Riding the roller coaster

It's been a busy, roller coaster of a week. On Friday I took the funeral of my sister-in-law, Trish, who finally succumbed to cancer after a five year battle. On Sunday, my youngest daughter, Olivia, got engaged to Joe. So the Jones household has run the gamut of emotions!

Trish's funeral went as well as these things can. the chapel was full to hear moving tributes from both her boys and a poem/prayer from one of her oldest friends. What struck me was that there were people from all aspects of her life present in good numbers to mark her passing. It is testament to her ability to make friends and keep them. She'll be missed.

Olivia's news was not unexpected as Joe had given us a heads-up ahead of popping the question and we are thrilled and delighted for them both. They are a great couple and wonderful parents to Sophia. 

While all this was going on, we had the biggest Messy Church of the year (when we were expecting people to be away). We had first-timers and returners who've not been for a while. Messy Talk also went really well - the final instalment of how we experience God. In the autumn we're trialling another Ugly Duckling Company tool which includes DVD material. We're looking forward to it.

Maybe this week will give me chance to pause and catch my breath.

Coming up for air

Wiped out by flu last week - two-and-a-half days in bed; the rest of the time vegging on the sofa - but I was able to watch of season 1 of my Dr Who box set (cracking!).

Back to church yesterday with our first Messy Talk, a follow-up to Messy Church using the Table Talk conversational card game. And it went really well. Three families stayed on after the Messy church mayhem for coffee and conversation. Their kids were looked after by the team and we talked about work/life balance. A good time was had by all and all said they'd back next month for part two.

It was a notable first for the church because for the first time we had two 'services' running simultaneously on our premises. The friends of Messy church were very excited about this and everyone else graciously let us get on with it.

Today I finished my first semester teaching a single NT course at Spurgeon's (introduction to Paul via 1 Corinthians). It's been a great experience and I think the students enjoyed it too. Next semester, I'll be teaching Romans to a similar group which I am also looking forward to.

This week, I have a pretty clear run at getting the corrections and rewrites done on the dissertation ahead of submission at the end of the month.

Listening to LCD Sound system and Hurts - the latter a Manchester electronic band who sound like the secret love child of Tears for Fears and the Human League (crazy but it works).

Reflecting on our carol service experience

We had a good day of carol services yesterday.

It kicked off with the biggest turn out at Messy Church in its year-long history - and this despite the atrocious conditions under foot. I didn't count but there could well have 70 people at the peak.

Two things stand out. The first is that there were a number of families who've not been before and the second is that a number of families stayed on for the all-age carol service. So we're making new friends and hopefully helping them explore the meaning of the Christian faith for families today.

Then at teatime we had a pretty full and very traditional carols by candlelight. This continues to be an event that attracts a good number of people who don't usually attend church. I lost count of the number of people I shook hands with who joked that they were once a year regulars.

The music was great, the service flowed sweetly with a reasonable number of people involved in one way or another and a number of people commented on how helpful and challenging the sermon was.

But I guess what stands out for me is the thought that this service above anything else we do is worship as entertainment. Now don't me get me wrong. This doesn't mean that the service is not worth doing. Lots of people, church goers and non-church goers alike, find much that is beneficial for them in it. But I wonder if there's a danger that it is just another feature of the traditional Bromley Christmas, up there with the office party, sherry and mince pies with neighbours, last minute shopping, menu planning to suit the tastes of everyone sharing all the meals that will be cooked over the festive season, etc.

My feeling is that the Advent Conspiracy has helped a number of us to think about how we celebrate Christmas this year in terms of what we buy, who we invite to parties and why. But I think we've a way to go.

So - and if this isn't a contradiction - I do feel that carols by candlelight is really good, positive and worthwhile but perhaps it does just allow people to come and do right by God at this one time of the year when the Christian story still resonates with a broad cross-section of the population, so that they don't need to engage with God at any other time of the year.

Maybe this contradiction is at the heart of all the public worship activities we do as a church but it's just thrown into particularly sharp relief at Christmas.

So, a question for next year is whether we can help everyone at our carol services to see the connection between this story and the celebration of it they gladly come at Christmas and their everyday, ordinary, January to November working and domestic lives.

Answers on a post card...

Catching up

I've been on blogging lite recently as I'm still catching up on stuff post Spring Harvest and the Baptist Assembly. Why do they happen within a couple of weeks of each other?

I have finally caught up with the study notes for Mark. So this week's should actually be posted this week. I've also begun to think about the two courses I'll be teaching in Sri Lanka in July. News from that troubled island continues to be grim - whether the war is over or not, there'll be fall-out for Tamils for many months.

This morning I'll be reflecting on Psalm 104 in the first of a brief series running up to Pentecost and our church anniversary looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. Today, I'm looking at the role of the Spirit in creation. This is the Sunday version of the material that I'll be using at our next Alternative Wednesday gathering looking at God and Darwin where I'll be reflecting more fully on how we might read scripture in the light of evolutionary science.

We also have our long awaited U2charist this evening. I'm really looking forward to it because I'm intrigued to see whether the format actually works. In preparing for it, I have been struck again by how much theology there is in Bono's lyrics. His biblical allusions are well-known but they are not just scattered randomly in songs, they are part of a quite mature reflection on the way of the world and the call of Christ to a life of discipleship within it.

Now, I'm off to messy church for breakfast and fun, stories and songs - and the chance to see half my leadership pogo-ing with toddlers!