72 hours in Israel/Palestine

So as you might know, I spent the first half of this week in Israel/Palestine. We were only 'in country' for 72 hours (give or take a few minutes) but managed to pack in 10 meetings, 3 discussion sessions and plenty of time in the minibus. I won't give you a blow-by-blow account, but I'll give you some of the highlights.

The trip was part of an ongoing dialogue between the Methodist Church in Britain and the Board of Deputies of British Jews (a representative body of the British Jewish community). The group was made up of four leading people in the Methodist Church, an Orthodox Rabbi, a leading Rabbi in the Reform Jewish Movement, and me, and was led by FODIP and The Centre for New Diplomacy. The idea was that we would experience some of the issues facing people on both sides of the Green Line.

Between Monday evening and Thursday afternoon we met with Diplomats from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, members of the Palestinian Authority, leading Jewish figures, and a number of organisations (both in Israel and the West Bank) working for peace and greater dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians; Jews, Muslims and Christians.

I learnt a lot and took on a lot of different points of views. I realised the complexity of language around identity. I learnt that Modern Hebrew isn't the same as Scriptural Hebrew. I took part in an outdoor celebration for the last day of Hanukkah on the slopes of  Mount Zion. I remembered that I really don't like Arabic Coffee, but drank it anyway (it would be rude to refuse it...)

One of the highlights was getting up at 4.55am to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (I never thought getting up that early would be a highlight for anything!). I had been to the Church before, about 18 months ago, during the day and it was crowded - at 5.30am there were very few people there, and the peace was amazing. To kneel at the actual* foot of the Cross is an extremely humbling experience, as was praying in the Tomb of Christ*. We spent some time in worship, singing and offering prayers in such an holy place.

I was so excited when I saw that a visit to the Tent of Nations was on the itinerary, as it is one of my favourite places on earth. I have talked about it before (here). Returning, hearing the story of the family's perseverance again and hearing some of what has happened in the last 18 months was very emotional; I have to admit I did start to well-up. The positivity of people living in such difficult circumstances is so inspiring, to thrive despite a 22 year legal battle, with not access to the electricity grid or plumbed water; amazing!

But the most valuable part of the trip for me was the chats between the group on the bus, over dinner, in the bar etc. Sharing experiences, thoughts and perspectives really helped me to understand the complexity of the issues in the Holy Land (and I mean understand the extent of the complexity, I don't think anyone actually understands it all fully). So I would like to thank the amazing people I had the honour of spending time with this week. I am so grateful to have been considered to be part of this process.

I'm not sure what the future is, but I ask those of you who pray and/or send out good thoughts to pray/send good thoughts to all those involved in the current negotiations, all those working for peace and justice on (and for) both sides, and especially for all the people living in the region. May the land where Jesus walked feel peace.

* I say these are the actual places. I'm a tad sceptical, but even if they aren't, they are still so highly symbolic that it doesn't really matter to me if they are or not.

Reflections on the last Year

So my year as an OPP is over. It has gone crazily fast, it only seems last week that I was in the interview, and only a few days since I was standing in Methodist Church House for our first training weekend. But now is a time to look back over what I have done.

I've worked for an amazing charity, Methodist Action, alongside so inspirational staff and volunteers who are truly dedicated to supporting those most in need across Lancashire. I've worked at countless drop-in sessions, meeting service-users who have opened my eyes to some of the problems they face. I've chopped a tonne of onions (and discovered that the ability to do so without crying is almost a valuable enough skill to go on my CV). But there have been a number of times where I have had tears in my eyes, and not because of the onions. I've heard stories that has shocked me, seen lovely people in terrible situations that have upset me, and felt terribly guilty about how lucky I have been to come home to a warm, dry house. All this has had quite an effect on me and on my view of Church. I've seen God's love and felt his presence significantly more at the drop in sessions I've worked at than in the Sunday morning services I've sat through (and that will be a post for another day).

One of the hardest things I've done is create a youth group resource pack, looking at spiritual gifts and volunteering. Called 'God Given', it is available free here. I've struggled, sat staring at a blank screen for long stints, scoured Google for ideas, and chatted with a wonderful designer for the publicity. All I can hope now is that people find it useful (and If you know anyone who might find it useful, point them too it and I have about 300 leaflets that I can send out).

Outside of work, I've moved to the other end of the country, become an proud honorary Lancastrian, and noticed that the Welsh twang in my accent has weirdly got stronger... I lived with the love of my life for a few months without us killing each other or arguing too much. I have found a house and (effectively) lived alone, getting to know a new city.

So what next? Well, that is a good question, and one I don't really know the answer too. I have discovered a passion for Christian-based charitable work, and would love to find a job in that sector. I'm looking for a job, hopefully in the charitable sector and hopefully in the Manchester/Oldham region. And I'm sure something will come up. In the meantime, maybe I'll have to move back south, that is a decision I am still working through.

And I also have to come to terms with stopping being a Methodist Yuff! In October I will be 24, and 3Generate 2013 will be (officially) my last. I know that I will continue to be a 'young Methodist', and will continue to support those involved in working with the current young generation.

So, now I'm back in a place of uncertainty, I focus again on that powerful and poetic piece of prayer, the Methodist Covenant Prayer:

I am no longer my own but Yours.
Your will, not mine, be done in all things,
Where ever Your may place me,
In all that I do and in all that I may endure;

When there is work for me and when there is none;
When I am troubled and when I am at peace.

Your will be done when I am valued and when I am disregarded
when I find fulfilment and when it is lacking;
When I have all things and when I have nothing.

I willingly offer all I have and am to serve You
As and where You choose.
Glorious and Blesséd God, Father Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine and I am yours,
May it be so forever.

Let this Covenant now made of Earth be fulfilled in Heaven.

Amen

Blesséd Are The Peacemakers - Poem

Blesséd are the peacemakers,
Stepping in between two warring sides
And taking the flak from both.

Blesséd are the peacemakers,
Trying to bridge the gap
And getting stuck in the middle.

Blesséd are the peacemakers,
working so hard for resolution.
Frustrated when the conflict flares.

Blesséd are the peacemakers,
For now a thankless job.
But they will be called the children of God.

Called to be a Bureaucrat

This is a post that has been rattling around my head for a long time, but I've been unable to articulate myself. So let's see how this goes.

I've been thinking a lot about my role and calling within the church recently. A number of people have asked if I am going to become a local preacher, or even enter the ministry. I must admit that I would hate to be a local preacher! I led a service a number of years ago, and really didn't enjoy it. It's just not me, I'm not an 'up the front' kind of person. And I have struggled to explain to people that I'm not ignoring a calling, or running from it. I honestly don't believe I have had that calling. I'm not going to say never, because I know that God may call me yet, but I feel my place is elsewhere.

It often seems to me that the church values 'The Call to Preach' as the only calling you can have. As a young person active in the Church, the obvious next step is doing Faith and Worship (the training you do to become a Local Preacher, that is someone who is able to preach, but isn't a Reverend). But we can be called to so much more.

I am a bureaucrat. Some would prefer to use the term 'Methodist Geek', a label I am also happy to wear. I really enjoy meetings. I love being at Conference, being part of the decision making structure. It is where I am happy (sometimes frustrated, despairing, ashamed but happy). I know there are others who hate it, find it a bind to the day to day work of a church. But the 'business side' of the church is important. And it's where I think I best serve the church. I feel my calling is to the bureaucracy. Where that will take me is anyone's guess (except God, I guess he knows).

I was reading Jill Baker (The Methodist Women in Britain President)'s blog just now, and I quote from that now.

 [Rev. Peter Baker] recounted a tale (legend?) about Sir Christopher Wren visiting the site of St. Paul's Cathedral, incognito, during its construction and asking one of the labourers what he was doing.  The boy answered, "I'm just carrying bricks" to which the great architect replied, "No, you're not, you're building a cathedral". (You can read the rest of her blog here)

Being involved in the business side of church can often feel like you are carrying bricks. Doing a lot of the ground work. I don't say this begrudgingly. I am not a great ideas man, but I am happy to support those who are, to put frameworks in place, work on policy and procedure to facilitate great projects. As well as a meetings man, I am a bit of a techy. Tech support is so often a thankless job. The band stand up the front a get the thanks after the service, while us techies are ripping up gaffer tape, coiling wires and packing away the speakers. And doing the business side can be the same. Very few people stop to thank the person who did the risk assessment, the budget, the form filling. And again, I don't to sound like I'm hard done by. I don't do what I do for praise and glory, I do it because it needs to be done, and it is where I can serve the church.

I just ask that people think more widely about callings people can have. Being a Techie can be a calling; being a bureaucrat is a calling; doing the flowers is a calling. And all callings are as important as each other.

So next time someone asking if I have thought about local preaching I will say 'Yes, I have thought about it, and I think God wants be to be a Bureaucrat.'

Social Media Revolution?

Social media often makes the headlines as a revolutionary new form of technological communication, a wild place where anonymous avatars troll everybody, teens sext and rioters plot and plan. It's a scary place out there.

But is social media actually that that fundamentally different to what came before?

I'm not saying it hasn't impacted society, I am sure it has. Combined with 24 hour news and the rise of citizen journalists, social media has sped up the world. Where as you used to get the news the next morning in the paper, now we see it unfolding live on Twitter. It has also shrunk the world. In an instant I can chat with a friend who is skiing in the Alps, help someone write a report in Brazil, discuss political representation with a former MP now in the US and see picture being taken in SPACE! (You simply have to follow @Cmdr_Hadfield)

But I could have done all this 30 years ago, only it would have taken a lot longer and been infinitely more expensive.

Let's look at an example that really caught the public imagination. The Riots across London and other cities in 2011 brought the use of social media into the spotlight. BBM, Twitter and Facebook were all implicated in being in part responsible for what happened, because without them people could never have organised the violence. Yet, Mark Zuckerberg wasn't even a glint in his father's eye in 1981 during the Brixton Riots and I'm pretty sure Wat Tyler wasn't live-tweeting the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. So why all the fuss about social media?

#PeasantsAreRevolting

I see the same in the church (its view of social media, not mass uprising...). You can find all kinds of blogs and seminars on 'how to be a Christian on Twitter'. I may have even written about it myself before... Maybe it's because I am one of the social media generation, but I act the same on Twitter as I do in 'the real world' (I don't like the real world/online world splitting, but that's another story). I respect people, I try and be polite, I debate, I choose not to engage with some people.

Far from being a den of evil, social media is great! I can engage with conferences and events I'm not at, and I can share my thoughts with other people. I was recently at Inspire, the Lancashire Methodist District day conference, and saw this tweet.

@inspiredayconf the old lady next to me does not believe I am listening #inspire7 Should have had a social media workshop.
— Keith R-W (@keithrileywhitt) March 2, 2013

This is something I have often come up against. But for me, summing up a view in 140 characters helps me think about it, it proves me with a archive to look back at later, and maybe more valuably, it adds a second layer of discussion to an event. The same thing happens at Methodist Conference; there is the debate going on between the 300-odd people on the conference floor, and then the debates going on between many hundreds of people both there and around the country, even the world. This is true 'connexion'.

So that is why I love social media, and I've not even touched on the great power of social media for campaigning. There are people who write much more eloquently and scholarly about Social Media than this rambling blog (thinking of you @vickybeeching), but as a member of the social media generation, I'm just putting my thoughts out there.

I'd like to hear from you - please comment on here, on Facebook or on Twitter, or by letter if you're not a fan of social media.

• Why is social media seen as something so radically different?

• Is social media inherently good or bad? Or, like a hammer, is it a tool that can be used for either?

• Should I blog about why I don't like the 'online/real world' dichotomy?