Giving Gifts to Strangers

21/11/2011 by idavidsonblog.

 

Giving a gift to stranger seems to be a strange thing to do, at least when you first think about it.  Yet, for Christians, should that be the case.  After all, the magi, also known as ‘the wise men’, however many there were of them, presented their gifts to someone they had never met before.  As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another; as we celebrate Christmas, I’m glad to say that the three congregations in this pastorate make specific efforts to give Christmas gifts to strangers.

 

All three congregations hold ‘gift and toy services’.  At the beginning or during worship those present bring forward gifts that go to groups and organisations that can use or will especially value receiving a gift this Christmas.  At Brentwood URC gifts go to an organisation called Community Links, which is an east London charity working with 30,000 people each year.  They run youth clubs and children’s activities, including working with children who have been excluded from mainstream education.  They also provide advice for those with benefits, housing and debt problems.

 

At Billericay URC two organisations benefit from the gift and toy service.  HARP (Homeless Action Resource Project) is a charity combining the services of the former Southend Centre for the Homeless and Southend Night Shelter for the Homeless.  Its main objectives are to provide homeless people with help and advice in securing accommodation, and to alleviate homelessness through the provision of short-term emergency accommodation.  Other gifts collected at Billericay Mountnessing Court is an NHS residential care unit in Billericay, caring for a range of people.  Members of the Billericay congregation visit during the year to lead worship for Easter, Harvest and Christmas.

 

At Ingatestone URC gifts go to Chelmsford Women’s Aid’s, an organisation whose aim is to support women and children who are experiencing or have experienced domestic violence, encouraging them to develop skills, gain confidence and enable them to exercise their own power and to use all available opportunities and choices to successfully move on in their lives.

 

Recently I was leading one of the Thursday morning prayer meeting at Ingatestone URC (starts at 9:15am in the West Room, concludes prior to 10:00am – all welcome to come along if available!).  The passage we were looking at was Matthew 25: 31-46, the passage that envisions the ‘Son of Man’ dividing the peoples up like flocks of sheep and goats, the former receiving God’s blessing, the latter consigned to ‘eternal punishment’.  What we concentrated upon, however, was the basis on which the division was made, not on this occasion because of belief or lack of it but because of how they had treated others.  The others include hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the stranger; the ones who are facing difficulty in life.

I’m not commending bringing a gift for a stranger to a toy and gift service as a form of eternal-life insurance, a means of qualifying you for membership of the blessed ‘sheep’ rather than the rejected ‘goats’.  Nor am I suggesting our congregations can polish their collective halo to an even greater brightness just because we make some small gifts on one Sunday of the year.  Still, it seems to me that when we do this sort of thing we are taking a step along the right path and it is an example of how God wants his people to live at Christmas and for the rest of the year as well.

 

“The king will answer,

‘Truly I tell you: just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

 

(Matthew 25: 40)

 

Trevor

 

If you wish to find out more or even offer support to any of the voluntary organisations mentioned above…

 

Community Links                    www.community-links.org/

 

HARP                                      www.harpsouthend.co.uk/

 

Chelmsford Women’s Aid       www.chelmsfordwa.co.uk/

 

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Remember, Remember…

26/10/2011 by idavidsonblog.

 

“Remember, remember the 5^th of November”: I must admit I am pretty hazy about how the rest of the line goes.  I suppose that is because I did not grow up in England and therefore did not have the annual experience of remembering Guy Fawkes (we just happily celebrated Halloween, but that’s another story).

 

November is certainly a month for remembering things and our memories are essential to who we are, both individually and as a people.

 

What are your earliest memories?  Many of mine are to do with Church, school and family.  I can remember one of my early, pre-school-age, birthday parties where I had to sit separately from the guests because I had contracted measles.  I can recall Father Christmas arriving at for school and Sunday school Christmas parties – what a busy man.

 

Unsurprisingly, faith, education and family are important to me as an adult, for these are the things I remember so many years later and these in turn are memories that contribute to the sort of person that I am these days.

We all have personal memories that we hang unto or which for some reason persist with us through the years.  November, however, is month not just for personal memories but a month for ‘instructed’ memories.  These are the ‘memories’ for which we have no personal recollection and indeed for which we could not have any recollection.  They are memories of events from times before we were even born but which our family, our community, our Church, our society believe are important or even essential to our development and identity.

 

So, a government and a nation, determined to remain Protestant, and fearful of Catholicism, replayed with the aid of fireworks and bonfires, the failure of a conspiracy to blow up parliament and the subsequent execution of those deemed to be traitors.  Nowadays, in happier political and religious times (at least amongst previously warring Christian factions) fewer and fewer ‘guys’ are placed on the bonfire and people just enjoy the spectacle of the fireworks, possibly as part of a charitable fund raising event rather than as a thanksgiving for the safety of ever-popular parliamentarians.

 

In Churches, November, like other months is a month of instructed memories.  We continue to remember Jesus, by gathering to hear the stories of his birth, life, death and resurrection.  We also remember Jesus and his significance for us, by acting out the meal he shared with disciples just prior to his arrest and death and pondering its significance for us all.  When we get to December many of us will be remembering the birth of Jesus, his incarnation, not only through familiar readings and special songs but also through acting it out in nativity plays.  As far as remembering and November goes, however, the great act of remembrance, whilst it involves Churches, goes more widely than that.

Though for many people in our society remembrance of war involves strong personal memories for the majority of people this just can’t be the case.  Either we are too young to remember the two World Wars which affected everyone in the country at the time or we are not part of the smaller segment of the nation involved in current conflicts, such as the one in Afghanistan.  For most of us, instructed memory is the only type available.  So, we are encouraged into memorial actions, buying a poppy to display on our clothing (some also choosing to remember civilian deaths and the call to peace making through wearing a white poppy).  There will be parades, special religious services, television programmes and moments of shared silence; all opportunities for ‘instruction’ in the content and importance of the things we remember together.

 

I hope that this month is a time of positive memories for you, even if some of these are sad ones.  I hope this is true whether such memories are personal or ‘instructed’, individual or shared.  It is important to remember.

 

Trevor

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Growing Up

25/09/2011 by idavidsonblog.

“We will be a growing Church with an increasing membership.”

 

This was the topic of conversation for a self-selecting group of URC Ministers in which I participated recently.  Led by the United Reformed Church’s Secretary for Mission, Ministers  were confronted with ten headings about the shape of our denomination in a decade’s time; part of the initiative that goes by the name, Vision2020.*

 

Given a free choice, we divided into five groups, each tackling one of headings and I went for ‘Church growth’.  I wonder which you would have chosen as the topic you most wanted to discuss concerning the life of our Church.  Perhaps it might even be one of the five that in this group of Ministers did not even get a vote this time around!

 

In the group we shared stories of growth in Church membership numbers as we had experienced them.  We all agreed that getting the URC to increase membership numbers is a BIG challenge, even if we are talking only about numbers of participants rather than those who officially ‘come into membership’.

 

As a denomination we have been gaining members over the past forty years but we have been losing even more at the same time: you have to run even just to keep up.  Also, with increasing geographical mobility, bringing wider commitments and options, the patterns of attendance and participation in Church life is less consistent.  Worship leaders, for example, face a congregation this Sunday that differs in composition from last week.  Junior Church leaders in many Churches do not know whether they will be working with ten, one or no children as Sunday approaches.

 

This is not a criticism of those with work, family and other significant commitments or health concerns that prevent them from always turning up for a regular Church activity, though if you are in a position to nurture your faith and encourage others by adding your presence to the congregation I encourage you to do so.  Nor am I suggesting that belonging to a Church is only about turning up on Sundays, though if a group does not have worship as part of its life I would argue that whatever else it might be and even though it might be a good thing, it is not a Church.

 

What was clear from the conversation that I had was that if we convince ourselves that our Church will not grow numerically then this will function as a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Most people who come into the life of a Church do so through a personal invitation that they have received from someone that they know.  Lack of confidence prevents us from issuing such invitations, even when recent surveys of the British public reveal a large number of people (possibly as many as three million) who are simply waiting to receive a suitable invitation.

 

All three congregations in this pastorate have aspects to and activities in their life that I am confident would appeal to “outsiders” when we pluck up the courage to ask them along.  Don’t worry, if we crack that one, then there are always nine other mission headings to spend some time on after that!

 

Trevor

 

*The ten headings are: 1. Spirituality and prayer, 2. Identity, 3. Christian ecumenical partnership, 4. Community partnerships, 5. Hospitality and diversity, 6. Evangelism, 7. Church growth, 8. Global partnerships, 9. Justice and peace, 10. The integrity of creation

 

(Given the choice, this group of Ministers from URC Eastern Synod chose to explore headings 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

 

Further information at: http://www.urc.org.uk/what_we_do/mission/vision2020

 

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It was Jeremy that did it

23/06/2011 by idavidsonblog.

I’ve just being reading about Jeremy in the Bible.  This was a surprise to me as I had forgotten that he was in there.  I knew that I had read the New Testament verse where he appeared several times before but still he had slipped my mind.  Not only that, I was reading the Bible aloud in public when Jeremy popped up again.  Jeremy, we were reminded, was an Old Testament prophet whose words get quoted in a prominent position in the New Testament.  In theory, many of us who have read Matthew’s Gospel ought to remember Jeremy: “Thus was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet …”

 

I was reading from the King James Version of the Bible, the translation whose four hundredth anniversary of publication we celebrate this year.  I was starting off a public reading of the KJV translation of the Gospels, taking place in Ingatestone Parish Church.  This public reading is only one of many readings of the KJV that have taken place or are due to take place around the country during 2011.  There has already been one at St Thomas’s Church in Brentwood and there is one planned for later in the year by Churches Together in Billericay.

 

Heroically (or foolishly) I had volunteered to be the first to read, meaning that I had to negotiate the family tree of Jesus, with its host of tongue-twisting names, before moving on to the story of his birth, the visit of the Magi (wise men) and King Herod’s massacre of children in an attempt to kill off what he took to be a rival for his crown.  It is in commenting upon this awful act that Matthew writes, “Thus was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet … [‘Jeremiah’, in the translations we use in Church these days] … In Rama there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping and great mourning.  Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Matthew 2: 17, 18 – KJV)

 

I don’t think I have ever experienced this reading or the hearing of these words with such force before.  I have never felt so deeply concerning either the bereaved mothers of Rama, of Bethlehem in New Testament times, or for their contemporary equivalents.  I think it was ‘Jeremy’ that did this to me.  Previously, familiarity with the text had dulled my sensitivities but the variation in the name caught my attention, just in time to receive the message about Rachel and the desolate women.  Since the motivation for the King James Version was that the people would hear the scriptures with a new clarity I think the translators would be quietly satisfied to know that their work can still have such an impact four hundred years later.

 

I do hope we all get opportunities to hear the Bible, not only in the ‘usual ways’ but also in new ways, new settings, new translations, or though different means of presentation; that we too really get to hear or hear anew the message God speaks to us today.

 

Trevor

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Resurrection, Then and Now by Revd. Trevor Jamison

29/04/2011 by idavidsonblog.

Resurrection, Then and Now

 

Meeting with others to plan a one day event at Brentwood URC, New Life, New Hope: Stories of Jesus, Risen from the Dead, I was struck by how many stories we have from His followers reflecting their conviction that despite being crucified and killed Jesus was now alive.  Some disciples discovered an empty tomb and one then met Him in the cemetery garden.  Two disciples met Him on a journey to the village of Emmaus and rushed back to tell the others in Jerusalem only to be informed that He had appeared to Simon Peter (I hope they weren’t too disappointed to find that their big news was not news to the others).  Then we are told of Jesus meeting disciples in a locked room, something that Thomas found hard to believe until he too met the risen Jesus and declared his faith in Him.

 

That’s only what we hear in the Gospels (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20).  The Apostle Paul, writing a letter to the Church in Corinth, decades before the Gospels were written, mentions the appearances to Simon Peter and to the Twelve (presumably minus Judas Iscariot) and also one to James, the brother of Jesus.  He includes mention of an appearance to five hundred disciples, commenting that many of them are still alive to confirm the experience and last, but by no means least, speaks of his own spectacular encounter with the risen Jesus whilst on the road to Damascus (1 Corinthians: 15).  For those with faith to see and for those seeking evidence to lead them to faith there is plenty of information available to say that Jesus, who was dead on Good Friday, was very much alive on Easter Day.

 

The other thing I noticed was that Jesus’ resurrection was not just some astounding but isolated event; it affected people.  Firstly, the resurrection removed fear.  Disciples who had been in hiding following Jesus’ death now felt able to come out into the open and talk to others about what God had done for them through Jesus.  For Churches living in difficult times it is good to know not only that the most frequent command in the Bible is “do not be afraid” but that even death, whether for individuals or Churches, is not the final word as far as God is concerned.

 

Secondly, the resurrection experience changed people’s outlook and lifestyle.  Paul is the most quoted example here.  He began as one totally opposed to the new Christian movement, even persecuting it where it appeared within Judaism.  He changed totally as a result of his resurrection experience, becoming one of Christianity’s foremost advocates, not only to Jews but also to Gentiles.  What was true for Paul and others as individuals also worked its way out in their shared life: the Church.  Those who met to hear the apostles teach, share the common life, to break bread and to pray (Acts 2: 42) did so, sharing the conviction that Jesus had been raised to life.

 

For me, history matters, as a record of the past and as interpretation of its significance.  It matters that God raised Jesus from the dead and that this then changed things for His followers.  This history only becomes significant, however, when we let it affect our lives in the here and now.  Today, we need not be afraid of what the future holds.  Today, we are called to organise our lives in response to Jesus.  Today, we are called to do so in company with others, in Churches that celebrate Jesus, both crucified and raised from the dead.

 

Trevor

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God of the Tsunami? By Revd. Trevor Jamison

25/03/2011 by idavidsonblog.

God of the Tsunami? He utters His word, and the ice is melted;He makes the wind blow and the water flows again. 

Psalm 147: 18 So, is that all the explanation we need for the wave that has devastated a large area of northeast Japan?  God, creator of the world sent the wave?  Whether we are Christians or not, religious believers or not, many of us want explanations for why things happen.  Scientific explanations about shifting tectonic plates in an earthquake-prone area of the world provide valuable explanations about ‘how’ such things occur but lurking in the background is that human desire to ask not only about the ‘how’ but the ‘why’ of such an occurrence. 

Questions about ‘how’ and ‘why’ are luxuries we can afford since we are not the ones in the midst of this desolation.  Did you see and do you remember the Japanese woman, standing in the midst of the wreckage, unable to recognise her home town because all of the landmarks had been swept away by the great wave?  For her, I suppose, just trying to frame an answer to the ‘what’ precedes any about how or why this has happened.Christians (and others) want to know what role God plays in a situation like this, to say nothing of previous events in Haiti and New Zealand.  Some of the explanations that are offered we can reject.  God is not going about the world doling out punishment for sin in the form of earthquakes or other disasters.  In John’s Gospel we are reminded that God loves the world and that “it was not to judge the world that God sent his Son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved.” (3: 16-17) Other explanations contain a grain of truth.  Perhaps sometimes God does send or permit suffering because it helps us to grow.  Personal experience confirms what Saint Paul declares: “suffering is a source of endurance” (Romans 5: 3) and we sometimes emerge the stronger for a time of suffering.  On the other hand disproportionate suffering simply destroys the person.  Likewise, there is a grain of truth in the thought that suffering produces good, in that when we encounter the suffering of others we are moved to do good.  Christians (and others) are moved to respond with generosity when confronted with the sufferings of others, whether with their time, their expertise of their money.  But should I believe that God permits or causes others to suffer simply in order to make me a better person; that children should face the possibility of radiation poisoning to encourage me to increase my charitable giving?  I don’t think so. 

Despite the human desire for explanation (which I share) we are simply not able to give a totally convincing one for why such suffering occurs.  For Christians this should not come as a total surprise.  After all, we know that our understanding of this world and of God’s nature is partial (1 Corinthians 13: 12) and that total understanding will have to wait.  In other words we need to be humble, which is not a bad place for Christians to begin.  What we can (humbly) offer is hope, grounded in the faith that God loves the world, enough to come and live here, enough to put things right in the end.  Hope, faith and love (1 Corinthians 13: 13) may not constitute an explanation for suffering but, lived out in practical ways, they do constitute a Christian response. Trevor

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It’s never to late for Lent by Revd. Trevor Jamison

26/02/2011 by idavidsonblog.

Lent is late this year.  Lent is late because Easter is late.  Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring Equinox, 21^st March, unless that full moon fell on a Sunday, in which case Easter would be the following Sunday (yes, I had to look that up in order to be sure I got it right).  This means that the date of Easter varies and this year it does not arrive until 24^th April.  Since Lent is a fixed period that precedes Easter then the starting date for Lent this year is 9^th March, Ash Wednesday. 

So, after the pancakes have been eaten up on Shrove Tuesday – celebrated in some places as Mardi gras – what do we intend to do for Lent this year?  Of course there are the traditional opportunities to give something up for Lent.  Once again I’m giving up alcohol for Lent, a reassurance and reminder that I don’t depend on alcohol in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.  Given that yet more statistics about the impact on alcohol misuse in this country have recently been published – an article in the Lancet informs us that an additional quarter of a million people could die from alcohol abuse over the next twenty years unless tougher restrictions on alcohol are introduced* – the lesson of alcohol restraint or abstinence is one for the nation, not just for individuals (for those in the two congregations in the pastorate that use wine, not grape juice, in Holy Communion, you might like to know that Sundays in Lent are regarded as “mini-Easters”, not part of Lent itself). 

As well as giving things up for Lent there is the tradition of doing something positive to mark the season.  Often, in Church settings, this includes taking time to learn together, since Lent is understood as a period of reflection and preparation for the events of Holy Week and Easter; remembering Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.  All three Churches in our pastorate are “doing something for Lent” this year. 

In Ingatestone, along with the local Anglican, Elim Pentecostal and Roman Catholic Churches, we meet to follow the York Course material.  We gather and listen to a conversation via CD between eminent Christians, this year looking at Jesus’ “legacy of love”; what He left behind Him, such as an empty tomb, a band of followers and a meal to be shared. 

Over in Brentwood, in company with the local Methodist Church, we are taking part in The Big Read, a national initiative, following on a highly successful event in the northeast last year, reading our way through Matthew’s Gospel and meeting weekly to discuss what strikes us about the story. 

Finally in Billericay, we are continuing with the Emmaus Course, now meeting in small groups to explore “How Christians Grow” – by learning to pray, reading the Bible, belonging to the Church and sharing Holy Communion. 

If you are able, I encourage you take part in these initiatives, both gaining from the insights of others and encouraging others by your presence and contribution.  If you secretly hanker to do what one of the other Churches in the pastorate is doing for Lent this year I’m sure that a temporary transfer is not out of the question! 

Whatever you do this Lent, whether in terms of stepping back from something or taking on something new, whether done in a group setting or as an individual, I wish you well for this part of the journey towards Easter. 

Trevor 

*           BBC News, 21^st February 2011            http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12523639 

 

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Daydream Believer by Trevor Jamison

23/01/2011 by idavidsonblog.

Daydream Believer 

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” Martin Luther King Jr, 28^th August 1963 

Dreams have been on my mind lately.  What are they?  How do they happen?  What should they lead to?  I’m writing this letter a few days after the birthday of the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. which is celebrated as an annual holiday in the USA, but there are also other reasons why dreams are on my mind.  Dreams feature in the stories that many of us were reading or listening to not all that long ago even though it may seem an age since we were celebrating Christmas.  In Billericay United Reformed Church’s snow-delayed nativity play that took place in January, dreams were shown as messages whispered by an angel directly into the ears of a sleeping Joseph or snoozing Magi.  Intriguingly, the play also portrayed the same angel as murmuring in the ear of Pilate’s wife in a vain, misguided attempt to spare Jesus the agony of the cross.  Are dreams really like that?  Are they externally generated messages from God, spoken direct by the Almighty or delivered on his behalf by an angelic messenger?  I’m quite prepared to believe that on occasion that is how things work but my personal experience and my observation of other situations is that this is not how dreams mostly happen. Rather than messages delivered from outside into the empty mind of the recipient dreams mostly seem to be the products of life experiences and prospects being contemplated and pondered by the person; experiences and our personality, which to some extent at least, are God-given.  Perhaps we can’t put into words what we think or feel about a situation but our daydreams and sleep time dreams give us clues about what we are thinking and where we may be going.  Martin Luther King’s dream contains a succession of images of how things will be when a nation works out the implications of the principles that brought it into being and to which it aspires.  Are these the sort of dreams we have as individuals and as a Church?Not all dreams or daydreams are good ones.  Sometimes they express our failures, shortcoming and self-centredness.  The author, Gerard Hughes, in his book, God of Surprises provides a ‘rule of thumb’ or initial indicator for judging the quality of our daydreams: “Ask yourself the question, ‘How do I feel at the end of them?  Bored and empty, or hopeful and encouraged?’” 

I think these are very good questions for Churches to ask about all sorts of aspects of the dreams of their communal life.  That’s true, for example, of our daydreams concerning evangelism, when there is a danger we may dream more of increased numbers bringing us a sense of security rather than as evidence of a good-news message shared and accepted.  Another ‘rule of thumb’ I think, goes something like this: “If I take my daydream seriously does it lead me to take actions that benefit others (as well as me)?” Joseph’s dreams led him to marry Mary and to protect the infant Jesus; the Magi’s dreams led them to avoid further meetings with Herod; Martin Luther King’s dream led to him obtaining a measure of justice for a mistreated people. So, 2011, the year of daydreams for you and for your Church; dreams that make us hopeful and encouraged, dreams that lead us to good and useful actions. 

Sweet dreams. 

Trevor

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Maybe the Devil doesn’t have all the best tunes……….. by Revd. Trevor Jamison

23/11/2010 by idavidsonblog.

Maybe the Devil doesn’t have all the best tunes… Driving from Billericay, on my way to a hospital visit one Saturday morning I did not expect to find myself listening to a conversation between Annie Lennox and Graham Norton about the role of religion in world conflict, or to find myself singing along to her rendition of In the Bleak Midwinter. 

Graham Norton has made his reputation as a comedian, television presenter and now as host of the BBC Radio 2 Saturday show in succession to Jonathan Ross.  He comes from a Southern Irish, Protestant background but his public persona is as an openly gay, flamboyant, going-on camp, lovable purveyor of jokey innuendo.  Annie Lennox boasts an impressive career as a singer, song-writer and political campaigner.  She has long championed AIDS awareness and is a prominent support of Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the Burma UK Campaign. Whether my surprise that a couple with such backgrounds should be “talking religion” in public is more a comment on me, them or on the Church as we know it is an issue for another time.  For now, I want to think about Church and great music.
In her conversation with Graham Norton, Annie Lennox was quite clear about her position on religion – she’s an agnostic.  At the same time she did not come across as someone with an axe to grind about organised religion in the way some the “New Atheists”, such as Richard Dawkins obviously have.  This did not prevent her from pointing to the alarming and shameful correlation between strong religious beliefs and readiness to do violence to others in the world.  At this point Graham Norton had to take on his (unaccustomed?) role as defender of faith, arguing that human failings are about people (sin, we Christians might say) and not about religion as such. 

Although Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day that doesn’t necessarily mean she is a Christian.  On the other hand (and this was the occasion for the interview on Radio 2) she’s recorded A Christmas Cornucopia, a collection of interpretations of traditional festive songs, some familiar to most of us (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, The Holly And The Ivy, Silent Night), others less so (Lullay Lullay, Il Est Ne le Divin Enfant), and one new Lennox composition, Universal Child.  Now, a collection of Christmas carols from Annie Lennox has huge commercial potential for the singer and of course this interview was part of the publicity push for the recently released album.  At the same time, however, it’s clear that this is more than a purely commercial venture as far as she is concerned.  Lennox is emotionally and artistically caught up by this music.  For many of us, to sing or hear these songs is to be re-connected with our childhood and subsequent significant stages in our life journeys.  As Lennox puts it, “they are part of my backbone”.  Also, she is intrigued that this music has endured across decades and centuries and wishes to give it a further lease of life through her particular treatment of carols in the here and now. I have no problem with Christians appreciating Christ-inspired music performed by an agnostic, especially when she sings so well.  I am not so convinced that emotional resonances, anchored in significant memories and musically intriguing tunes tell the whole story about why this music endures and should be still sung today.  I just can’t get away from the content of the words.  In the Bleak Midwinter, to take just one example, begins with the bleakness of the human landscape, moves to the hope that it can be brought to life through heavenly intervention and then invites our response, treading in the footsteps of shepherds and wise men, coming to Jesus.  Today’s bleak human landscape includes unnecessary illness, death, unjust imprisonment, misuse of the environment and the persecution of people deemed significantly different by virtue of their sexuality; actions and attitudes on which Annie Lennox campaigns and which Graham Norton wittily subverts.  For me, as a Christian, these carols will always remain great (Church) music as long as they remind me not only of my childhood but of today’s world, its difficulties and of God’s response: 

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor human earth sustain,Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign:In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed,The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894), Rejoice and Sing no. 162 

A blessed and happy Christmas to you all, Annie and Graham included.  Trevor p.s. Happy Birthday for the 25^th, Annie

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What makes a good Church? By Revd. Trevor Jamison

06/11/2010 by idavidsonblog.

What Makes a Good Church?

 

1	Worship	6	Social activities
2	Friendly people	7	Numbers of people like us
3	A safe happy place	8	Food and hospitality
4	Children’s activities	9	Forward thinking
5	Being inclusive	10	Serving the community

 

That’s not just my view. It is the collective view of the first five hundred children and young people to respond to a survey produced jointly by the United Reformed Church’s Youth and Children’s Work Committee and the Children’s Society. I’m struck by how many of the items on the list are things that adults are likely to put if asked the same question. In one recent service at a Church in this pastorate I asked the above questions and the answers provided by adults in the congregation related to several of the above headings.

 

I am also struck that worship came first in the responses from children and young people whilst something specifically related to the interests of the group surveyed did not appear until fourth in the list. In a recent document from the URC Youth and Children’s Work Committee, Valuing Children, we have the following comment from a twelve year old boy: “I wish my Church listened more to young people. We have good ideas but no one listens to us because they think all we care about is football.” The responses given in the survey tell a very different story.

 

Coming along just behind the question of what makes a good Church comes the question of what would make it better, and yes, they asked that question too!

 

1. Worship which is more inclusive in the music used
2. A better sense of community
3. Practical activities offered in an age-appropriate way
4. Well maintained buildings, especially better toilets
5. Compromise
6. Nothing!
7. Age-related Bible study
8. Opportunities to pray

 

Some responses may not surprise us (though if not, I hope we have done or intend to do something about them). How many of the people reading this letter expected age-related Bible study or opportunities to pray to appear in the top ten responses? I wonder if any of our children would have given no. 6 as an answer. Indeed, I wonder what our children and young people would like to say to me (tjamisonurc@tiscali.co.uk or just try telling me when you next see me) or to the Church about the above lists and in response to the questions that produced them. I wonder what adults would want to affirm or disagree with in these lists. I wonder what they learned from them.

 

Trevor

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