Saturday 14 December 2013

Take 2

One question I have been asked consistently in the last month is this: ‘will The Malmesbury Nativity be the same as last year?’ I am really quite proud of myself; at no point have I answered ‘actually, it’s going to be twins this year.’ A longer and more helpful answer follows.

Last year we wanted a new mix. Carols that had a live band and nodded in the direction of the contemporary folk rock; actors who were trained actors, not vicars pretending; a set that brought everybody close to the action, rather have people 20 rows back straining to see; and something really ‘Malmesbury’ not a generic Christmas play. So we created a script with Aldhelm, William, Eilmer and Hannah Twynnoy as the story tellers—a play within a play. But what we also really wanted was the birth of Christ from the Bible; not The Snowman's Christmas Miracle or What the Donkey saw in the Manger One Starlit Night with the Church Mouse.

Our challenge was to take the birth narratives of the gospels of Luke and Matthew, word for word, NRSV, not a word changed or added, and bring them to life in such a way that over 1000 people wouldn’t realise that they had just been listening in to the Bible. This also meant that Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s anguish (Luke 2:35) turned up before the Magi, and put the agony of the cross into the nativity story with subtlety, as Luke intended.


So is it different this year? No; St Matthew and St Luke seem pretty happy with their scripts and scenes 3-6 remain the same. And although we thought of introducing King Athelstan, we’re holding him back for a future year.

So is it different this year? Yes. The beginning and ending are not the same and we’ve added a new song. For those of you who remember last year, there has been some big change in the Old Man’s life and he won’t be listening to Sport’s report. You’ll just have to wait and see. 

Tickets are still available for 4 of the 6 performances. Young children are particularly welcome to come dressed as a shepherd ,angel, magi, Mary or Joseph.

Friday 6 December 2013

I sat in a group of about eight or nine vicars during the summer, pity me, none of whom were from this area and one of whom asked this question: ‘Does any one of you seriously want everybody on the planet to become a follower of Jesus?’ As I said ‘yes’ I realised that mine was the only hand that went up in the room—which really rather surprised me. I thought about my answer for a second, just in case I’d made a stupid, idiot mistake, or to consider whether it was a trick question. (I always remember the quiz contestant on TV who when asked who wrote Beethoven’s 5th Symphony answered ‘was it Handel?’) But then my maths A level came charging to my rescue, and I said ‘2½.’ Now it was their turn to look bemused back in my direction. ‘There are approximately 7 billion people on the planet,’ I said,  ‘and approximately 2 billion Christians of one flavour or another. Now if each of the 2 billion Christians were to be so inspired and flowing with love, mercy and truth that 2½ people become followers of Christ though their witness, well that would mean 7 billion followers of Jesus on the planet; job done.’

On reflection it was an over simplistic answer and not much of a mathematical model. On reflection I wonder why some people are vicars. And on reflection I think a more honest answer would have been 3½; because although I might have a half decent chance with the other 2½, I consider the turning of myself into a follower of Jesus to be a lifelong project with plenty of bumps on the road. But I’m glad that I did the maths. Because when somebody asks me why we work so hard to raise our game with our welcome and hospitality at the Abbey, when somebody asks me why we put on richly creative projects like Advent Carols Services and Skate Parks, and when somebody asks me why we cram about 175 people into weekly discipleship groups and will be running Alpha Courses incessantly, I know the answer—2½.

PS Please invite 2½ people to church this Christmas. You bring them along, we’ll tell them about Jesus.


Thursday 28 November 2013

Hope

The year begins. Almost unnoticed by the high street, the school, the work place, and even the church – our church year begins today; Advent Sunday. At the abbey we have moved all the chairs so we can celebrate the new church year by falling over each other. The everlasting beauty of the Church of England is that even when we completely change the seating arrangement, everybody still finds their normal place to sit in.

Advent Sunday at 6.30pm the light will come into the middle of the darkness, beauty arrives in the silence, the divine word in the chaos of the world. Advent is a season of hope.  What is it that will remain with us after our Advent Carol Service? For some it will be the beauty of choral worship as it echoes around the 12th century walls of the Abbey, drawing us a little closer to heaven and the song of the angels. For others it will be the stillness, as we stop and sit in silence and listen to the timeless word of God written 2,000 years ago or more.  For me it will probably be the Advent carols themselves, the richness of the harmonies on the organ and the depth of the longing for God in the texts. But perhaps for many it will simply be the candles, the light shining in the darkness. Most of us have seen a candle before, but not all of us will have stood with 300 others and held candles symbolising the light of God, shining in the darkness of humanity. It is a powerful image.

As 2 billion Christians worldwide mark Advent Sunday today, it is easy to imagine the tangible darkness of the church in the Philippines, or in Egypt, or in Syria; yet they meet in hope today. And as the year ends in the UK each of us knows somebody for whom the darkness is also very real, and it looks like personal debt or job vulnerability or relational breakdown or sickness or loneliness or spiritual searching. But Advent is not a festival of darkness; it is a reminder that whatever shape or shadow the darkness takes in our lives, God is there, and we, the church, will always be a people of hope. The Light shines.

Our advent texts proclaim again that ‘the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.’ Jesus Christ is that light.  May you, and those you love, seek and know His holy presence in the days and weeks of Advent.


Thursday 14 November 2013

60 pages

Over the last few years as a church we have had a good look at the writings of Paul (Romans, Ephesians, Colossians) and in recent memory (the last three months) allowed Luke to shake us up a bit with the parables of Jesus. And it’s not just St Luke and St Paul; last January and February 1 Peter was the text we began the year with. (Actually, as many commentators agree that Mark’s gospel was a source for Luke’s gospel, and most also agree that Peter’s preaching was the key source for Mark, when we read Luke, Peter is also in the picture; if you follow.) We’ve also had some good wrestles with the Old Testament; David, Joseph, Elijah and Moses and a few years ago took 6 months to travel through the whole Old Testament.

However what has been troubling me a bit is that a man that wrote 60 pages of my Bible hasn’t had much of a look in recently. 60 pages! If you have a really small Bible with large print that's probably over a hundred pages. After Paul and Luke, St John is the major contributor to the New Testament and we are going to be spending 2014 with him as a church.

In January and February we will explore the nature of God and the nature of love from 1 John. (2 John and 3 John will also pop up, but blink and you’ll miss them.) During Lent we will be looking at what it meant for individual people to meet with Jesus; Nicodemus, Lazarus etc. and then during Holy Week it will be John’s account that takes us through to Easter Day when Bishop Lee will be preaching. Most of us have either avoided the book of Revelation altogether or got an unhealthy obsession with it. In May to July we’ll address that and also take Revelation away on our church weekend away. When you are on holiday in August you’ll miss the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus recorded in John, and then in the autumn our attention will be the signs and wonders of John—feeding the 5K, walking on water. And then when we open our Advent calendars next year Revelation 22, Revelation 12 and John 1 will be behind the little doors.

E-mail me or call Sandie to join a new small group for 2014 and get the most out of an extraordinary year.


Monday 11 November 2013

FS Kelly

Text of a talk from Remembrance Sunday

I’d like you to listen the beginning of a piece of music written in the year 1915. It’s called Elegy for Strings, and as you listen perhaps you will hear the sadness of war, or the stillness after a battle, or hope, or the lack of hope – listen to a minute or two now:


That piece was written by a young Australian composer called FS Kelly, Lieutenant-Commander FS Kelly; you’ve never heard of him, and perhaps you can imagine why. It’s a beautiful, sad piece fully titled, Elegy for Strings In Memoriam Rupert Brooke. Now you may have heard of the poet, Sub-Lieutenant Rupert Brooke, and recognise the opening words of his poem The Soldier, written in 1914:

If I should die, think only this of me;
that there's some corner of a foreign field
that is for ever England.

Sub-Lieutenant Brooke died of malaria, on an Allied Forces hospital ship in 1915. It was moored just off a Greek Island, and one afternoon he was indeed buried in some corner of a foreign field. Overwhelmed with sadness, his friend FS Kelly wrote his Elegy for Strings at the base camp for the Gallipoli campaign, where he was serving. Gallipoli. You see it’s not so much the year FS Kelly wrote his music, or even for whom he wrote his music, although both are significant; but that a young Australian composer and soldier could write something of such sad beauty at Gallipoli; a place where over 120,000 Allied and Turkish forces died.


On Remembrance Sunday we look back together, sometimes not too far. We are glad to see humanity at its sacrificial and its best; but we don’t rose-tint the view, and we also remember humanity at its saddest and its worst. On Remembrance Sunday we will never reach any easy conclusions, and all we can probably predict with certainty, is that the generations that come after us in this place, will be remembering conflicts that we haven’t yet conceived.

But we are in this holy place today, to say that even in humanity’s darkest hours, God’s grace abounds. God’s word reminds us that out of slavery and captivity in Babylon came a rebuilt nation; it reminds that St Paul sat on a Roman death row as he wrote some of his most inspiring words to his dear brother Timothy; and of course it tells us that Jesus Christ lifted his head as he was crucified, looked us in the eye and called out to each of us: Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.

Just as the beauty of FS Kelly’s music was birthed on the bloodied beaches of Gallipoli, today we remember that the most holy is found right in the middle of our most unholy. And therefore we have hope.

FS Kelly was wounded twice at Gallipoli, but, unlike many others, the young composer survived and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Sadly, in November 1916 he was killed rushing a machine gun post in the Battle of the Somme. He is buried nearby; in some corner of a foreign field.

Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord
They shall rest from their labour,

and their deeds will follow them. (Rev 14:13)

Tomorrow

Malmesbury Abbey is familiar with conflict. In the year 939AD King Athelstan the Glorious, the first King of all England, was buried here. Athelstan had led his English and Welsh forces in a decisive victory over the Scottish, Danish, Norse and Irish at the Battle of Brunanburh; and he chose to be buried here alongside the men of Malmesbury that fought alongside him. His tomb, a later medieval offering, is in the North Aisle, just behind the organ. Much later, on 21st March 1643 the English Civil War raged just outside the doors of the Abbey; you can see the cannon and musket shot holes on the wall to the left of the porch. I think we beat Tetbury that day. And it’s not all ancient history: just 10 days ago the Abbey was filled with the serving military of 9 Logistics from Buckley Barracks, as, in a service led by Padre Richard Priest from our own 4pm congregation,  we marked with prayer and worship their safe return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

But of course for many, whose lives were lost and affected by the global wars of the 20th century and the ongoing conflicts of the 21st century, Malmesbury Abbey is an annual place of remembrance, a place of profound sorrow—as it is this weekend. For civilians like myself, it is possible to feel something of a fraud. Personally, I have no experience to remember, I’m unfamiliar with the reality of battle. I don’t know what it feels like to serve in the military, what it feels like to have that final embrace before you fly out, or what if feels like to put your foot on the soil of another nation dressed in the uniform of your own country. So how do I remember?

Perhaps I remember by considering my peaceable life, and the democratic governance  of our nation, and the eyes that didn’t live to see it. And I hold before myself the words of the Kohima Epitaph and remember tomorrow:

When you go home
tell them of us and say,
for your tomorrow
we gave our today


Wednesday 30 October 2013

Interrupted

Breakfast on Tuesday was fun as we celebrated a birthday in the vicarage, but then on my way around to the Abbey for Morning Prayer I remembered that I was in a bad mood with somebody and it rose to the top of my priorities— aren’t we dim? Anyway, we gathered quietly in St Aldhelm’s Chapel and at 9am the liturgy began and shortly we arrived at the psalm for the day, Psalm 36. It was all about the wicked, oh excellent I thought, it’s all about that person who’d put me in a bad mood. But as I read on, even in my coffee-free daze, I realised that the wickedness the psalmist sings about is not just everybody else’s wickedness and by the end of verse 4 I was in that ‘guilty as charged’ place that we often inhabit devotionally. Fortunately the psalmist changes tack in 5, your love O LORD reaches to the heavens, and by verse 7 I was approaching restoration through how priceless is your unfailing love. God is kind.

I turned into a schoolboy during the Old Testament reading. Most days at Morning Prayer Annette is there with us, but not last Tuesday—until Micah 7:2. ‘All men lie in wait to shed blood, each hunts his brother with a net’ or ‘each hunts his brother with Annette’ as I heard it. That’s where she is, hanging out with King Hezekiah. Snigger.

But the set readings weren’t finished with me yet. We sat down from the hymn and in the silence of the Abbey John 19 was read; Christ was crucified, and Christ breathed his final breath.  John 19 is much easier packaged on Good Friday, in late October it is horrendous. Somehow in Holy Week we shape the rhythm of the week to make a place for the cross on the Friday, but last Tuesday it was a holy interruption of God. Think each thought with the cross in mind, live each moment with the cross before you. And of course we don’t, and I didn’t, and perhaps one of the greatest sins of the church is our forgetfulness. But with Christ before me, as I hope he is before you now, for just a moment I remembered that his humanity was lost that I might recover mine, and his breathing stopped, that I might breathe again.


Thursday 24 October 2013

That Blue Book

It was 1990, I’d been singing professionally for a number of years, and working with some decent companies like English and Welsh National Opera. But now the big boys had come knocking and I was on the London Underground, on my way to one of my first performances as a soloist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden—Beethoven’s Fidelio—the big time. However something much bigger was going on, without costume, make-up or orchestra— I had recently become a Christian. I had grown up in a typical, local C of E church, but nothing had taken root, nothing had grown and a few years at university had left my new found atheism in robust health. But then in 1990, as Marilyn and I took our first daughter for a Christening (hey, I was an atheist without integrity), at that point I heard it.  The good news that eluded my soul for year after year in my childhood suddenly took hold of me, and the doctrines and creeds all seemed unproblematically true. One day I mocked the virgin birth, the next day I believed it—go figure.

And so I found myself sitting on a tube, on the way to Covent Garden station, a shiny new Christian with a problem—I didn’t have a Bible.  The people I’d met at church seemed to mention the Bible and even pay attention to the readings and the sermon; weird. So I figured out that if I was going to be a proper Christian I should have a copy of the Bible. I dashed into Waterstones, ran to the spirituality section and was horrified to find that there was more than one Bible. I picked the blue one, because Leicester City play in blue, and later discovered that whereas the NRSV was a good choice; Leicester City wasn’t. But then I hit another problem as a went through security at the stage door: sure I had my pass, but maybe just this once they’d search my bag, maybe they’d find my new blue book.

In truth it was my identity I thought they might discover. That they might see a man who had decided that to sit with that ancient book was to sit with the voice of God, and to live by that ancient book was to walk the path of God. Well they didn’t search me, and over time the blue book made it out from my bag and onto my dressing room table next to a strong cup of tea, an opera score and some extra strong mints—all essential ingredients for a good performance. And eventually my colleagues would come off the stage, sit down and ask me to pray with them, because they too thought  there was something about that blue book.  ‘Scripture is God’s word to us, not human words about God...the intent of revelation is not to inform us about God, but to involve us in God.’ (Eugene Peterson)


Tuesday 22 October 2013

More tea?

Last week there was a brief conflict in my mouth. A molar, which had been minding its own business, suddenly took offence to a piece of rock-hard dried fruit in my breakfast cereal. The breakfast cereal won, noisily, and my molar was suddenly two thirds of a molar. A trip to my dentist for a filling proved totally painless, mainly because of the humongous injection that I was given, which numbed one side of my mouth for many hours, which happened to include a one to one with the Bishop of Bristol. Drinking tea proved a bit of a challenge and  I now realise that when I do drink tea I tend to use both sides of my mouth, as the resulting Niagara down my clerical shirt proved.

Anyway, as the preacher would now say, ‘God’s a lot like that.’ Well of course He isn’t, He isn’t remotely like that, but what is a tiny bit like that is Christian discipleship—you need both sides to make it work properly. The two sides in question are the small group and the big group.
Big group—the congregation, the celebration, the service, the gathering (ekklesia in Greek); where we come together and worship and pray and encourage one another and are inspired by speakers and break bread and share wine. Big Group Church has occupied Sundays for two millennia and right now you might well be sitting in it. Small Group Church is that vital other side of the jaw, without which the nutritional and refreshing value of Sunday can simply dribble out. There our communion becomes more intimate, our learning gets earthed in the reality of our lives and thinking, and our pastoral care of each other (aka Love) goes deeper. I need both; so do you. Join one, and join us next Sunday, Bible Sunday, at 10.30am and 4pm, when our guest preacher, Revd Tim Hastie-Smith, Chief Executive of Scripture Union, will be with us, to highlight the need for us to gather in small groups around the Bible together, and to be pastored by our brothers and sisters. At both services we will also be commissioning our growing team of small group pastors— who will pastor over 150 people in the coming year.


Saturday 12 October 2013

Breathed

Luke 16 was an interesting challenge for us all last week. Preparing to preach on the Parable of the Dishonest Manager I became quickly aware that the noted scholars were pretty conflicted, that the text was avoided and on first reading I didn’t really like the parable—not a good place to find yourself as a disciple of Jesus; albeit a non-perfect one. Turning to one of the authorities on Middle Eastern Culture and poetry I soon found myself wishing that I hadn’t dropped Aramaic at school; or R.S. for that matter. (I dropped R.S. because Mr Lomax wore corduroy; it seemed a oddly substantial reason at the time, and because Music was the alternative.) What surprised me though was you lot,  because so many of you could recite verbatim the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son, but were saying things like ‘I had no idea that there was a Luke 16 between Luke 15 and Luke 17’, ‘I’ve never heard a sermon on this in all my 93 years’ or ‘is there any chance we could rewrite this bit?’ 


Sometimes we get lost in texts; whenever I read John 1 at Advent or Christmas I always feel that I am walking into something far greater than Malmesbury Abbey, or myself. Sometimes we get really annoyed by texts; Jephthah is one of my favourite pieces of music, but one of my least favourite passages in the Bible (Judges 11.) And sometimes, like Luke 16, we feel the distance of 2000 years and a very distant culture, and we wrestle together with it.  But however we receive a word of scripture, perhaps the key is humility. What we have in front of us is, yes, written by ancient hands, but breathed by God; and in that breathing each human being that connects with it has the potential for transformation—learning, correcting, inspiring, equipping.

So we’ll finish our journey in Luke next month and then in Advent we’ll prepare for Christmas with texts from the Old Testament and Matthew. Then in 2014 as a community it’s a year with St John—John’s gospel, John’s letters and Revelation. And as we look at the words on the paper this is the question—are we reading it, or is it reading us?

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Update from Kenneth Twinamasiko

Below the most recent update from the Kigezi Diocese Water & Sanitation Programme (KDWSP) which is receiving our harvest offering at the Abbey through Tearfund. We are a Connected Church to this project, and the Kigezi Diocese is linked with the Deanery of North Wiltshire.


Dear Supporting Churches

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. On behalf of KDWSP I take this privilege to thank you for your financial and spiritual support through prayers for KDWSP’s continued work. I thank the connected Churches that have in addition to raising resources, sent representatives to live the life we lead, work and experience life in a developing country. They have been a great encouragement to us and the communities that we work in. Their kind words, prayers and selfless commitment while daring the bad roads to hard to reach areas and their promise to come back and share their stories, give us the great hope for a stronger partnership and link. They have been wonderful teams and we encourage more churches to send teams from whom we learn a lot too.

An update from the last 3 months.
KDWSP runs a functional rain water centre that provides an opportunity for organisations with training needs in rain water harvesting technologies. Over the last 3 months KDWSP has conducted skills based training for 80 trainees (40 from Rwenzori Diocese, 20 from Diocese of Muhabura Water and Sanitation Programme and 20 from Muyebe Archdeaconry) in construction of rain water facilities, rain water tanks of capacities ranging between 4000 – 30,000 litres and jars of 420 and 1500 litres.

The 4 week training entailed theory of rain water harvesting - rationale and importance of rain water harvesting, facility sizing and location setting, assessing the catchment in regard to yield, criteria for selection of the technology, assessing materials and entrepreneurial skills to enable them to market their skills.

The trainees were passed out on two colourful functions presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of Kigezi, Rt. Rev George Katwesigye, who blessed and commissioned  each person to go out and become agents for increasing accessibility to clean water. Bishop George has pledged continued support to the Dioceses of Muhabura and Rwenzori to enable them to start vibrant water and sanitation programmes in their Diocese.



Women from Kagorora are empowered.
KDWSP have being training women from Kagorora Church to construct rain water collection tanks to improve the community’s access to safe water. They are now very busy installing water points and are working on a 4000 litre capacity tank to help households in the area access safe water easily. Previously women had to travel over 3 km to fetch water but now they feel empowered and able to put this burden to an end. Through the training provided by KDWSP women have not only benefitted from access to clean water but have also improved their incomes and livelihoods as they are paid to construct the tanks. According to their chairman, Agness, they have been able to build improved houses and pay school fees for their children. Alongside their husbands they have also been able to begin other income generating activities because during their training they looked at resource mobilisation and learnt entrepreneurial skills.

This work has helped to improve the status of women in their communities and improved their relationships with their households. Across the community they have been elected to leadership positions and given roles in managing church affairs too. They are grateful to Kigezi Diocese and Tearfund for the training opportunities and technical follow up that has enabled them to produce quality work.

The training of women from the local churches and other Dioceses has enabled the local church to spread the gospel through actions which are helping to eradicate poverty.

Praise God.
• God has helped us to secure two new vehicles for our field trips
• We have had His protection, guidance and favour in all we do that is great we return the glory back to  Him
• We prayed for a new Bishop and we have a Bishop elect Rev. Canon George Bagamuhunda who is currently working as Provincial Secretary and is a former KDWSP Coordinator
• We were able to accomplish 3 gravity flow schemes and 2 have already been commissioned and one more is yet to be commissioned.
• Thank God for all the groups who have been able to visit us, for their encouragement to us and for all they were able to see and do.

Prayer requests.
• God’s protection and continued grace and unity as they continue to work to maintain facilities and use them in a lucrative and sustainable way
• See beyond water points to realise holistic development
• To be good examples to others in their communities and show love for Christ through sharing water to promote oneness and togetherness in their community
• Mr. Wise Musinguzi, our senior plumber, lost his wife during child birth, please remember him and others who have lost their loved ones
• A smooth transition between Bishops, we strongly believe that the new Bishop will be supportive to our work. Pray for a calm, ordered and God centred transition process.
• Strength  and means raise local contribution to both rain water harvesting and gravity flow scheme projects
• God’s favour upon these communities so that they are able to overcome abject poverty and other communities be able to learn from them
• The un-served communities to get the opportunities to be served with water projects so that they have sufficient clean water and time to engage in other productive pieces of work

We continue to remember you in our prayers and are most grateful all of your support for our work

With love in Christ,

Kenneth Twinamasiko

Kenneth works for Kigezi Diocese Water and Sanitation Programme as a communications and advocacy officer and lives in Kabale town. He and his wife Queen Immaculate have 3 children, Dianne (7), Keith (6) and Kerry Jeremaiah (3 months). Dianne in P.2 and Keith in P.1 are completing their school term in May so please pray that they enjoy learning.


The Kigezi Diocese Water and Sanitation Programme (KDWSP) is part of the Anglican Church of Uganda and works in communities in Uganda’s mountainous south-west to provide safe water and sanitation facilities. The project has improved general health, and children who previously had to fetch water (mostly girls) can now attend school. KDWSP also trains community members to maintain the facilities, to ensure sustainable and long-lasting change.

Saturday 21 September 2013

(Rt) Revd Pat Storey

What fantastic new from across the Irish Sea that Revd Pat Storey, the Rector of St Augustine's Londonderry, has been appointed as the Bishop of Meath and Kildare in the Republic of Ireland; thus becoming the first female Anglican bishop in Great Britain and Ireland. The Church of Ireland announcement can be found here but I've an addition to it.

For a few years Malmesbury Abbey had a link with St Augustine's Londonderry and Pat led teams to Malmesbury and I led teams out to Derry. You can see me on the walls of Londonderry below:




Whilst visiting Malmesbury I invited Pat to preside at Holy Communion at the Abbey. She agreed and was the first woman to do so, breaking a small barrier for women in ministry. Now she's broken a big one.

Please pray for Pat, Earl and their family as the transition begins.





Wednesday 18 September 2013

Catering Budget

Dear Sir,

Given the current financial crisis I am slightly concerned by the spiralling catering budget for Luke’s gospel. Things start so well in Luke 1 where we learn that John the Baptist will never touch a drop of wine and in Luke 2 where the infant Jesus is breastfed. I was initially concerned by the cost of feeding the ‘multitude’ of angels that appeared to sing at Christ’s birth but mercifully they left promptly, and without the necessity for refreshments.

Given that gluttony is one of his major acts, the devil rather surprisingly seems to have no catering budget in Luke 4 whatsoever and resorts to tempting Christ to turn stones into bread; ha! The instruction about fasting in Luke 5 brings me deep joy, the boat on a squally Sea of Galilee is going to leave nobody with an appetite, and the feeding of the five thousand from a single lunchbox is inspired cost cutting. Impressive.

I would however draw your attention to the profligacy of Luke chapters 14 & 15. Jesus first dining with a crowd of Pharisees, then a story about a wedding feast, then a story about a Great Banquet, then a party when a sheep is found (yes! a sheep!!), then another when a coin is found, and then a feast and a celebration WITH A FATTENED CALF just because some wretched prodigal finds his way home – yet another mouth to feed!!! Who is going to pay for all this? At least Zaccheus in Luke 19 has the decency to get his wallet out for once.

But this is my most serious concern. In Luke 22 the Messiah breaks bread, drinks wine and commands all his followers to do this in remembrance of him. Doesn't he know the cost?

Yours,

Accounts.


Thursday 12 September 2013

Rabbi

Looking at Luke’s gospel, as we all are at the moment, I was struck by the breadth of Jesus’ teaching style. Christ of course engaged people relentlessly with story, including the parables that we’re studying this autumn, and I’ve noticed in my own preaching how often the congregation seems to turn up or possibly wake up – you know who you are – when I use a story or analogy. Suppose one of you has a friend and he goes to him at midnight and says… (Luke 11:5). Now we’re listening.

But Christ doesn’t just teach in parables. Detail is not my greatest strength; I have to work pretty hard to scale down from the vision of an awesome family life to actually put the bins out and do the washing up occasionally. So Christ working in the detail reminds me: He said to them, when you pray say: Father, hallowed be your name (Luke 11:2-4). It’s not a liturgy; it’s the detail, the specifics of praying for the transforming presence of the Kingdom.

But Christ doesn’t leave it at the small picture. Metaphorically Christ the Prophet gives sight to the blind and places a compelling vision before us; such as in Luke 11:30: For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. Jonah coming forth from a fish on the third day to change a people; Christ coming forth from the tomb of the third day to change all peoples. Big picture teaching - can you see it?

But if we recognise the story and detail and vision of Christ’s teaching ministry, perhaps we are left most uncomfortable when he launches an assault. We want our Jesus domesticated and skip over the challenge of Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but the inside you are full of greed and wickedness… (Luke 11:39) Because of course we’re not like the Pharisees are we? Surely he’s not talking to me. But as we reel in our hypocrisy we shouldn’t miss the pastoral teaching of Jesus; He is after all a shepherd: I tell you do not worry about your life… (Luke 12:22) The same white-hot holy love that challenges the Pharisee in us, leads us to still waters and binds our wounds.

His words challenge and comfort, instruct and inspire. Awesome God, awesome Rabbi. 

Saturday 7 September 2013

September 2013 Abbey Diary

While we are experiencing problems with our website the Abbey Monthly Diary will appear on this blog. You can make any enquiries and request a PDF of the weekly Abbey News Sheet from office@malmesburyabbey.com:

Saturday 7th              
9am                 Morning Prayer
10am               Prayers for Janet Parke in Le Flambé
10am               Healing in the Streets
2.30pm            Wedding

Sunday 8th                
8am                 Holy Communion
10.30am          Holy Communion
4pm                 Informal Worship, Junior Church & Trax
6.30pm            Deanery Choral Evensong

Monday 9th               
9am                 Morning Prayer
9.30am            Abbey Tour – no guide
7pm                 Malmesbury Singers
8pm                 Home Group Leaders in Parish Office

Tuesday 10th             
9am                 Morning Prayer
9.30am            Women Alive!

Wednesday 11th        
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Holy Communion
2pm                 Tour
5pm                 Wedding Rehearsal
7pm                 Pipeline in Parish Office

Thursday 12th            
9am                 Morning Prayer
10am               Guided Tour + lunch
10.30am          Pop In – Le Flambe
4pm                 Evening Prayer
7pm                 Choir Practice

Friday 13th                
9am                 Morning Prayer

Saturday 14th            
9am                 Morning Prayer
10am               Healing in the Streets
12noon            Wedding

Sunday 15th              
8am                 Holy Communion
10.30am          Holy Communion & Alpha Invite
4pm                 Alpha Guest Service & Junior Church

Monday 16th             
9am                 Morning Prayer
7pm                 Malmesbury Singers
7pm                 Hearts, Hands & Voices in Le Flambé

Tuesday 17th             
9am                 Morning Prayer
7.30pm            Refresh!

Wednesday 18th        
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Holy Communion
7pm                 Pipeline in Parish Office
7.30pm            Alpha

Thursday 19th            
All Day             Organ Tuning & Maintenance
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Pop In – Le Flambé
4pm                 Evening Prayer
7pm                 Choir Practice

Friday 20th    
All Day             Organ Tuning & Maintenance
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Creative Response!
                                   

Saturday 21st             
9am                 Morning Prayer
10am               Healing in the Streets
  Organ Rehearsal for tonight’s concert
1pm                 Wedding Blessing
2.30-onwards  Organ Rehearsal for tonight’s concert
7.30pm            Concert

Sunday 22nd             
8am                 Holy Communion
10.30am          Morning Prayer & Healing Ministry
4pm                 Informal Worship, Junior Church & TRAX
                                   
Monday 23rd             
9am                 Morning Prayer
7pm                 Malmesbury Singers

Tuesday 24th             
9am                 Morning Prayer
9.30am            Women Alive!
                                   
Wednesday 25th        
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Holy Communion
7pm                 Pipeline in Parish Office
7.30pm            Alpha

Thursday 26th
9am                 Morning Prayer
10.30am          Pop In – Le Flambe
2pm                 Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Jennifer Sears followed by tea
4pm                 Evening Prayer
7pm                 Choir Practice

Friday 27th    
9am                 Morning Prayer

Saturday 28th            
9am                 Morning Prayer
10am               Healing in the Streets
ALL DAY         PCC AWAYDAY
4pm                 Set Up & Rehearsal for tonight’s concert
7.30pm            Concert

Sunday 29th  
10.30am          Coffee
11.00am          Festival Holy Communion + Licensing & Commissioning

Monday 30th             
9am                 Morning Prayer
7pm                 Malmesbury Singers                

Tuesday 3 September 2013

New

See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19) I have always avoided using this word from the prophet Isaiah because it can be one of those phrases that lazy vicars tend to use to get their own way. ‘Let’s build a new church hall’ – do you not perceive that this is what God is doing? ‘Let’s sack the choir’ – isn’t it time to forget the former things? (Isaiah 43:18) ‘Let’s get rid of the pews’ – this is the new thing of God. It’s not particularly hard to manipulate using scripture, and worse. Isaiah deserves better.

Isaiah is also particularly challenging to read right now, because Israel, Egypt, Assyria, Syria (Aram) and Iraq (Babylon) are never far from consideration; alongside oppression, conflict and mass people movements. If we needed any reminding of our chaotic and painful world, which we don’t, Isaiah gives us one, geographically and historically. We can be grateful to the prophet that it is his voice that also proclaims a ‘light for the gentiles’ and a great light seen for ‘the people walking in darkness.’

But as Isaiah proclaims the ‘new thing’ it is more than a word for Israel, it is a word about the nature of God. God is merciful; God renews; God always breathes life. So holding the reality of darkness in one hand we do celebrate the renewing presence of God in the other. To be honest, I do perceive something, and as our autumn begins in Malmesbury I look with gratitude at new and invigorated staff and leadership, renewed commitment to our Glory! and daily prayer meetings, about 40 signed up for Alpha, strong teams ministering in worship, healing, ministry to the elderly and the young, and a great team of small group pastors.

So as we pray for God to renew the church our own community, we can also pray with hope for the renewing of the far older church in Syria, and the utterly broken world in which they serve. As Isaiah prophesied, we watch for streams in the wasteland.

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Find Rest

Have you noticed how exhausting the Psalms are? ‘Clap your hands, all you nations’ (Ps. 47:1), ‘Shout aloud to the God of Jacob’ (Ps. 81:1), ‘Let us kneel before the LORD our maker’ (Ps. 95:6), ‘I stand in awe of your laws’ (Ps. 119:120), ‘Let them praise his name with dancing’ (Ps. 149:3), and ‘I will bow down toward your holy temple’ (Ps. 138:2.) We shouldn’t have pews in our churches, we should have treatment tables; and our churchwardens should morph into personal trainers and physios. Maybe that’s why we have kneelers in Anglican churches, for when the congregation simply collapses to the ground exhausted? Perhaps the Baptists have got it right with their Jacuzzis up front? Quality recovery time.

But have you noticed how peaceful and restorative the Psalms are? ‘He grants sleep to those he loves’ (Ps. 127:2), ‘Be still before the LORD and wait patiently’ (Ps.37:7), the rather emphatic ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures’ (Ps. 23:2) and ‘Find rest O my soul in God alone. (Ps. 62:5) Christian spirituality at its richest is both contemplative and charismatic, stilling and shouting; and the psalms won’t let us have it any other way.

So if you are visiting Malmesbury Abbey this summer we hope you are richly blessed on your travels and that you meet God as you worship with us. And we also hope that our short series exploring the Psalms is enlightening. But our sincere apologies; many of us have left town. We’ve done our dancing for the time-being, and we’re off to find rest.


Monday 29 July 2013

Pope Francis 1 World Cup 0

Pope Francis has made our headlines and TV screens, albeit briefly, with the astonishing scenes from Rio de Janeiro as over three million young people gathered on a beach for the Catholic-led World Youth Day. 

The Pope challenged the young people and dancing bishops gathered not to be part-time Christians and to get out there and make disciples; he seems a brilliant, holy man. And then he told Brazil that 'Jesus offers us something bigger than the World Cup!' Wow. I once, unthinkingly, quite gently criticised the Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh in a sermon in Australia; I was lynched at the door by a succession of older ladies pretty much accusing me of blasphemy. So I really like it that His Holiness has the audacity to stand on the Copacabana beach a year before the World Cup opens in the same city and declare that Jesus is bigger than Pele, Kaka, Ronaldo and the entire World Cup machine.

Of course he's quite correct. And what's more World Youth Day itself just about equalled or beat the entire 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. 64 matches, 31 teams plus England, and a total attendance of 3.18 million. Pope Francis topped that in one day. So given that the BBC invited us to spend hours watching Slovenia v Algeria and Honduras v Chile perhaps a little more coverage of the prayerful, youthful vibrancy of the Roman Catholic church might have been appropriate.

Thursday 25 July 2013

Butterflies

Last Thursday morning, as six of us gathered in the chapel for 9am Morning Prayer, we were looking back in awe and gratitude for the previous night’s Abbey prayer meeting. Over the last year I have always been moved when a small group, normally in single figures, gathered to intercede for the renewal of the church and for the healing of our world. This month we took a different approach, renamed the meeting ‘Glory!’ and spent nearly an hour in passionate worship, declaring the glory of God, and then continued to seek his face and share the revelation the Spirit gave to us. 45 people came, we left rejoicing, and then at prayers the following morning Psalm 29:9 nudged us back to the previous evening: The voice of the LORD twists the oaks, and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”  We did; we will again.

Many in their prayers received a personal revelation of God’s glory; but there was also a theme of emergence, a parcel being unwrapped, barriers coming down, and particularly the image of the butterfly coming forth from a chrysalis. Emerging from the chrysalis for freedom in Christ (Galatians 5:1), the church emerging from darkness into light (with the red on wings symbolizing the blood of Christ), the church’s wings being strengthened as it struggled to emerge from the chrysalis, and the created existing to worship the Creator signified in the beauty of a butterfly. For myself, and for many others, the very gathering of so many to declare God’s glory and to intercede was an emergence for the Abbey, and a profound encouragement for the journey ahead – for which we interceded for an anointing of lips to praise and proclaim the gospel, and prayed with expectance that God will stretch out his hand to heal (Acts 4:30,31.) There is so much more to say and share, but this is offered to encourage you to rest this summer and prepare for the harvest ahead.


A couple of tourists visited the Abbey on Wednesday night as I prepared for the meeting. I explained to them that I was setting up for a prayer meeting, that the Abbey wasn’t a ruin and neither was the vicar. After their dinner in town the couple popped back and heard our final prayers, our glorious final song (In Christ alone) and stayed as I pronounced the final blessing. They came up to me and simply said ‘you must be a very happy man.’ They were right.

Friday 19 July 2013

Tea with the Queen

No, I didn’t have tea with the Queen; Her Majesty has more important things to do than sip Assam with me. However there is the odd remarkable thing to report about my incarceration at Windsor Castle for 11 days.

Firstly, do you realise how amazing Malmesbury Abbey is? Hand on heart, if I had to choose between St George’s Chapel, Windsor or our 12th century beauty at the heart of North Wiltshire there is simply no contest. I’m excited to be back in the richness of our worshipping and community life, what a blessing.

Secondly, I did see the most extraordinary kitchen table at Windsor Castle. In the Deanery study (the deanery is where the Dean lives) is the very old kitchen table which was which used to lay the body of King Charles I on while they sewed his head back on after his execution. He was then, rather oddly, interred in the vault of King Henry VIII – unlikely companions really.

Thirdly, I observed that it must be pretty hard to build a congregation if you have two or three police armed with machine guns at the gate and an admission price of over £15 just to get on the site.

But one real benefit was disconnection. I resisted the temptation to make phone calls and e-mails and took the opportunity to step back from parish ministry. Psalm 127 says this:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat –
    for he grants sleep to those he loves.


We build our houses and we guard our cities (sometimes with very large walls) but unless we have a divine partner it’s all vanity. So this summer we step back, rest and sleep in the shade and ask of the Lord, what next?

Thursday 4 July 2013

(Re)Discovering Worship

We’ve spent two months so far in our (Re)Discovering series. The first month asked ‘do you know how to work your jaw?’ – the focus was evangelism. The second month asked ‘do you have a pulse?’ – the focus was vocation. Eight weeks summarised in four words: say something, do something. We grow as disciples as we speak about God; we grow as disciples as we serve alongside each other in the church and the world. What next? Coming on Sunday 14th July for four weeks, (Re)Discovering Worship.

Worship is holistic, it incorporates all of our lives; it is orientation. Before the fires descended on Mount Carmel, Elijah went up to the crowds and had one final word with them, a simple request, ‘if the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ (1 Kings 18:21) The sadness of that moment is that the people said nothing in response. St Paul writing to the church in Rome similarly calls for a complete reorientation of life in light of Christ’s sacrifice: ‘I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.’ (Romans 12:1) Worship is the orientation of a human life in such a way that it declares the worth of God. It is all grace, God’s gift to us that we might give ourselves to him.

But what the psalmists discovered was that as they orientated their lives towards God, often literally walking the roads towards the temple in Jerusalem, something happened to their bodies: ‘I spread out my hands to you’ (Psalm 88:9), ‘In reverence I will bow down towards your holy temple’ (Psalm 5:7), ‘Clap your hands all you nations’ (Psalm 47:1), ‘His praise will always be on my lips’ (Psalm 34:1),and ‘Praise his name with dancing, make music to him with tambourine and harp’ (Psalm 149:3.) It all flows from this: ‘I love you LORD’ (Psalm 18:1). The psalms mention love more times than any book in the Bible; the psalms engage the entire being in worship more than any book in the Bible.

You’ve probably already put yourself into a worship category: ‘I praise the Lord with my impressive theology’ or ‘I praise the Lord with my radical life’ or ‘I praise the LORD with my exuberant song’ or ‘I stand passively with folded arms’ or ‘Diligam te Domine fortitudo mea’. But we all know that that’s not right, true love doesn’t compartmentalise. The question for the next four weeks brings it all together: do you have a first love? The answer is our worship.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Ordination

As Revd John Monaghan joins us as Curate this Sunday it’s worth reflecting on the not so short journey to becoming a minister in the Church of England. Years after becoming a disciple of Jesus and after considerable volunteer ministry in the local church, men and women who feel called to serve in leadership in the church are finally allowed off the coffee rota and go through an extensive and prayerful selection process which includes the local church, the diocese and finally a selection conference for the national church. After selection comes three years of theological and pastoral training which then continues to some extent in the curacy. Next year John will be ordained Priest, which will bring new dimensions to his ministry involving the sacrament of Holy Communion, conducting weddings, and increased leadership responsibility. This weekend John was ordained Deacon, which, quite profoundly, places at the heart of his ministry a commitment to serve the world and to serve the gospel; it is Anglican practice that the servant heart of Christ should  remain before Christian leaders throughout their ministry. Before John was ordained deacon these are the words the Bishop proclaimed over all the candidates:

‘Deacons are called to work with the Bishop and the priests with whom they serve as heralds of Christ's kingdom. They are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, as agents of God's purposes of love. They are to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people. They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be made visible.

Deacons share in the pastoral ministry of the Church and in leading God's people in worship. They preach the word and bring the needs of the world before the Church in intercession. They accompany those searching for faith and bring them to baptism. They assist in administering the sacraments; they distribute communion and minister to the sick and housebound.

Deacons are to seek nourishment from the Scriptures; they are to study them with God's people, that the whole Church may be equipped to live out the gospel in the world. They are to be faithful in prayer, expectant and watchful for the signs of God's presence, as he reveals his kingdom among us.’ 

Please remember John and Alice, Philip, Toby and Clara, as their life and ministry among us formally begins today. It is a privilege to have them among us for this important part of their journey. (Placing bets as to whether Revd Alice or Revd John will be a Bishop first is inappropriate at this stage, but may feature as part of future fundraising at the Abbey.)