42

More on a lighter footprint

I have written before about the opportunities created by our move this summer, for example in 42: A lighter footprint. Our move is coming close now with about a week to go.

So today we took a big step in lightening our footprint. We have moved from two cars to one. One step further to a longer aim of one day becoming car free.

Key to this was finding a car that would have much of the economy and costs of our small Citroen C1 while providing as much of the capacity of our large Citroen C8 as is needed by a family with 3 tall sons.

In the end we managed a two for one part exchange (sadly a considerable top-up was required) and now have a Citroen Berlingo Multispace with family pack (h'mm pity the name is so long). So this gives us 7 seats (room for Mum and/or girl friends) or a generous sized boot. Yet the running costs and environmental impact (Fuel, Vehicle Excise Duty, Insurance, ...) are all much closer to the C1 than the C8.

It would have been hopelessly costly (financially as well as environmentally) to run our C8 as an only car with the prospect of many short city journeys (eg from one side of Leicester to the other in order to take mum out for a while). On the other hand we could not all fit in the 4 seat C1 and it could not have a towbar so caravanning would have been impossible.

The Berlingo might look ugly and is not going to be exciting to drive but neither of those are high priorities (indeed quite the opposite, given the goal of driving much less, a car that you want to show off or that is fantastic to drive would have been positively unhelpful).

Two key things have made this change possible. 

Firstly, downsizing from our big twin axle 6 berth caravan to our small five berth folding camper (Dandy Designer). So we moved from needing to tow about 1600kg to around 400kg.

Secondly, the move from Raunds in the Nene Valley Circuit to Syston in the Leicester North Circuit coupled with the changes in the needs of the family. We no longer need to get a son to and from a 6th form and county music service both 20 miles away. Jane no longer needs to work somewhere that makes getting a son to a distant school convenient. The Leicester North Circuit is far more compact and so means I should be able to cycle rather than drive (for example I have had 2 Churches 10 miles from home in opposite directions. After the move nowhere in the circuit is more than about 7 miles away and the Churches I serve are much closer).

We have had our Citroen C8 for 6 years and it has been a great family workhorse, superb for holidays and carting around lots of people and stuff. But with nearly 100,000 miles on the clock and different needs it was no longer appropriate.

We only had our Citroen C1 for 2 1/2 years. We bought it to be a cheap (environmentally and financially) way to get to and from Northampton far too many times a week. Having bought it with only 10,000 on the clock after one year, we did rather more, averaging about 1,500 miles per month. Beyond the original need we used it whenever we could, even for longer journeys as it was so much cheaper to run than the C8.

Now we hope the Berlingo will provide good economy (something over 40mpg overall) with the space and flexibility we need. First signs are good it is the smallest and cheapest 7 seater car we found that fits our two younger sons in the back row. Some of the alternatives were amazing (not in a good way though) for example Jane and I nearly killed ourselves trying to climb into the 3rd row of seats in a Toyota Verso.

It certainly feels a lot lighter to be able to go back down to only one car. However, we do recognise that in absolute terms it is far from a great environmental example that we are setting. I would love it if we were able to take the further step of this being our last ever car. I hope that improvements in public transport, dramatic improvements to the cycling infrastructure and options for car pooling over the next few years might allow that dream to become a reality.

 

New hope for Trident?

It seems to me that the transfer of the costs of the Trident nuclear system to the Department of Defence (Future of Trident in doubt as ministers row over budget | Ekklesia) is right and offers new hope.

Unless the Ministry of Defence bears the cost of everything related to defence/military expenditure it cannot be expected to make the decisions based on cost effectiveness. If they do not pay for Trident then it should be no wonder they want it as it will appear to be fantastically cost effective.

By putting the costs into the MOD it will have to be justified as cost effective against the alternatives. Personally I am confident that in any fair comparison the full costs of Trident will not be cost effective and so on those grounds alone it should be abandoned.

My own view is of course that it does not matter at all if Trident is cost effective, it should still be abandoned and all our Nuclear weapons decommissioned immediately. That to be followed as soon as possible by ideally a complete demilitarisation of the UK.

Step one in all this should be immediate progress on banning all arms sales to anyone anywhere by any British company, any British passport holder and anyone on British soil. That will then need to be extended to include all forms of transport for arms and all supporting equipment, good and services.

Last, last services

Today included not just the thrilling end of the the Tour de France, but also my last two services in the Nene Valley Circuit. The last few weeks have felt at times like the last few km of a tour stage, lining up for the finish line, getting the team organised and giving your all for that chance of a good finish.

So this morning I was at Raunds. It was lovely to lead my last Holy Communion there using the communion set they gave me as a leaving present.

This afternoon was the Circuit leaving service. Lovely to not lead the service but as expected embarrassing in places.

Now all services in this Circuit are done. Just a few bits of paperwork handover and I am done.

22 years and counting

Today (Friday) was our 22nd wedding anniversary. It does not seem like it but I met Jane nearly 25 years ago at the Manchester University Ecumenical Society. Our 22 years together have been and continue to be a joy.

We had a lovely day. Jane finished her job as a Learning Support Assistant yesterday and it is my day off. So once our youngest son had disappeared for his last day at school in Raunds we went back to bed ;-)

Sometime later we emerged and after a very short token attempt to do a few jobs we went out for lunch together at Stanwick Lakes, it was extremely romantic sitting outside on the decking over the lake eating Jacket Potatoes with Tuna Mayonnaise :-)

As it was the last day of term School finished early so we dashed off to Syston, just north of Leicester, where we will be moving very soon now. On the way we collected Mum from the Methodist Home in Oadby and just about arrived in time to meet Pete, the Circuit Steward who is looking after the moving process.

We saw the very rapid work being done on the manse to prepare it for us. Particularly adding a loo downstairs so Mum can visit (I think it is essential anyway if you are going to have visitors that they should not have to go upstairs into the bedroom area to use the toilet). The old drive is gone and the new one will be put in this weekend. In the study there are 6 new Billy bookcases, freshly assembled !!! :-) The wiring is going in (at our expense obviously) so that I can safely use a MIG Welder in the shed we will be putting in. Our predecessors have left the whole house looking very clean and nice, the boys enjoyed planning their new rooms - much easier now they are empty. while there we were also able to collect a whole load more boxes to pack :-(

Then we all went out for a meal at the Hobby Horse to celebrate our anniversary, not been there before but will go again I am sure.

After that we took advantage of the long light evening to have a quick look around to see if we can find a cycle route to Wanlip Sailing Club. We left hoping they can allow access through the locked gate on Meadow Lane (running west from Syston) as otherwise it requires you to ride on the A46 dual carriageway. Otherwise Roundhill Sailing Association is also handy but they only seem to sail on Sundays which is not much good.

Anyway, we then went for a nice walk in the northern part of Watermead park (round King Lear Lake), very wheelchair friendly and looks like a really nice place to go that is very close to home. I can see it being a very popular place for a gentle evening bike ride as well as a route I'll be using a lot to get to Leicester City Centre and to Rachel's manse (the Superintendent minister) at Birstall.

Then we dropped Mum off, never a quick operation :-) still we were home by 10:30pm.

The result is that I am looking forward to the next 22 years with Jane.

A great value urban bike

I have written several posts about some absolutely fantastic urban bikes. See

• 42: Great City Bikes
• 42: 3 more great urban bikes

For more generic issues see my older post 42: What makes the best urban Bike

Now time to address a "value" option, a bike for everyday use that is affordable for more people.

For me the Halfords | Carrera Subway 8 Hybrid Bike 18" looks like excellent value at £350.

• You get 8 gears (Shimano Nexus which should be fine for daily use if you are not attempting to break any speed records). The gears will require no maintenance (although be warned there are scare stories on the internet about people whose nexus gears have failed after a few 1,000 miles - but it looks like they were enthusiastic hard riders which the nexus is not designed for).
• You get roller brakes. Zero maintenance. Perfectly adequate if you are not expecting race bike responses.
• You get mudguards/fenders. Essential for everyday use. You stay much drier when there are puddles and the whole bike stays cleaner which means you do as well.
• You can fit rear and front racks which makes it easy to carry plenty of stuff without having to put it on your back (you stay drier and cooler and get less tired).
• Should be easy to get a basic chainguard fitted eg a SKS ChainBoard. Available from many UK bike shops from around £15. Many shops will have other brands just as good.

I have seen so many people struggling with cheap, heavy mountain bikes. They end up walking up hills because the gears don't change properly (so many just can't get the front gear change to work at all). They can't fit racks so can't carry much. They have knobbly tyres that are slow and heavy. They have no mudguards so think you can't ride a bike if the ground is damp without getting dirty. They need bikes like the Subway 8 that are fine with all the off roading they ever do and work so much better around town.

If shops sold bikes like this people would ride them so much more than the cheap mountain bikes rusting away in sheds.

And the stupid thing is that I have visited the 4 nearest Halfords shops and not one has a Subway 8 for sale, some even tried to deny that Halfords sold them at all.

If you want a bike to ride around town and on bridleways and the National Cycle Network then do not let shops sell you a rubbish mountain bike. Demand a bike with:

• Hub gears (they will all work, they will work for years, you will not need to do any maintenance). If you are in anywhere that is not flat then look at more than 3 gears.
• Roller Brakes (no maintenance)
• Mudguards/Fenders (no bike cleaning, no special clothes needed)
• Rear Rack (carry shopping etc)
• Front Basket (makes like so much more convenient around town)
• Chainguard (one to properly keep the chain away from your clothes and water/dirt off the chain).

Happy to collect suggestions for alternatives.

If you can't abuse a child, ordain a woman instead

Pam has said it better than I can PamBG's Blog: If you can't abuse a child, ordain a woman instead. So I'll simply say I wholeheartedly agree.

The joy and pain of goodbyes

One of the facts of life for a Methodist Minister in Britain is goodbyes. As an itinerant minister you expect to move on, as a Circuit Minister (Methodist Ministers in Britain are not appointed to a specific Church but to a Circuit of Churches) that means a lot of goodbyes.

So I am now well into the seemingly endless parade of "Last Services", for a while now I have had last services at Churches in the Circuit that I visit less regularly (ones I don't have "pastoral charge" of). However, yesterday was the first real set of last services for the Churches I have been most closely connected to.

Irthlingborough

In the morning was Irthlingborough Methodist Church. I have only had pastoral charge of Irthlingborough for a year since when my friend and colleague David Kemble moved out of the circuit. We have had an exciting year which began with the opening of the refurbished Church. 

During the year we have had lots of things happening such as the restarted and very popular weekly "Little Fishes" for parents/carers and pre-school children on Thursday mornings. Plus new things such as Wednesday Lunches and special events galore. 

We have seen the whole Church complex being used much more by the community. We have seen the prayer life and Bible Studies continue to be central to the Church and a widening collection of members being involved in different aspects from worship, preaching, catering, welcoming, ... We have launched a project to refurbish the rest of the Church buildings (given that the main refurbishment was done to an lovely standard and with superb management of quality, time and cost [yet all with a clear and prayerful focus on mission] I am very confident that this will go well too).

We have also continued to strengthen our links with the Infant School (I was there for my last assembly in the week and was presented with a wonderful book of memories).

One of the most exciting things about Irthlingborough is that all this great stuff is led by the lay people of the Church. As minister I have been welcomed and included but never made to feel that people are waiting for me or dependent on me in an unhealthy way. It is not surprising that with all this we are seeing growth in Sunday worship.

Raunds

While not my last service at Raunds (that is on the 25th) it was my last Sunday Lunch (and I timed it perfectly, arriving at 12:29 just as the food was ready to serve.. The lunch happens every month and is typically for over 50 people. The regulars include a group of widows who support each other in many ways, I have got to know them well over the years and have conducted many more funerals than I would like for their husbands and friends. Anyway many good friends so it was good to be able to spend time with them and say our individual goodbyes.

Thrapston

So from the lunch at Raunds it was straight to Thrapston for their huge 125th anniversary. The small congregation had worked very hard to put on a Flower Festival and invite many people to join them for the weekend. So the Church was pretty full for the anniversary service, seemed to go well with some great hymn singing (all chosen by the congregation with Andrew our guest organist from Hope Methodist Church doing a great job).

We had a lot to celebrate and a lot to remember nit also time spent looking forward (I used Ephesians 1: 15-23 and Revelation 21:22- 22:5).

It was great to see friends from other Churches in Thrapston, from the Circuit as well as people with connections from the past (such as the choir from Sapcote who used to be regular visitors in the late 70's and then the 80's).

Of course we followed that with a tea (including a very fancy birthday cake). Plenty oif yummy grub to keep me going for my next service.

Old Weston

Despite being one of the very smallest congregations anywhere, the folks at Old Weston are always welcoming so it was good to have a couple of visitors this week.

When your congregation is small, elderly and deeply connected with the local community you get to experience highs and lows quite intensely. So we have had good celebrations over the last 5 years but also many losses and challenges. It got a bit tearful at some points. Leaving them is going to be hard.

Onward

I think I have about 5 more "last services" left over the next couple of weeks (Wollaston, Irchester, WOT, Raunds, Circuit farewell). Plus of course other groups such as Churches Together. Circuit Leadership Team and Circuit Staff. Hoping not to be a quivering wreck by the end. It is certainly very much a bereavement process which does include celebrations of what God has done but also much sadness over the people we will leave behind. It is quite different from when we moved here before, as the separation seems more definite (Methodist Ministers are strongly encouraged to fully disengage and separate from the Churches and places they are leaving - for at least 12 months).

In all that I have of course only mentioned my own Church based goodbyes. As a family there are many others for us to work through, all the while while we pack and busy lives go on. 

Anyway, time to go back to some boxes.

Internet search fun

The person who used this search why patriarchy in christian church is wonderful - AOL Search Results to find my post 42: Patriarchy Leads to Abuse. Period was probably a bit surprised to find my post on the first page of results :-)

Newfrontiers : TOAM

So it is that time of year again. New Frontiers have their annual conference at Brighton called TOAM (I think it stands for "Tragically Only Alpha Males" or something similar).

Worth looking at their main speakers (6 men), oh well maybe not then.

Lets try their leadership track speakers. There are 33 of which 29 are men and 4 women. Great, some progress you might think. The four women are:

• Liz Holden
• Beverley Landreth-Smith
• Ashleigh Smyth
• Wendy Virgo

However, before we get too excited:

• all 4 women are the wives of New Frontiers Pastors, all but 1 (Beverley Landreth-Smith) have their husband as a speaker at TOAM. Clearly it is only ok for Beverley to speak without her husband speaking as well because we are reassured "Beverley has a passion for gathering women for days together, and has organised a number of women's conferences in the Home Counties region" - so quite safe, she only talks to women.
• 3 of the women (all but Ashleigh Smyth) are speaking in the track for women (wonder which men will go to check that what they say is ok).
• Ashleigh is supporting her husband in the track about marriage and parenting (probably playing a key role in the session on submission and sex).

On the other hand, trying to be fair, Kate Simmonds (Australia) is listed first as one of their Worship Leaders. Better hope she does not try to sneak in any teaching in that worship.

As usual New Frontiers keep as quiet as they can in public about their policies on gender. I could not find anything specifically about their policies on the TOAM website. So as usual it all has to be done by looking at the outcomes. 

So far that does not look good but I'll try to track blogs to see what I can glean (note I don't generally bother watching video as it just takes too long and is hard to quote and respond to).

In the past, so far as I am aware, nobody has reported on any TOAM session led by a woman. I hope that this year that might change, although given the sessions timetable I don't expect to find any such sessions very edifying.

Patriarchy Leads to Abuse. Period.

From Woman Submit! Christians & Domestic Violence: Patriarchy Leads to Abuse. Period..

Woman Submit! Christians & Domestic Violence The false doctrine of female subordination to male authority lies at the very root of domestic abuse and domestic violence among professing Christians. The premise is despotic and abusive in and of itself. Domestic Violence among Christians will never be eradicated until gender equality for Christian women is acknowledged and practically implemented.

Patriarchy Leads to Abuse. Period.

As a formerly battered Christian wife who is alive only by supernatural intervention ( you can read about that in the first chapter of my book which is posted at www.WomanSubmit.com ), it is my profound belief (backed up by studies and statistics) that strongly held attitudes of male supremacy are largely responsible for domestic violence

By Jocelyn Andersen 

I agree totally. The fruit of domestic violence should be enough to convince Christians that readings of Scripture that claim a divine requirement for Male Headship are wrong.

Of course fear that people will realise this is one reason why so many Churches try to hide domestic violence (typically another response is to blame the victim - if only she had been more submissive this would not have happened).

Circuit Leadership Vision Day

The Methodist Conference for 2010 is over, I have not received any urgent phone calls telling me that the stations have been changed. therefore I can publish where I will be moving to.

On September 1st 2010 I will be joining the Leicester North Circuit with pastoral charge of three Churches at Queniborough, Rothley and Syston. We will be living in Syston. The Leicester North Circuit is relatively small with two full-time Presbyters (the Superintendent Rachel Parkinson. Plus me). Those who look at the comments here will noticed Rachel a number of times.

When you are approaching a move (with only 4 Sundays left in the Nene Valley Circuit) it is inevitable that there is some looking back and much looking forward (the latter being my preferred option at all times). You will have read posts about my looking back and celebrating the joy it has been to serve the Churches in this Circuit for 5 years (and there will be more to come).

However, I spent yesterday with the Leicester North Circuit Circuit Leadership team on a Vision Day. 

It was really good to meet people I did not yet know as well as those who have been helping with preparations (such as Pete, the Senior Circuit Steward who has been wonderfully helpful with the manse). They were all very friendly and I soon felt at home.

Summary: What a helpful, exciting and encouraging day this was. 

Naturally we began with devotions, led by Rachel which included some reflections on Mark 10 and recent experiences with a Circuit Prayer labyrinth (those who went to the last Northampton District Synod had an opportunity to experience the labyrinth themselves).

After a review of finances (after 9 months of the year the actual was within £19 of the budget - pretty good I think).

We spent several hours working through the "Healthy Circuit" evaluation the Northampton District has prepared. While not something I could contribute much to, it was an excellent way to learn about the Circuit. There were no nasty surprises discovered but instead there were many signs that this is a circuit that is going somewhere, they have a great vision (and are getting on with it in imaginative, creative ways). I love the Circuit Mission statement "Deepening Discipleship - Making More Disciples" (as well as the google position they have for Deepening Discipleship Making More Disciples even on the first Google page for "Deepening Discipleship". They were realistic about the challenges and the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the Circuit.

After a good carvery in a local pub we finished off the Healthy Circuit evaluation and then looked at the results of a recent Circuit Vision Day to reflect on how the Circuit Vision might be updated. There is clearly a growing sense of optimism about the future in this Circuit.

We also spent some time thinking about the change of ministers, some changes in the organisation of the Circuit and how to communicate them. Very encouraging to find that one Church Council had already been doing some work on this.

Finally I gave a short presentation suggesting some additions to the good work the Circuit is already to monitor their vision, it seemed to be accepted and will go to the next Circuit Meeting.

Very much looking forward to joining this new Circuit for 1st September.

BBC News - 'Most dangerous' UK roads named by safety group

From BBC News - 'Most dangerous' UK roads named by safety group we have a very sensible suggestion. Target money at the roads where the most accidents happen. It seems simple changes would be cheap and immediately save lives.

Surely it seems obvious to allocate an amount of money each year to be spent on the most dangerous roads from the previous year - duh! Why has this not been done every year for the past n years? It is so obvious. I guess most people think this would be common sense and be standard practice.

Of course exactly the same should be done to look at the dangers for cyclists and pedestrians. We already know a hugely disproportionate amount of the cyclists killed in London are killed by HGV's during the morning rush hour. We know that these often happen when the HGV is turning left and squashes the cyclist against fixed railings.

Somebody should have a pot of money with the simple task of working from road death and injury records to systematically target the most common causes. They need the power for solutions such as to extend the time restrictions on HGV's, demolish railings, put in proper segregated Dutch style cycle facilities. All so that the worst causes have serious resources allocated every year.

Note that blame the victim activities (helmet enforcement, luminous jackets, cycle training) do NOT count. This resources must be used on engineering solutions on the ground (and is restricted to ones that encourage cycling and walking by tackling the ones that do the killing & injuring).

Young Methodist hopeful and encouraged contrasts with ...

This Listening to God from Jarel is very encouraging.

I can't help but feel that the next year will be a good one for Methodism

I particularly loved this bit:

Sitting down and listening to Rev Alison Tomlin's Presidential address to Methodist Conference was more inspiring than I had expected. I was waiting for the usual. You know, those speeches about caring for creation, or revitalising mission or something to that effect but this year the President's speech went to a whole new level! Clearly, she is a woman of extreme experience and her anointing is definately the kind of anointing that reaches through your PC screen and slaps you in the face! lol

:-) I do hope Alison reads that, she will love it.

I have read many really encouraging reports from people at the Methodist Conference about the worship, our President and Vice President. Plus of course there is already a lot of good business that has been done. All very encouraging indeed, especially to find that the conference feeds are being watched by young Methodists like Jarel who are getting so excited about what God is doing in the Methodist Church even as they work out their own calling.

I have said it many times before, but this is a wonderful time to be in the Methodist Church as we see God shaping a new future for us.

Contrast Jarel's view (remember from a committed young man in a Church with women as President and Vice President) with the sad position of the men wanting to do anything to avoid God's blessing through all the people called to be ministers, deacons, elders, leaders, bishops, archbishops, equals, preachers, prophets, teaches, apostles, ...

As an example look at Adrian Warnock's recent post New John Piper sermon: The Gospel and Racial Harmony. Fantastic, I do celebrate that the gospel is about equal opportunities for all people, from all ethnicities, cultures, nations, ... But oh how sad that in the celebration both Adrian Warnock and John Piper go and carefully and deliberately ignore approximately 50% of the world's population. The gospel is for all, includes all - only not if you are a woman. Aaaaggghhhhh!!!!! 

It puzzles me how you can work out all that stuff about God breaking down prejudice and barriers to get the Church to welcome those it previously excluded while at exactly the same time you are building ever stronger barriers to exclude other people. 

I still can't make up my mind whether this is deliberate and conscious (in which case it is clearly evil), or if they are just stupid, unaware and incapable of reflection about what they are doing.

To add to the dilemma I received another book to review today. "Woman this is war: Gender, Slavery & the Evangelical Caste System" by Jocelyn Andersen. Even as I start the first introductory pages (engaging, funny, powerful) I am thinking: Gulp, this is not Christianity as I have ever known it, this is not Evangelicalism as I know it. 

Then I go back and think about Adrian Warnock, New Frontiers and it scares me. These are British Christians trying to introduce these hateful American views of women into Britain.

I have at times been accused of being aggressive and of picking on certain Churches and Individuals over gender issues, but it looks like this book might well take me a lot further. Heads down if you want a quiet life while we ignore those marketing hatred, exclusion & slavery under fancy names (Complementarianism, Male Headship)and pretending it is scriptural/Christian.

Oh and friends in the Church of England, don't think we won't notice if you give in to a noisy minority and don't implement full and equal women Bishops. We are watching and waiting, I for one will not be willing to compromise on this. 

I for one am tempted to say Methodists should not consider any more steps implementing the Covenant with the Church of England (such as Bishops ourselves) until a women is installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Methodist Church adopts carbon reduction policy

From Church adopts carbon reduction policy: The Methodist Church of Great Britain | 29 June 2010 we see the multiple benefits of reducing our Carbon Footprint. Theologically, environmentally plus as an added bonus:

Cutting the carbon footprint has the potential to free up money that can be used for mission.

Cutting your carbon footprint = win, win, win

Alison Tomlin: President of the Methodist Conference

In my earlier post Eunice, Methodist Vice President on God's transforming love I got all excited about British Methodisms new Vice President. Now it is time for the President.

Alison Tomlin, now our President, is another special person.  For my first four years as a Methodist Minister she was Chair of the Northampton District - my Chair (or as I liked to tease her: the boss).

Last year I reported on the celebrations of the Northampton Conference delegation when Alison was elected to be President Designate in her last conference as our District Chair.

Alison is going to be a very different Methodist President, I think that is going to be a great thing - something that will at times shock the world and challenge us. She will not be an easy or comfortable president and most certainly not a conventional one. As one illustration the Methodist Media team must have done a careful search of all photos in existence to find one of Alison in a dog collar (I don't remember ever seeing her in one myself).  Anyway here it is, Alison with Dawn French at the Make Poverty History launch in January 2005.

Another way in which Alison will not be conventional (and one which will be frustrating to traditional journalists) is that her sermons, addresses and speeches are not going to be scripted. She will normally speak without written notes as she did today in her address to the Methodist Conference, oh and she will often use music, images, actions, ... instead of words - powerful but not so easy for journalists.

Anyway you can find bits from her address to conference from the news release: If we pay attention to God we won't stay inside the Church - says new Methodist President: The Methodist Church of Great Britain | 26 June 2010.

Also from the Conference official blogger Gareth Hill: Blogging Conference: God on Twitter ... and getting out of the box.

Some bits that caught my eye:

To pay attention, said Alison, was not just understanding about God at the centre but recognising that “God is usually at the edge, on the periphery - out there with those who have been discarded and neglected, who are distressed and distraught”. It’s about “paying attention to those with whom we profoundly disagree - even our enemy” she said. Alison, who spoke without notes, reminded us how easy it is to be so busy in the Church doing good things for God. “But it’s more than inside the Church,” she said. “If we pay attention to God we won’t stay inside the church. If we pay attention to God we will have to do the things God challenges us to do: to go out among the people that need to hear the message that God loves them; who have no voice; who have had doors shut in their faces; that others reject and despise. Isn’t that an echo of what they did to Jesus?”

“I pray that we will indeed become a Church paying attention to God in such a way that the passion of God for people, for God’s creation, for our world enlivens us, enthrals us and energises us to be all that God created us to be before the world was made,” she said. “I pray that in paying attention to God and each other we may be all that God desires.” 

This is a good message, it is an uncomfortable one for many Christians and Churches. Alison has a wonderful gift of forcing us to pay attention, to look, to listen. She does not leave us there but then challenges us after reflection to also act.

All I can say is Fandabbydozy.

Eunice, Methodist Vice President on God's transforming love

Oh wow!!!!!

Methodism is in for a great year. This news story from the Methodist Church is a must read. I mean it, go and read: Methodist Vice-President speaks of God's transforming love: The Methodist Church of Great Britain | 26 June 2010.

 I have met Eunice through Methodist Council (the designate President and Vice-President are both on Council), in the address you have just read is the authentic voice of our Vice-President. That is cause for great celebration cos she is going to love us and push us and encourage us and inspire us to be the Church that God has called us to be and tell the world all about it:

Tonight I want to remind you all here of a very simple message, aware that there is nothing new about this wisdom; the message is old and it is ancient; it has been there from the very beginning. God loves you, he thinks you’re absolutely amazing. The awesome God who created and sustains this universe thinks you’re fantastic. God loves you.

...

If the Church is to be a sign of God’s kingdom, it must participate in the world that God loves. For the Church does not have the monopoly on God. God is already at work in people’s lives, in the world he created and sustains. In being sent into the world we get to join in with what God is doing. In the doing and engaging we meet God.

...

I want to be part of a church that throws parties for prostitutes - a church that welcomes those who seek asylum, a church that longs and yearns for justice, a church that listens to those no-one else wants to listen to.

Great isn't it. Inspiring, exciting. Makes me want to sing "Oh I do like to be a Methodist", but out of consideration for the environment I won't :-)

Not only is Eunice a great Vice-President for the person she is but what a great reminder of two wonderful things of Methodism:

• No office or role restricted by gender.
• The Methodist Diaconal Order

Thank you Jesus for our Vice President for 2010/2011!

Methodist Ministers and Powerlessness

There are two areas of life and work where I guess most British Methodist Ministers will say they feel at least somewhat powerless.

Firstly, the stationing process. 

The sense of powerlessness is most keenly felt when you are first stationed as a probationer. You have no choice in where you go. The Church simply sends you somewhere, you go to view it but at that point neither you nor the local Churches have any say. 

However, the "normal" stationing process (see 42: Methodist Stationing 1 and 42: Methodist Stationing 2) while less dramatic still leads to this feeling of powerlessness for many ministers (I am of course writing as a presbyter, but for Deacons I believe it to be even more so). While both ministers and circuits get to express preferences a minister can end up being matched with a Circuit that they had not short-listed (obviously the same is true for the circuits). They can turn down the match but then the choice of alternatives will be more limited.

For most people choosing where you live and work is a key element of control they choose to have over their lives. It may not seem that there is a lot of choice for a lot of people who feel limited by the possibilities in their area. However, there are choices open to them that are not open to a Methodist Minister (yes I do recognise that a Minister can choose to not be a minister any more).

Secondly, the housing situation.

Methodist Ministers get a house provided with the "job", a manse. It is paid for and maintained by the Church. For those who have never lived in a house provided with a job these can seem an attractive thing. Especially as compared to many homes they can appear quite large (4 bedrooms plus a study is the expected specification).

We need to remember that the Church chooses to provide ministers with manses for two reasons. a) It is cheaper than paying ministers enough to buy their own home, b) It gives the Church more freedom to move ministers around (eg at short notice to a more expensive area in the middle of a recession).

I have seen a fair bit of mis-understanding about how it feels to live in a house provided with your job. When work is done you always get someone saying something like "Why are you replacing that boiler just because it is so inefficient? I have had my boiler for 30 years and can't afford to replace it" (let us nearly kip right over the logical rubbish of that statement - if a boiler is very old it is costing you a fortune in wasted heating bills and a new boiler would pay for itself very quickly). The key point is choice. If this is your home you can choose to replace the boiler or not, you can choose to make any manner of changes or not, you can sell and move or not.

Ah, what about people who rent their home I hear you say. They too have more choice than a Methodist Minister, after all if the Landlord does not keep the home to a satisfactory standard they can choose to leave and go elsewhere.

This sense of powerlessness is at it's most acute when things go wrong in a manse. You can't simply act but have to wait for others to decide what is going to be done, by whom and when.

So powerless?

Please do not make the mistake of believing that I think Methodist Ministers are completely powerless. There are many ways in which the role is a powerful one and it would be a mistake to interpret what I have written to mean that there is complete powerlessness for ministers in either stationing or housing. This is relative powerlessness.

There are few if any situations in the world where people choose to be powerless. There are many many situations though where people are made to feel powerless by situations and the behaviour of others. We see it all around us if we keep our eyes and sensibilities open.

That brings me to my conclusion about powerlessness and Methodist Ministers. I believe we need these areas in which we are powerless. I believe that they are a critically important element of oor discipleship and witness. I believe that it is essential that Methodist Ministers do feel powerless in some aspects of their lives and these two (where we live/work and the home in which we live) are vitally important. Let me give some reasons why:

• We need to be constantly reminded to put our security in God, to trust the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Having significant areas of lives where we feel powerless helps us to do this. It counteracts our tendency to want to be in control which takes us away from God.
• it helps us relate to ordinary people who struggle with powerlessness everyday. It especially helps us connect with those at the bottom of the economic system who are particularly vulnerable to powerlessness.
• In a small way it guides us into better ways of modelling the teaching and example of Jesus (thinking here of Philippians 2:8 where Jesus humbled himself ie gave up power).

So whilst the areas of powerlessness that a Methodist minister lives with may seem minor compared to many, I do think that despite the frustrations (and sometimes fear) that this is appropriate, right and helpful.

In fact I think it is a helpful challenge to all who are called to ordained ministry in the Church, in what ways do you live with powerlessness? For that matter I challenge all Christians to examine how they experience powerlessness as part of your discipleship.

Tough but fair?

BBC News - Budget: Osborne rejects Labour 'carping from sideline'.

But Mr Osborne told the BBC Labour were "carping from the sidelines".

 He is putting the case for the coalition's "tough but fair" Budget - which will leave households on average £400 a year worse off - in a series of media interviews on Wednesday

I Just do not understand at all.

What is fair about this budget? As this tweet illustrates: Twitter / Liz Kendall: Richest 10% pay £1 in evry ....

Richest 10% pay £1 in evry £25 on VAT, poorest 10% £1 in £7. Budget raises £13bn frm VAT, £2bn frm bank levy, £1bn frm CGT - that's fair?

Do they believe that people do not understand the basics of taxation and fairness?

VAT is a highly regressive tax. That means if you earn less money you pay a higher proportion of that money in VAT. It is exactly the opposite of a fair taxation system.

In terms of raising money to reduce the national debt (a principal that has some merit) we see three simple things:

• a tax that hits poorer people harder is set to raise 13x more money than one that raises money from those with more money (capital gains tax is not paid at all by most people, certainly not by anyone who could be considered poor). Not fair and bad for the economy and society. If you want to stimulate the economy then give more money to the poor, they are going to spend a much higher proportion of it so it will feed quickly into local economies having a multiplying effect. Give more money to the rich and it will be saved, "invested", spent abroad, spent of foreign luxuries all of which will have a minimal effect on our economy.
• A tiny tax on the banking sector which caused the recession through entirely reckless behaviour (essentially lending money they didn't have to people/organisations who would never be able to pay them back, all while paying huge bonuses to the people who did this). Again the tax that hits the poor hardest is to raise more than 6x the tax on those who caused the mess and who are still paying silly salaries and bonuses.
• By taking money from the poor and cutting both jobs and spending in the public sector there is going to be a huge multiplier effect (just as we saw with Maggie Thatcher's first budgets). The problem is that this is a negative multiplier. Tax incomes are going to go down as people are paid less and many lose their jobs. That gets multiplied as they don't just pay less tax, they don't spend money in the local economy on goods and services (everything from gardening services, builders, diy, eating out will get cut). That means others get less money, pay less tax and in many cases claim more benefit.

My summary of this budget

• We will go into another recession, the cuts are going to remove enough money from local economies that recession is inevitable.
• Due to the recession tax income will fall and benefit payments increase. As a result costs will rise faster than cost reductions (which are never as big as forecast and have a big time lag). Hence, national debt will not fall by the predicted amount and may even rise.
• Britain will become an even less equal place. It will become less happy and crime will rise.
• Through all this the rich will get richer and the poor poorer.

What a huge failure. Not "tough but fair" but "stupid and unfair".

The archbishops, evangelism and the status of women.

The archbishops, evangelism and the status of women. – Maggi Dawn concludes with:

It seems outrageous to me that we continue to believe that it’s OK to delay indefinitely the active acceptance of women at all levels in the Church. Its patently obvious that the world at large thinks so too, and this unacceptable injustice towards women is far more of a blight on evangelism than shyness.

Amen!

I confess there is much of the Church of England I do not understand and much I don't like - as well as lots of good things of course! :-) . However, there are many Anglicans that I love and it pains me to see the Church of England, a covenant partner with the Methodist Church, continue to self destruct over the injustices it continues to enforce on gender and sexuality issues.

Of course of more immediate pain to me as a Methodist Minister is that the Methodist Church is by no means perfect on these issues and itself has a long way to go with a great need of grace, mercy and forgiveness by all people within the Church.

Lord forgive us. Lord transform us. Lord fill us with grace. Lord heal us.

Methodist Church and Alcohol Licensing

Raunds Methodist Church received a very helpful letter from East Northamptonshire Council today.

It explains the new mandatory conditions set by the Government on 6th April 2010 put on our premises license:

"They put a duty on those who manage licensed premises and clubs to prohibit irresponsible promotions and the dispensing of alcohol directly into the mouth of another; they also require those who manage licensed premises and clubs to provide free tap water to customers on request"

I am reasonably confident that our complete ban of all alcohol on Methodist premises means we can comply fairly easily. I wonder if the free coffee and tea we usually offer count for anything.

I did ring the council, it seems their computer system does not distinguish between entertainment and alcohol licenses so everyone got the letter.

Seems a fairly typical assumption that entertainment always requires alcohol. What a crazy world.