Will the Mayor of Bristol reconsider?

At some point today I shall cast my votes for the next Mayor of Bristol, plus local councillors, as well as the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The actions and comments made last week by our existing Mayor have caused me to wonder, once again as a Christian, what I might expect from the office of an elected Mayor here in Bristol. So, whoever is elected as a result of today, I hope and pray they might reconsider the message which has been sent to the Christian community recently.

The hustings event our current Mayor refused to attend, on 25th April, was organised by Churches Together in Greater Bristol. By virtue of office, I am part of the overseeing group of leaders associated with CTGB. The reason given was, as reported in the Bristol Evening Post, 'I assumed that this was a united Bristol Churches event, but I am deeply concerned about the chosen location for the debate and some of the views of the leadership at Woodland Church’. The particular 'view' related to a comment made by a good friend of mine Dave Mitchell, in a letter to the congregation at Woodlands (NB always best to get the name right if you're going to be critical) at the time of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in 2013. The Mayor commented: ‘This seems to me a clear statement of homophobic prejudice against the LGBT community that I deplore, making it inappropriate for me to attend this particular debate’.

Unfortunately, this reveals a common lack of understanding concerning the Christian Church from National and Local Government. 

The accusation of 'homophobia' is inappropriate and ill-advised. On passing legislation for same-sex marriage our National Government recognised the opposition from the Christian Church (and other religious groups) to the point of allowing a so-called 'triple-lock', precisely to allow the Church to not be compelled to perform a ceremony contrary to our orthodox Christian understanding of what the Bible means by 'marriage'. Since then the major Christian denominations have re-affirmed their understanding of marriage, similarly to the Baptist Union of Great Britain to which I belong, who have stated: 'We affirm the traditionally accepted Biblical understanding of Christian marriage, as a union between a man and a woman'. This is not homophobia. It is, however, highlighting boundary lines, within which sexual relationships and family life are best fostered. 

Sadly, despite the huge legacy in Bristol, as a direct consequence of significant Christian social reformers and the Christian Churches, Bristol City Council are in danger of disregarding the goodwill and generosity the many and varied Christian Churches provide, for the well being of the people of our great City. The Christian Churches are the largest provider of voluntary social care across the nation and Bristol is no different. The hustings event last week was organised by Churches Together in Greater Bristol - the venue was immaterial and any Mayor of Bristol should be more reliably informed.  

 

It could have been me ... Hillsborough 27 years on

27 years on and the closing of one chapter in the story of the survivors and the grievers from the Hillsborough tragedy where 96 football fans lost their lives. Can I imagine what it must have been like to persistently seek truth and justice for so long? Hardly. 
I wasn't there. I remember trying to contact my friends who were to see if they were OK. It was pre-mobile phones, so not an easy task and a frightening few hours. I was at the Final ... the second all Merseyside FA Cup Final. Undoubtedly one of the most moving football occasions of my life. 100,000 football fans united in grief.
Today, following yesterday's verdict of unlawful killing, I'm simply grateful to God for my life over the past 27 years, for the privilege of a wife and family who could have grown up telling the story of a dad they never knew. It could have been me. It could have been any number of us. I'm not getting over dramatic, as I didn't even attempt to get a ticket that day, but I always stood on there terraces ... sitting in a seat was no way to watch a football match! I know what it's like to be herded like an animal by the police viewing anyone with a scarf round their neck as a hooligan, but today I'm simply grateful ... and prayerful for those who feel they've had their hopes and dreams robbed. 

Seventy-two in partnership with Spring Harvest

So why are Baptists in partnership with Spring Harvest? It’s a question I’ve been asked recently, particularly as Seventy-two have been involved for our first year of partnership with Spring Harvest. We had a team of ten people drawn from across our four Partnership Association.

Seventy-two is designed to be a network for people in our Baptist Churches who want to fully engage in the mission of God wherever they are.

Spring Harvest stand for ‘Equipping the Church for Action’, aims to create space for all people to encounter God, to be confident in their faith and to see transformation in lives and communities.

We share so much in terms of ethos and convictions, it should be no surprise we’re collaborating together. Baptists have played a large part in Spring Harvest since it’s beginnings, back in 1979, so what’s the point of us becoming more intentionally involved together? Here’s just a few responses on the basis of our involvement this year:

-       We were able to share in the desire to be distinctly Christian and culturally connected.

-       We were able to combine our desire to grow personally and be equipping one another.

-       We were able to delight in belonging together in Christ and offering diverse expressions of our oneness to the rest of the world.

-       We were able to celebrate being in God’s presence to be both transformed and sent.

www.seventy-two.network

This is the design for the background of our Seventy-two stand. It's been delivered now to the WEBA office and we'll try and put it together at our Spring Harvest planning day tomorrow!
It has to be said there is some doubt concerning our capability of doing this ... 'how many Baptist Ministers does it take jokes may be multiplying.
The Seventy-two website is now live though, so do check that out and add your name to the mailing list for what we hope will be regular updates from here on:
http://seventy-two.network

The Good Sam-aritan

http://www.webassoc.org.uk/the-good-sam-aritan/

The Good Sam-aritan

This story has hit several national papers, but if you missed it…

Rev. Sam King, minister of Calne Baptist Church took part in an experiment with The Bible Society. Dressed as a vicar, and then as a rough sleeper, he asked passers by if he could borrow their phones to make a call. The results were filmed secretly, and you can see what happened – in both a long and short version of the video – on this page on the Bible Society’s website:

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/our-work/the-good-samaritan/

The Great Unraveling

Merely a signpost to another challenging piece by Alan Roxburgh ... certainly a 'must reflect further' issue for anyone of us involved in anything we might identify as a 'church system': 

The Great Unraveling

We live in a time of huge change and contested stories. It is a time when even the most basic, taken-for-granted systems of organization seem to be dissolving. All of this is particularly true for those Protestant denominations into which many of us were born and to which many of those reading these words have given their life and leadership. These denominations and their churches, as we have known them, are effectively finished! They must now enter a time of being fundamentally remade. 

Read more:  http://themissionalnetwork.com/why/what-were-discovering/energiewende/

Making friends with Imogen ...

I'm waiting to meet someone, sitting drinking coffee ... I expect more coffee, meaningful conversation, so a normal day in one of my 'offices'. Imogen, however, is threatening to disrupt my plans. 

Imogen is the latest storm to hit the UK and the the Bristol Channel is doing her job of funnelling the energy of this one across my schedule. We have warnings about the 'sea state' (14m waves possible), high winds (over 70mph so far this morning) and flood warnings  (nearly 60 in place at the latest count). Traffic from falling trees, trains, power supply are some of the early indicators Imogen is with us. 

Can I confess something? Far from finding myself battening down the hatches, I'm warming to the storms we seem to be encountering with increasing frequency. Last year the Met Office took the decision to name storms in the same way many other parts of the world have been doing for some time. I'm sure, speaking personally, my own flirtations with storms has some connection with alternate female names being used, but I'm not primarily interested in psycho-analysis, or at least I'm not sharing my notes in public. 

I think 'Thriving on Chaos' by Tom Peters was the first book I read, which alerted me to what has now become the norm of present experience for anyone involved leadership, management, or let's face it, life in 21st Century Britain. 

We can't change the reality of storms coming at us and engulfing us. What we can do is adapt to live in the light of their reality. For now I'm simply thinking of some of the things striking me about the weather storms, but I need to translate this into life experience. I'm saying storms need to become our best friends, but ...

-  Naming a storm helps us become more aware of them, which one we're encountering and how dangerous it can be.

-  Being aware of what we're dealing with helps us make more appropriate decisions (or at least 'should' mean we stop building on flood plains!).

-  Experiencing storms helps us see ourselves from a clearer perspective (the life we create for ourselves is not quite the cocoon we might like).

I'm sure they'll be many others.

Not sure if I'm looking forward to 'Nigel', but I'll be interested to meet him. Research shows that hurricanes with female names are more likely to hurt people than those with male names. Scientists think that's because people find female names less threatening, so at least I have some more material for my next session with my mentor!