impression and, with the encouragement of her mother, to contact the university chaplaincy on her arrival in Sheffield (described by the existing chaplain as the ‘only self-referral’ ever made), a life lived for Jesus began to take shape.
There is a deep, intuitive understanding of chaplaincy in Ella. She wants God’s love to be made known to many people and sees the workplace and the marketplace as the ideal locations for this. Hence Bluewater. In the early days at the shopping mall she has been made welcome by the ‘very friendly’ attitude of its management and is keen to meet face to face with the numerous volunteer chaplains who stroll the walkways, befriending staff and helping them with their needs.
Ella listens carefully to what people have to say and is keen to elicit advice. She is also an advocate for expanding the volunteer chaplaincy and keen for more people to come forward from the churches of the region. Most of us shop there; why not volunteer for God there too?
At key points in her own life, she has had that indefinable but palpable awareness of God both leading her and holding her hand at the same time. You get the sense in talking to her that it’s exactly this that she wants for the people of Bluewater.* Archdeacon of Rochester
Friendship group session
Ella Sibley
4 ochester LinkAdvertising Feature
5ochester Link
Your church and social mediaBy the Rev David Green*
Why would any church choose to ignore the possibilities of
social media?
Bill Gates famously said that “the Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow”. The World Economic Forum has said that, if Facebook were a country, it would be substantially bigger than China. The number of people on Twitter is only marginally less than the number of people who live in the USA. The penetration of social media amongst Generation Y and Millennials is almost total.
Every church has to consider its Facebook presence as public. A group page, with a controlled membership and closed to the public is acceptable for internal communication and sharing of prayer requests, but every church needs to have a public facing page as well that is open to all. We use ours to promote events, services, respond to questions and enquiries, listen to what people are talking about locally, and to share prayers and announcements from people like Bishop James or the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Twitter is not quite as essential for the local church as Facebook, simply because
many more people use Facebook than Twitter. But again, churches can share events, interact with church members and visitors, and engage with culture.But it’s not just about making pronouncements - it is important to remember that social media is a conversation. People can comment, respond, ask questions.
If you’re a small church with limited resources, there are a few key things to remember. Firstly, don’t try to do it all. There’s no point starting accounts on endless platforms if you can’t sustain them. If that is you, just do Facebook. Secondly, don’t try to pretend your church is something that it’s not. Social media will quickly find you out if you’re anything other than transparently yourself. Thirdly, listen. This is a chance to have a conversation with the people around you, so take time to listen to what they are saying. Fourthly, give value to others.
Some folk share far more on social media than they probably should. Value the trust and honesty they show, just as you would if the information had been shared with you face-to-face. Choose to be the church on social media that isn’t always talking about itself. Be there for others. And finally, wash, rinse, repeat.
Consistency is important. A neglected Facebook page or Twitter page is worse than no page at all.
Today, social media is the place where people are gathering, debating, discussing, connecting. Why wouldn’t you want to be there?
You can find David on Twitter: @RevDavidGreenand his churches can be found at facebook.com/StMarysWestMalling and twitter.com/CofEWestMallingfacebook.com/offhamchurch and twitter.com/CofEOffham
Grow old with me.The best is yet to be.By Julia Burton-Jones*
Or is it? We have a conflicted attitude to our later years.
Bombarded with advertising for products that minimise ageing and help us live longer, we devour research on strategies that will extend our lives, yet the thought of being very old does not delight most of us.
Advances in medical science and improvements in lifestyle have led to longer lifespans and the imperative for governments across the world to adapt to their ageing populations. Increased life expectancy is a cause for celebration, but has implications for how we live and organise our communities. The ‘third age’ is typically a time of opportunity and vitality in early retirement, but as we move into our ‘fourth age’ we are likely to be living with multiple long-term conditions associated with advanced age. Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions, with the Campaign to End Loneliness drawing attention to ‘The Missing Million’ older people who are chronically lonely and risk associated health problems equivalent to smoking cigarettes (The Missing Million: In Search of the Loneliest in our Communities, published by the Campaign to End
Loneliness in 2016).
In a recent pilot module on Anna Chaplaincy (part of the Foundation in Christian Ministry course), we reflected on the ‘tasks of ageing’, looking at the psychological and spiritual outlook of people living in their ninth or tenth decade and the role of chaplaincy in providing ‘spiritual accompaniment’. Older people are attuned to spiritual matters, conscious their days left on earth are limited, and it is a privilege to come alongside them as they review their lives and make peace with the decisions and experiences they faced along the way.
Sadly, careless ageism abounds, not just in society but also in our churches. A faithful older saint living in a care home said to a student on placement during the Anna Chaplaincy module, ‘Why does the Church forget about people when they get old?’ How do older people in the pews feel when it is suggested young people are ‘the future’ and the rightful
target of our energy and resources?
Recognising the need to provide appropriate support to people of all ages, Bromley Parish Church took the decision this year to appoint an Anna Chaplain to complement the work of their children’s and families’ worker. Honouring those in our communities who are elderly and frail is not only a Biblical duty, but also a practical way of combatting negative views of age which not only limit those who are already old, but also curtail our personal hopes for our future selves.
* Dementia Specialist Project Officer
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6 ochester Link
To celebrate or not to celebrate?By Madeleine Dahl*
How are you celebrating the Reformation jubilee? A couple
of months ago I was asked this question by a colleague in the Church of Sweden. I had to pause for a moment before I responded: “I am not really celebrating the Reformation jubilee. It doesn’t attract very much attention in the Church of England you see.”
From a Church of Sweden point of view this jubilee is something that has been prepared for many years and that is celebrated throughout the whole church. If I was still working in the Church of Sweden, I would probably have been expected this year to run a study course about Luther in my church and to organise at least one big event in my parish and/ or deanery to commemorate the Reformation. Further, I would have been expected, with members of my congregation, to attend events on diocesan and/or national level. And I would also have been encouraged to attend an international event.
My “poor” answer to my Swedish colleague’s question made me think. Why is it that the Reformation jubilee attracts so much more attention in the Church of Sweden than in the Church of England? In my thoughts I went back all those 500 years to how the Reformation started in England and in Sweden. In fact the stories begin quite similarly with a king, who sees personal favours in turning the country into a Protestant country and therefore initiates that. In Sweden that, however, coincided with the fact that Swedish theologians studied in Wittenberg around the year 1517 and came back very inspired by the thoughts of Martin Luther. With
the king’s consent they could plant the theology of Luther. In that way the Reformation in Sweden has always had a clear theological founder. Historically this identity was passed on from generation to generation by Luther’s small catechism, which often was the only book people owned. It was the duty of the priest to make annual home visits to all parishioners and examine their knowledge of their Lutheran faith.
As a priest in the Church of Sweden today you are still responsible of passing on this reformational identity and as a part of the theological studies, you need to pass a special course about the Lutheran identity of the Church, which entails the writings of Martin Luther and the historical documents from the time of the Reformation. This quite strong Lutheran identity makes the church fairly uniform. Also, in its liturgical expressions, there are very few variations from parish to parish. The Church of Sweden was however very influenced by the Oxford movement in terms of liturgy, which makes it a Church with a Lutheran identity, but with a high Church liturgical practice.
One of the first questions I got asked when I arrived in the Diocese of Rochester two years ago was “Which churchmanship do you have?” This question was just as awkward for me to answer as the question I opened this article with. “I don’t really have a churchmanship…” I said with hesitation, as I strongly felt that it was really something I ought to have. And then I tried to explain the fairly uniform identity of the Church of Sweden. During these two years I have come to understand it is in your local church and churchmanship and not in your denomination that you have your strongest identity as a Christian. Since the
different churchmanships value the Reformation in different ways and some have much stronger links to the historical Reformation than others, a celebration in every parish and deanery, like in the Church of Sweden, wouldn’t make sense.
After my poor answer about how I was going to celebrate the reformation jubilee my colleague asked me: “So what does Luther mean to you?” Taking the complexity of the celebration into account I said: “For me the most important thing is to be a Christian, who lives and works ecumenically in a spectrum of churches and denominations. In order to really be able to do that it is very important to be rooted in your own tradition. In that sense Luther is important to me.
His theology constitutes parts of my roots. And his courage
to be a whistle blower inspires me to act against the
unjust structures of our church today.
In May 2014, I was one of many Lutheran women who gathered in Meissen, Germany, for a pre-meeting to the Reformation Jubilee, to talk about women’s role in the Reformation and to share experiences of unjust structures in the
church today. It became clear to us that the Church is still very dominated by a patriarchal and heteronormative way of thinking, which needs to be reformed, in order for the whole of humanity to be living stones in Christ’s Church in the 21st century. In light of this experience it becomes irrelevant whether or not we celebrate the Reformation jubilee. The important thing is that we have the courage to blow the whistle.
* Associate Priest at Chatham St Mary and St John
Madeleine Dahl, ordained in the Church of Sweden, now serving as a priest in Rochester Diocese
A huge, inflated Luther
7ochester Link
Bexley Church backs foster carers and adopters The Rev Gary Best is the curate
at St John the Evangelist, Bexley. He and his wife Lynn have an amazing story of fostering, and of going on to adopt three children.
Having been moved by the numbers of children in care and the desperate need for loving and safe homes for these children and young people, Gary and Lynn applied to become foster carers. Since being approved eight years ago, they have cared for fourteen children.
Some children have been able to return to birth families while others have moved on to adoption. But for three of the children it became clear that the best place for them was to be with Gary and Lynn, and each one has now been formally adopted. Gary explains,
Each child that has been placed with us has a different story, each child has different needs, but there is one thing
that each of them needs, and as Christians, it is freely available and free to give…
love.
Since Gary and Lynn started fostering the number of children in care has risen to record levels. Currently, there are around 70,000 children in care across the UK and over 3,000 in the local authorities that the Diocese of Rochester covers. Around 120 of these children are waiting to be adopted. To make matters worse, the Department for Education released figures this year that show a drop in fostering applications by a third over the last year and the number of children needing adoption is expected to surpass the number of approved adopters before the end of the year.
The need is urgent and there is a growing recognition of the potential
of the Church in the UK to help meet this need and make a tangible difference in our communities.
To this end, Gary and the Team Ministry at the church are backing the campaign being run by the Diocese of Rochester, Christian charity Home for Good and charitable fostering and adoption agency Diagrama, which is to encourage individuals and families from across the Diocese to step forward to foster or adopt to meet the urgent need to care for vulnerable children, and have their churches wrap around and support them and existing carers and adopters.
St John, Bexley will be celebrating Adoption Sunday this November with a special service to honour those who foster and adopt, and to focus on the truth that, as Christians, we are all adopted children, all recipients of a radical, gospel hospitality. God loved us so much he sent Jesus ‘to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.’ (Galatians 4:5)
Christians, more than most, should understand that adoption is a beautiful and remarkable gift. It has happened to each of us.
The yearlong Home for Good campaign, launched in May, is seeking to build on this by sharing the need for foster carers and adopters amongst the Church, and communicating the amazing role that the churches and congregations can play in supporting carers, adopters and looked after children.
Bishop James said,
Sharing hospitality and caring for the most disadvantaged in
the community has been central to Christian discipleship all down the
centuries. I am delighted that we are partnering with
Home for Good in our Diocese, so that our churches
are at the forefront of creating better futures for vulnerable
children.
Billy-Jo O’Leary, Home for Good’s Project Coordinator, spent periods of
t i m e in care as a child and is now a lay reader in the Diocese. She will be working with Gary as they each speak from their experiences at events across the Diocese between now and March 2018. Gary’s hope is that his story might encourage others to consider fostering and adoption seriously, and also raise awareness of the need to support families who foster or adopt. Gary and Lynn plan for St John’s Church to be a Home for Good church and become a hub of support for foster carers and adopters in the area.
Gary concluded, “The bible teaches that ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress’ (James 1:27). Each child just wants to be loved. Surely, as Christians, this is the most freely
avai lable gift we have been blessed with, and is so right for sharing”.
Home for Good and Bishop James are encouraging churches to take part in Adoption Sunday – to celebrate fostering and adoption, recognise the incredible job that so many in our church communities do, and inspire many others to get involved. You can find Adoption Sunday materials here: homeforgood.org.uk/adoptionsunday
If you’d like to speak to someone about fostering,
adoption or supporting families who foster or adopt, email
[email protected] or call 0300 001 0995.
Alternatively visit homeforgood.org.uk/kent for
more information.
Billy-Jo at 10 Downing Street
Rev Gary Best and his family
The Rev Gary Best
8 ochester Link
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Poverty and Hope Appeal 2017Readers of the June edition of
Rochester Link, may remember the article entitled the “Church at the heart of its community”, with encouraging reports of things that churches within the Diocese were doing to help their communities. Many of the writers commented that they had been helped to get started by the Bishop’s Fund for Mission.
The Poverty and Hope Appeal aims to provide similar financial support, but for churches overseas. Sometimes our Appeal partners (Christian Aid, CMS and USPG) are heavily involved in helping to get things going; at other times, local Christians already have the expertise to run the projects, but need financial assistance. We generally provide funds for three years, with the aim that the projects will be self-supporting by the end of that time.
Whilst the Gospel is timeless, the way in which the good news is communicated to people clearly changes over time. 200 years ago, Christianity was unknown in much of the world and missionaries from Europe had a vital role to play in proclaiming the Gospel worldwide. Today many of the countries to which those missionaries went have vibrant churches with Christians keen to help their communities in word and deed, but lacking the financial means to do so. That is where, in a very small way, the Poverty and Hope Appeal can help.Projects are chosen by a small group of people led by our Bishop. The
projects seek to tackle one or more of the core issues that lie at the heart of poverty – agriculture, education, empowerment of disadvantaged people and communities, and healthcare. This year the Appeal is supporting:
• a helpline in India for women (and some men) suffering domestic abuse• teaching improved farming methods in Burkina Faso• helping people in DRC to engage with local politicians to ensure their priorities are understood, and• supporting Andrew Leake in Argentina as he seeks to help local people establish their rights over ancestral lands, thereby preventing massive logging of these lands by international companies.
We receive regular updates about the projects which are then shared with all our supporting churches. It is really exciting. Some of these updates are available on the Diocese website. Please do use them to help with your prayers. You will also find, on the website, material for a Sunday School session.
What all the projects have in common is motivation. In all cases Christians seek to show the love of Christ in what they are doing.
Whilst the focus of the Poverty and Hope Appeal is international, we permanently support one UK project, Bore Place (also known as Commonwork). They provide a range of programmes, both vocational and educational, and therapeutic support. They:
• help young people suffering from mental health difficulties to get their life and learning back on track• provide summer holiday and weekend clubs for children with additional needs. Activities include den making, growing and cooking food, brick making and environmental arts, and • enable school children to enjoy hands on learning about sustainability and global justice.
All of this takes place in an inspiring and nurturing environment. This year the link between Bore Place and Rochester Diocese saw fifty teachers from our Church schools attend an event that helped them prepare for upcoming curriculum changes - schools must provide an Understanding of Christianity and embed British values in their lesson planning. The practical reality of the issues that drive our appeal, met the needs of our schools, through a powerful simulation exercise provided by Empathy Action. The schools also learnt something of the joy in building a friendship with a school in one of our partner dioceses.
Both Bore Place (www.boreplace.org) and Empathy Action (www.empathyaction.org) are keen to work with more schools.
We would love to have more people involved with this Appeal. If you would like to play a part and can be available for four meetings each year, then please get in touch. To book a Poverty and Hope speaker for your church, or order brochures, posters, gift aid forms, please email [email protected].
9ochester Link
A productive market garden in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit Christian Aid
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By the Rev Elaine Cranmer*2014 seems a long time ago but it was the year when three newly appointed clergy all took up posts in the parish of Holy Trinity, South Chatham. Many people then and now often say ‘where’s that?’ and I suppose as the new team arrived there was a sense of a parish that wasn’t quite sure itself! Three churches serving three communities within a Local Ecumenical Partnership with the Methodist Church! In reality the parish covers the south of Chatham in Medway but also straddles the infamous Blue Bell Hill junction on the M2 to touch the edge of the North Downs. So the questions arose: Who are we and how do we engage across three Sunday morning congregations and with the wider community?
It seemed that we needed to raise awareness of a Christian presence in the area and to offer teaching beyond what was possible during regular worship, addressing some of the hard questions
facing churches and individual Christians today. From this evolved our Sunday evening programme:
• A monthly Arts Café featuring professional Christian entertainers excelling in comedy, magic and music. Each artist was able to share not only their talents but also their Christian faith with audiences from churches and community acts as varied as comedians Paul Kerensa and Jo Enright, magicians Mark Shortland and John Archer, musicians from Dave Bilbrough to Luke Bacon and Phillipa Hanna as well as a theatre company that whisked through the book of Genesis in ninety minutes.• A Public Lecture series with lead speakers addressing issues of theology, biblical scholarship, faith and Christian living. Our guests included Claire Amos, Leslie Francis, and Robin Gill. Those attending came from our own congregations and churches much further afield. Christian and non-Christians engaged with topics as varied as the Story of God, the Theology of Christmas Films, Mental Health and Christian Spirituality, Pain, and the
Passion of Christ and the thinking of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. There were certainly some post-lecture discussions that could have gone on well into the night!• By re-awakening Sunday evenings we’ve also been able to explore worship opportunities not always possible in our Sunday morning services.
Whether it has seemed we’re merely having a good time or discovering that as stewards of God’s creation we may need to face some uncomfortable questions about what we eat, this two year programme which was completed this summer has offered churchgoers from many traditions to see their faith through others eyes, to meet with one another and engage in conversation with leading academics about living out the Christian faith in a contemporary situation. We didn’t always agree but we always left with something to think about! We move forward, we’ve learnt a lot and laughed a lot, who knows where God is leading us now.
* Team Rector at South Chatham Holy Trinity
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What Makes a Strong Leader?By the Rev Jim Fletcher*Having chosen the theme of ‘Christian Leadership’ for my three-month study leave (May to July this year), it was interesting during this period how often I heard the words, “We need good and strong leadership” in the UK media. From the front-page headlines of the General Election, the awful events of Grenfell Tower and the worldwide terror attacks, to the sporting back-pages, where the search for strong and motivational leaders was just as demanding as the front-page stories. One thing became clear, when leadership goes well, people enjoy being led and knowing where they are going. If leadership does not go well, people can feel uneasy, lost and often angry.
In Church circles, things are no different. However, the Church in the UK has been attempting to look at leadership models in a different way to cope with a changing culture and demanding times. What may have worked well in the past, may not necessarily work well now. A good and successful idea in one situation and context does not necessarily transfer to another. If only parish life and Church growth was that simple!
What people seem to be getting more familiar with now is the collaborative
approach. Throughout history, people within their own congregations have always worked together but very clearly the buck always stopped with the clergy in charge. The latter is still true in many respects but the modern changing culture has showed there is great value in the collaborative work of team decisions, vision setting and how best to delegate jobs. Three common aspects of leadership I discovered in my studies were:
• People want their leaders to display ‘Vision’. Where are we going and what are we being led towards are questions many PCC’s will have discussed.• Being able to lead out of our ‘inner life’, vulnerabilities and limitations. The paradox for Christians is highlighted in the Biblical model where it is in our weaknesses and vulnerabilities that we can display ‘strong’ leadership most of all. The Christian leaders of the future will need to take a step back from the Worldly leadership model of glamorising ‘busyness and success’.• Making prayer and reflection a priority. Surely, vision and understanding our inner life grows out of times of prayer and
reflection. This may seem an obvious point to make, but it is amazing how this can get squeezed out of so many Church agendas.
So, whatever you feel about what makes a strong leader, do remember Christians are all called to lead to some degree. And do remember to pray for all leaders, for wisdom and discernment especially in a dramatically changing culture.
* Rector at Fawkham and Hartley
Tackling Hard Questions
Dr Maria Diemling on Jewish-Christian relations
The Rev Canon Professor Leslie Francis Post lecture Q&A with the Rev David Flagg
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Comedy and ChristianityBy the Rev Martin Booth*
Anyone familiar with Umberto Eco’s brilliant The Name of
the Rose will know that - spoiler alert - the plot revolves around whether laughter is sinful.
It was a serious theological question much debated by medieval monks. Just as certain forms of entertainment, including ribaldry and laughter, have been banned down the ages by various Christian groups, both among themselves, and even imposed upon society. This emphasis on taking one’s life and faith seriously stems, doubtless, from particular interpretations of scripture. For example, we find throughout the Hebrew bible many references to laughter which are clearly derisory; designed to pour scorn on people, events and vainglorious ambition - both by God and others (e.g. 2 Ch 30.10, Pss 2.4, 37.13, 80.6). The most famous pouring of scorn in the Hebrew scriptures can be heard from Abraham and Sarah when God tells them that, despite their advanced age, they are to have a child. (Gen. 17.17, 18.12). Then we hear the writer of Ecclesiastes telling us
“…I said of laughter ‘it is mad’, and of pleasure ‘what use is
it?’”(Eccl. 2.2).
Although this might be to do with what one might call ‘immoderate laughter’ that is to say: laughter for laughter’s sake; loud roaring laughter, born of drunkenness or ignorance or foolishness? The writer goes on to say
‘…for like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools…’(7.6) Meanwhile, in the Gospels, we hear the professional mourners mocking Jesus’ claim that the young girl is not dead but sleeping. (Mk 5.40). On the other hand, once Isaac (meaning: he laughs) is born, Sarah says
‘God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears
will laugh with me.’
And, as always, we should leave the final word on this matter with Jesus himself: ‘…blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh’ (Lk 6.21).
So we have, on the one hand, laughter in the wrong context - derision, disbelief, foolishness - being unhealthy, while on the other hand, laughter in the context of redemption and healing - being valuable and valued.
One might wonder, of course, did Jesus himself laugh during his earthly ministry? Now, there’s a question. Any scholar worth her or his salt will tell you that one cannot argue from an absence of evidence. Just because none of the Gospels record Jesus laughing does not mean Jesus never laughed. It’s quite possible that he did. Not least because, for humans, laughter is often an involuntary act when confronted with absurdity or moments of joy. If we believe Jesus was both fully God and fully human, therefore, denying that Jesus ever laughed, means we deny him one part of his humanity. Then, of course, there’s the argument that God has a sense of humour. To
use a less empirical argument from one of Woody Allen’s most memorable quotes: ‘If you want to make God laugh - tell him your plans’.
I like to think that Ecclesiastes can be read as a wryly humorous account of life and life’s complexity. I read it, as if it were written by someone with a great sense of humour gently mocking the doom-and-gloom merchants.
Similarly, much of what Christ says and does in scripture can suggest he had a great sense of humour. Take, for example, the rich young man (Mt 19.16-26). The earnest young fellow - clearly keen on getting into heaven - approaches the Teacher and asks what else he can do? Jesus loves him for his earnestness. Smiling, he advises the young man what else to do. “Yes-yes,” says the young man “but that’s not enough - what else can I do?” Can you see the twinkle in Jesus’ eyes? “Well then, sell everything you have…” Christ’s point being that we can’t buy heaven. I imagine the young man got the point from Jesus’ smile. But then, I can’t argue from absence of evidence. Importantly, though, we should read what happens next. The disciples stand goggle-eyed and open-mouthed. ‘Goodness,’ they say, ‘then it’s impossible! Look what we’ve given
up - yet that’s still not enough!’ And that’s exactly right. It is impossible for a human to earn their place in the Kingdom of Heaven for: ‘only God can do this,” says Jesus.
To return to our theme, we know that God loves everything God has made. As with all of Creation, things can be used or abused. This, surely must include laughter and comedy generally. So let us explore briefly the possibility that comedy is, indeed, God-given.
What does comedy do? Well, among other things, it highlights the absurdity of life; it reveals truth; it rejoices in naivety and innocence; and it speaks truth to power.
How about Christ? Well, he highlights humankind’s absurdities, he reveals The Truth; he commends
innocence and simplicity certainly when it comes to faith and belief; and he speaks truth to power.
Of course, the comparisons are not exact. But it must be admitted, there are some considerable similarities. The main difference, however, is that comedy, in many ways, once it has spoken, leaves us still with the chaos - the non-sense. Christ, thankfully, once he has spoken, makes sense of things. He brings order out of the chaos and the absurdity and the non-sense.
Life, at least on the face of it, is absurd. Comedy tells us we’re not alone thinking this; and as a result our sense of insecurity in a topsy-turvey world is momentarily eased. By realising we are not alone in the midst of the absurdities of life, comedy creates community. In the created community the individual feels that they belong; no bad thing.
Comedy therefore can be seen as an reflection of how, in Christ, equally assuring us we are not alone in the topsy-turvey absurdities, we become a community, and, more, we
are loved and blessed.
The difference however, is this. While comedy merely satisfies - albeit temporarily, Christ sanctifies - eternally.
*Vicar of St Mary, Riverhead and Area Dean of Sevenoaks
The Rev Martin Booth
Credit Pixabay
