Mike's musings

Assumption of Equality

I preached at both the 0800 and the 1000 services today (and we did lots of incense at the 1000, which made a nice change). I talked about how the Epiphany is a sign that, from that one night when God took flesh, there was an Assumption of Equality. Everybody starts out equal: to be saved, you need only to be what those first exiled from the Garden of Eden were, which is a sinner. And to be human means to be a sinner.

There is an assumption of equality, as Paul explains in Galatians 3:28:

• There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

You don't need to be purified, to be Jewish, to be white, to be black - none of this matters. And this extends to those standing behind the altar: whether it's me, John, Clifford or Viv. It doesn't matter whether we're young, old, black, a woman, gay, straight: what matters is that we're human. And it's even more so for that rather bigger issue than ordination, salvation. If we ordain because we baptise, than how much more so will God save because he loves us.

Labels: baptism, inclusiveness

Baptism preparation

(backposting) As well as spending some time with John working on weddings and how I'll do them in Halstead, I had a couple of baptism preparation, too. They're planning to get married next year, and both she and their children are going to get baptised. I went through the service, and the more we talked, the more I realised that they didn't know much about Christianity, but also that they were keen to find out more. When, at the end of the discussion of the service, they asked if I had a Bible they could take away, I was really pleased. And I then took them round the church, explaining about some of the saints, and also about why Jesus was crucified: the basics of the atonement. It was fantastic to have the opportunity, and they both - the husband, too - seemed keen to find out more. It taught me that we mustn't make assumptions about how much people know about Christianity.

Labels: baptism, wedding

Church (and work)

(backposting) Well, it's Sunday. I went back to the lovely St Anne's, Reston, for their fantastic 1000 service. Great welcome, fun music, lots of people, and a baptism to boot. One thing that I really enjoyed was that once Jim (who was presiding) had baptised the baby, he walked around the church, telling him how this was his new family, and showing him all the people. It felt like an excellent introduction, and I think I'll emulate the practice. A few of the congregation invited me out to brunch in a restaurant nearby, which was really kind and, well, Christian. What a lovely church.

I had an idea about how to sort a sort out a problem that we'd been having at work, so went round to try to sort it out quickly. Unluckily, there were emails from a senior person that I ended up responding to, and so he came out to the office and I spent rather more time their than I'd intended: 5 hours...

Labels: baptism, church, work

Baptisms galore

Quite a day, really. I'm about to do the ironing, after a lovely 5.4km (3.34 mile) walk. That was after putting the girls to bed. We'd spent most of the after noon at Sally's post-ordination party. The girls met a 7 year old who they played with, so that was good, and it was nice to meet some of Sally's family and friends.

But it was the morning which was most interesting. It was my first "lone" Sunday, and 5 minutes before the 0800 started, I was concerned that noone was going to turn up. Luckily, 4 people turned up, which was a relief. After a 40 minute or so service, I then had well over an hour to kill before the 1000. What to do? Well, I walked down the hill to the WH Smith at the bottom of town, and bought a copy of the Observer. And on the way up, I noticed that there was a caff open. Not a café: a caff. Yes, and open caff. So, was my eating there simply an excuse for a cooked breakfast, or an opportunity for expressing my ministry of presence with parishioners? You get to decide. At least I 'fessed up.

So, after another trip to WH Smith's for some mints, I was back up to the church for our 1000 Eucharist. I do enjoy celebrating the Eucharist: it's great. And after that, we had a baptism. Well, I say _a_ baptism. I'd been told to expect 5 candidates (all children, from 4 families), and lots of family and friends. We god under way with a pretty full church, and it was only at the presentation of the candidates that I realised that there seemed to be 6 children dressed up for the occasion. I stopped and demanded a recount, and there were, in fact, 6 children, from 5 families. Luckily, we discovered the we had all the relevant paperwork, and were ready to proceed.

It was a blast. There were so many children, friends and family that half of the job was policing and traffic control. I had to restart the service and explain that the congregation needed to read out the bits in bold, or the service really wouldn't work. There was lot of children-noise, lots of adult noise, lots of photos, and lots of joy. The first candidate was a little boy who was asleep when it came to the actual baptism, but not when I poured the water over his forehead. He woke up, and cried, loudly. Which rather put the other children off. And I've never needed to raise my voice in a service whilst micced and amped up. I loved it, and had lots and lots of very positive feedback (and not from the mic-amp-speaker system). And about 270 people in the church.

Labels: baptism, curacy, eucharist, food

Baptising Boo

Today I baptised Si and D's daughter, Boo. After some discussion, they decided to be brave and to include her nickname "Boo" in her baptism, making it official, so her name is now "Charlotte Phoebe Boo". I preached on Ubuntu theology, and "I am, because we are" (rather than the "I am, because you are", which I'd found yesterday online). We started with a clapping game, with 5 different rhythms, building them slowly on top of a simple 4 beat (thanks, Chris, for helping with this one), and I then talked about the catholic nature of our faith: not only was I baptising Boo into the universal church - not any local church - but we must remember that our salvation through Jesus Christ is not just an individual salvation, but also a catholic salvation. Christ died for us all.

We had a lovely afternoon eating, drinking, chatting and the rest, and the girls did really well. And now they're in bed, and we're watching Karate Kid.

Labels: baptism, films

Dementia and belief

At Moo's suggetsion, I listened to the podcast of a recent Beyond Belief from Radio 4. It was about dementia, and how religions - and their adherents - deal with it. It was excellent, very thought-provoking, and extremely moving. I came across the phrase "Ubuntu theology", in relation to Archbishop Tutu, and it really struck a chord. I'm aware of the word "ubuntu" because I use Ubuntu Linux, and its overtones of community, but Ubuntu theology, which apparently was formed at least partly in response to Afrikaaner theology which was defending apartheid, has been summed up by Tutu as "I am because you are". This works very well for a sermon I'm going to be preaching at Boo's baptism. I've been wondering how to centre it, and now I know.

Labels: baptism, sermon, theology

Baptism

I really do like baptising people. Children only, so far, though I hope we get the chance to baptise an adult soon. I hadn't expected to be around at home this weekend, but when I discovered that we would be, I offered to take the baptism, as I'd done the preparation for the parents a couple of weeks ago. It was also my first chance to take a baptism within a service, which was also good.

What else? Had a fun early morning with the girls - both of whom slept all night in their own beds! Moo got some more sleep, and then we had a sleepy cuddle while the girls ran riot, sat on our heads, all that sort of thing. Unluckily, Jo spent too much of the rest of the day just failing to listen, which made for some interesting parts to the day, but all-in-all, we've had a pretty good weekend.

Next week, I have to decide whether to go "contract" or not, rather than permanent. An important decision: I'm awaiting some information from one particular source - and this all assumes, of course, that the redundancy proceedings go as expected.

Labels: baptism, work

And back we come...

(backposting) So, I'm a godfather again, this time to Mischa, a lovely little 4 month old. After the service, a number of us headed over to Mentieth Lake, and took the little boat across to the island on which the ruins of Inchmahome Priory are situated. Well, some of us took the ferry - but others decided that the hotel bar was a better bet, and therefore didn't get wet in the driving rain. But it was fun, and I'm not complaining, and we did rib the others about it.

After lunch, we headed on the mammoth drive back home. About 8 and a half hours, with a break at Kate and Mac's. We got home, tired, around 2330.

And we have the two best girls in the entire world.

Labels: baptism, friends., girls, travel

Up we go...

(backposting) All the way up to Kippen, just north of Stirling. It took us something over 6 hours plus stops - the weather was bad at times, and so was the traffic - but the girls did very well. We got there for around 1600, and Jo started getting to know Anoushka, Matty and Harriet's elder child, who's around 6 months older than her. Kids make friends so easily at this age: it's great. And Jo even had the chance to ride a horse, which went down very, very well, I can tell you.

It was great to catch up with Matty, and to spend some time with Harriet, who we've only met once before: at the wedding 9 years ago, when she had quite a lot of other people to talk to, and things to worry about (being married to Matty would be top of the list, I think).

Went to bed pretty early in a lovely B&B, given the amount of driving we'd done. Moo insists I snored, but luckily I'd had some wine, so didn't wake myself up. Miri woke up in the middle of the night, and came in to Moo, so I went in to the room with Jo - who didn't seem to notice the (alleged) snoring.

Labels: baptism, friends, travel

Meeting a colleague

Another member of the clergy, that is. Si and D have asked me to baptise their youngest in Charlotte, in their local church, and wanted me to meet John, their incumbent. So I came over and had supper with the three of them, while Moo very kindly stayed at home and looked after the girls. We had a good chat and a good meal, and it was a very pleasant evening.

Labels: baptism, friends

Doing the job

I was driving to Frankie's baptism today, and came across a diversion - which nearly took me to Husborne Crawley, as it happens. As I went past it in the other direction, I suddenly realised that I was wearing my clerical collar, and I had to offer my services. I can't yet provide last rites - not until I'm ordained priest, and I'm only a deacon at the moment - but I could offer prayer and support for anyone who needed it. So, I went back, and was waved through when I offered to help. There was a fatality - who'd already been moved - and noone else involved, so in the end, I wasn't needed, but I was ready, and I think that's the important thing.

Labels: baptism, death, prayer

Theology

I'm reading some de Lubac, a Catholic theologian from the the 20th century. I'm really enjoying doing some proper theological thinking again: academic theology, that is. I wouldn't in any way suggest that practical theology isn't proper, but I really enjoy the particular requirements posed by academic theology. I was suggested his book "Catholicism", which I'm reading alongside a commentary on his life and work by David Grumett, which seems interesting so far. So far, I like de Lubac's insistence on the importance of the body of the Church - its catholic nature - but am less happy about the assumption - explicit at some points, it seems, though I'm only part-way into the book - that it is the Roman Catholic church which makes up the true body of Christ, as schism from Rome puts one outside it. I need to read more, as I may be being a little harsh on the book, and I understand how much he dislikes what he sees as a Protestant preoccupation with personal salvation.

I'm reading this as part of a project looking into issues of authority and the Anglican church, and it's interesting to see how it relates. I'm not sure where I'm going with it yet, but will try to keep blogging on the issue.

I managed my second baptism today, and managed not to forget the child's name this time round. I really enjoy baptisms, and look forward to doing more. Moo managed to put a hole in one of her tyres today, which annoyed her, but it's one of those things. She's also trying to finish an essay, so this afternoon I took the girls to the Giggle Factory in Sudbury. Two very tired girls by bedtime...

Labels: baptism, theology

Renewal of baptismal vows

Went with Jo (who slept through past 0600 today, as did the dog!) to a service at Long Melford today which including a renewal of baptismal vows. Ian, the Rector, had worked very hard not only on the liturgy, but on the numbers. He told me that he'd personally invited at least 300 people, and there must have been around that number there. The service was very good, and even though, at an hour and a half, it was long for the younger members of the congregation, it all went very well, and there were things for them all to do. We all trooped past the font - and a mini-font for children - signing with the cross ourselves with the water that was there, and after communion, we were all given a candle, and they were lit from a flame which started at the Easter candle. We sang a hymn, and finished off the service with a blessing. It was a very good service, and I was very impressed.

After that, I picked up Moo and Miri and went went to Freeport, via The King's Head at Gosfield, where we enjoyed a very good meal (particularly the puddings!), despite some rather weird company on neighbouring tables... Only bought a pair of sunglasses at Freeport, and Moo spent most of the time feeding Miri in Starbucks. It was beginning to rain harder and harder, Moo lost it a bit with Jo (who was playing up), and we went home. Jo watched a little TV (CBeebies), and then, despite the rain, came outside to play on her new bike.

Once Jo finally went to sleep, I took Buster out for 50+ minutes. It rained very, very hard. No, really. My Akubra (hat), Drizabone (coat), Brashers and moleskins (trousers) did stirling service, but by the time the dog went into the lake, it was unclear whether it was making him wetter, or the other way round.

Labels: baptism, bike, dog, placement, services, weather