revmusings

It was my priviledge to be allow to attend BU Council for a few hours this week. I was there to help present the new Interfaith strategy which I am pleased to say was well received.  It was fascinating to see Council at work over important issues such as 'What is Baptist Indentity? But also the more mundane issues which were important but maybe less appealling. Nevertheless humour abounded and through it all people listened deeply to one another and the sometimes differing views expressed.

At its best it models the potential for our church gatherings as we do necessary 'business' items but realise the primary task is to seek God and the divine leading in our life together as God's people and the work of the Kingdom to which God calls us.

One thing I heard discussed informally amongst some people was the model of church meetings we use and especially the decision making process: is a vote with a majority decision the best way?  Increasingly churches are moving to concensus and allowing for different levels of agreement or disagreement which gives weight to various positions without ending with a vistory/defeat scenario.Its something I want to try in my new church.

I wonder if that would work for something as large as Council?

The issue of what we mean by 'church membership' was also discussed and as I talked with some people outside the session, and in other areans previously, there again seemed a move to consider different model, particularly a covenant model which is renewed annually and emphasises on-going  relationship

I am told I was seeing Council at its best - long may it continue. Thank you to all those who work so hard, staff at BU and others who do all the hard work beforehand and those who give time from busy lives to help our communal life as Baptists to move and grow - no easy task

There is an increasing move back towards holding Rememebrace 2 minutes silence to the 11th hour of the 11th month - I approve of this. Schools, work places. railway stations and even shopping areas are all marking this historic moment.

So why do we retain Rememberance Sunday in churches and war memorials which means many now do it twice.

Please can we decide on one day, either the 11th or the nearest Sunday but not both.

Over at The Kneeler one Methodist minster argues that

I struggle with the idea of remembrance Sun day - with its mixed up messages of faith and nationalism giving people the mistaken impression that

1. this is a Christian country and
2. that only Christians fought in the war

and when we are effectively still at war in a country that is a Muslim country, participating in what is clearly for some a predominantly religious war (even if we don't see the Talaban in that way) - then my unease multiplies.......

I think I would still want to break the link between remembrance day and the Lord's day.

Just got back from holiday at our flat in Devon - good weather generally ( which I judge by only using the umbrella once and being able to spend many hours sitting outside the Beachcomer cafe and reading!) We did lots of days out and despite knowing the area quite well still finding new places and new trips to do. We only tried to use the Sat Nav once when we got lost but as it was on Dartmoor there was no signal so we had to use our instincts and a good old fashioned map to find out way.

But it did remind me of a recent children's talk I heard using Sat Navs. The preacher's one says 'Turn round you are going the wrong way' should they stray from the directions given. This was linked to God telling us off when we stray and reminding us to get back to the right path. God has told me this many a time but that has more often been about my attitudes and behaviours rather than the direction I am going - The God of this Sat Nav has only one route we are supposed to travel and it is disaster if we fail to follow instructions.

My Sat Nav is more gracious - when I deviate from the prescribed route my lovely lady merely says 're-calculating'. Admittedly, she does try to get me back to the route she prefers ( Leicester to South London has to be via the M1) but after a while, when she realises this is not going to happen, she accepts this and re-calculates to a new route (via the M11). There is a plan A but also a plan B, C, D etc. Somehow God sometimes does this too -  God uses my weird and selfish choices and still manages to weave them into the divine plan.

I realise you can pick all kind of theological holes in this very simplistic Sat Nav thinking but for me it is the thought that even if I go the wrong way somehow God always me leads forward, uses my many mistakes and poor choices and it is not the end of the world. Of course, that is no excuse for not seeking God and God's desires for my life but that, in the absence of telegrams from God or a bit of sky writing, as long as I have tried to do my best all will be well ( and even if I haven't God's graciousness can still re-calaculate my route through  life)