Mike's musings

Showing the Methodists how it's done

I have some extremely good friends who are Methodists (particularly Sally and Sarah), and it occurred to me last night that we've really shown them how it's done, now that the Church of England has approved women bishops. Think about it: the Methodists don't even have _male_ bishops, let alone female ones, so they're well behind in the equality stakes.

Go Anglicanism...

Labels: church, ecumenism, women

Women bishops: yay! Maybe another 13 years of marriage, too

Rowan Williams said: "I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated to the episcopate." The General Synod voted "for". This means that we're going to have women bishops in the Church of England. And no "super-bishops", as the BBC puts it. A Code of Practice for people who won't accept this.

Given Moo's views on this, this means that there's a decent chance that we'll manage another 13 years of marriage: we were married in King's College Chapel on the 8th July 1995. She's pleased, as am I. Oh - I meant about women bishops, though I think we're both pleased about 13 years of marriage.

This particular entry isn't going very well, but that's mainly because we're watching Series 1 of Peep Show, which I got Moo as a present. And I've been laughing too much.

Labels: church, humour, marriage, Moo, women

Church Times

Oh - one last thing. My mate Neil-Allan Walsh is depicted in the Church Times giving the Bishop of Chelmsford bunny ears in a photo. I think the bishop will find it funny. I _hope_ the bishop will find it funny...

Labels: church, humour

Gays, women and evolution

Drove into Cambridge today to buy a book about Windows 2003. Very big, very heavy book. Looks useful, though. Lots of work in the afternoon on Windows stuff and Xen, which I've decided to try out.

During the day, had a discussion on a mailing list I'm part of (hi, guys) about the Church. Why does everyone believe that the Church is backward-looking, reactionary and bigoted? That seems to be the set of messages that everyone picks up. So, questions ranged from whether women should be priests, to my views on homosexuality (I'm for it ;-)), to the virgin birth, to whether I believe in evolution (well, of course I do - d'oh!). It's good to have the opportunity to talk about this stuff with people, and I firmly believe that it's an important part of my calling. When I first felt the vocation, part of it was the question "if you were you, but not part of this Church, would you want to be part of it?" The obvious answer is, "no". And the obvious second part of that is, "well, go and do something about it then." That's what I'm trying to do.

Labels: church, friends, geekery, homosexuality, women

Serving

(backposting) Today was my first church engagement since ordination: a Area Team Meeting, held in Halstead. I went to a service of Holy Communion in the church first, with just me, James (the other curate, presiding) and one of the people going to the meeting. So, "when two or three are gathered in my name", indeed. A lovely, intimate service: it made me think about how I'll be taking communion services in a year's time.

The meeting went on till 2115, and then I drove up to Loughborough. This is service. My mother-in-law's ADSL router had died, and she really needs to have Internet access for some work she does. Moo and I looked at possible dates to go up, but decided that just doing it might make most sense. So, I left the Halstead around 2130, and got to East Leake around 2345: a good, fast trip. Said the evening office, had a glass and a half of wine, and went to bed.

Labels: church, communion, diaconate, family, service

Daddy's squidgy ordination cake

Moo insisted that I take this picture and show it on my blog, simply because it looks like a cowpat. Things went wrong (separately) with not only the sponge, but also the icing. It tastes lovely, and meant that I had some fun Daddy-Jojo time, but it really looks pretty darn awful.

Things are taking off with SecondLife: more information to come, because nothing's official, but please keep an eye out.

Moo and I both took the day off today, which was lovely. We spent most of the morning together while Jo was at school and Mel looked after Miri, and after lunch at a pub we sent Mel home (with a bottle of wine which she probably _shouldn't_ have finished on her own this afternoon) to spend time together with the girls. It was a real holiday, and what we all needed, I think.

Although I get pretty upset at some of the Gafcon and anti-women bishops stuff, this is nothing compared to how riled Moo gets about it, so I've taken the step of inviting her to write piece for this blog. I'm not sure if she will, but I'm going to keep prodding. I've said she can write whatever she wants...

Lots of contact over the past 24 hours from friends around the ordination, which is great. Some good pictures up on Chris Newlands' pages on Facebook, if you can see them.

Oh, yes: this morning, Jo had asked if I'd take her to pre-school in my "priest's clothes", to which I'd agreed. It turned out that she meant my cassock, but I did consent to clerical shirt and collar. With it I wore what I'd have worn anyway: sandals, cut-off jeans, and mirror shades. "TV Comedy vicar" is how Moo labelled the look, somewhat hurtfully, I thought. I had to dash to the kennels to pick Buster up immediately after, and got accosted by someone there: "Ah, a vicar!" he said. I explained that I'm but a deacon, and it turns out that he's the vicar of Balsham, across the border in the Ely diocese. I'm going to have to get used to being stopped in odd places when I'm collared-up.

Last, but not least, my good friend Sally published a lovely post for me yesterday, to which I promised to link. Thank you, my friend.

Labels: church, food, ordination, secondlife, women

Church at Ottery St Mary

(backposting) Kate and I made it to the 0800 BCP Holy Communion service at the beautiful Ottery St Mary parish church. Fascinating place, modelled on Exeter Cathedral. After we got back, we all headed off to Sidmouth beach. Even better than Exmouth, for my money. Random Morris Dancers (female, though they would have been equally random if male, IMHO) on the promenade, then down to the rock pools. Great stuff, and I felt that I did my fatherly duty by finding a hermit crab. Rock pools are fun, they really are.

We wandered into town to grab fish and chips and started eating them on the promenade (morris dancers gone) until the rain really started to come down, when we headed to the car.

Played in the garden in the afternoon, after a trip to the Donkey Sanctuary (which Miri loved, as it had lots of donkeys in it - d'oh- and she loves donkeys, as they are animals, and she loves all animals...), had a good barbecue.

In two weeks I'll be ordained...

Labels: beach, church, holiday

A busy day

Muffins for breakfast (freshly made by Moo), Disney princesses game (Wii - Jo and (mainly) me), hoovering, church (girls and me), scootering (Jo), lunch, bottle runs (recycling - me and Jo), drive to Braintree Freeport swimming pool (closed for a gala), drive to Halstead swimming pool - fantastic jumping in and even swimming by Jo, and swimming underwater, completely unfazed, by Miri - home, walk to the chippy for supper, only to discover that it's closed, drive with Jo to Sible Hedingham, fill up Moo's car with diesel, get some cash out, go to kebab/chicken takeaway, home, supper (chicken and chips and scampi for Moo), a few minutes of Mama Mirabelle's home movies (gotta love Floella Benjamin), bath (girls and Moo), bed.

Since then, I've put my phone back together (software, that it: it crashed and I had to hard boot it), and done an hour and a half of ironing. Now sitting down, watching Midsommer Murders.

Labels: church, girls

Mother's day

Got Moo to church today, for a Mother's Day service at Kedington Church. This is in the benefice which Si and D have just joined, and where they were going for a Mother's Day service, so we joined them. A truly family-focused service, with lots of families there: mothers, children and fathers. The priest took an informal but reverent communion service, told the story of Moses in the bulrushes to a bunch of children (and me!) sitting on the floor in the nave (with adult participation). Jo, Miri and I went up for communion (Si was very impressed that the priest blessed Charlotte, their youngest, as "Boo"!), and Jo managed to get herself blessed twice: she moved from one side of me to the other as Miri was being blessed.

Moo really liked the informality of it, and how everyone was involved, which I'm very pleased about.

Fry-up for brunch, some tidying and then a walk with Victoria, Grenville, Charles and Sennen. Back to theirs for tea and drop scones. Yum. They're good friends, and it's always good to see them.

And interesting blog entry from Sally. which is definitely worth a read.

Labels: church, family, friends

Church, walk, ironing, scrabulous

Took Mum, Jo and Miri to Halstead, where James was celebrating and preaching. Jo's tiredness showed through, and her attention span was much shorter than usual, but she did OK: Miri was a star. At communion, James very kindly gave me a portion of the priest's wafer, which I was very touched by.

After lunch, we met Si, D, Morgs, Boo and Murphy (their dog) for a lovely walk near them, and had tea and chats before heading home to put the girls to bed. I cooked a chicken, and Mum did the ironing. Lots and lots of it. We're _very_ grateful! Then Mum and I played scrabulous, trying to get some decent scores against the people with whom I've got games going. She's _vicious_!

Labels: church, family, walk

Zoo

Sent Moo to bed early last night and did lots of ironing. Felt pretty pleased with myself, if tired. Not that I don't usually do the ironing - I do - but well, I did.

This morning I was leading discussion and a service at Great Yeldham. Keith chose the topic for me this time: "What does it mean to live by the Bible?". Fits in rather well with the ethics module I'm doing, so I had quite a lot to say. Keith managed to come - it's always clashed with services that he's been taking before - and seemed to feel it went quite well. I've been tweaking the format of both the discussion and the service afterwards (now 3 hymns...), and it all seems to work pretty well now, thought there's still work to do.

When I got back, I took the girls to the zoo. Not that Jo's not off there again tomorrow (or maybe Tuesday), but we had a great time. Moo really needed some downtime, and although she's getting her voice back, she's still not well.

Labels: church, illness, zoo

Title post time

Today I took Miri and Jo to Halstead for the 1000 communion service. It was the day that they were due to announce to the congregation that I'm going to be serving my title there - God willing, obviously - and I thought it would be good to be there. Added to that, Moo wanted to do some cleaning, and that's a lot easier without the girls around. A good service - great hymns - and I sat next to the kids area. Jo found a 6 year-old girl to boss around, and played with her, while Miri cuddled me for most of the service and crawled around for a bit. John, my training incumbent-to-be invited me to the front, and I did a little introduction. I enjoyed the service, and although it would be good to see a few more young people there, it appears that the team is doing lots of work with younger people, most of which takes place outside standard Sunday worship, which is probably the way things work best. So, I'm looking forward to being involved in some of that, too.

Walk with Buster, Moo, Jo and Miri. Then swimming with Jo.

Finished watching If.... Great film. I'd not seen it in ages - 20 years plus, I guess - and had forgotten most of it.

Did the ironing in front of the TV.

Jo continues to be lovely.

Labels: church, films, Jo, miri, title

Psalm 78

(backposting) Not sure why I mention it particularly, but it's my very favourite psalm, despite being the longest one set for a single morning or evening in the old BCP. We used to sing some great chants to it at both Christ Church and King's, and it's lots of fun. It's set for the evening of the 15th, so I had it for evening prayer tonight. I also did quite a lot of reading about sin - particularly the original type - for the "Christian Belief" module that I'm doing for ERMC at the moment. That and the nature of grace.

Today I also met the churchwardens for the church at which I may spend my title post. A good meeting: we got on well, and I think it's important to have the sanity-check of a non-clergy view in these cases.

Girls to bed even quicker tonight, and Moo was back by 2130, so not too bad. Had a really nice long chat as we went to bed about her day away - she's doing a course - and what's going on with the girls. We don't often get the chance, as Miri's requiring attention, but she managed to stay in her own bed until 0400, which is almost a record at the moment.

Labels: church, ERMC, Moo, sin

3/4 birthday, and the Bible. And fundamentalism

Miri turned 50:50 today: 9 months old. I'm not going into that. Anyway, she's doing very well at the moment, and is in a very social phase at the moment.

I led another "coffee and worship" this morning, and we used the new area in the back of Great Yeldham church. We didn't sit in pews: we sat in a circle. And had coffee and tea while we discussed things. No, really! This is the Church of England. Rural church of England. And 22 people came. TWENTY-TWO! We had to put new chairs out. And there were 2 children I didn't count.

So, we had a greeting, I read Acts 10:34-43, then John 11:25-27. Then we had coffee and tea (and biscuits) and I talked about "What does it mean to believe in the Bible"? I talked about Eusebius saying in the early 4th century that everyone knew that Genesis wasn't a literal description of the creation, but allegorical, and how fundamentalism, in Christianity, is generally a 19th century phenomenon, about translation (how many people read both Hebrew and New Testament Greek - oh, and Jesus spoke in Aramaic, anyway). And lots of related stuff. Only had 10 minutes or so, and then we had some discussion. I moved between the groups.

In the second group, I discovered two people who are, frankly, creationists. They're cool about it, and just feel it's the easiest reading.

I spent quite a lot of my summing up and intercessions in the following worship talking about respecting people with viewpoints different to our own.

Labels: belief, church, faith, miri, theology

Title post

I had my first exploratory meeting with the person who may be my training incumbent. We both need to agree that we want to proceed, and before we do that, I need to meet with the rest of the team - it's a team ministry. Actually, I think I've met them all briefly before, so that's a good start. That said, it was a great meeting and we got on very well. We had a lot more in common than I think either of us had expected, liturgically and theologically. I'm very hopeful that it'll work out, for which thanks be to God.

Labels: church, title

Canons B1-B43

(backposting) I read all the Church of England's "B" canons today, in preparation for a weekend at London Colney with ERMC. They are all about what services should - and must - be celebrated within the Church of England, what's allowed, and what's not. My Dad's Liturgy, Order and the Law is pretty much the definitive guide, it seems, and I've inherited something of an interest. There is certainly relevance to what we can and can't do within the Anglican Cathedral in SecondLife, although part of the question we're looking at is exactly which of the canons are relevant, and which aren't: these are the Canons of the Church of England, remember, and SecondLife is international, as is the group that comprises the Anglicans on it. Insisting, for instance, that all services are conducted in English might be inappropriate: but what languages _should_ be allowed? The doctrine behind this insistence is that all attending should be able to understand (hence Welsh is allowed in Wales in certain circumstances). Most of the members of the Anglican group in SL have English as their first language, but not all: and would we want to restrict ourselves? So, these are the sorts of questions we need to tackle.

Did all the ironing, watched Samuel L. Jackson's fantastic performance in The Negotiator, went to bed around midnight.

Labels: church, ERMC, films, secondlife

Church

I took Miri to church, which she enjoyed very, very much. She's such a social little baby, and there were lots of people to smile at, and she clapped along to "Shine, Jesus, Shine", which pleased some of the more evangelical members of the congregation (I'm assuming that they were more evangelical - they were clapping along themselves, which is often a good clue).

In the afternoon, we all went to see Kirsty and Matt up in Cambourne. Had a lovely time with them, and then headed back, just in time for me to take Jo to a party at Sam, who lives just down the road, and got engaged on Christmas Day. Her fiancé is French and seems very nice. In fact, I spent quite a lot of time speaking French, as there were some Belgians there, too. Jo had a lovely time with a bunch of other girls there, mainly watching DVDs and trying to infiltrate the boys' room.

Jo is being hard work at the moment, she really, really is. She seems to be on the cusp of something developmentally, and keeps being nearly able to do things, and then losing it. We need to let her try, but then she pushes, and pushes, and pushes... Aargh.

Labels: church

Christmas Day!

(backposting) Not up too late, and not up too early, to be honest. But Jo just had a lovely Christmas. Mainly because she got to open pretty much every present, whether it was for her or not. She's not desperately well, but thanks to sleeping through half of the service that we attended at Cheddar church this morning, managed the day OK.

Presents included:

• 20 balls of wool (me, from Moo): so that she can knit me a jersey
• a scooter (Jo, from my parents): something she decided a couple of weeks ago that she wanted from Father Christmas (my Dad had a quick word with him)
• a spa day (Moo, from me): she really needs a pampering day
• The Scouting for Girls CD (me, from Moo): marvellous
• multifarious small presents for Jo, which kept her happy opening things through the day

Labels: Christmas, church, family

Title post

Yesterday, I had a letter from the DDO (the Diocesan Director of Ordinands) inviting me to explore whether I'd like to go forward with a title post in a parish. This is an immensely big deal. For reasons too legion to indulge in here, this letter has turned up rather late in the process, but it's a real relief. We had our yearly meeting of ordinands, those considering ordination, and their spouses this evening, and I spoke to the DDO about it. We agreed that I should follow up, and I told him that was very positive about the parish.

I can't, at this stage, say where the parish is, though I've talked about it with those involved in my training, and with family. It's entirely possible that I, or the incumbent in the parish, might decide that it won't work, and for that reason, it's not fair to discuss it at this stage.

What, however, is a title post, and why's it important? Well, assuming that I am ordained deacon in June (oh, we got the date, too, it's the 29th June) - and this is not a foregone conclusion - then I will be attached as a curate to a parish. I'll stay there for 3-4 years, first as a deacon, and then (again, God willing) as a priest (usually deacons in the Church of England are ordained to the priesthood a year after they are deaconed). So, it's where I move into the next stage of training after ordination, and "learn my craft", as it were. It's possible, but frowned upon, to move away from a title post to a different one, but generally, you want to stay where you are. So, a lot of thought goes into selecting a title post from everyone's point of view, and I hope to be meeting the incumbent - who I've actually met a few times before - after Christmas. I've got an overview of the parish and related matters already, and this is where the careful reflection and prayer takes over.

Labels: church, curacy, ERMC

Two services

First, I went to Little Yeldham and talked, then discussed, then had a short service. Talked about Matthew 3:1-12, and did a little hermeneutics: talking about what John's challenge meant at the time, to the Gospel writer and to us now. Then about Kingdom Values. Interesting and lively discussion, and lots of friendly feedback. Next time: "What does it mean to believe in the Bible?"

Christingle in the evening, with Si, D, Morgan, Boo, Victoria and Sennon. We couldn't really hear what was going on, and ended up running a little creche in the corner, where there were a bunch of kids who were rather too old to be there. Good carol-singing, and Jo seemed to enjoy the candle (which, interestingly, she didn't want to hold).

Ah - meant to say: we were trying to find an updated analogy for Matthew 3:12: "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The NRSV has "winnowing fork" for "fan". I was wondering about "the Lord will come with his spam filter, and all spam will be deleted for all time"?

Labels: church

Miri's baptism

We started late. Only six minutes, but it does help to have the relevant person there to be baptised. Same goes for funerals, although there's old precedent for marriages by proxies. Dad celebrated, James P., Kirsty, Victoria and Si were the godparents. I preached on potential and belonging to the family of the church, and Miri only cried briefly, which was a surprise, given that she wasn't on very good form.

Then we all went back to our house for lunch and drinks. Lots of adults, and lots of children underfoot. We were a little worried that Jemma might get left out when Turtle turned up, as she and Jo get on so well, but not at all. Oh - it turns out that the rules for "What's the time Mr Nudey Wolf?" are pretty similar to "What's the time Mr Wolf?" as played by (naked) children with little grasp of the standard rules.

Some people stayed late, some didn't. We had a great time. James, Alex, Jemma and Alice, Kate and Mac all stayed overnight again.

Labels: church, friends

Money and the Church: why the big fuss?

Well, I really set myself up for this one, didn't I? I chose a sparky little title and thought "well, this shouldn't be too difficult to write about, should it?"

So, I started to think about it. What could Jesus have had to say about money? Well, there's the bit about not serving God and Mammon. That's a bit negative. And he mentioned giving unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. That's not too helpful, either. Oh, and giving up all you have to follow him. And there's the very confusing bit about the woman who'd spent all the money on perfume which the disciples thought she'd wasted on him. Or the parable about the woman quietly putting a small amount of money into the collection when the hypocrites made a huge deal about putting in lots. And the whole overturning the stalls of the money-changers in the Temple episode.

Oh dear. Jesus had lots to say about money. And it's, well, not all very positive, is it? My excuse is that I want to look after my family as best as I can. Make sure that they're safe, and happy, and well educated and the rest. And I think that that's quite a good excuse, as they go. I'm intending to be a priest, and not to cost the church much, beyond training. That's good, too, isn't it? So, it should be OK to carry on in a highly paid job whilst other people aren't, as long as I give myself (well, bits of Sundays, and the odd evening a week - not _too_ much, obviously) to God. Well, the church, anyway.

It's actually very difficult, and I struggle with this. These things aren't always easy. There, it's said.

Synchroblog

Today is a "synchroblog" on the subject of "Money and the Church". If you've liked what you read here, or, more particularly, if you didn't, and you'd like to read some other opinions, please visit one of the other participating blogs:

• The Check That Controls at Igneous Quill
• Pushing The Camel: Why there might be more rich people in Heaven than in your local Church at Fernando's desk
• Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
• Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz at Hello Said Jenelle
• Zaque at Johnny Beloved
• Walking with the Camels at Calacirian
• Greed and Bitterness: Why Nobody's Got it Right About Money and The Church at Phil Wyman's Square No More
• Kirk Bartha at Theocity
• Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story at The Pursuit
• But I Gave at Church at The Assembling of the Church
• Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood at Be the Revolution
• Money and the Church: why the big fuss? at Mike's Musings
• Coffee Hour Morality at One Hand Clapping
• Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies at In Reba's World
• Magazinial Outreach at Decompressing Faith
• Money's too tight to mention at Out of the Cocoon
• Bullshit at The Agent B Files
• The Bourgeois Elephant in the Missional/Emergent Living Room at Headspace
• When the Church Gives at Payneful Memories
• Who, or What, Do You Worship at at Charis Shalom
• Greed at Hollow Again

Labels: church, money, synchroblog

Remembrance Sunday

A terrible night's sleep - Jo was coughing so badly that I was beginning to get worried. She ended up in the spare room with me, and actually slept quite well. We went to the Remembrance Sunday service at Great Yeldham, and I played the organ. The church was as full as I'd ever seen, and Jo, Miri and Moo came along, too. Although we don't have it as a hymn, I've finished the service for the past few years with "I vow to thee my country" on the organ, as it's a fantastic and stirring tune.

I made it clear on my Facebook profile yesterday that I wasn't in a good way, and I've really appreciated the love and prayers that people have sent my way. I've had a bit of a knock sideways, and prayers, in particular, are much appreciated.

Oh - I'm off to Canada tomorrow.

Labels: church, ERMC, work

Church

(backposting) Went to Gosfield church this morning with Jo, to their Harvest Festival family service. Around 100 people there, lots of kids, and Jo was up for lots of participation. It didn't matter that she didn't know the actions (or, indeed, the words) to the song that was sung at the front, we had to go up there anyway. And we might not have brought any food with us (I hadn't realised that it was their Harvest Festival), but she was definitely going to go to the back and take a pack of biscuits up to the altar. We had a good time, and she stuck with it very well.

Walk with Moo, Jo, Miri and Buster in the afternoon, and then swimming with Jo. I made a shepherd's pie for supper, and we watched some TV to finish the day.

Labels: church, Jo, walk

Watching the footie

For those of you who don't know, I married into a Scouse family, and it was made clear well before we even became engaged that if I was serious about Catherine, then I'd be supporting Liverpool from then on. Given that my only (slight) allegiance was to the (oft-relegated, ever hopeful) Wolves, this wasn't a big ask, but these days I really enjoy following them. They're playing Oporto away from home tonight, and so I settled down with a beer. I'll have some wine in a moment, but it's best to start off with a beer, isn't it?

Moo had some problems with her Palm recently and it's not been syncing. She needs it to work for her job, and we were dreading having to buy a new one, but in the end, we got away with buying her a bluetooh dongle (her laptop's _supposed_ to have bluetooth on it, but it's Windoze XP, and therefore has never worked).

I'm coming to the end of my placement at Long Melford, and need to arrange an end supervision. I've really enjoyed the time, and look forward to going there in the future. Next challenge is that I've agreed to take over the service for the second Sunday of the month at Great Yeldham. I really want to do something really rather different, and I'm looking forward to spending some time with Keith (the incumbent and my supervisor) discussing my ideas.

Labels: church, computers, football

Meeting old friends

(backposting) It's been years since we saw James ("JP") and Alex, but we'd decided to ask him to be one of Miri's godparents (or at least a sponsor if he wasn't baptised - though it turns out that he has been). JP (again, it appears that we're the only people who call him that) and Alex live near Geneva, and we went on a very ill-fated skiing trip with them at least four years ago. JP was head of the student union when Jo was woman's officer at college, and we've always got on well. I spent a lot of time with JP, and Moo with Alex, and we got straight back in the groove, which was fantastic. They're both divers, and we're already thinking about arranging some sort of diving holiday (and no, Moo won't have to look after both of ours _and_ both of theirs while we're diving: we'll sort something out).

We met at Polzeath beach (well, obviously), and one of the best moments was when Gemma was following me and JP to the surf, and came out with the immortal "you're my two favourite daddies". Whoa...

So, we borrowed from body boards, and James taught me how. Not much surf, but fun nevertheless.

Popped up to Tubestation: impressive. A Methodist-Anglican initiative, cafe, skating area, Internet access, looks like a good place.

Labels: church, diving, friends, holiday

Church (twice)

Jo came into our room in the middle of the night. There's a surprise: we must fix this, though. Slept quite late for us, though: past 0730. So, took Jo to Eucharist at Long Melford, where, before the service, Ian asked me if I was planning to sing tonight. He meant whether I was planning to intone the responses at the evensong that I'd forgotten I'd be taking.

Jo did very well at the service, but I was dreading telling Moo about evensong, because it meant that she'd have to put Jo to bed on her own. In the end, she was very good about it, but I did feel very bad.

Jo had her paddling pool out, I mowed the lawn (a major undertaking) and cut back one of the buddleia bushes (not a minor undertaking either). Simon from Castle Hedingham came round, mended a puncture on the push chair, and we went to Clare Country Park with Jo's bike. Not that she'd ride it, of course.

Came back, played a little (Jo in paddling pool), and I went off to evensong. Enjoyed singing in a choir - not very challenging music, but still - but best of all was intoning the collects. In a good acoustic. Fantastic. "The day thou gavest" as the last hymn: one of my favourites.

Got home, discovered that Jo hadn't been too bad, cooked supper, watched a Harry Potter DVD (... & the Prisoner of Azkaban), went through my work emails to clear the decks for tomorrow, wrote this blog entry.

Labels: church, family, play, work

Turning over a new...

... baby. Miri's three months and 2 days old today, and turned over from her back onto her front today for the first time. She's been close to it for a while, but this was the first actual event.

Church in the morning (Long Melford), Clare craft fair (where I had a pint of Nethergate's Augustinian while eating some lunch in the grounds of the Augustinian priory. Very fitting.

Up for over an hour during the night trying to get Jo back to sleep. She was adamant that she wanted to sleep in my bed (she'd assumed that I'd moved into the spare room, though I hadn't by that stage), and I was adamant that she wasn't going to. I prevailed, but, as I said, it took an hour.

We'll be holding our first service in the Anglican Cathedral in SecondLife at 8pm UK time, 12noon SecondLife time (PST). You're very welcome to join us.

Labels: church, Jo, miriam, secondlife

Maybe TV will calm me down

We _all_ went to church today. There's an 0930 family service on the first Sunday of every month at Long Melford, and as it was Trinity Sunday, and it's Holy Trinity Long Melford, well, the theme was the Trinity. Ian did a great address, using the three hares window as the exemplar. And three cuddly rabbit toys. It was great to have the whole family in church, and it was a really friendly service and congregation, too.

In the afternoon, I took Jo with her bike to Clare Country Park, where she cycled all the way round with very little help before playing on the swings, etc. Of course, she didn't want to go back to the car at the end, so there were tears and mild hysterics (we've had quite a lot of those recently, as she's very tired), and so out came the line "maybe TV would calm me down". It made me laugh so much that she caught it, too, and her hysterics turned to laughter. Then we had "I want some ice-cream". "We're about to have lunch." "Maybe after lunch. We'll see. Probably after lunch." Indeed: we'll see.

Lovely walk with Miriam and Buster while Moo put Jo to bed.

Labels: church, Jo

Church x 2

First time, with Jo to Long Melford. Walk with Jo and Buster, swimming with Jo after that. Second time to this evensong I mentioned yesterday. Bedtime apparently went pretty well, but Miri just keeps and keeps feeding.

Meg seems a little bit more lively.

Labels: church

Church at Stambourne

Took Jo to Stambourne for Communion, and she was good. She really enjoys church, and is beginning to understand when she should be a bit quieter. None of the churches in the benefice have a Sunday School or equivalent, and it's not fair to expect her to be quieter all the time, but for short periods, like the intercessions, she can manage it. She also enjoys the hymns. After church we played in the playground across the way, and when we got home, I was very pleased to find that Moo had had good sleep.

We went to the lovely Bell Inn. I'm now on "being able to drive Moo at any time, in case she goes into labour and has to be taken to the hospital quickly" watch. So one pint only. There's New Orleans jazz at the Bell on the last Sunday of each month, and we'd hoped to catch some of that. We forced Simon, Jo's godfather, to leave his teaching preparation (he works far too much, don't you, Simon) to come, and invited Jason and Joanne and their kids (Ruby, George and the new baby, Kitty) and Vivien, Joanne's mum along too. The kids weren't really up for the jazz, but we had a good time with them.

Labels: church, Jo, Moo

A great weekend - and a difficult question

Yesterday we had a fantastic day out in Aldeburgh, and today a lovely day, too. Moo's engrossed in baby stuff putting together, baby stuff sorting, baby stuff washing, baby stuff ... You get the idea.

In Aldeburgh, we ate at Regatta (terrible site, great restaurant) - very impressed to see that over half of the tables had children at them. The staff were friendly, helpful, and rushed off ther feet. We spent lots of time sitting on the beach, where for me mainly meant being handed stones by Jo, which I had to throw into the sea. I couldn't have been happier.

Today, we got up, did some tidying/hoovering, and then I took Jo to Holy Trinity, Long Melford. Apart from knocking down a portable display of books during the sermon (by a visiting preacher), she behaved very well, and I found that I had enough voice to sing "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer" lustily at the end. Ian, the incumbent, has pretty much agreed to supervise me for a placement, which is a relief and a joy.

Jo fell asleep in the car, so I left her there while Moo and I started our lunch outside - it was that warm today - and she joined us when she woke up. I then took her for a walk in the backpack we have for her, and we had a joyful 50 minutes chatting about pretty much everything, and to some horses we met. A cup of tea, then all three of us went swimming. Home, for a family supper, and then Jo to bed. I wrapped Moo's presents, wrote her cards (one from me (and the bump, codename "Fluffy"), one from Jo), and Moo's just gone up to bed. I'll probably log into SecondLife in a bit.

The difficult question is what to do about the dog we met on Friday. The RSPCA rescue kennel left us a message while we were out swimming asking us to come back if we're still interested. We're trying to work out if we still are. It'll make for a very complicated summer, but if the time is right, the time is right. We've decided to got back to see him again, to see how Jo takes to him in the open, to see how obedient he is, to ask how he is with kennels, and to try to get our heads round the whole thing. We'd like a dog again. Is now the time? Is he the dog? God knows (and I mean that).

Labels: church, dog, Jo, Moo, sea, walk

"So poorly based" - reflections on Christianity and homosexuality

Adam commented on my post the other day on Dar Es Salaam, saying:

I'm not Anglican, but it troubles me deeply that the Episcopal Church in the U.S. is taking this stand against the entire Communion on a matter so poorly based in Scripture and tradition.

I take a different view, as I think is probably clear from other posts. I think there are a few points here. All of this post is, of course, my opinion. I could be wrong on points of fact, and you may disagree with my theology.

First of all, I believe that one of the interesting things about the Episcopal Church in the U.S. is that it is run along much more democratic lines than most of the other provinces of the Anglican Communion. For instance, it is committees who choose bishops, rather than other bishops, and so it's difficult to "impose" solutions on a set of people who are not all ordained, and not "under the discipline" of the church. There are arguments here that lay people may be more prone to being over-influenced by secular society. But the other side of the coin is that if the Holy Spirit _is_ moving through society, then people who are more free of the strictures of a fairly rigid hierarchy (the church), and will be better able to reflect God's revelation as expressed through the wider world.

The second point is that I disagree that they are taking a stand against the entire Communion. There are other provinces - the Church of England, for instance - where the issue of homosexual priests, bishops and lay people is becoming an vexed one.

Third, I don't agree with the suggestion that this is an issue "poorly based in Scripture and tradition". I would say that the view _against_ homosexuality is much less strongly based in Scripture than has generally been presented. And the tradition is fairly modern - there was a much greater acceptance of a variety of homosexual expressions certainly up to the Reformation than there has been until very recently.

Fourth, we should bear in mind that the church is splitting largely down what we could call "interpretational" lines. Those who are of a fundamentalist - or at least literalist - bent tend to interpret the Bible in one way, and those of a more liberal theological background (broadly of the "historical-critical" school) tend to be less literal. Of course, there are issues around tradition, as well: some of those who take a view which foregrounds tradition will tend to take an "anti-homosexual" view. That's the standard Roman Catholic view. But we should be aware that a number of the fundamentalist parties - often evangelical - are seeking to use the homosexual (which tends to be very emotive) debate as a point of contention. It's sometimes less about this particular issue, but more about how the Bible is read. We should remember that there is a broader political agenda (sometimes) at work here.

Last of all, one thing that ECUSA are doing is treating homosexuals with respect and love. Not just clergy, but laity as well. The rest of the Anglican Communion (with a few exceptions) have agreed that they should listen to homosexuals and treat them with love and respect. I don't see that happening. With rare (but heroic) exceptions, the message to gay people - lay and clergy - is that they are _not_ listened to, not respected, and not loved.

And I _know_ what Jesus Christ would have said about the last point, if nothing else.

A declaration

I'm fairly safe. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut until I'm ordained - I've certainly been counselled to do that - but I'm from a "safe" church background, I've got an solid, safe academic theological background, I'm (very happily) married with a child (and one on the way), and I don't even have a family axe to grind. But I care about this, and I hate the fact that Christ's love is not being shown. And I need to stand up.

And there are more important issues. Violence against women, povery, global warming, persecution of Christians, persecution of non-Christians, despair, mental illness - where do you start? Not, for Christ's sake, with what people do in bed.

Labels: church, sexuality, theology

Baby Tommy

We heard today that baby Tommy died on Thursday. We know now more than that he was tired, and an inspiration to his parents. Please pray for them.

The fact that I'm still feeling ill rather pales into insignificance.

Labels: church, death, illness