At the moment it seems like just another academic year ... lots to do with exams and revision. Reality is also setting in that in three sundays I will have moved my little room in college into a big house in Belfast - how strange is that!
At the moment it is simply rumours of what is to come but reality is setting in that things need to be organised
- House insurance
- TV licenece and the like
It is bizarre but good.
Congrats to St. Columba's for their award at synod this year ... 2nd Prize in the parish magazine competition ... it is an excellent publication! (available online as a PDF)
Please do continue to pray for all of us as we study for these few weeks.
RF
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Serious #9 2 Tim 2:11-13
11Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
This passage really does speak for itself ... The prayer of us all has to be that we are to die with him, endure and remain faithful
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
This passage really does speak for itself ... The prayer of us all has to be that we are to die with him, endure and remain faithful
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sensible Series #8 2 Timothy 2:8-10
8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Paul here doesn't paint a very rosy picture of Christian Discipleship ... the gospel he has been preaching has got him into trouble ... to the point of being chained like a criminal although he is prepared to undergo that suffering for the sake of the Gospel why? so that the hearers may obtain salvation.
It is an amazing thought that through our study, through our faithfulness God can speak, can work in the lives of those listening ... mmm...It really has to be down to God tho. This stuff is certainly not light reading but when you do think about it is in serving Him that true freedom and purpose is found.
Awesome Privilege but equally the responsibility to take the job of preparing prayerfully and faithfully studying God's word as well as living it out is ours. "this is what you've called me to"
"Will you then, in the strength of the Holy Spirit, continually stir up the gift of God that is in you, to make Christ known to all people. By the help of God I will."
Monday, March 09, 2009
Sensible #7 - 2 Timothy 2:2-7
2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. 5Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
It is interesting in this passage Paul mention three occupations all of which you don't pick up immediately, all of them require a lot of patience, a lot of hard work and a lot of time.
A soldier has to undergo an immense amount of trainning, of disciple, of commanding officers shouting at them to get them into shape, to respond to command, to be ready for fighting as well as doing duty in peace time as well. They are solely focused upon what they are called to do. This reminds me of an experience with the RAF over the summer and the amount of work that goes into keeping the body fit. They are ready to put themselves on the line for their friends, ready to go wherever they are called to be.
The athlete ... just think about the amount of trainning that goes into the race, cold days spent on the track runninng, jumping whatever, keeping the body at its peak ready for the race.
Then the farmer, the dedication need to nurture animals and crops, using knoweldge handed down, ready at all time to do what it takes to get the best from the land.
All three take work, hard excruciating work, back breaking work to get the best. They all demand time and determination. Surely as we think upon this all of this we as ordinands have to struggle with these metaphors, it is what we are being called to. The nurture of those to whom we have been called, running the race, putting ourselves on the line for others, putting ourselves under God's command ready to respond whenever he calls and be ready to do and say what he commands.
The passage today speaks of Timothy having to entrust others with what he has been entrusted with. The whole idea of entrusting and encouraging others to share the gospel is essential. No clergy person can do this task themselves we need to be empowering the body to do what it has been called to do. We need to identify those within our congregations who have the gifts and encourage them to use them to the glory of God.
This is part of my "sensible series" stepping through the pastoral in preparation for ordination - these are purely my own random thoughts.
It is interesting in this passage Paul mention three occupations all of which you don't pick up immediately, all of them require a lot of patience, a lot of hard work and a lot of time.
A soldier has to undergo an immense amount of trainning, of disciple, of commanding officers shouting at them to get them into shape, to respond to command, to be ready for fighting as well as doing duty in peace time as well. They are solely focused upon what they are called to do. This reminds me of an experience with the RAF over the summer and the amount of work that goes into keeping the body fit. They are ready to put themselves on the line for their friends, ready to go wherever they are called to be.
The athlete ... just think about the amount of trainning that goes into the race, cold days spent on the track runninng, jumping whatever, keeping the body at its peak ready for the race.
Then the farmer, the dedication need to nurture animals and crops, using knoweldge handed down, ready at all time to do what it takes to get the best from the land.
All three take work, hard excruciating work, back breaking work to get the best. They all demand time and determination. Surely as we think upon this all of this we as ordinands have to struggle with these metaphors, it is what we are being called to. The nurture of those to whom we have been called, running the race, putting ourselves on the line for others, putting ourselves under God's command ready to respond whenever he calls and be ready to do and say what he commands.
The passage today speaks of Timothy having to entrust others with what he has been entrusted with. The whole idea of entrusting and encouraging others to share the gospel is essential. No clergy person can do this task themselves we need to be empowering the body to do what it has been called to do. We need to identify those within our congregations who have the gifts and encourage them to use them to the glory of God.
This is part of my "sensible series" stepping through the pastoral in preparation for ordination - these are purely my own random thoughts.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Sensible #4 - 2 Timothy 2:13-14 (The prayer of all preachers)
13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Surely this has to be the prayer of all preachers - for our hearers - keep what they have heard from us. But with that there is a impetus upon us - to keep our teaching sound - i.e. free from error. There is within this passage a huge responsibility - guard the good deposit that is entrusted to us.
How?
Prayer, trusted friends & colleagues to give us feedback, good reading materials which will keep us in check, and also what it says in the passage ... the help of the Holy Spirit.
speaking personally, I am constantly reminded of the systematic nature of theology, once you pull at one string of doctrine lots of things rest upon it, so keeping our theology in check, of discussing ideas with others really helps cement what "sound teaching" actually entails. Does that make sense ...?
Then if we reverse this statement and become the hearers of the sound teaching there is a lesson to actually keep what we have heard and and guard it. This certainly is a challenge ... I wonder what I have done with the last piece of sound teaching ... have I let it grow or has it fallen on the rocky soil ...mmmm....
This stuff links directly into our ordination vows
Do you believe and accept the Holy Scriptures as revealing all things necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?
Do you believe and accept the doctrine of the Christian faith as the Church of Ireland has received it?
In ministry will you expound the Scriptures and teach that Doctrine?
We do need to keep our doctrine sound, we are called to expound the scriptures. It is my prayer for myself and all being ordained that we will hold to sound doctrine so that the truth of the Gospel may be proclaimed.
Silly #4
Oh dear
... its just after 9am and the guards and dublin airport security have been called (i'll not say anything else ..let your mind wander for a while on that!)
you just never know what could happen in college!
What else can happen today ... who knows??? !!!
Update 12 noon - Coffee all over the table ... free coffee ... thanks enki!
Update 6pm - woman in the book shop .... RE :-)
Update 12 noon - Coffee all over the table ... free coffee ... thanks enki!
Update 6pm - woman in the book shop .... RE :-)
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Sensible #3 - 2 Tim 1:8b-12 - Gospel in a nut shell
Take a look at verse 9 - if you were looking for the gospel in the nutshell ...here it is
God has saved us and has called us to a holy life ... not because of anything we have done but simply because of who he is ... which is truly amazing ... free grace ...on offer
What has Jesus done, he has destroyed death and brought us eternal life ... That's it, that's what we are proclaiming, that is what we are called to proclaim, to teach and to live out.
But it is also costly grace in the sense that it cost Jesus his life, it costs us our lives in the form of our total surrender of our wills to his but the irony is that the thing that we give up, we also gain because the life which he promises is life in all its fullness.
Why bother about ministry at all ...??
see what paul says in verse 12 I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
I am not ashamed, why? because I know whom I believed... Absolutely ... the Jesus in the gospels, the God of the covenant is the same God... he is a faithful God who knit me together and who has a plan for my day... he's the one who I worship, he's the one who has promised eternal life for me, he's the one who I can trust through the darkest hour and the brightest day ... he is the one!
I am not ashamed and pray that I never will be ashamed of him or the good news to which I am called to proclaim.
---
This posting is part of a series of Bible Readings which I am doing on the run up to ordination in the church of ireland. They are my own personal ramblings.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Silly #2 - RTE and Veda!
Well, there ye go ... RTE were in college today looking for a bit of banter about the head shave some of us will be appearing on TV on the 22nd March. A wee bit more publicity for the hospital in Zambia
remember you can still send cheques to CITI, Braemor Park D14 payable to USPG
or if you prefer you can donate to USPG directly www.justgiving.com/robertferris
The funny thing today was as I was working on project, mike was in the room, the man from RTE came in and recognised Mike as the "man in the purple shirt" from a prior broadcast ... one wonders if it is a prophecy! :-)
Oh Yes ... did you know that you can send veda on facebook???
Image courtesy of Garrett Casey D&G Press Office
Image courtesy of Garrett Casey D&G Press Office
Monday, February 23, 2009
Lenten Appeal ... Head Shave
Below is a copy of the text which appeared on the front page of the Irish times this morning ...Photo's Courtesy of Lesley Trennier
Written by Patsy McGarry
IN WHAT has to be among the more unusual Lenten gestures, students preparing for the ministry at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin are planning a mass hair loss for Shrove Tuesday.
Or “Shave Tuesday”, as they have renamed it.
Tomorrow afternoon six will have their heads shaved and others will have their legs waxed, for charity.
In turn they are appealing to every parish throughout the Church of Ireland to collect at least €1 from each parishioner during Lent.
The proceeds will go to the St Francis’s Hospital in Zambia, through the Anglican Mission Agency, USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel).
“Lent is quite properly a penitential season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with it while doing some good for others,” suggested group “Hair-Loss” organiser Patrick Burke, a final year student at the institute.
“Shaving one’s head is a traditional way of doing penance. Doing it with a bunch of friends in front of your colleagues and teachers is a bit of a laugh. And doing it for a worthy cause is the best of both worlds.”
The Church-run St Francis’s Hospital in Katete is the only source of healthcare for a large rural population in Eastern Zambia.
Malaria, Aids and TB have decimated the working population of the area and have left many orphans in a place where most people live at subsistence levels.
“It’s a very simple idea,” said Patrick. “If one or two people in each parish simply take up a collection and send it on, a lot of money could be raised for a really good cause very easily.”
Similar things have appeared on the church of ireland website
If you would like to support us please do! - I will be taking pledges ... Just leave your name and amount as a comment to this article and I'll get the money somehow!
Robert
Failing that you can also donate online ... www.justgiving.com/robertferris
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Romans 12:1-8
Sermon preached in St. Bartholomew’s Parish – Stranmillis
Sunday 4th January 2009 – Evening Prayer Service
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight o Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
On this, the first Sunday of 2009, I wonder have you made any new years resolutions? – Maybe giving up something or taking up something
One particular website I was reading this week gives a top 10 of new year Resolutions:
1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
2. Fit in Fitness
3. Loose weight
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Help Others
10. Get Organized
All of these are of course great in themselves – getting more out of life. However statistics show
That 52% of were confident of success with their goals only 12% actually achieved their goals.
New Year is a great time to stop and look and listen, to reflect and to take stock of where we are.
As Christians it is important to do the same –we are called to bring our actions, our words, our thoughts into line with Jesus’ teaching, into line with what scripture tells us.
Let us then look into the text of tonight Epistle reading Romans Chapter 12 which can be found on page 1139
One of the drawbacks of the Lectionary which our church uses is the fact we dip in and out of books which is exactly what we are doing tonight.
The first word in our reading is “therefore”. In our studies when we see this word in a passage we simply have to ask “What is it there for?”.
Chapter 12 comes in after 11 chapters in Pauls letter to the Romans explaining the good news of Jesus systematically, answering many of the objections and questions which the Roman Christians had, he has if you like, tackled the major difficulties they had with believing that Jesus is the messiah and lots of the issues people have had with the Christian message.
Now he gets onto the practical outworking of this message – Therefore, he says to his readers, present your bodies as a living sacrifice
To offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
Let us take a few moments to stop and think about this – what does it mean?
In our day, sacrifice seems such an alien concept when one is looking to get the most out of life and society tells us to get wealthy, look after number 1!
Let us remember the context which this was written, a time when there was many temples to many gods, and the idea of sacrifice was everywhere.
The reasons behind the sacrifices were also diverse – to placate the gods, sacrifice too was in the Jewish mindset – we know that throughout the Old Testament there was many rules around the sacrificial system. When it comes to Christian teaching – what do we mean by a living sacrifice?
We also understand that there are various types of sacrifice – Atoning sacrifice – That is – to remove sin. As Christians we know that Jesus was the all sufficient Sacrifice, however what we are talking about here is the thanksgiving sacrifice.
Well, when we think about sacrifice, it would be an animal who has no idea what they are doing, what is happening to them,
As rational human beings if we are to be a living sacrifice, the altar is not the best place to be, its not a natural place to find ourselves, it is not a comfortable place to be.
The problem with a living sacrifice is that it jumps off, again and again and again.
As Christians we are not tied down on the altar like animal sacrifices – the living sacrifice has the option not to be, we have to decide to be.
What does this look like in every day life. Quite simply it means us surrendering our will to God, it is asking “What would Jesus do” in this or that circumstance. This is not a natural thing to do.
Think for the moment of the offertory prayer which we pray
For thine O Lord is the Greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty
All things come from thee and of thine own have we given thee
When we look at sacrifice in these terms, if we think that God has given us life then our prayer becomes – we want to know you, we want to give it all back to you God as a thank offering.
It is then amazing what happens when we do – he uses us to be a blessing to others
Although we offer ourselves as sacrifice, we come to realise that it is the only way to live the only way to make sense of the world – things slot into place.
Jesus in John’s Gospel says – in 10:10 I have come that they may have life and have it to the full
In our world today it is not easy being a Christian – In Northern Ireland on the surface we are a peaceful country, no persecution of Christians however there is growing apathy towards the gospel, growing secularisation of society, consumerism replacing the gospel values. However, positively, we do have the opportunity to reach out to those who are seeking answers to the deepest questions.
We as Christians need to realise that we have a radical alternative way of life, answers to the fundalmental questions of existence and to eternal issues.
We can be an iguana – blending into whatever colour of background we find ourselves but surely we should me more like an elephant – standing tall ready against whatever we find.
It is a shame to think that there are so many Christians who are conforming to the worlds beliefs and prevailing cultures – and not standing up for what the Bible teaches.
We are challenged in this passage to be transformed so that we will be able to discern what God’s will is.
So far we have seen that Paul is urging his readers
- to think about their lives lived as sacrifices to God
- to look at the prevailing culture and to critique it and not to necessarily conform to it
Finally I believe that there is challenge to the church corporately in this passage – to realise that each person is unique, different people, different gifts, talents, skills and passions. Your gifting is not my gifting, the circle of your friends are not my circle of friends. Each of us has a different task to do, a different job to do.
Whatever you do – it can be done in a way which brings glory to God.
The word Christian literally means “Little Christ’s”. The church here - St. Bartholomew’s has lots of little Christ’s - people who are living out the gospel in the midst of the community, people who are using the gifts, their talents, their time – both in the church, its societies and through worship. If you are doing that, be encouraged, If you would like to become involved then have a chat with the rector, the wardens.
Paul is urging his readers to:
- Think about their lives lived as sacrifices to God
- To critique the prevailing culture
- To realise that each individual is unique in their gifting and needs the support of one another in the Christian community
Therefore, in light of all of this and to conclude I wonder what our Christian Resolutions could be this year?
How do we know how to live our lives as Christians?
Could we commit to reading the Bible Daily – if we find it difficult some good reading notes are available.
Could we maybe seek to do a bible study in the parish? – maybe speak to the rector or curate.
How do we critique the prevailing culture?
Do we know what is happening in our land? What the issues concerning our neighbours and friends are? What should the church be doing about them?
Could we pray for the church? Either at home or at the parish prayer meeting
If we believe that the church is the body – do we know where we fit in?
Do we know where our gifts are?, what do we enjoy doing? Could we make tea on a Sunday morning? Could we welcome people at the door? Could we do the occasional prayers? Do we know what needs done?
What could we do this year to build the church here in Stranmillis as well as our faith in Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father
We pray that you would challenge us to change those things in our own lives which are conforming to the worlds standards and not to yours and at the start of this new year we pray that you would speak into our lives and help us to identify those areas in which we need to work on. In Jesus name we pray amen.
Sunday 4th January 2009 – Evening Prayer Service
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight o Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
On this, the first Sunday of 2009, I wonder have you made any new years resolutions? – Maybe giving up something or taking up something
One particular website I was reading this week gives a top 10 of new year Resolutions:
1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
2. Fit in Fitness
3. Loose weight
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Help Others
10. Get Organized
All of these are of course great in themselves – getting more out of life. However statistics show
That 52% of were confident of success with their goals only 12% actually achieved their goals.
New Year is a great time to stop and look and listen, to reflect and to take stock of where we are.
As Christians it is important to do the same –we are called to bring our actions, our words, our thoughts into line with Jesus’ teaching, into line with what scripture tells us.
Let us then look into the text of tonight Epistle reading Romans Chapter 12 which can be found on page 1139
One of the drawbacks of the Lectionary which our church uses is the fact we dip in and out of books which is exactly what we are doing tonight.
The first word in our reading is “therefore”. In our studies when we see this word in a passage we simply have to ask “What is it there for?”.
Chapter 12 comes in after 11 chapters in Pauls letter to the Romans explaining the good news of Jesus systematically, answering many of the objections and questions which the Roman Christians had, he has if you like, tackled the major difficulties they had with believing that Jesus is the messiah and lots of the issues people have had with the Christian message.
Now he gets onto the practical outworking of this message – Therefore, he says to his readers, present your bodies as a living sacrifice
To offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
Let us take a few moments to stop and think about this – what does it mean?
In our day, sacrifice seems such an alien concept when one is looking to get the most out of life and society tells us to get wealthy, look after number 1!
Let us remember the context which this was written, a time when there was many temples to many gods, and the idea of sacrifice was everywhere.
The reasons behind the sacrifices were also diverse – to placate the gods, sacrifice too was in the Jewish mindset – we know that throughout the Old Testament there was many rules around the sacrificial system. When it comes to Christian teaching – what do we mean by a living sacrifice?
We also understand that there are various types of sacrifice – Atoning sacrifice – That is – to remove sin. As Christians we know that Jesus was the all sufficient Sacrifice, however what we are talking about here is the thanksgiving sacrifice.
Well, when we think about sacrifice, it would be an animal who has no idea what they are doing, what is happening to them,
As rational human beings if we are to be a living sacrifice, the altar is not the best place to be, its not a natural place to find ourselves, it is not a comfortable place to be.
The problem with a living sacrifice is that it jumps off, again and again and again.
As Christians we are not tied down on the altar like animal sacrifices – the living sacrifice has the option not to be, we have to decide to be.
What does this look like in every day life. Quite simply it means us surrendering our will to God, it is asking “What would Jesus do” in this or that circumstance. This is not a natural thing to do.
Think for the moment of the offertory prayer which we pray
For thine O Lord is the Greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty
All things come from thee and of thine own have we given thee
When we look at sacrifice in these terms, if we think that God has given us life then our prayer becomes – we want to know you, we want to give it all back to you God as a thank offering.
It is then amazing what happens when we do – he uses us to be a blessing to others
Although we offer ourselves as sacrifice, we come to realise that it is the only way to live the only way to make sense of the world – things slot into place.
Jesus in John’s Gospel says – in 10:10 I have come that they may have life and have it to the full
In our world today it is not easy being a Christian – In Northern Ireland on the surface we are a peaceful country, no persecution of Christians however there is growing apathy towards the gospel, growing secularisation of society, consumerism replacing the gospel values. However, positively, we do have the opportunity to reach out to those who are seeking answers to the deepest questions.
We as Christians need to realise that we have a radical alternative way of life, answers to the fundalmental questions of existence and to eternal issues.
We can be an iguana – blending into whatever colour of background we find ourselves but surely we should me more like an elephant – standing tall ready against whatever we find.
It is a shame to think that there are so many Christians who are conforming to the worlds beliefs and prevailing cultures – and not standing up for what the Bible teaches.
We are challenged in this passage to be transformed so that we will be able to discern what God’s will is.
So far we have seen that Paul is urging his readers
- to think about their lives lived as sacrifices to God
- to look at the prevailing culture and to critique it and not to necessarily conform to it
Finally I believe that there is challenge to the church corporately in this passage – to realise that each person is unique, different people, different gifts, talents, skills and passions. Your gifting is not my gifting, the circle of your friends are not my circle of friends. Each of us has a different task to do, a different job to do.
Whatever you do – it can be done in a way which brings glory to God.
The word Christian literally means “Little Christ’s”. The church here - St. Bartholomew’s has lots of little Christ’s - people who are living out the gospel in the midst of the community, people who are using the gifts, their talents, their time – both in the church, its societies and through worship. If you are doing that, be encouraged, If you would like to become involved then have a chat with the rector, the wardens.
Paul is urging his readers to:
- Think about their lives lived as sacrifices to God
- To critique the prevailing culture
- To realise that each individual is unique in their gifting and needs the support of one another in the Christian community
Therefore, in light of all of this and to conclude I wonder what our Christian Resolutions could be this year?
How do we know how to live our lives as Christians?
Could we commit to reading the Bible Daily – if we find it difficult some good reading notes are available.
Could we maybe seek to do a bible study in the parish? – maybe speak to the rector or curate.
How do we critique the prevailing culture?
Do we know what is happening in our land? What the issues concerning our neighbours and friends are? What should the church be doing about them?
Could we pray for the church? Either at home or at the parish prayer meeting
If we believe that the church is the body – do we know where we fit in?
Do we know where our gifts are?, what do we enjoy doing? Could we make tea on a Sunday morning? Could we welcome people at the door? Could we do the occasional prayers? Do we know what needs done?
What could we do this year to build the church here in Stranmillis as well as our faith in Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father
We pray that you would challenge us to change those things in our own lives which are conforming to the worlds standards and not to yours and at the start of this new year we pray that you would speak into our lives and help us to identify those areas in which we need to work on. In Jesus name we pray amen.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
On the road again
After a three day break ... Robert on tour continues
Me and my wee suitcase has been all over the country, many miles have been clocked up, many, many cups of coffees with rectors both those on and not on the curacy list.
For the remainder of the holidays ... all of 1 week left I am heading to belfast tomorrow to St. Barts for placement - pastoral visits and a wedding rehersal which will be a new experience.
Then its off to the metropolis of Monaghan
And down to dublin for a couple of days to get my head showered and a couple of sermons sorted out. boyz a boyz where does the time go ... before coming back up north for next weekend!
Me and my wee suitcase has been all over the country, many miles have been clocked up, many, many cups of coffees with rectors both those on and not on the curacy list.
For the remainder of the holidays ... all of 1 week left I am heading to belfast tomorrow to St. Barts for placement - pastoral visits and a wedding rehersal which will be a new experience.
Then its off to the metropolis of Monaghan
And down to dublin for a couple of days to get my head showered and a couple of sermons sorted out. boyz a boyz where does the time go ... before coming back up north for next weekend!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sermon – Revelation Chapter 1 – St. Barts 16th November 2008
Prayer
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight – O Lord our Strength and our redeemer. Amen
The Book Revelation,
Is a strange, strange book to the onlooker … it has all the features of a sci-fi fantasy – Dragons, lakes of sulphur, Plagues, a Red seven headed ten horned dragon, stars, horsemen, great cities, giant hail stones.
How then, are we to make any sense of it? Just this week, a friends daughter was told by a teacher that it was written by a mad man. However I must disagree, nothing could be further from the truth. It is a highly structured and historically situated text.
Let me explain …
In Judiasm and the Ancient world generally, numbers are important – and scholars tell us that 7 is the perfect number. In this book we have 7 Churches being addressed and then (for those in the congregation who are involved in Drama) we also see that the whole book is structured as a drama into seven Acts and each of those acts each with Seven Scenes … quite a drama don’t you think?
We begin with the churches and end the play with the glorious revealing of the Heavenly City.
Right from the outset of this book we gain a glimpse into the hope of the Christian, even under the most horrific of persecution the church perseveres and overcomes all that is thrown at it.
So what is this about … let us take a look at the text
It starts on familiar territory
It opens with an introduction quite similar to any of Paul’s writings … or any similar letters written at the time
The writer to the receiver – John to the seven churches that are in asia
And then comes some amazing words as to what it is about
It is making an amazing statement
V4 Grace and Peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
What a magnificent piece of writing, an amazing greeting.
As you know …From any drama - characters are important and understanding them is the key to the plot line. In these opening verses we are introduced to the main character … The main character in this book, the one who sits on the throne is of course None other than God Father and Son. Greetings are brought from both to the churches and to us as readers centuries after these great words were composed.
It would be great to be able to make a study of this book in-depth as there is so much to it, so many truths – I would like to simply highlight some of the things from the opening – of which please do take home and think about.
Then we see are recurring scene – that of the throne – Where the character sits – reigning over the kingdom.
In this sermon I would like to ask a few questions
The major question I would like to focus upon is – Whom is this that we worship?
Sunday, by Sunday we come to church, To Holy Communion, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Sung Compline, To Family Service … we sing hymns, chant psalms, we pray, we listen to the word, we receive communion. This chapter, contains amazing truths about the one we proclaim as Lord, the one we worship. This passage gives us some great descriptions about the God we worship
The one who is, and who was and is to come – What a statement about God
Present, past and future. (Remember Moses asking for God’s Name at the burning bush –
“I am”)
The one who is – is with us now, in the present
The one who was – The ancient one, right from pre creation, who told moses his name “I am” – through judges, the kings, the exile, the one who sent Jesus, then through the centuries. In a few weeks time we will be reading the Chistmas Gospel – In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.
The one who is to come – This is the fantastic bit … he is always going to be … is to come … Time ticks away … I do not know what the future holds – it is probably just as well that I don’t - but the one constant, the one who was in the past, the one who is in the present is the same as the one who will be in the future …. That is an amazing constant.
He who knew my birth, loved me through my life, who I depend on now as I live each and every day is the same one who will be there at the moment of my death, and the one whom I will spend eternity – That is the God – father, son and spirit who we worship – Sunday by Sunday.
We also need to remember who these churches are … they are based in asia minor – modern day turkey … Are churches who are suffering percecution – they are indeed Christians who are facing death – being martyred for professing the name of Christ with this in mind we can then read who Jesus was
He is the faithful witness – the word “witness” in this instance comes from the word martyr – he stood and died to witness to God, he was the example for all who would go after him.
He is the first born from the dead – He is the only one to have risen eternally from the dead – The power that brought him, that is Jesus from the dead is now the one who will be our example. And that same power, that brought him from the grave will bring all those who die in the Lord from the gave – He is the firstborn – meaning that we all have the hope of eternal life. That Good news is the Gospel we proclaim Sunday by Sunday
And he is the ruler of the kings of the earth – At that moment the churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor were being threatened by the government of the Imperial Guard so, let us realise the amazing impact that this statement would have had on the lives of church members – The emperor who was seen by many as a deity has been replaced by this king Jesus, who is not only king of an empire but King of all the kings of the earth. What amazing news!
So if that is who he is,
What are we doing when we worship?
When we worship we should be doing it as an act of LOVE, an act of dedication, an act of natural response to him.
As human beings we are all worshippers – every one of us. It is what we worship defines who we are.
One of the things which is clearly seen throughout the pages of the bible is the number of places where we find other gods. One Just has to turn to the 10 commandments – “You shall have no other gods’ before me” – there are alternatives – you can “Choose life”
If we take revelation in its entireity the throne is the centre of worship – and what is on the throne receives our worship we have to ask – what are we putting on the throne. Every individual has something which is receiving their worship.
Idols Past and present – We think of the Golden Calf in the exodus story – which critiques the need for graven images; In our world today there is so many people who have put something else in the place of God on the throne. Whether that be
Wealth
Power
Fame
Drugs
Alcohol
Negativity
The pursuit of Youth & beauty
If we search for a while all of us know instinctively that there are times when we have worshipped other gods. Of course this worshipping of wealth dosen’t mean going to the church of money and singing hymns and songs to the god of money. But it could mean being engrossed with it, spending so much time thinking about it that it becomes top priority to make more and build bigger houses.
The Bible calls that sin – putting something on the throne in our lives that is God’s place. One just has to look around the world today to see the effects of replacing God with something else – something less.
When we come to church, we are saying – Nothing is more important that you God.
We are responding to his love and his dying on the cross for us
We remind ourselves that – we are doing this worship, we are coming Sunday by Sunday not because it is a nice thing to do – but because God took the initiative he first loved us and continues to love us with an unfailing love and freed us from our sins by his Blood.
What are the outcomes of our worship?
Take a look at verse 6
He loves us
He has freed us
He has made us
He has made us to be a kingdom and priests
He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords – and he wants each one of us to be part of his establishment. Not just those who wear robes and have collars round our necks. All of us have been made priests. The priesthood of all belivers. A priest in the Jewish system was the one who made the sacrifices and who offered prayers for the people. They worked under the great High priest
We now have one great High Priest and thus we are working under him. We all have access to God now.
If all of us as priests and our worship is to mean something on a Sunday, it is worked out right throughout the week – in our homes, in our offices, in our universities, in stranmillis, in Royal Avenue wherever we find ourselves.
The Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of Heaven. If it is to mean anything - it will take all Christians who pray the Lords prayer seriously to act in their own calling and be the body of Christ where God has placed them.
Let us recap
Whom is it that we worship tonight in this Church?
The God who is Past, Present and Future – Who Knows the end from the Beginning – the alpha and the Omega
What are we doing when we worship?
We are responding to his Love – we are giving him his worth
What are the outcomes of our worship?
We are commited to his will, his Kingdom and His Glory
Let us Pray
Heavenly Father,
I pray that the words I have spoken which are of you may so take root in our hearts, so that your kingdom may be built up and your name Glorified
In Jesus name I pray
Amen
Prayer
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight – O Lord our Strength and our redeemer. Amen
The Book Revelation,
Is a strange, strange book to the onlooker … it has all the features of a sci-fi fantasy – Dragons, lakes of sulphur, Plagues, a Red seven headed ten horned dragon, stars, horsemen, great cities, giant hail stones.
How then, are we to make any sense of it? Just this week, a friends daughter was told by a teacher that it was written by a mad man. However I must disagree, nothing could be further from the truth. It is a highly structured and historically situated text.
Let me explain …
In Judiasm and the Ancient world generally, numbers are important – and scholars tell us that 7 is the perfect number. In this book we have 7 Churches being addressed and then (for those in the congregation who are involved in Drama) we also see that the whole book is structured as a drama into seven Acts and each of those acts each with Seven Scenes … quite a drama don’t you think?
We begin with the churches and end the play with the glorious revealing of the Heavenly City.
Right from the outset of this book we gain a glimpse into the hope of the Christian, even under the most horrific of persecution the church perseveres and overcomes all that is thrown at it.
So what is this about … let us take a look at the text
It starts on familiar territory
It opens with an introduction quite similar to any of Paul’s writings … or any similar letters written at the time
The writer to the receiver – John to the seven churches that are in asia
And then comes some amazing words as to what it is about
It is making an amazing statement
V4 Grace and Peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
What a magnificent piece of writing, an amazing greeting.
As you know …From any drama - characters are important and understanding them is the key to the plot line. In these opening verses we are introduced to the main character … The main character in this book, the one who sits on the throne is of course None other than God Father and Son. Greetings are brought from both to the churches and to us as readers centuries after these great words were composed.
It would be great to be able to make a study of this book in-depth as there is so much to it, so many truths – I would like to simply highlight some of the things from the opening – of which please do take home and think about.
Then we see are recurring scene – that of the throne – Where the character sits – reigning over the kingdom.
In this sermon I would like to ask a few questions
The major question I would like to focus upon is – Whom is this that we worship?
Sunday, by Sunday we come to church, To Holy Communion, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Sung Compline, To Family Service … we sing hymns, chant psalms, we pray, we listen to the word, we receive communion. This chapter, contains amazing truths about the one we proclaim as Lord, the one we worship. This passage gives us some great descriptions about the God we worship
The one who is, and who was and is to come – What a statement about God
Present, past and future. (Remember Moses asking for God’s Name at the burning bush –
“I am”)
The one who is – is with us now, in the present
The one who was – The ancient one, right from pre creation, who told moses his name “I am” – through judges, the kings, the exile, the one who sent Jesus, then through the centuries. In a few weeks time we will be reading the Chistmas Gospel – In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.
The one who is to come – This is the fantastic bit … he is always going to be … is to come … Time ticks away … I do not know what the future holds – it is probably just as well that I don’t - but the one constant, the one who was in the past, the one who is in the present is the same as the one who will be in the future …. That is an amazing constant.
He who knew my birth, loved me through my life, who I depend on now as I live each and every day is the same one who will be there at the moment of my death, and the one whom I will spend eternity – That is the God – father, son and spirit who we worship – Sunday by Sunday.
We also need to remember who these churches are … they are based in asia minor – modern day turkey … Are churches who are suffering percecution – they are indeed Christians who are facing death – being martyred for professing the name of Christ with this in mind we can then read who Jesus was
He is the faithful witness – the word “witness” in this instance comes from the word martyr – he stood and died to witness to God, he was the example for all who would go after him.
He is the first born from the dead – He is the only one to have risen eternally from the dead – The power that brought him, that is Jesus from the dead is now the one who will be our example. And that same power, that brought him from the grave will bring all those who die in the Lord from the gave – He is the firstborn – meaning that we all have the hope of eternal life. That Good news is the Gospel we proclaim Sunday by Sunday
And he is the ruler of the kings of the earth – At that moment the churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor were being threatened by the government of the Imperial Guard so, let us realise the amazing impact that this statement would have had on the lives of church members – The emperor who was seen by many as a deity has been replaced by this king Jesus, who is not only king of an empire but King of all the kings of the earth. What amazing news!
So if that is who he is,
What are we doing when we worship?
When we worship we should be doing it as an act of LOVE, an act of dedication, an act of natural response to him.
As human beings we are all worshippers – every one of us. It is what we worship defines who we are.
One of the things which is clearly seen throughout the pages of the bible is the number of places where we find other gods. One Just has to turn to the 10 commandments – “You shall have no other gods’ before me” – there are alternatives – you can “Choose life”
If we take revelation in its entireity the throne is the centre of worship – and what is on the throne receives our worship we have to ask – what are we putting on the throne. Every individual has something which is receiving their worship.
Idols Past and present – We think of the Golden Calf in the exodus story – which critiques the need for graven images; In our world today there is so many people who have put something else in the place of God on the throne. Whether that be
Wealth
Power
Fame
Drugs
Alcohol
Negativity
The pursuit of Youth & beauty
If we search for a while all of us know instinctively that there are times when we have worshipped other gods. Of course this worshipping of wealth dosen’t mean going to the church of money and singing hymns and songs to the god of money. But it could mean being engrossed with it, spending so much time thinking about it that it becomes top priority to make more and build bigger houses.
The Bible calls that sin – putting something on the throne in our lives that is God’s place. One just has to look around the world today to see the effects of replacing God with something else – something less.
When we come to church, we are saying – Nothing is more important that you God.
We are responding to his love and his dying on the cross for us
We remind ourselves that – we are doing this worship, we are coming Sunday by Sunday not because it is a nice thing to do – but because God took the initiative he first loved us and continues to love us with an unfailing love and freed us from our sins by his Blood.
What are the outcomes of our worship?
Take a look at verse 6
He loves us
He has freed us
He has made us
He has made us to be a kingdom and priests
He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords – and he wants each one of us to be part of his establishment. Not just those who wear robes and have collars round our necks. All of us have been made priests. The priesthood of all belivers. A priest in the Jewish system was the one who made the sacrifices and who offered prayers for the people. They worked under the great High priest
We now have one great High Priest and thus we are working under him. We all have access to God now.
If all of us as priests and our worship is to mean something on a Sunday, it is worked out right throughout the week – in our homes, in our offices, in our universities, in stranmillis, in Royal Avenue wherever we find ourselves.
The Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of Heaven. If it is to mean anything - it will take all Christians who pray the Lords prayer seriously to act in their own calling and be the body of Christ where God has placed them.
Let us recap
Whom is it that we worship tonight in this Church?
The God who is Past, Present and Future – Who Knows the end from the Beginning – the alpha and the Omega
What are we doing when we worship?
We are responding to his Love – we are giving him his worth
What are the outcomes of our worship?
We are commited to his will, his Kingdom and His Glory
Let us Pray
Heavenly Father,
I pray that the words I have spoken which are of you may so take root in our hearts, so that your kingdom may be built up and your name Glorified
In Jesus name I pray
Amen
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
A Bit of a Rant about the church
This entry is written in order to get my thoughts prepared for a history essay as part of my final year History Course - necessarily it includes some perspectives of the current affairs. The Title is the "Place of the Church of Ireland in the NEW Ireland"
The Church of Ireland stands in a prominent position on this Island - touching some 450 parishes units North, south, east and west. Some 500 stipendiary clergy minister to some 390,000 people. It has a huge stock of estate in all arts and parts of the Island.
Organized as an Episcopal church split into 12 Dioceses with 2 Provinces and a synod to pass legislation. It is fair to say that we are a diverse church, with conceivably all shades of theological and indeed political opinion in our pews. We have evangelical, conservative, charismatic, anglo-catholic, liberal, unionist, nationalist, loyalist and no-doubt republican.
We stand as a church in an exciting postition due to our history recent and beyond which has indeed had its problems but with hindsight we need to be ready to face challenges of the present and future in faith and indeed hope as we minister to a new, modern, 21st Century Ireland with all its problems and diversity. Within this essay my aim is to discuss some of the current trends we find in this so-called “new” Ireland and look at how the church over the last Century has developed.
Ireland (North and South) is completely different to what it was even 20 years ago. The North has given up its troubles, the South its Punt, The Island as a whole is now more commercial, less concerned with religion and more about consumerism. Society today, as economist David McWilliams comments is bigger, more expensive and partying like mad. Throughout the island we are more aware of the world with immigrants wanting to come to Ireland for work. We are taking more workers on than any other nation in Europe. The population is changing its priorities and the church of the new Ireland needs to respond to that.
As a Church we have set up committees such as Hard Gospel, Board of Social Responsibilities, we are welcoming priests from around the Anglican Communion to minister to minority groups within our population. Having brought these positive things to the table there is also a lot more that still needs to be done. As we look back over the century there has been a complete change within the Island which we must remember there are still those within our number who have seen this whole change:
• People who remember their parents speaking about the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland.
• Those who were affected by the two world wars
• Those who saw the partition of the island of Ireland
• Those who were affected by the troubles in Northern Ireland
• Those who have raw emotions of hatred towards the “other side” within the conflict
We also must remember that as a church 150 years ago we were the church to whom tithes taxes were payable to – hated by both Catholics and Presbyterians alike.
The Church here in Ireland is showing signs of becoming stronger in its prophetic voice, however as the world becomes more commercialized and secular we are in danger of losing that distinctive Christian voice and thus becoming one among many rather than one.
We do as a church have something to say to society in regards to – Morals, environment, politics, values, education, ethical debate, poverty, community relations, prevailing culture, consumerism ... We do have a role in this society and if we are to fulfill that call we must speak out with clarity and ask the difficult questions of our politicians, leaders, society and of course ourselves. If we are not the salt and light in the world what good is there being here in the first place.
In the 19th Century the church of Ireland was at the centre of Government, its Bishops sat in the House Of Lords, many of its members were in parliament, this of course was good in terms of being heard and being there in the debates and the decisions that were made. However this privileged position is no longer there, in many ways this is advantageous to the church as we do not have to be directed by the government, we do not have to do what they say. However, it also means that our influence upon policy and law making has diminished but as a body representing our members we do have distinctive voices which need to be heard on the issues of the day.
From our 450 pulpits we have the privilege of being able to teach the Christian message and gospel, to many, many people. We have within our congregations a huge diversity of people working in all corners of the economy. As a church we have huge influence – yes we are no longer the established church but we have a network of individuals most of whom are baptized and have links which span the length and breadth of this nation. This must be one of the most exciting times to be going into church leadership.
There are huge problems – indeed there are:
- Debt is rampant
- Alcoholism and marriage break-up are widespread
- Church going is at an all time low
- Drug abuse is so high
- Criminality is round the corner
But there are glimmers of hope, where the church is working with the local communities, where the church and government bodies are working together, where people can see Christians really caring for their needs, churches are growing, where churches are growing they are investing their resources in providing what the communites need. In return where needs are met – the gospel is being preached and lives are being completely turned around.
It is sad indeed to see churches being closed, converted or even demolished.
In an Island which has seen so much conflict which to the untrained eye was all about religion and protestants fighting Catholics, we have so much of what could be termed as “religion” do need to get back to the basics and ask what the church is actually here for.
The place of the Church of Ireland in the new Ireland is and needs to be is right in the middle of it. Involved at all levels of society. We need to be reaching out to those at all strata’s of society.
To the poor and the marginalized we need to be saying we are here with you – we will assist you in your dealings to get you a fair package of help when you need it.
To those who are having problems with addictions we need to be saying we will help you to overcome
To those who have arrived as immigrants we need to be saying – welcome and offering a place to belong
To those who are struggling to make ends meet financially we need to say we will give you advice
To all who are OK we need to say – the church needs you as it does everyone
We as a church need to be continually reaching out with the good news of Christ to all in this new Ireland, seeking to move beyond our comfort zones into what can only be described as our mission field. In the past when churches spoke about missionaries the widely held view was that of empire and bringing Christianity to Africa with pith hats and Bibles in hand. However on our doorsteps across the Island today we have people who have either a very negative view of the church or those who have no idea what the gospel is all about.
It is in these areas the church needs to be stepping out in faith and proclaiming the good news and expecting things to change for the better.
Are these things the churches responsibility – well I would argue yes! IF we are to be missional and intentional about our proclamation of the gospel – yes we are to preach the word through the power of the spirit. It is the empowerment of the community of faith to ensure that as many as possible are brought into hear that word, and if possible we should bring the gospel out to the people wherever they are.
The church, I have heard it described as being simply one hungry beggar, telling another hungry beggar where to find food. That is all the church can and should be doing! That is where we should be.
This has turned into a bit of a Rant – it will be refined into a much more reasoned argument as part of an essay – but hey – it makes for a bit of a Blog anyway!!
The Church of Ireland stands in a prominent position on this Island - touching some 450 parishes units North, south, east and west. Some 500 stipendiary clergy minister to some 390,000 people. It has a huge stock of estate in all arts and parts of the Island.
Organized as an Episcopal church split into 12 Dioceses with 2 Provinces and a synod to pass legislation. It is fair to say that we are a diverse church, with conceivably all shades of theological and indeed political opinion in our pews. We have evangelical, conservative, charismatic, anglo-catholic, liberal, unionist, nationalist, loyalist and no-doubt republican.
We stand as a church in an exciting postition due to our history recent and beyond which has indeed had its problems but with hindsight we need to be ready to face challenges of the present and future in faith and indeed hope as we minister to a new, modern, 21st Century Ireland with all its problems and diversity. Within this essay my aim is to discuss some of the current trends we find in this so-called “new” Ireland and look at how the church over the last Century has developed.
Ireland (North and South) is completely different to what it was even 20 years ago. The North has given up its troubles, the South its Punt, The Island as a whole is now more commercial, less concerned with religion and more about consumerism. Society today, as economist David McWilliams comments is bigger, more expensive and partying like mad. Throughout the island we are more aware of the world with immigrants wanting to come to Ireland for work. We are taking more workers on than any other nation in Europe. The population is changing its priorities and the church of the new Ireland needs to respond to that.
As a Church we have set up committees such as Hard Gospel, Board of Social Responsibilities, we are welcoming priests from around the Anglican Communion to minister to minority groups within our population. Having brought these positive things to the table there is also a lot more that still needs to be done. As we look back over the century there has been a complete change within the Island which we must remember there are still those within our number who have seen this whole change:
• People who remember their parents speaking about the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland.
• Those who were affected by the two world wars
• Those who saw the partition of the island of Ireland
• Those who were affected by the troubles in Northern Ireland
• Those who have raw emotions of hatred towards the “other side” within the conflict
We also must remember that as a church 150 years ago we were the church to whom tithes taxes were payable to – hated by both Catholics and Presbyterians alike.
The Church here in Ireland is showing signs of becoming stronger in its prophetic voice, however as the world becomes more commercialized and secular we are in danger of losing that distinctive Christian voice and thus becoming one among many rather than one.
We do as a church have something to say to society in regards to – Morals, environment, politics, values, education, ethical debate, poverty, community relations, prevailing culture, consumerism ... We do have a role in this society and if we are to fulfill that call we must speak out with clarity and ask the difficult questions of our politicians, leaders, society and of course ourselves. If we are not the salt and light in the world what good is there being here in the first place.
In the 19th Century the church of Ireland was at the centre of Government, its Bishops sat in the House Of Lords, many of its members were in parliament, this of course was good in terms of being heard and being there in the debates and the decisions that were made. However this privileged position is no longer there, in many ways this is advantageous to the church as we do not have to be directed by the government, we do not have to do what they say. However, it also means that our influence upon policy and law making has diminished but as a body representing our members we do have distinctive voices which need to be heard on the issues of the day.
From our 450 pulpits we have the privilege of being able to teach the Christian message and gospel, to many, many people. We have within our congregations a huge diversity of people working in all corners of the economy. As a church we have huge influence – yes we are no longer the established church but we have a network of individuals most of whom are baptized and have links which span the length and breadth of this nation. This must be one of the most exciting times to be going into church leadership.
There are huge problems – indeed there are:
- Debt is rampant
- Alcoholism and marriage break-up are widespread
- Church going is at an all time low
- Drug abuse is so high
- Criminality is round the corner
But there are glimmers of hope, where the church is working with the local communities, where the church and government bodies are working together, where people can see Christians really caring for their needs, churches are growing, where churches are growing they are investing their resources in providing what the communites need. In return where needs are met – the gospel is being preached and lives are being completely turned around.
It is sad indeed to see churches being closed, converted or even demolished.
In an Island which has seen so much conflict which to the untrained eye was all about religion and protestants fighting Catholics, we have so much of what could be termed as “religion” do need to get back to the basics and ask what the church is actually here for.
The place of the Church of Ireland in the new Ireland is and needs to be is right in the middle of it. Involved at all levels of society. We need to be reaching out to those at all strata’s of society.
To the poor and the marginalized we need to be saying we are here with you – we will assist you in your dealings to get you a fair package of help when you need it.
To those who are having problems with addictions we need to be saying we will help you to overcome
To those who have arrived as immigrants we need to be saying – welcome and offering a place to belong
To those who are struggling to make ends meet financially we need to say we will give you advice
To all who are OK we need to say – the church needs you as it does everyone
We as a church need to be continually reaching out with the good news of Christ to all in this new Ireland, seeking to move beyond our comfort zones into what can only be described as our mission field. In the past when churches spoke about missionaries the widely held view was that of empire and bringing Christianity to Africa with pith hats and Bibles in hand. However on our doorsteps across the Island today we have people who have either a very negative view of the church or those who have no idea what the gospel is all about.
It is in these areas the church needs to be stepping out in faith and proclaiming the good news and expecting things to change for the better.
Are these things the churches responsibility – well I would argue yes! IF we are to be missional and intentional about our proclamation of the gospel – yes we are to preach the word through the power of the spirit. It is the empowerment of the community of faith to ensure that as many as possible are brought into hear that word, and if possible we should bring the gospel out to the people wherever they are.
The church, I have heard it described as being simply one hungry beggar, telling another hungry beggar where to find food. That is all the church can and should be doing! That is where we should be.
This has turned into a bit of a Rant – it will be refined into a much more reasoned argument as part of an essay – but hey – it makes for a bit of a Blog anyway!!
Through the curacy round ... with My Blog! :-)
Now that final year has arrived and the month of October is nearing a close it must be nearly time for the curacy list to be published
For the uninitiated - the process in the Church of Ireland to find us ordinands places of employment at the end of trainning is quite a job it involves parishes, bishops, interviews, CV's, College, meetings, coffee, discussions late into the night along the corridors.
Hopefully on this blog you may find a few insights into the process as well as prayer pointers etc on the whole experience from an insider ... Of course no names etc will appear simply my own take on the process.
Until then please do pray for us, for guidance, patience, unity with our year, discernment.
For the uninitiated - the process in the Church of Ireland to find us ordinands places of employment at the end of trainning is quite a job it involves parishes, bishops, interviews, CV's, College, meetings, coffee, discussions late into the night along the corridors.
Hopefully on this blog you may find a few insights into the process as well as prayer pointers etc on the whole experience from an insider ... Of course no names etc will appear simply my own take on the process.
Until then please do pray for us, for guidance, patience, unity with our year, discernment.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Conclusion of 10 Commandments series - St Bart's, Stranmillis
This sermon was preached at the 10:30 Service on Sunday 26th October as part of my Pastoral Placement in St.. Bartholomew's Stranmillis Belfast. It Concluded a sermon Series on the 10 commandments.
1 Kings 21; Ephesians 4;
Heavenly Father,
I pray that you would take my lips and speak through them, take our minds and think through them and take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you – In jesus name we pray - Amen
I wonder if I asked anyone in church this morning to recite the 10 commandments – would you be able to do it?
Maybe you learnt them in school, maybe before your confirmation. Could I invite you to turn with me in your prayer books to page 767 and see that they are written in the context of the catechism. The teaching of the church.
Clearly there is some importance we give to these laws – In this sermon I would like to consentrate on three areas
Firstly old testament
Then Paul’s understanding of the laws
And then what does it say to us here in Belfast many thousands of years later.
In our first reading this morning we read of one of the so-called evil kings
If you are ever looking for political intrigue and scandal – Take a study through the book of first kings!
So Let me introduce you to King Ahab:
* Son of the evil King Omri
* Married the infamous Jezebel and bought into her cultic practices worship of Baal and Asherah.
* Let his people through 2 wars assisted by YHWH
When you read the story of Ahab you see that God sent people to try to warn him that he was on the wrong track but he just doesn’t seem to listen. One of the biggest characters was Yahweh’s man Elijah through whom God showed his power – continually giving Ahab the chance to change. And eventually he did repent.
In marriage, he married someone who was a foreigner and who brought their religious practices with them – even though it was forbidden by the Lord. Ahab then introduced the idol Baal and built places for the worship of Asherah. This was the Beginnings of his problems.
Elijah told him that there was to be no other God’s but the Lord and that he needed to repent – He didn’t – Elijah prayed for no rain and no rain came - exile
Then Elijah again confronted Ahab – contest on Mount Carmel – Prophets of Baal v’s Elijah. YHWH triumphed BUT Jezebel ordered Elijah Killed!
Then there was the Battles against Benhadad – A prophet calls Ahab to lead the attack if they are to be successful – he did and they were
The prophet hold Ahab that there would be another battle – there was and again that was successful – The lord had given them the victory – one problem was that he didn’t finish off the job – and for that Ahab would have to suffer. So it is with this background that we meet and can understand some of what is going on when it comes to Naboths vineyard
Ahab has had tremendous success he has, through the power of God, saved his country from being taken over by the Syrian army. He has seen God cause famine, but when he has listened to prophets the Lord acted powerfully.
Now about 20 miles north of his capital – he had his eyes on a vineyard – it must have been a very good vineyard to Ahab to have wanted it. He offered to pay high price for it – but Naboth the owner was having none of it! – it was his inheritance and – the king could not demand that!
What happens next contravenes a number of our covenant laws
Firstly there is out right coveting of literally his neighbours house – he does this by what we would say – going into a great big SULK.
Then we see his wife getting involved and writing a death warrant for poor naboth and sealing it – Bearing false witness and then ultimately murdering.
So on top of all the things which went before – this king, who is meant to be ruler of God’s people has literally contravened the laws he was meant to be upholding!
That said – we see that his actions are not without consequence. He does undergo, a period of penitence, he realizes the stupidity of his actions and repents.
As we flick over to we see Paul writing to a people who are trying to make sense of a culture – not to dissimilar to our own in terms of being a polytheistic society where personal desire and ambition are ruling the minds.
Take a look at Pauls Description of the prevailing culture
v19 Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more.
When we look at magazines, shops, credit cards, gossip mags is this the prevailing culture. When we look at the news headlines – shootings, affairs, hate crime, under currents of distrust … do the ten commandments have any relevance to us today … surely they do … they must!
They under pin our legal system.
But what are we as Christians to do? … When I was putting the conclusion to this sermon in my study room in Dublin – it was Thursday when there was heavy wind and rain and I imagined a boat on the sea – being tossed about on the waves. Without a compass, without having a fixed point of reference it is extremely easy to loose one way, ones route through life.
Paul in this passage is reminding the Christians that they are different – they are to stand up to the culture – they are to put on the new self – a self which is not ruled by the prevailing culture, not caught up in selfish ambition nor any of the other characteristics of the world – he gives a couple of examples which are relevant to our studies into the 10 commandments
Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour – why? For we are all members of the same body
He who has been stealing must steal no longer
He goes further … Get rid of all bitterness rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice and then the new self
Be kind and compassionate to one another; forgiving each other as Christ forgive you.
That was Paul writing in the 1st Century
How about 20 Centuries later?
I am a natural rebel – if someone lays down the rules I look for away around them: in Banbridge High – we had a double A4 page of School Rules – To this day I know the first 20 of them because I had to write them out so many times – for forgetting homeworks etc.
Some were really silly – Schoolbags must be carried on the right way from the wall, some were strange and long – respect must be shown to teachers, office staff, principal, caretakers, cleaners, secretaries
A basic list of do’s and don’t
When we look at the 10 commandments it can seem like school rules, a list of dos and don’ts however I do believe that there is something beyond them, something more of a relationship.
Please turn in your prayer books to page 222
On this page we see the 10 commandments which are the basic do’s and don’ts but with the relationship through Christ who is the fulfilment of the law added – As Christians we keep the 10 Commandments not out of Duty but out of love and our personal commitment to Christ who draws us all into that relationship
As we reflect upon Ahab who directly contravened the commandments and Paul who urged the Christians in Ephesus to put on their new selves so we turn to ourselves – what changes do we need to make to be living within the spirit of the law.
As we conclude I have asked Ron to read the commandments and I will read the New Testament commentary. I would invite you to take a few moments to about your own response to them and what you need to change, or do.
1 Kings 21; Ephesians 4;
Heavenly Father,
I pray that you would take my lips and speak through them, take our minds and think through them and take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you – In jesus name we pray - Amen
I wonder if I asked anyone in church this morning to recite the 10 commandments – would you be able to do it?
Maybe you learnt them in school, maybe before your confirmation. Could I invite you to turn with me in your prayer books to page 767 and see that they are written in the context of the catechism. The teaching of the church.
Clearly there is some importance we give to these laws – In this sermon I would like to consentrate on three areas
Firstly old testament
Then Paul’s understanding of the laws
And then what does it say to us here in Belfast many thousands of years later.
In our first reading this morning we read of one of the so-called evil kings
If you are ever looking for political intrigue and scandal – Take a study through the book of first kings!
So Let me introduce you to King Ahab:
* Son of the evil King Omri
* Married the infamous Jezebel and bought into her cultic practices worship of Baal and Asherah.
* Let his people through 2 wars assisted by YHWH
When you read the story of Ahab you see that God sent people to try to warn him that he was on the wrong track but he just doesn’t seem to listen. One of the biggest characters was Yahweh’s man Elijah through whom God showed his power – continually giving Ahab the chance to change. And eventually he did repent.
In marriage, he married someone who was a foreigner and who brought their religious practices with them – even though it was forbidden by the Lord. Ahab then introduced the idol Baal and built places for the worship of Asherah. This was the Beginnings of his problems.
Elijah told him that there was to be no other God’s but the Lord and that he needed to repent – He didn’t – Elijah prayed for no rain and no rain came - exile
Then Elijah again confronted Ahab – contest on Mount Carmel – Prophets of Baal v’s Elijah. YHWH triumphed BUT Jezebel ordered Elijah Killed!
Then there was the Battles against Benhadad – A prophet calls Ahab to lead the attack if they are to be successful – he did and they were
The prophet hold Ahab that there would be another battle – there was and again that was successful – The lord had given them the victory – one problem was that he didn’t finish off the job – and for that Ahab would have to suffer. So it is with this background that we meet and can understand some of what is going on when it comes to Naboths vineyard
Ahab has had tremendous success he has, through the power of God, saved his country from being taken over by the Syrian army. He has seen God cause famine, but when he has listened to prophets the Lord acted powerfully.
Now about 20 miles north of his capital – he had his eyes on a vineyard – it must have been a very good vineyard to Ahab to have wanted it. He offered to pay high price for it – but Naboth the owner was having none of it! – it was his inheritance and – the king could not demand that!
What happens next contravenes a number of our covenant laws
Firstly there is out right coveting of literally his neighbours house – he does this by what we would say – going into a great big SULK.
Then we see his wife getting involved and writing a death warrant for poor naboth and sealing it – Bearing false witness and then ultimately murdering.
So on top of all the things which went before – this king, who is meant to be ruler of God’s people has literally contravened the laws he was meant to be upholding!
That said – we see that his actions are not without consequence. He does undergo, a period of penitence, he realizes the stupidity of his actions and repents.
As we flick over to we see Paul writing to a people who are trying to make sense of a culture – not to dissimilar to our own in terms of being a polytheistic society where personal desire and ambition are ruling the minds.
Take a look at Pauls Description of the prevailing culture
v19 Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more.
When we look at magazines, shops, credit cards, gossip mags is this the prevailing culture. When we look at the news headlines – shootings, affairs, hate crime, under currents of distrust … do the ten commandments have any relevance to us today … surely they do … they must!
They under pin our legal system.
But what are we as Christians to do? … When I was putting the conclusion to this sermon in my study room in Dublin – it was Thursday when there was heavy wind and rain and I imagined a boat on the sea – being tossed about on the waves. Without a compass, without having a fixed point of reference it is extremely easy to loose one way, ones route through life.
Paul in this passage is reminding the Christians that they are different – they are to stand up to the culture – they are to put on the new self – a self which is not ruled by the prevailing culture, not caught up in selfish ambition nor any of the other characteristics of the world – he gives a couple of examples which are relevant to our studies into the 10 commandments
Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour – why? For we are all members of the same body
He who has been stealing must steal no longer
He goes further … Get rid of all bitterness rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice and then the new self
Be kind and compassionate to one another; forgiving each other as Christ forgive you.
That was Paul writing in the 1st Century
How about 20 Centuries later?
I am a natural rebel – if someone lays down the rules I look for away around them: in Banbridge High – we had a double A4 page of School Rules – To this day I know the first 20 of them because I had to write them out so many times – for forgetting homeworks etc.
Some were really silly – Schoolbags must be carried on the right way from the wall, some were strange and long – respect must be shown to teachers, office staff, principal, caretakers, cleaners, secretaries
A basic list of do’s and don’t
When we look at the 10 commandments it can seem like school rules, a list of dos and don’ts however I do believe that there is something beyond them, something more of a relationship.
Please turn in your prayer books to page 222
On this page we see the 10 commandments which are the basic do’s and don’ts but with the relationship through Christ who is the fulfilment of the law added – As Christians we keep the 10 Commandments not out of Duty but out of love and our personal commitment to Christ who draws us all into that relationship
As we reflect upon Ahab who directly contravened the commandments and Paul who urged the Christians in Ephesus to put on their new selves so we turn to ourselves – what changes do we need to make to be living within the spirit of the law.
As we conclude I have asked Ron to read the commandments and I will read the New Testament commentary. I would invite you to take a few moments to about your own response to them and what you need to change, or do.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sepatrick Parish Magazine article
A line from Dublin
Well, time is certainly marching on, and there is so much to do here at the Church of Ireland Theological College. Now that I am in final year and writing for the November edition of the magazine means also that the list of curacies for 2009 will soon be arriving on my desk. It is a scary but also exciting time. Literally “God Knows” where I and all the other ordinands will end up – and thankfully he does have a place for us all.
At the moment I am on Friday and Sunday placement in St. Bartholomew’s in Stranmillis, preaching, leading services and visiting individuals.
I would invite you to pray for all of us ordinands during November – January as well as the Rectors and Bishops involved in the process. Praying that all would seek the guidance and discernment of God in all decisions that have to be made.
I look forward to keeping you informed of progress in future editions of the magazine.
As ever .. news and prayer pointers can be found on my blog … www.robertferris.blogspot.com or youth.cmsireland.org
In Christ
Robert Ferris
John 10:10 – Jesus said “A thief comes to kill and destroy – but I have come so that they may have life in all its fullness”
Well, time is certainly marching on, and there is so much to do here at the Church of Ireland Theological College. Now that I am in final year and writing for the November edition of the magazine means also that the list of curacies for 2009 will soon be arriving on my desk. It is a scary but also exciting time. Literally “God Knows” where I and all the other ordinands will end up – and thankfully he does have a place for us all.
At the moment I am on Friday and Sunday placement in St. Bartholomew’s in Stranmillis, preaching, leading services and visiting individuals.
I would invite you to pray for all of us ordinands during November – January as well as the Rectors and Bishops involved in the process. Praying that all would seek the guidance and discernment of God in all decisions that have to be made.
I look forward to keeping you informed of progress in future editions of the magazine.
As ever .. news and prayer pointers can be found on my blog … www.robertferris.blogspot.com or youth.cmsireland.org
In Christ
Robert Ferris
John 10:10 – Jesus said “A thief comes to kill and destroy – but I have come so that they may have life in all its fullness”
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Mission away
Below is the text of a talk given to the Retired Dublin and Glendalough Clergy group on the Topic of my mission experience 14th Oct 2008 - This was prepared but certainly not given word for word!
Before we begin let’s Pray
Heavenly father, I pray that as we look at the needs of your people around the world and take a glimpse into the Anglican Church is Zambia that you would speak and minister through me – In Jesus' Name Amen
Good afternoon and welcome to the College / Institute! – Dr Maurice Elliott approached me at the end of the summer and asked me would I speak today to you – I immediately said yes, since then I have wondered what I have got myself into.
I have entitled this talk – “Thoughts from a random final year ordinand” I did this because anyone of the ordinands from our year group could have spoken to you today. As you are aware at the end of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all of the world and preach the gospel … well this summer … we as a year group took that some what literally.
2 went to Canada
1 to California
1 to Paraguay
1 to Brazil
1 to Sixmilecross
1 to Omagh
2 to Dublin
1 to New Zealand
And myself to Zambia
All on official parish placements.
As I have sat down to try and put my experiences down in a some what systematic manner, to allow me to chat about them I have also become aware that they are, like any part of parish ministry quite random – Random because they do not fit into nice and tidy boxes. One particular encounter with an individual does not fit tidily into a pastoral issue or a simple meeting on a street.
And also random because they are my thoughts which are random anyway!
My Background
I am a native of Banbridge Seapatrick Parish – Through Sunday school, confirmation, youth group. In the early days of Sunday School I became extremely interested in Mission – through the Lenten projects – the idea of people away off in far flung parts of the world working for God really did appeal to me. I suppose subconsciously It was making me think – well there must be something in this Christianity thing if people were prepared to leave everything and up sticks to serve God overseas.
It was through our diocese that I was asked to go on my first mission trip – CMSI call them META – Mission Experience Teams Abroad – we headed out to Uganda – to Kiwoko hospital. It was there that I was first exposed to extreme poverty – our first few days were spent in an old church building with what can only be described as a extreme History – the horrors of the Idi Amin era
The slums around kampala – hope in complete hopelessness – We went out with locals to spread the gospel
Then north to Luweero – in the infamous Luweero triangle – the killing fields. Amazing life changing are what I would say about that trip.
It wasn’t doing anything deep and profound – what we were asked to do was to draw alongside the local mission team and help the in their schools ministry – going around secondary and primary schools with the message of the gospel.
We also were able to experience Kiwoko hospital – set up by a doctor from Ireland who went out to saw a need and felt the call to work out there full time.
A couple of years later I came back as a leader on a similar trip – knowing somehow that what I had experienced and seen
Again went out and met more of the locals who were still there 2 years later developing their schools ministry and still doing a lot of the stuff we had done earlier.
One of the crucial things I have felt throughout all of this is the idea of partnership to be extremely important. As you know – this is a profoundly biblical concept – throughout the Pauline corpus we read that he is thankful for the partnership in the gospel.
It was this idea of partners and mission partners which really attracted me to CMSI in the first place – the fact that they have people on the ground in the places which they work, people who are – for want of a better word – Inculturated into the community – working with the locals throughout their time in the field.
Last year I went out again as a leader to Zambia – with a group from all over the church of Ireland – people from cork, down and dromore, connor, Armagh Londonderry to a different part of Africa – to do different things on the back of one of the Sunday school projects and once again I was faced with new people but the same feeling that the idea of partnership was crucial in delivering the gospel message.
In Uganda the mission partners were the Quill Family – Andrew was an architect and Joanne a nurse – using their skills and passions they set up CHE programme – Community Health Empowerment which was basically Healthcare with a special emphasis upon discipleship – Spiritual and Physical lessons coming together.
In Zambia the mission partners were the Scott Family – Keith is an ordained Priest within the Church of Ireland who is lecturing at the Zambia Anglican Seminary. He also has a parish ministry in the mining township of Chambishi in the North of Zambia
By way of Introduction – Partnership is Key to all that follows. Both at a local and international level.
----
I am quite aware that I am speaking to people with many, many years of experience in ministry under your belt – I wonder if I could draw on that experience for a moment and ask– What do you think the church should be focusing on ?
----
This year I headed out to Keith and Lynn for an extended period of 2 months which were spent at the theological college in Zambia.
Student / Teacher / Parish Placement / Computer Programmer / Encouragement /
As this was over my summer holidays it was great to be able to do a little more study. Keith being a lecturer allowed me to sit in on his classes
* Justice, Peace and the Integrity of creation – Looking a development issues into the context of theological thought
* Ethics – When I landed in on this class it was on the whole area of sexual ethics and again looking at the homosexuality debate which of course was something which, this summer was at the forefront of the minds of the Anglican church
o This in itself was good to have a bit of time to think about such questions whilst outside my normal circumstances
o Sitting in a Global south country and getting information through the internet from many sources
* Homeltics – It was great to get teaching about drawing on cultural issues in the process of crafting sermons in Africa.
As a teacher – Before coming down to CITC I trained as a Computer Scientist and then as a secondary school teacher. In Zambia I was asked to do some training for the first year students as part of their “Study Skills” this involved basic work with Microsoft Word and research techniques on the internet.
At the moment the college in Zambia is about to bring in a Degree Programme which is underwritten by Canterbury University so the computer skills will have to be of a similar standard to those of our own students here in the UK or Ireland. It was a complete challenge to talk to a class who had little or no background what so ever with computer skills.
On the computer side of things – the college had invested heavily in various pieces of hardware and it was good to be able to set up various systems to help in the management of the resources – for example – printer and file sharing systems as well as a library system to help control books within their college library.
Within this side of my work I do feel I gained a lot more knowledge by doing these things than I gave and it was great by the end of the 2 months to see how much the class had actually taken on board and learnt from the whole. Being able to do reasonable complex things – some even were able to Word process their essay from scratch – so that was a feat in itself!
The parish placement side of the trip was truly humbling and generally amazing – actually getting out and meeting people, people who are living in the most basic conditions – people who are living on the less than a dollar a day – 50p / 65 Cent Which is amazing when one considers that the price of fuel in Zambia was verging on the same price as it is in Ireland.
I did come across some of those who are totally at the bottom of society – people who saw absolutely no future – people whose only escape from poverty was drinking – day and night - When one walked around the unofficial compound in Chambishi the number of Bars selling cheap beer and their equaliviant to potchine was completely heart breaking. It was in this place that I came across the first person I had met, who was dying of HIV/Aids who had absolutely no hope of survival – she was in the last throes of life. And yes I have set at bedsides of those who are dying, and yes I know the facts and figures of aids but it is completely heart breaking to know the problems in these communities.
I do get really passionate about this – what is the church doing in these circumstances – what responsibilities does the church in Zambia and the church in Ireland have to support our brothers and sisters in the world wide church. Huge Global issues.
The Parish placement saw me in various parishes all around the town of Kitwe and beyond – doing the things that an ordinand would be doing here in Ireland
Leading services, reading, preaching, visiting houses, praying with people and going to a Bible study.
This was an exhilarating amount of diversity. One of the bible studies I participated in was looking at trauma counselling – It was equipping the locals in how to talk to people who had had the most horrific stories – It was an African based DVD which looked at some of the people who had lived through genocide and other tragedies and how one should deal with it. One of the questions asked participant if they had had any experices of such.
Here I was sitting in Zambia – one of the most peaceful countries in Africa – but in that small group of people they shared some of the deepest memories of their times in various countries, recalling terror and violence. One particular person had lived through the apartheid regime in south Africa.
My immediate thing to this question of experiencing trauma was no but as the stories came out – My thinking changed – I hadn’t lived through the Idi Amin regime or apartheid but I had lived through Northern Ireland – through bombing, shootings, sectarianism at its worse and we are still sorting these things out. There is still such a lot of trauma from all around – on both sides. It was very strange to be having this conversation in Zambia.
On a lighter note, as a staunch evangelical, brought up in the United Diocese of Down and Dromore – the liturgical side of Zambia on my first trip caused me a bit of concern – being on the extreme side of the anglo-catholic tradition. But it was a strange sort of a mix the outward trappings were of white cassock albs, bells and plenty of smells however with an evangelical zeal to the preaching which as passionate and contained the range of views that we have here in ireland.
However I did make sure that there was no photographic evidence to incriminate me as a cassock alb wearing ordinand!
Turning to the challenge of the placement – Each time I have been to Africa I have been struck by the sheer polarisation between rich and poor and how they exist in sight of each other.
A mud house with thatched room on the side of the main road which carries billions of pounds worth of machines overhead runs twenty lines of power cable on mammoth pylons to a neighbouring country.
I was sitting in one of Keith’s churches in his parish – a couple of books – in a classroom which had a blackboard and a couple of hand made posters. During the service I looked outside – a couple of kids were collecting water from a well, on the road beyond a railway line barely used was the main highway – huge caterpillar machines where being driven up for the mining industry.
Which leads me on to the mines – this is the main industry in Zambia – thousands of people are employed in getting the copper out of the ground either in closed or open pit mines – The mine owners are getting richer and richer pumping money into the business of getting copper out quicker and quicker. The problem is that the profits are not going into the economy they are Chinese and Indian so the copper is being exported and then the profits too are being exported overseas. One of the huge questions which worries me is what happens as a consequence of this action – what will be left after all the copper is extracted? When the raw material dries up?
It is a crazy situation when you find literally new mountains of Slag built up over time within the areas of Zambia.
Children, The average lifespan, I presume due to Aids and other diseases is somewhere ludicrously short – 42/43 I think. So you have masses of young orphans who have to be taken in and looked after – this is causing a huge burden on the people – I met one Vicar General (between an archdeacon and a bishop) who invited me round for dinner – on my birthday – he introduced me to his own many children for whom he was responsible who were living in a 4 bedroom house.
All because their parents had died and he was the adult that was to take care of them.
On my first visit to Africa we heard horrific stories about the problems of AID’s where people thought the way to get rid of the virus was to sleep with a virgin – so girls were being infected by men.
Huge problems – few answers.
The church in Zambia is not immune to problems affecting the world wide church – Ask anyone here in Ireland what the problems affecting the church in Ireland and you will invariably end up with
Growing Consumerism
Attracting Young people
Shift Patterns of work
Attracting Clergy / people power
The church in Zambia has exactly the same problems but does not have the same resources as we have to throw at the problems
There is a need for increased people to come forward for ministry but then there is the problem of resources. There is also a need to go to the very basics. In outlying areas which have problems with water and basic communication how does one even try to come to terms with this
So with all of this is there hope …
… There has to be hope … we are Christians after all …
The church I told you about sitting in and looking out – these are the poorest of the poor. But they are a people with vision, a people who do not want to be in a school building – they want a church building they can call their own. So that group of people at the minute there are 10 or so of them now are tying to literally BUILD THEIR CHURCH from the ground up.
1 ant hill + 10 people and a heap of grass they have started each Wednesday to make block – the blocks are made from an ant Hill – It is the whole idea of empowerment – the natural resources are there – the knowelege is there within the community all it takes is a little bit of leadership in terms of the church and encouragement and they will succeed.
In Keith’s JPIC class a true story was told of an organisation coming in an setting up a community school, they funded the teachers and the building – this was all going great until the organisation looked at it budgets and priorities – the priorities changed and the funding was withdrawn the school lasted about three months – the teachers stayed on as volunteers but the problem was that the children no longer were happy – they stayed at home.
There was a few issues with this idea of development: It was a community school but the community had no ownership of the project. It was a top down approach – you need a school – we will give you a school.
One wonders if an empowerment model might have worked. One where the local people met together and said – we need a school and how do we get one?
They may have put into place something for the parents (many of whom were illiterate)
There needs to be an income generation source – maybe a community garden where vegetables could be grown both for food for the Childrens’ dinner and to sell to buy resources for the school and to pay the salaries of the teachers
The parents could be educated along with the children.
Thinking outside of the box may have allowed that community to lift themselves out of the poverty trap.
The idea of empowerment may have been an important consideration. This case, for me is another way of thinking about what the role of community leadership is all about in Africa – it is not all about asking for handouts but teaching how to do things for themselves. The training of church leaders in these things as community leaders is so appropriate and so essential.
One of the things which I am concentrating on this year as part of my dissertation is mission and how the church of Ireland responds to mission both at home and abroad. Using my experiences overseas as well as mission teams at home and asking fundalmental questions as to our understanding of what we are doing as a church when it comes to engaging with God’s mission in the world.
How what we do on a Sunday morning is helping to fulfil the Missio Dei – the mission of God in the world around.
Looking at concluding – this year I am hoping to do a piece of research enlisting the help up CMSI, Church Army, USPG and various other people including clergy and the synod’s council for mission looking at precisely what I got you all to do – what are our priorities as a church and also asking difficult questions as to the role of the church of Ireland in world mission – looking at my experiences in the light of mission questions.
Are we simply sending young people off overseas for a holiday or is there something more going on – what is partnership anyway? Those are the sort of question I want to be asking. .
Any questions??
Before we begin let’s Pray
Heavenly father, I pray that as we look at the needs of your people around the world and take a glimpse into the Anglican Church is Zambia that you would speak and minister through me – In Jesus' Name Amen
Good afternoon and welcome to the College / Institute! – Dr Maurice Elliott approached me at the end of the summer and asked me would I speak today to you – I immediately said yes, since then I have wondered what I have got myself into.
I have entitled this talk – “Thoughts from a random final year ordinand” I did this because anyone of the ordinands from our year group could have spoken to you today. As you are aware at the end of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all of the world and preach the gospel … well this summer … we as a year group took that some what literally.
2 went to Canada
1 to California
1 to Paraguay
1 to Brazil
1 to Sixmilecross
1 to Omagh
2 to Dublin
1 to New Zealand
And myself to Zambia
All on official parish placements.
As I have sat down to try and put my experiences down in a some what systematic manner, to allow me to chat about them I have also become aware that they are, like any part of parish ministry quite random – Random because they do not fit into nice and tidy boxes. One particular encounter with an individual does not fit tidily into a pastoral issue or a simple meeting on a street.
And also random because they are my thoughts which are random anyway!
My Background
I am a native of Banbridge Seapatrick Parish – Through Sunday school, confirmation, youth group. In the early days of Sunday School I became extremely interested in Mission – through the Lenten projects – the idea of people away off in far flung parts of the world working for God really did appeal to me. I suppose subconsciously It was making me think – well there must be something in this Christianity thing if people were prepared to leave everything and up sticks to serve God overseas.
It was through our diocese that I was asked to go on my first mission trip – CMSI call them META – Mission Experience Teams Abroad – we headed out to Uganda – to Kiwoko hospital. It was there that I was first exposed to extreme poverty – our first few days were spent in an old church building with what can only be described as a extreme History – the horrors of the Idi Amin era
The slums around kampala – hope in complete hopelessness – We went out with locals to spread the gospel
Then north to Luweero – in the infamous Luweero triangle – the killing fields. Amazing life changing are what I would say about that trip.
It wasn’t doing anything deep and profound – what we were asked to do was to draw alongside the local mission team and help the in their schools ministry – going around secondary and primary schools with the message of the gospel.
We also were able to experience Kiwoko hospital – set up by a doctor from Ireland who went out to saw a need and felt the call to work out there full time.
A couple of years later I came back as a leader on a similar trip – knowing somehow that what I had experienced and seen
Again went out and met more of the locals who were still there 2 years later developing their schools ministry and still doing a lot of the stuff we had done earlier.
One of the crucial things I have felt throughout all of this is the idea of partnership to be extremely important. As you know – this is a profoundly biblical concept – throughout the Pauline corpus we read that he is thankful for the partnership in the gospel.
It was this idea of partners and mission partners which really attracted me to CMSI in the first place – the fact that they have people on the ground in the places which they work, people who are – for want of a better word – Inculturated into the community – working with the locals throughout their time in the field.
Last year I went out again as a leader to Zambia – with a group from all over the church of Ireland – people from cork, down and dromore, connor, Armagh Londonderry to a different part of Africa – to do different things on the back of one of the Sunday school projects and once again I was faced with new people but the same feeling that the idea of partnership was crucial in delivering the gospel message.
In Uganda the mission partners were the Quill Family – Andrew was an architect and Joanne a nurse – using their skills and passions they set up CHE programme – Community Health Empowerment which was basically Healthcare with a special emphasis upon discipleship – Spiritual and Physical lessons coming together.
In Zambia the mission partners were the Scott Family – Keith is an ordained Priest within the Church of Ireland who is lecturing at the Zambia Anglican Seminary. He also has a parish ministry in the mining township of Chambishi in the North of Zambia
By way of Introduction – Partnership is Key to all that follows. Both at a local and international level.
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I am quite aware that I am speaking to people with many, many years of experience in ministry under your belt – I wonder if I could draw on that experience for a moment and ask– What do you think the church should be focusing on ?
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This year I headed out to Keith and Lynn for an extended period of 2 months which were spent at the theological college in Zambia.
Student / Teacher / Parish Placement / Computer Programmer / Encouragement /
As this was over my summer holidays it was great to be able to do a little more study. Keith being a lecturer allowed me to sit in on his classes
* Justice, Peace and the Integrity of creation – Looking a development issues into the context of theological thought
* Ethics – When I landed in on this class it was on the whole area of sexual ethics and again looking at the homosexuality debate which of course was something which, this summer was at the forefront of the minds of the Anglican church
o This in itself was good to have a bit of time to think about such questions whilst outside my normal circumstances
o Sitting in a Global south country and getting information through the internet from many sources
* Homeltics – It was great to get teaching about drawing on cultural issues in the process of crafting sermons in Africa.
As a teacher – Before coming down to CITC I trained as a Computer Scientist and then as a secondary school teacher. In Zambia I was asked to do some training for the first year students as part of their “Study Skills” this involved basic work with Microsoft Word and research techniques on the internet.
At the moment the college in Zambia is about to bring in a Degree Programme which is underwritten by Canterbury University so the computer skills will have to be of a similar standard to those of our own students here in the UK or Ireland. It was a complete challenge to talk to a class who had little or no background what so ever with computer skills.
On the computer side of things – the college had invested heavily in various pieces of hardware and it was good to be able to set up various systems to help in the management of the resources – for example – printer and file sharing systems as well as a library system to help control books within their college library.
Within this side of my work I do feel I gained a lot more knowledge by doing these things than I gave and it was great by the end of the 2 months to see how much the class had actually taken on board and learnt from the whole. Being able to do reasonable complex things – some even were able to Word process their essay from scratch – so that was a feat in itself!
The parish placement side of the trip was truly humbling and generally amazing – actually getting out and meeting people, people who are living in the most basic conditions – people who are living on the less than a dollar a day – 50p / 65 Cent Which is amazing when one considers that the price of fuel in Zambia was verging on the same price as it is in Ireland.
I did come across some of those who are totally at the bottom of society – people who saw absolutely no future – people whose only escape from poverty was drinking – day and night - When one walked around the unofficial compound in Chambishi the number of Bars selling cheap beer and their equaliviant to potchine was completely heart breaking. It was in this place that I came across the first person I had met, who was dying of HIV/Aids who had absolutely no hope of survival – she was in the last throes of life. And yes I have set at bedsides of those who are dying, and yes I know the facts and figures of aids but it is completely heart breaking to know the problems in these communities.
I do get really passionate about this – what is the church doing in these circumstances – what responsibilities does the church in Zambia and the church in Ireland have to support our brothers and sisters in the world wide church. Huge Global issues.
The Parish placement saw me in various parishes all around the town of Kitwe and beyond – doing the things that an ordinand would be doing here in Ireland
Leading services, reading, preaching, visiting houses, praying with people and going to a Bible study.
This was an exhilarating amount of diversity. One of the bible studies I participated in was looking at trauma counselling – It was equipping the locals in how to talk to people who had had the most horrific stories – It was an African based DVD which looked at some of the people who had lived through genocide and other tragedies and how one should deal with it. One of the questions asked participant if they had had any experices of such.
Here I was sitting in Zambia – one of the most peaceful countries in Africa – but in that small group of people they shared some of the deepest memories of their times in various countries, recalling terror and violence. One particular person had lived through the apartheid regime in south Africa.
My immediate thing to this question of experiencing trauma was no but as the stories came out – My thinking changed – I hadn’t lived through the Idi Amin regime or apartheid but I had lived through Northern Ireland – through bombing, shootings, sectarianism at its worse and we are still sorting these things out. There is still such a lot of trauma from all around – on both sides. It was very strange to be having this conversation in Zambia.
On a lighter note, as a staunch evangelical, brought up in the United Diocese of Down and Dromore – the liturgical side of Zambia on my first trip caused me a bit of concern – being on the extreme side of the anglo-catholic tradition. But it was a strange sort of a mix the outward trappings were of white cassock albs, bells and plenty of smells however with an evangelical zeal to the preaching which as passionate and contained the range of views that we have here in ireland.
However I did make sure that there was no photographic evidence to incriminate me as a cassock alb wearing ordinand!
Turning to the challenge of the placement – Each time I have been to Africa I have been struck by the sheer polarisation between rich and poor and how they exist in sight of each other.
A mud house with thatched room on the side of the main road which carries billions of pounds worth of machines overhead runs twenty lines of power cable on mammoth pylons to a neighbouring country.
I was sitting in one of Keith’s churches in his parish – a couple of books – in a classroom which had a blackboard and a couple of hand made posters. During the service I looked outside – a couple of kids were collecting water from a well, on the road beyond a railway line barely used was the main highway – huge caterpillar machines where being driven up for the mining industry.
Which leads me on to the mines – this is the main industry in Zambia – thousands of people are employed in getting the copper out of the ground either in closed or open pit mines – The mine owners are getting richer and richer pumping money into the business of getting copper out quicker and quicker. The problem is that the profits are not going into the economy they are Chinese and Indian so the copper is being exported and then the profits too are being exported overseas. One of the huge questions which worries me is what happens as a consequence of this action – what will be left after all the copper is extracted? When the raw material dries up?
It is a crazy situation when you find literally new mountains of Slag built up over time within the areas of Zambia.
Children, The average lifespan, I presume due to Aids and other diseases is somewhere ludicrously short – 42/43 I think. So you have masses of young orphans who have to be taken in and looked after – this is causing a huge burden on the people – I met one Vicar General (between an archdeacon and a bishop) who invited me round for dinner – on my birthday – he introduced me to his own many children for whom he was responsible who were living in a 4 bedroom house.
All because their parents had died and he was the adult that was to take care of them.
On my first visit to Africa we heard horrific stories about the problems of AID’s where people thought the way to get rid of the virus was to sleep with a virgin – so girls were being infected by men.
Huge problems – few answers.
The church in Zambia is not immune to problems affecting the world wide church – Ask anyone here in Ireland what the problems affecting the church in Ireland and you will invariably end up with
Growing Consumerism
Attracting Young people
Shift Patterns of work
Attracting Clergy / people power
The church in Zambia has exactly the same problems but does not have the same resources as we have to throw at the problems
There is a need for increased people to come forward for ministry but then there is the problem of resources. There is also a need to go to the very basics. In outlying areas which have problems with water and basic communication how does one even try to come to terms with this
So with all of this is there hope …
… There has to be hope … we are Christians after all …
The church I told you about sitting in and looking out – these are the poorest of the poor. But they are a people with vision, a people who do not want to be in a school building – they want a church building they can call their own. So that group of people at the minute there are 10 or so of them now are tying to literally BUILD THEIR CHURCH from the ground up.
1 ant hill + 10 people and a heap of grass they have started each Wednesday to make block – the blocks are made from an ant Hill – It is the whole idea of empowerment – the natural resources are there – the knowelege is there within the community all it takes is a little bit of leadership in terms of the church and encouragement and they will succeed.
In Keith’s JPIC class a true story was told of an organisation coming in an setting up a community school, they funded the teachers and the building – this was all going great until the organisation looked at it budgets and priorities – the priorities changed and the funding was withdrawn the school lasted about three months – the teachers stayed on as volunteers but the problem was that the children no longer were happy – they stayed at home.
There was a few issues with this idea of development: It was a community school but the community had no ownership of the project. It was a top down approach – you need a school – we will give you a school.
One wonders if an empowerment model might have worked. One where the local people met together and said – we need a school and how do we get one?
They may have put into place something for the parents (many of whom were illiterate)
There needs to be an income generation source – maybe a community garden where vegetables could be grown both for food for the Childrens’ dinner and to sell to buy resources for the school and to pay the salaries of the teachers
The parents could be educated along with the children.
Thinking outside of the box may have allowed that community to lift themselves out of the poverty trap.
The idea of empowerment may have been an important consideration. This case, for me is another way of thinking about what the role of community leadership is all about in Africa – it is not all about asking for handouts but teaching how to do things for themselves. The training of church leaders in these things as community leaders is so appropriate and so essential.
One of the things which I am concentrating on this year as part of my dissertation is mission and how the church of Ireland responds to mission both at home and abroad. Using my experiences overseas as well as mission teams at home and asking fundalmental questions as to our understanding of what we are doing as a church when it comes to engaging with God’s mission in the world.
How what we do on a Sunday morning is helping to fulfil the Missio Dei – the mission of God in the world around.
Looking at concluding – this year I am hoping to do a piece of research enlisting the help up CMSI, Church Army, USPG and various other people including clergy and the synod’s council for mission looking at precisely what I got you all to do – what are our priorities as a church and also asking difficult questions as to the role of the church of Ireland in world mission – looking at my experiences in the light of mission questions.
Are we simply sending young people off overseas for a holiday or is there something more going on – what is partnership anyway? Those are the sort of question I want to be asking. .
Any questions??
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Ease of Blog & an update Blog - Week 1 of Final Year
Well, well ... there should now not be any excuse for not blogging as I have found a google gadget which allows me to post directly from my google home page.
Term has started back in earnest... I have started in St. Bartholomew's (St. Barts) in Stranmillis under the guidance of Rev. Ron and Rev. Janice Elsdon on my final year placement.
Classes have started back and are as busy as ever
Ethics, NT, OT, History, spirituality, Ecclesiology, Exegesis are on this semester's Timetable.
This week was/is extremely busy
Mon apart from 5 hrs of class was house meeting and Late Praise which I was sorting out
This evening was College Fellowship - It was nice to be back being not responsible for it! - Pete and Simon have a really good programme of speakers this year again.
Tomorrow is comminity meal as well as preping a talk for next week - my first presentation of Zambia .
Thursday is up home and Friday is back down to dublin.
Term has started back in earnest... I have started in St. Bartholomew's (St. Barts) in Stranmillis under the guidance of Rev. Ron and Rev. Janice Elsdon on my final year placement.
Classes have started back and are as busy as ever
Ethics, NT, OT, History, spirituality, Ecclesiology, Exegesis are on this semester's Timetable.
This week was/is extremely busy
Mon apart from 5 hrs of class was house meeting and Late Praise which I was sorting out
This evening was College Fellowship - It was nice to be back being not responsible for it! - Pete and Simon have a really good programme of speakers this year again.
Tomorrow is comminity meal as well as preping a talk for next week - my first presentation of Zambia .
Thursday is up home and Friday is back down to dublin.
Friday, September 05, 2008
On a wet and cold september morn ...
Well its quite scary to be back at Braemor Park, sitting up in the common room with nobody else here - the wind beating against the windows, the rain beating down and the grey and dull skies of what looks like a winter's stormy day.
I really couldn't be much further away from the Anglican Seminary in Kitwe, The Victoria falls or the officer's mess in Benson or .... what else did I do this summer???
I do promise that on here will appear shortly some reports etc of the summer - but just to say at the moment I am doing the great clear out of room three in preparation of its final year of occupancy by this ordinand.
I really couldn't be much further away from the Anglican Seminary in Kitwe, The Victoria falls or the officer's mess in Benson or .... what else did I do this summer???
I do promise that on here will appear shortly some reports etc of the summer - but just to say at the moment I am doing the great clear out of room three in preparation of its final year of occupancy by this ordinand.
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