New Kid on the Blog

Actually, all I threw away on Sunday were my sermon notes, but i thought the title might get attention! Sunday was a good day, a great return to work and a really enjoyable way to spend time in Church! I stayed up until stupid o'clock in the morning writing a sermon which I preached at the traditional Communion (1662) service at 8.30am. I like this service, a good way to start a Sunday, reflective and quiet using words filled with resonance and depth which say so much despite being originally written in 1549! The sermon worked there, it wasn't a bad talk at all (though I say so myself) but having got to the next Church for our 10.30am Contemporary language Communion I decided that it wasn't the right sermon for that congregation! I am always telling those on the Worship Leading course I run that context reigns supreme in our worship (well, actually God reigns supreme, but context is important) so I took notice of what I said (yes, Clergy do try and practice what we prea...

Obviously the daily posting thing has completely fizzled out! It's been quite a week, since the end of November we've been caught up in the Advent thing, including lots of services on Sunday, all of which went well. Having six Churches in the sticks means that we try to offer a broad range of events and styles in our worship, and Sunday was a very good example of the diversity of our Team... 8.30am was a Book of Common Prayer (1662) Holy Communion, a quiet start to the day, well attended and a gentle start to quite a manic day. Over my years in ministry I've come to love the traditional services we offer, so beautifully constructed all those years ago, yet still with a depth and even a freshness to the liturgy. 10.30am was a Contemporary Language Holy Communion service, from the Common Worship prayer book which is the mainstay of the C of E. Having come from a 'free form' tradition, in the 'Charismatic renewal' branch of the Church, I found the structure...

Left posting until very late today, as have been enjoying a day off, or most of a day off - there always seem to be a few things to do! So for today A book I reviewed for Christian Marketplace Magazine a few months back... Presenting a theological reflection on the understanding of Christian life and transformation this book is a challenging, well researched, thought provoking piece resounding with depth and creativity. Written by an accomplished theologian and drawing on Church history, liturgy, poetry, art and hymnody this is not a book to be taken lightly, but one which rewards careful study. Though firmly rooted in liturgical tradition – something that is more pronounced as the book progresses – there is an exploration of the nature of worship and the way that God changes us as we encounter Him in prayer and praise which offers material for Christians of any tradition. Irving explores deep theological concepts with a deftness and clarity which makes it well worth the time a...

...not a lot of writing going on at the moment, that's because i have been out again all day doing things that clergy do - prayers to start the day, visiting a colleague, visiting parishoners and finally the meeting i have just got back from, our worship leader training course run by Ely Diocese. Now there's not much i could (or rather should) write about the day itself, but the evening was refreshing, entertaining, thought provoking as we met for the first time this year to begin this training course for those who want to be more involved in the worshipping life of the church. It's exciting and positive that the Church at large is resourcing and supporting people in exploring the wider vocation to Christian ministry rather than narrowing it down to getting people ordained in order to do stuff in the Christian Community. One reflection to come out of the discussions tonight was how affective worship is. The main focus of the evening was to talk about experiences of wor...

Have been thinking quite a bit about 'transformational theology' since reading ' The Art of God ' by Christopher Irvine - this wonderfully crafted book of theology addresses the way in which our worship is founded in the transformational nature of encountering God's Spirit. It is very much based in the western liturgical tradition but draws from a variety of sources, Scripture, poetry, early Church teaching etc etc to help us consider again just what is happening in worship. i was struck by many things in the book, it is very readable but pretty dense theology, but one thing that really made me think was the way he talked of worship as 'doing' - it is not something that happens to us or for us, but something into which we enter actively, even when the words are being read to or for us (as in the Eucharistic Prayer, for instance). My own concern is that in worship I can 'do a good show' as a worship leader, but the purpose of what we do is to offer ou...

Pentecost was a great celebration in the Parishes i went to yesterday, a bit of a glimpse of what we can be as the Church when we let ourselves be open to the life of the Spirit! I only had four people in the tiny village Church i went to at 8.30am, but it was a great service of Holy Communion and i can honestly say that God was very much a part of our prayers and worship as the four of us gathered in a Church full of the prayers of the saints over many centuries. We may have been few, but the Angels and Archangels were having a party nearby and we got to join in... Then to a larger celebration (remembering that larger equals about 50 in these parishes) in another Church. In lots of ways it was a traditional, unexceptional Eucharist - but at the same time it was full of joy and life and touched by the Holy Spirit in such a way that made our liturgy and all of our worship come alive. No, there were no noticable tongues of fire, miraculous healings, speaking in tongues - but the life of ...