Reply to Rachel - The Church is its own worst enemy.

 Hi,

Just read your blog post, "You're welcome, you just can't play".

The Church is really its own worst enemy and never seems to learn from its mistakes. Not only is it getting more and more out of touch with society as a whole but it is also getting further and further away from the teachings and practice of Jesus. In addition, in times of dwindling congregations it is forcing into exile many of its best teachers. How stupid is that?

This has happened to Diane and I twice. In the first instance the words "beyond reproach" were also used and sex was the basis of the complaint. (Why is the Church so obsessed with sex?). After 17 years loyal service to the Church as a Reader, and having been abandoned by my wife, I met Diane who had similarly been left by her husband and moved in with her. Within a couple of weeks the rector was round for a chat, demanding confirmation that we were sleeping together. He then pointed out that, as a Reader, I had to be beyond reproach and, as I was now committing adultery, I had to resign, not only as Reader, but also from the PCC, the Choir, and anything else that could be considered in any way to be "leadership". We were still welcome to attend church - just not do anything! (i.e. "you're welcome but you can't play").

I politely explained that we were not, in fact, committing adultery. The original ten commandments lists adultery along with other commandments forbidding the depriving of a man of his rights - murder (the right to life), stealing (property), coveting (thinking about stealing), bearing false witness (reputation), adultery (wife). In this case Diane's husband had voluntarily given up his wife and walked away, refusing to return. To strengthen the case he had even visited the rector to confirm that he had no intention of returning to his wife, he no longer wanted her, and that he fully approved of me taking his place. However, the rector was not to be swayed. In his view we were still committing adultery as a formal divorce had not yet been finalised. 

We sought a divorce as soon as possible and stayed on at the church thinking everything would be alright once we were married. We got married as soon as possible after the divorce - literally within a month of the decree absolute. (We had to allow three weeks for the banns to be posted). However, there was no attempt at reconciliation or reinstatement so, early the following year, we sadly left that church. The organist, who had left after 3 or 4 years service, was dispatched with a big ceremony and loads of leaving gifts. The best that could be managed for my 17 years + was about three lines in the parish magazine thanking me for my service.

After about three years unsuccessfully trying other churches we finally settled at another church and I resumed my Reader ministry. I served here, very successfully, for 11 years until, during a clergy vacancy I had to write a blunt letter (jointly with the churchwarden) to a member of the congregation who was hassling the pre-school who used our hall and causing them a great deal of stress. The situation had reached crisis point and the person concerned refused all attempts to discuss the situation in person, making the letter the only way of trying to resolve the matter. Unfortunately, unbeknown to me at the time, this person had a narcissistic personality and reacted very badly to the letter. He made a complaint to the local bishop about me, claiming that I should not have written the letter and that it caused him to have a breakdown. As I am sure you know, narcissists are often in denial about reality and full of "fake news" (e,g, Donald Trump).

Unfortunately the bishop believed his version of events, refused to listen to my evidence, and refused to contact any of the four good witnesses I offered him who would have supported my side of the story. He summoned me to a meeting at his house and produced a pre-prepared letter of reprimand (obviously with no intention of considering my side of the story). We therefore had no option but to leave that church and, as the bishop has oversight of all the Anglican churches within commuting distance, we not only had to leave this particular church but the Church of England as a whole. We are now settled with a local URC church and have to start all over again making new contacts, growing new friendships and try to offer some kind of ministry.

This is no way to encourage the mission of the Church despite that being the main focus in all the church press. From the above you can see that I fully sympathise with your position but can only offer two positive points :-

1.)   It is the church hierarchy who cause the trouble, not the vast majority of the normal church members.

2,)  There is a church out there somewhere who will love you and encourage your ministry - you just have to find it. However, (as illustrated above) when you have found it don't expect it to last forever. Change of leadership often means change of attitude.

  

Donald Trump and Fake News

In view of Donald Trump's propensity to issue "fake news" all the time as true and to deride the true news as fake, I have found the following scriptural warning against him. This is from the Book of Enoch which was widely circulated among the early Christian churches, although it didn't quite make it into the final draft of the bible.

"Woe to you who set at nought the words of the righteous; for you shall have no hope of life. Woe to you who write down lying and godless words; for they write down their lies that men may hear them and act godlessly towards their neighbour. Therefore they shall have no peace, but die a sudden death."
[Enoch XCVII: 14-16]

Watch out Mr Trump!

A quote of Napoleon Bonaparte is also somewhat relevant:

"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap."

We are getting there ....... slowly

"Britain goes coal free as renewables edge out fossil fuels

At midnight on Wednesday (10th June 2020), the country will have gone two full months without burning coal to generate power. The current coal-free period smashes the previous record of 18 days, six hours and ten minutes which was set in June last year."

Right to Die

I have long harboured the suspicion that most Americans are quite mad. I have also harboured a nagging doubt that that might be being a bit disingenuous to Americans as a whole.  Donald Trump, of course, proves my first case, but he is just one individual and I really need a bigger sample size to scientifically justify the hypothesis. Further evidence has, however, emerged this week in the following press clipping emerging from America.

“Speaking at a rally outside the San Antonio City Hall, Bexar County, Texas, Republican Chair Cynthia Brehm made the outrageous claim that the coronavirus pandemic is a Democratic hoax.

A viral video from Texas shows a Republican Party leader speaking at local rally calling the coronavirus panic a hoax being perpetrated by Democrats with the goal of hurting Donald Trump, then encouraging people to take off their face masks.

She was speaking at a political protest against continued restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. Brehm said that a requirement to wear face coverings is a violation of people’s constitutional rights and hinted that the coronavirus panic is being manufactured by Democrats in order to hurt Trump.

“So, take off your masks, exercise your constitutional rights. Stand up, speak up and vote Republican.”

After Brehm made her wild remarks, those Republicans attending the rally began to shake-hands and hug each other, deliberately violating the social distancing guidelines and potentially placing everyone they come into contact with at risk.”

This woman is clearly deranged and steps should be taken now to ensure that she is not allowed to stand for election on the grounds of insanity.

Americans seem obsessed with their “constitutional rights”, whatever they might be. Of course, they have a “right” not to wear a mask if they don’t want to. But that doesn’t make it a good idea …….. any more than the fact they have a “right” to carry a loaded weapon but it is not a good idea to go around shooting people.

A large proportion of Trump supporters claim to be evangelical Christians but they don’t seem to have much idea what Christianity is all about. The example Jesus set was that we must not insist on our “rights”, even if we have them…….

Philippians 2:5-11 (New American Standard Bible (NASB))

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Jesus was obedient to the point of death. Americans, it seems, cannot even be obedient enough to wear a face mask to protect themselves and others from a potential death sentence. Their "right" to die is more important!

Public Transport

"London's transport system was given a £1.6 billion government bailout yesterday after Sadiq Khan, the mayor, threatened to cut bus and Tube services."

Yet in the government's official briefing, people who can't work from home are being encouraged to return to work but, if at all possible, do not use public transport.

Not really joined up thinking is it?

Man is the Virus

There is a new theory going around than Man is the Virus rather than Covid 19.
On a global scale that is worth thinking about.
Many viruses are beneficial to man in that they infect and destroy harmful bacteria. These are called bacteriophages and are actively used in some therapies. The bacteria are harming man so viruses are used to kill off the bacteria. On a global scale man is harming creation - so could it be that creation is trying to save itself by introducing a new virus to kill off a few thousand people and reduce the damage being caused? Comparative photos of normally polluted cities before and during lockdown show clearly that the virus has been very effective in some places in reducing pollution levels. Covid19 virus has also been isolated from large particles of air pollution which keep it airborne for longer than it would be otherwise. Conclusion: reduce pollution and the virus will not be able to spread so rapidly.

Inger Andersen (Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme) - 

     "Nature is sending us a message".

Duchess of York:  "Mother Nature has sent us to our rooms....... like the spoilt children we are. She gave us time, and she gave us warnings. She was so patient with us. She gave us fire and floods, she tried to warn us but in the end she took back control."

Lockdown Birthday Party

I attended my first online birthday party yesterday. An interesting concept but a necessary one under the current lockdown restrictions. It was my grandson's 2nd birthday. He was too young last year to understand the concept of "birthday", but he's definitely got the hang of it this year. Despite only being 2 he has all the necessary vocabulary - "happy birthday", "presents", "balloons", "cake" etc. And, unlike most boys, he is extremely tidy, tearing off small pieces of wrapping paper from a very large present and handing them individually to his mum for safekeeping.

The idea was we would organise a family Zoom conference with all his relatives to watch him blow his candles out, sing him Happy Birthday and then eat our own cake that we had pre-prepared. Unfortunately our cake wasn't quite finished in time and his aunt could not make a cake because her grocery delivery was not due until the following day. Still - as lockdown birthdays go it wasn't bad!