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.

OPP Post #7 - There will be poor always

I love my job. I'm going into a third phase of my year, meaning that I am pulling back from the regular drop in work for a more desk based phase of report writing, research and resource writing. While this is very exciting, I am really going to miss the drop in work, and the clients I've got to know.

I must admit that there have been times where I have been totally overwhelmed by the task faced by those working with homelessness and poverty. With the changes to benefits this year, it has seemed like we are trying to bail out the Titanic with a thimble. A totally unscientific look at our stats has shown that the numbers attending one of our drop ins have jumped up in the last month. There is likely to be a number of factors, but can it only coincidence that it fits with the benefit changes. There are times I've got home after work and felt so guilty for the nice warm house I get to sleep in, when we have just handed a young couple sleeping bags and suggested a few places for them to bed down.

It seems like an endless job. And it has really made me reflect on those baffling words of Jesus 'The poor you will always have with you,'

I wish I knew what Jesus meant by this. Is it a rare defeatist view from Christ, or a criticism of the human condition? Or is it just a simple observation that true materialistic equality is impossible? (On that last point, I think of the film Enemy at the Gates, where the Communist Commissar comes to realise that communism won't work, as he is jealous of the love his best friend has. He says: 'In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love.')

Maybe it is a shot of reality to all of us, to not be complacent or defeatist. There will always be those in need, but that isn't a reason not to try. Or maybe I am reading way too much into this, and risk becoming like my GCSE English Teacher, who would overanalyse every word of a poem. (She once said that a poet used the alliteration of the 'M' sound to signify the falling snow.)

I'm sounding quite bleak here. But what sparked me to write this post was an encounter I had in the street a few days ago.

I was wasting time in town before getting the bus to a meeting when I bumped into Sophie*, a client who had been coming to the Drop In for a while with her partner Adam*, but who I hadn't seen for a few weeks. When you don't see someone for a while, it could be that they have moved away. Other times, we find out that they are in hospital, or even have passed away. But this case was the best scenario. Sophie told me that they had got themselves a flat and Adam had a job. She had a massive smile on her face. Then she thanked me for all we had done for her, shook my hand and walked off.

It made my eyes well up a little (and they are again now as I write this). Moments like that are that little boost that is needed to keep going. Yes, there are an awful (in both uses of the word) lot of people who rely on Drop Ins and Foodbanks, but there is hope.

*Not their real names.

Questioning the Status Quo

So, what's it like being world famous rock stars?

Ok, that was a terrible joke, I apologise.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the Methodist Church, how it works (and sometimes it doesn't), politics, procedures, priorities, and so on. I'm going to write about some of the questions I've been pondering. I'm quite good at asking questions, but not so good at providing answers. Especially as some require out of the box thinking, and as I said recently, I am not good at thinking outside of the box, but I am ok at knowing when being inside the box doesn't work. Maybe some of them don't even have answers... I like bouncing ideas around, hopefully this blog can serve as a place for that to happen. This is going to be a bit of a stream of consciousness. So let's see where this goes.

(Disclaimers: Some of these thoughts might be wrong, factually incorrect, and I'm happy to be corrected.)

Do we expect Ministers to be masters-of-all-trades?

Ministers are trained in Theology. This isn't a bad thing, obviously we need our ministers to be strong theologians. But when they go into Circuit, they are expected to chair Church Council's and oversee the 'business' side of the local Church. As far as I know, ministers aren’t trained for this side of the role. (There may be some who have those skills from their former life, but not all.)

Does this affect the long-term life of churches? Where is the business-minded thought to the future, to using resources to their full extent, and joined up thinking about resource sharing with other churches (Methodist and Other)?

Would Churches function better with two leaders; a pastoral minister who is a theologian and looks after the pastoral and spiritual side of the church, and a 'CEO' who deals with the financial, business, resource- and people-management side?

Are we too numbers driven?

How often is out outreach driven by a desire to get more bums on seats, more members, more people putting money into the collection plate, and how often is it driven out of a genuine desire to spread the Good News? How often is it our agenda, not God's?

Often I have heard people comment that fresh expressions haven't translated into more members. 'Yes, it's great that Messy Church has 40 families on a Saturday afternoon, but they don't come on a Sunday, and they don't give much toward the costs.' Is this really what Church is about?

Are we too precious of our members? I read something where a church was worried that some changes might lead people to 'leave us for other denominations'. Were we called to make disciples of Christ, or members of the Methodist Church?

What is Church?

Do churches need a physical building of their own? Can a church offer the same things to the community and to its members by renting time in a community centre? Chapels can be community centres, so why not make community centres chapels? This could release money that is otherwise spent on maintaining bricks and mortar. Or is there something important about having a physical presence?

I'm going to leave it there for now, this is a good start. (It's just been pointed out that I have written 3 main points, all I need is a few hymns for a traditional Methodist Service, ironic...)

Please, please get in touch, comment, tweet, carrier pigeon, or any  other out of the box ideas. I meant this as a conversation starter.

And now for our final hymn, we stand and sing Hymn 77 - Rockin' All Over The World

(PS, as this is post number 65, this blog is being given the option of retiring. Luckily, it feels well enought to carry on.)

Getting Cross over Crosses

Today has been one of those days where I despair at Christianity in the media. Two stories have dominated my (predominately Christian) Twitter feed today. The first is Homosexual relationships, as a well know Evangelical has come out (pun intended) in support monogamous of same-sex relationship. There has been response, counter-response, counter-counter-response, counter-counter-counter... well you get the idea. This has been interesting, but not something I'm going to blog about.

The other story has been about a European Court of Human Rights ruling today that a British Airways employee who was told she couldn't wear her cross was discriminated against. Lots of people have come out in support of this ruling. But to me... well I'm not that fussed.

I don't know the ins-and-outs of the language used, or the reasons behind it. But from what I have read and seen, I struggle to see this as discrimination.

On my first day working for a pizza company, I was asked to take my cross off. Actually, that's not true. I was asked to take my necklace off. The Uniform Policy states that the only jewellery allowed is a single stud earring per ear, a watch and an engagement and/or wedding ring. So I took my cross necklace off, and haven't warn it at work since (except for the odd times I've forgotten to take it off). Did I feel persecuted or discriminated against? Nope. I was being treated the same as all the other staff. And the wearing of a cross isn't central to my faith. I wear a cross out of choice. I like to have it because I hold it in my hand when I pray, or am deep in thought.

I also don't think the wearing of a cross actually shows anything. An awful lot of Christians I know don't wear one, a lot of non-Christians I know do. In a brief Twitter conversation earlier, I said that I think that if you need to wear a cross for people to know you are a Christian, something is wrong. I hope that it isn't my cross that lets people know I'm a Christian.

What this story got me thinking was the passion and vigour in which people celebrated this 'victory' for Christianity. Like this was a major progressive step in social justice.

I wish there was so much passion and vigour from the church shown over other areas of social justice. Let's think of some. Human Trafficking, Oppression, War, Homelessness, Poverty.

In the face of these, the right to wear a small bit of metal around your neck pales into insignificance. (And I'm not saying that Christians are not passionate about these social issues, but that it seems to be a lot less visible in the media.) As Christians, we should be worrying about these big issues, spending our time trying to tackle these, not arguing over uniform policy.

This story - and the stories of the three other Christian cases that were heard by the ECHR but were ruled not to be discrimination - have lead to various people talking about how Christians in Britain face persecution in the face of modern, liberal society. I feel this massively devalues the word. There are Christians around the world that risk arrest, torture and fear for their lives because of their faith. 

We are lucky to live in a society where that isn't the case.

So, come on Christians, lets pull ourselves together, look at the real social injustice of the world, and do something positive to challenge them.

I'd like to hear from you - please comment on here, on Facebook or on Twitter.

What's your view on the whole Cross issue?
Do you wear a cross? Is so, why?

We need a Doctor!

As I said in the previous post, blogging more and reading the Bible more are two of my resolutions for 2013. So, for my first post of the new regime, I'm combining the two.

Firstly, I have to admit I'm two days behind my Bible reading already... I blame the two shifts meaning I wasn't home until very late.  But I'll catch up tonight and tomorrow. When I was reading the other day, two sections popped out at me, which are very closely linked.

Mathew 9: 10-13, coming straight after the calling of Matthew, says:

¹⁰ Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. ¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” ¹³ Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (NLT)

A quick aside, I love the use of the word 'scum'. Its usage here reminds me of the (accused) use of 'pleb' by Andrew Mitchell MP, and the Spartacus-esque 'I am a pleb' that followed. From reading around this passage, and the attitudes of the Pharisees portrayed in the Gospels, I am happy to say 'I am Scum!'

The second passage is Proverbs 20: 9:

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart;
    I am pure and free from sin”? (NLT)

I think these passages highlight something all Christians need to remember. We are all sick people; we all need a doctor. In a bonus track on an album by thebandwithnoname, they talk of this 'disease' as 'psychological sickness' which affects how we think and act and that it is terminal unless we seek treatment. All Christians are human (unless one day, we find aliens who are also Christian but if that happens I'll happily edit this!) and humans sin.  Often we can't help it; we let our emotions take control, we speak out of anger, we let jealously eat away, we think we know what is best for us and ignore God.

And I think it is important to remember this when we view actions, statements, and practices of the Church. The Church is a human construct, a group of flawed people coming together to try and do better. 'Try' being the main word. The church isn't perfect; it makes mistakes, it causes hurt, it doesn't always show the best side of God. And we get judged for that by the media and the public. Maybe we need to be more upfront about our failings. Often 'Holier than Thou' is many people's view of Christians, and when issues of women in leadership and sexuality dominate the religion sections of the news, 'Church' seems totally alien to society.

I love this picture, and I think it is something we need to remember. Sin is Sin is Sin. Is 'sexual immorality' (whatever that means) worse than ignoring those in need? Is acting in Anger worse than acting in Lust? We all sin. None of us can say 'I am pure and free of sin.' None of us can take up Jesus' invitation to pick up a rock to throw at the woman caught with a man who wasn't her husband. I pray for the day when the mainstream view of the Church is one of love and openness, not one of judgement and exclusion (And I'm not saying that Churches aren't open and loving, but it is a common view that they’re not). It pains me that when the Church (and usually the Church of England) is in the media, it is for negative reasons. Very rarely is the great work of the Church and of Christians shown.  There is amazing work going on to support some of the poorest and most vulnerable going on in Christian groups around the world. Let's get that good news out, so that THE Good News (of Jesus Christ) can be given that publicity it deserves.

(Footnote: I have been very heavy on us as sinful beings here, which I make no apologies for. But it is important to remember that those sins don't have to be a burden to us. Through the Doctor of Jesus Christ this can be treated; our slates can be wiped clean. This is the wonderful news that we should be sharing.)

I'd like to hear from you - please comment on here, on Facebook or on Twitter.

How can we get more good news out about what Churches are doing?

Do you struggle with peoples' idea that Christians are 'Holier than Thou?'