Filtering - a comment on #cnmac14

I visited Mary Arden's farm just outside Stratford-upon-Avon last week and while I was there listened to a falconer give a talk about owls accompanied by a cute Barn Owl and a rather intimidating Eagle Owl. One of the fascinating pieces of information she shared was that a Barn Owl can hear a mouse's heartbeat from 40 feet away and detect a mouse moving in the grass from 100 feet. Now gathered around the falconer and owl were about forty of us humans with hearts much bigger than a mouse's so the question was asked 'How can an owl detect the mouse with all the other noises around her in the wild?'.  The answer given was that an owl has to filter out all the extraneous sound to focus on her prey otherwise she would be driven crazy by all the other sounds she can detect.

On Saturday I was still on leave but followed a Twitter stream of comments from the Christian New Media Conference #CNMAC14 which I wasn't able to attend. I was also watching a football match while keeping an eye on Facebook and my Twitter timeline. Safari was open with several tabs including various news media outlets and sports feeds along with my blog with its attendant list of posts I follow from other bloggers. I avoided looking at my email in-box which had an 'out of office' message set up. The question I found myself reflecting on as I did all this is what stops us from going mad listening to, or seeing and reading, all this digital noise? The answer has to be filtering.

We filter out all the extraneous noise both consciously and unconsciously. I was following a hashtag Twitter stream which focused my attention on the conference, until the hashtag was hijacked for a while. I selected the digital media outlets I was interested in. My Facebook timeline is limited to a few people who I know personally in comparison to my Twitter timeline with the 873 profiles I follow. Within that timeline I can select lists of particular subjects related to my job and interests. As for the T.V., well for years I've made use of a digital recorder and watch more recorded programmes of interest than material broadcast in 'real' time. The football match I had on T.V. 'live' between Newcastle and Liverpool was boring, so I subconsciously filtered out most of what I was watching and nearly all of the vacuous nonsense being spouted by summariser Robbie Savage.

Filtering and focus are skills humans have always had to develop in order to survive and function in life, just like the Barn Owl, and that is no less true in a multi media digital age. The challenge is what we discipline ourselves to filter out and focus on. If we don't get that right then unlike the owl we'll miss out on the real meat.

demotivating twitter

Each morning I take a look at my Twitter timeline over a cup of tea. It's a quick way of catching up with the news, picking up links to stories and blogs I might want to read later and seeing who is up and about. There are a few people who I look out for because they usually have something interesting or funny to say. Check my timeline and see who I frequently RT if you want to know to whom I'm referring. And then there are the celebrities.

I started following some of the celebs when I was new to Twitter and thought it might be interesting to see how they engaged with this fresh social media environment. Experience tells me that they fall into two categories; those who use Twitter as a tool of self-promotion and those who use Twitter to engage with others. I won't bother to name the former as anyone who has been on Twitter for a while will know who fits into this category and from time to time I cull the more tedious ones. In the latter category I would place several well know authors who are prepared to interact and answer questions including Ian Rankin (I'm a big Rebus fan), Susan Hill (scary writer & MUFC fan) and Archdruid Eileen (no further comment necessary).

Then there is another group of tweeters who I have come to regard as Christian celebrities. These are well known Christian personalities who it turns out engage with Twitter in much the same way as their secular contemporaries. There are those whose timelines seem to be full of little more than self-promotion: 'you can watch me on this', 'here's me with X, Y or Z'. Then there are those who fire epithets into the twittersphere with monotonous regularity but hardly ever engage in dialogue with others. More recently some of this group have taken to sharing with us what are little more than inane motivational clichés often on the theme of leadership or self improvement.

Usually this stuff is so fatuous it would make David Brent cringe or a Sun sub-editor blush. It's interesting to see how many of these tweeters have given up referencing the Bible for their world redefining insights, probably because you aren't going to find gobbets like 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail' in the scriptures. If I seem to be harsh about this it is because I genuinely find some of this stuff damaging and offensive and I despair when I hear this rubbish repeated as if it is holy writ. It is revealing to read these pearls of wisdom before going across to morning prayer and encountering a meaty chunk of the Psalms.

Of course there are those who are able to summarise in 140 characters a profound and often challenging insight. Others have the skill of being able to get to the heart of an issue and shed a new light on it from a Christian perspective with a telling phrase. Some are gifted at communicating in a sentence or two reflections of deep spiritual import or distilling a passage of scripture into a nugget of wisdom to live by. Others simply brighten the day with a joke or link to a funny cartoon. Again I guess anyone who has been on Twitter for a while knows who these people are but if you want one example of a person who communicates with spiritual maturity and humanity check out @Digitalnun.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to be the best that I can be by pushing the boat out from the shore and searching for the hero inside of me.

Wreath row

Had a brief look at my Twitter timeline this afternoon to discover a row breaking out about the wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the outbreak of World War One. It seems that the Prime Minister had written a personal message for his wreath while the Leader of the Opposition had not. It didn't take long for some of the commentariat to begin attacking Ed Miliband for not caring or being incompetent. However, it seems that none of those laying wreaths, apart from the PM, had the opportunity to write a personal message and the hand writing on each of the wreaths looks identical. This hasn't stopped the criticism and the cheap political point scoring in the mainstream and social media. Is this where our public political discourse has ended up when even commemorating the war dead is seen as a legitimate excuse to attack political opponents? If you want to know why so many people are disengaging from mainstream politics you need look no further.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

oh Dick

I was going to post something about Richard Dawkins' absurd assertions on Twitter but to be honest they are now so frequent that it's hardly worth comment (and I'm two glasses into a post Holiday Club delicious Pinot Noir). And so I simply share with you the wise advice of Dean Burnett:

For a typically succinct explanation of Dawkins' behaviour on Twitter I recommend The Very Hungry Dawkins.

This little tweet of mine

I was getting ready for bed on Tuesday evening when I caught part of a news report that a vicar had been found dead under suspicious circumstances in the South West. Saddened, I offered up a prayer and then my wife asked if I knew who it was because the vicar had recently moved from Witham which is not far from Chelmsford. I asked if she had heard the name and Kate said it was John Suddards. My sadness tuned to shock because I had known John for quite a few years and we were colleagues on a particular diocesan working group. I tweeted a brief message about the news and then went to bed. Here’s the tweet:

Shocked and saddened to learn of the death of a friend and clergy colleague John Suddards on this evening's news bbcnews.

The next day I headed off to Norwich with the family for a few days break and on the way happened to phone the parish office to check on a couple of things. It was then that I discovered the national and regional press had been trying to get hold of me because of my tweet. I didn’t respond to any of the messages as I was on holiday and I didn’t want to discuss the matter with the press anyway. Over the rest of the week I’ve followed the story as it has gained prominence in the news but felt it unwise to comment further about the matter via social media.

So why have I put up a post about this on my blog? Simply as a reminder to me and my colleagues that everything we publish is out there, can be read by anyone and we need to be alert as to who might pick up on it.

I give thanks to God for John’s life and ministry and pray for all who mourn his death; especially his family, friends and brothers and sisters in the churches where he served so faithfully.

Not me guv’.

I received an enquiry from a Twitter friend, Ronnie, asking if a newspaper story referred to me. The story was about a Rev Phil Ritchie who had come up with an idea to increase his congregation. The Argus reported as follows:

A vicar saw his Sunday congregation go up by half after warning on Facebook he would give it all up and become a window cleaner if he didn't boost numbers. The tongue in cheek threat made by Reverend Phil Ritchie turned out to be a holy success when 207 people turned up -seven more than his target.

Rev Ritchie normally sees up to 140 people at All Saints Church in The Drive, Hove, but wanted to get the numbers up on the national annual Back to Church Sunday. As well as telling parishioners at the church to ask one at least one other person to come and join them, he also posted a message on Facebook. He said: “I urged people to come along and then said if I don't get at least 200 I would give it up and become a window cleaner- during the summer months only of course!"

“At first I was quite confident and sure that enough people would come along but when it got closer to the day I started to think I was going to end up with a lot of egg on my face. In all seriousness, I would not have gone for a change in career although obviously I've nothing against taking up window cleaning. It would be a great job and I love being in the outdoors. I'm certainly used to cleaning the lead windows of the vicarage so I've had some practice. I also told the congregation about the window cleaning comment and I thought some of them might think that was a good idea and stay away but everyone came along.”

Rev Ritchie, who has been at the church for three years, says he is keen to get the wider community involved. He said: “This was obviously a little bit of fun but there is a serious message behind it. The church is an important part of the community and I would like to reach out to as many people as possible.”

There are a couple of simple reasons for ruling me out of being the brains behind this wizard wheeze. Firstly, I don’t live in Hove and secondly, and more significantly, I don’t like heights so window cleaning is one of the last jobs I would consider. I urge the good folk of our parish not to get any ideas.

By the way, we still haven’t contracted the services of a window cleaner for The Rectory so if Rev Phil Ritchie, All Saint’s Hove, fancies supplementing his stipend…

Has God unfollowed me?

There's a debate kicking off on Twitter as various people have either given up or decided to stop following other tweeters. The reason given is the amount of spam doing the rounds in the twittershpere. I saw this cartoon the other day and it made me smile.



h/t @FisherPeter

Chronicle – sign of the times (12)

Caught sight of this piece of publicity from our local rag the Essex Chronicle yesterday and burst out laughing.



I think I can guess one site council staff won’t be looking at or following.

#EasterLIVE my reflections

During Holy Week I took part in EasterLIVE, a Twitter stream telling the story of Easter through the eyes of different characters. Here is how the people behind the project described the idea:

It’s Passover week in 1st Century Jerusalem. A bustling throng of Jewish pilgrims have gathered in the city. But this year a preacher/carpenter from Nazareth is set to turn the tables of history – right before their eyes. This is the Easter story and this is your cue.

By Tweeting your story, the Easter(LIVE) website allows you to showcase your very own Passion Play. Be it a historical and Biblical account or a poetic, visual, musical or creative retelling – it’s up to you. It’s a chance to explore, to learn and be creative. Give it your personal stamp, bring it to life and share it with everyone.

A good number of people signed up to take part in EasterLIVE, there were 154 profiles registered, though not everyone was in favour of the project. On Palm Sunday Richard Rew wrote a blog questioning EasterLIVE and raising some pertinent questions and he followed this up with a reflection as an observer on Easter Monday. Both Richard’s posts are worth a read.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about my own experience of the project and these are my own thoughts as a participant.

EasterLIVE took a different approach to the Natwivity where the Christmas story was told through the tweets of different characters with a story line created by one organisation. With EasterLIVE lots of people were invited to create their own characters and narratives. Some saw this as potentially confusing but I didn’t have a problem with the idea of a multi-faceted approach to tweeting the Easter story. I saw the twitter stream of different characters and narratives as being like small pieces of coloured tiles coming together to build up a mosaic of the story.

I also felt that the fragmented, at times confusing and non-linear developing twitter stream reflected something of the disturbing and confusing nature of the Easter story as it would have been experienced by the original participants. It is only later that a more harmonised, systematic telling of the story has tidied up the pieces of the experiences and I fear lost something in the retelling.

Neither did I have a problem with apparent contradictions between different tellings of the story. Check out the Four Gospels and see the differences in the accounts of Holy Week and Easter. The early church was happy to let these sit side by side rather than to smooth out the apparent inconsistencies and I happen to think this gives them a ring of authenticity rather than the feel of propaganda.

I developed a character to use through the EasterLIVE project; a pub landlord whose upper room was let out to a bunch of Galileans. I wanted a slightly off stage character who could give a different perspective on events. However, during the week I also ended up spontaneously tweeting as the cursed fig tree and surprisingly this attracted more response. I had hoped to use a more multi-media approach, however, an immanent house and job move and Easter commitments limited the time I had for this. It is fair to say, as Richard Rew has observed, that there was much less multi-media and more text based material on the twitter stream.

One criticism of the project was that people had been encouraged to develop as many characters as they liked. Some people went to town on this and had a multitude of characters, while others developed one or two. This meant that someone’s carefully developed character was on occasions suddenly replicated by others. Some people seemed to commandeer nearly every character in the story leaving little room for anyone else. This approach was more like the Natwivity than what I understood to be the intention of EasterLIVE. It did suggest to me that some tweeters were churning out their story and not really taking account of how others were engaging with the enterprise.

This brings me to my main criticism of EasterLIVE. People were encouraged to develop a script in advance and it was clear that quite a few had also written their tweets which were then scheduled for release at various times during the week. The problem with this approach was that it cut off the possibility of interaction with other tweeters’ characters. Interaction is at the heart of Twitter, it is a conversation, and there is nothing more frustrating than tweeters who don’t engage with others. Some of the EasterLIVE characters and tweets never seemed to be part of the wider experience, failing to engage with other characters, perspectives and events.

Overall, I thought EasterLIVE was an imaginative idea and produced some interesting and at times even challenging insights but I do wonder whether heavily pre-scripted non-interactive tweeting is what Twitter is all about.

Oh death, Up yours!

It’s a bit hectic in the Ritchie household as we prepare for our move to a new parish next week so not much blogging going on. I have been trying to snatch the odd moment to do some reading around the themes of Easter including Rob Bell’s Love Wins, Tom Wright’s Justification and Paula Gooder’s This Risen Existence. Lots of good, thought provoking material to mull over while slapping the paint on a bedroom wall.

However, my favourite quote over the Easter period has come from Revd Richard Coles. On hearing news of the death of the great Poly Styrene former singer with X-Ray Spex, Richard sent the following tweet:

Have just heard of the death of Poly Styrene - may flights of angels hymn her to her rest. RIP, and , in Easter Hope, Oh Death , Up YOURS!

I was wondering whether we could use this in some Easter liturgy. How about:

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Oh death, Up yours!

Phone box or mobile?

There was a very interesting observation made at a church leadership conference last week which I picked up via a re-tweet from Pete Phillips on Twitter:

We are standing at the phone kiosk in the age of the mobile phone.

This powerful image has been buzzing round my head for the last few days and triggering all sorts of thoughts. I realise that the image relates to the church’s relationship with modernity and post modernity, however, one thing in particular occurs to me and it is linked in with the season of Lent. In the lead up to Ash Wednesday I noticed several people on both Twitter and Facebook saying they would be giving up using these social media networks for Lent. The question that this raises for me is:

Do we still regard social media networks as optional, a luxury and an indulgence even, or are they an essential aspect of communication and community in the culture we inhabit?

This is a serious question because my impression is that many in the church still regard forms of digital communication as an add on, something extra that can be engaged with or not as a matter of personal preference.  I am amazed at how many people regard me as an oddity as a blogging, tweeting member of the clergy. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had to preface comments in a meeting with an explanation of the main forums for social networking because people have that blank expression of incomprehension on their faces.

I understand why some are still suspicious of social media networks and forms of digital communication. I appreciate the reasons why some have decided to disengage for a period of time. Blogging can become an obsession; more about the blogger and their status, influence and statistics, than about what is being communicated or discussed. Twitter can come across as another form of displacement activity. There is a danger that Facebook looks like any other forum for frittering time away, gossiping and, sadly, even cruel bullying. I recognise that some people can become so caught up in their online relationships that they are in danger of ignoring those they are in physical community with, including family and friends.

Yet, these criticisms are not about the medium, they are about the uses to which these networks are put by the user. Why have people not considered giving up speaking, listening, reading and writing for forty days? Are the only valid forms of enrichment and refreshment during Lent verbal face to face contact and pre internet forms of communication and cultural expression? The questions sound flippant but they are sincere.

Easter(Live) 2011 #EasterLIVE

Watch out for the pub landlord whose upper room was hired for a Passover party.

Following on from the popular and successful Natwivity, Easter(Live) is a diverse collection of passion stories being told live on Twitter this Easter. Tweeps can sign up, create their own stories and follow others and tell the Easter story in new ways.

I’ve signed up and my intention is to explore an approach which is a mix of Gerd Theissen’s The Shadow of the Galilean and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. The idea of stories in which Jesus is one step ahead or just off stage have always appealed to me. I’ll try and use a popular cultural approach with music, video and anything else that offers a sideways slant on the Easter story. I may also try and link in with some of what is going on with our Beer and Bible project, with a particular focus on reading the Bible in pubs during Holy Week.

Right, I’m off to sort out the orders for Passover week. Still embarrassed about that wedding gig when we ran out of wine:(

Head down and mouth shut

Anyone involved in leadership in public ministry knows there are times when a decision has to be made that may seem on the surface to be wrong, unfair or unpopular. I can think of times in the parish and in my current training role, for example, when I have had to ask someone to step back or step down from ministry. It may be that the person’s personal or family circumstances have changed, or that they have done something which compromises their ability to minister or that they are suffering ill health, there are plenty of reasons. For the individual’s benefit and for the well being of the wider church a decision is taken.

The problem is that for very good pastoral reasons it may not be appropriate for others to know why the person has been withdrawn. To the congregation, parishioners or their colleagues in training, the action may appear arbitrary and unjust. I’ve known the frustration of seeing action taken against someone and feeling it has been unreasonable, though I may not have been appraised of the full facts. But I’ve also had to take action and keep my mouth shut, even when people are accusing me of being unreasonable at best or a ‘little Hitler’ to quote a more extreme response. I’ve wanted to say to the critic, ‘well if you knew this then you wouldn’t be saying that’ but I can’t and I won’t because it might be very damaging to the individual concerned. This is one of the responsibilities and challenges of leadership in ministry.

I learnt an important lesson early in ministry. When I was a curate and someone asked me something difficult or a challenging situation arose, I had the fall back position of saying ‘ask the vicar’. When I became a vicar I discovered that sometimes I had to say no or to make a hard choice, even if it made me unpopular. I could give plenty of examples but I won’t because it would not be appropriate. Those of you in positions of leadership can fill in the blanks.

So the next time I see a senior colleague, say a bishop in the metropolis, taking flak over a decision or a course of action and my temptation is to fire up the computer and express my righteous indignation in blog or tweet, I hope I can take a moment to remember the times I’ve been on the receiving end. It’s hard to keep one’s head down and mouth shut rather than indulge in bouts of self justification but that’s part of the job.

The perils of Twitter

This made me smile. With thanks to Sue Diplock.

But for a more serious reflection check out this from Dave Walker.

#favbible: what’s your favourite Bible & why?

Bible Year 2011 is launched on December 5th in the Diocese of Chelmsford. As part of the launch the members of Bishop’s Staff were asked ‘what’s your favourite Bible and why?’ and you can see their answers here.

My #favbible is a leather bound RSV my parents gave me when I left home to play drums in a band. Annotated from using Search the Scriptures.

I thought it would be interesting to find out how others would answer the question and asked friends on Twitter to respond using the #favbible hashtag. Here are some of the responses:

@edrescherphd: I'm really liking the Green Bible (NSRV) from HarperOne these days #favbible

@Elizaphanian: I'm enjoying the NLT at the moment - very refreshing #favbible

@Twurchsteward: #favbible is The Stewardship Bible (NIV) tons of resources not just money related.

@funkydoofamily: #favbible is Cover to Cover for personal and trusty NIV for reading from.

@popies: I'm very happy with my NLT study bible, accessible text and great supporting notes #favbible

@artsyhonker: Don't currently have a #favbible, keep NRSV and KJV in the house, grew up with NIV (I think...).

@crimperman: my NCV. It's just the right size and has a green cover. #favbible

@popies: my kids are enjoying the International Childrens Bible - first proper bible! Study with Topz daily notes #favbible

@GerrardusA: the little NIV I bought when a new Christian. What a sense of strangeness that was. #favbible

@riggwelter: #favbible is any decent translation (my pref: TNIV or NRSV) and no extra guff. Matched with Greek/Hebrew texts.

@6Eight: I've got a smallish NKJV which just fits in the back pocket of my fav jeans. Where I goes it goes #favbible

@pmphillips: An old battered inclusive NIV is my companion! And huge Thomson Chain Ref leather NIV - so good! #favbible

@margaretkiaora: #favbible RSV with Alan Sorrell illustrations, loved the pictures first , then started reading the Bible.

@HellsJBells: Life Application Study NIV Bible is my #favbible - tons of notes relevant to everyday life as a Christian

@PeterOuld: #favbible - ESV - great literal rendering for study purposes; NLT for contemplation.

@thechurchmouse: My #favbible is the NEB I was given by my God Father at my baptism. I neglected it for over 20 years, now I cling to it and thank God for it.

@Mac_Wood: the Message Bible - breathes new life into familiar verses #favbible

@willscookson: My #favbible was my Good News Bible New Testament. Given it when I first explored Christianity as a teenager. Lent it and never got it back.

@rohitmr: #favbible Good News Bible - iPhone app ( www.goodnewsbible.com) Beautifully designed and a joy to read.

@faulksguy: My #favbible is the ESV for its textual accuracy.

Updates:

@MrCatOLick: J B Phillips #favbible

@kouya: My #favbible is the Kouya New Testament http://bit.ly/diTgLv (if you want an English one, I tend to use the NLT)

@dave42w: #favbible (s) 1st TNIV then Message or CEV (esp 4 worship) with NRSV 4 study. The Source as helpful alt rendering.

@drbexl: My #favbible @ the mo is "The Message" - gain overview of meaning. Love @youversion, NIV is solid vers. #bigbible #biblefresh

@deiknuo: My #favbible is my ESV Study Bible. I have a love-hate relationship with GNB (pew Bible in church)

@thevicarswife: My #favbible is my ESV journalling bible- good literal & poetic translation, space to write in the margins, strap to keep notes in.

@butlerjd: My #favbible is ESV & mixing that with The Message. #bigbible #biblefresh - great vid for ESV http://is.gd/huOgs

@Rhapsody42: #favbible Softcover NIV:small enough to fit in my bag but with enough space for writing notes.Looks a bit tatty but then it's well travelled

@Nick_Payne: #favbible Olive Tree App on iPhone...

@Trinitynewsblog: Our church has the Good News Bible #favbible but we use many different translations at various times: NIV; Message;King James;(StreetBible)

@jevens: have a battered & much underlined NIV but current fave is the Message #favbible

@fionabuddonline: My #favbible is the NLT: it gets under my skin. Use NRSV for study and NIV to preach. Luxuries. Heads up for @wycliffeuk @biblesociety

@john_nornirn: My #favbible (#biblefresh) is the one through which God speaks clearly to every person in the world in their heart language #wycliffeuk

@ramtopsrac: #favbible Thompson Chain NIV bought as student with added tags for lousy memory, and post-it's for recurring passages - TNIV more inclusive

@butlerjd: My #favbible is ESV & mixing that with The Message. #bigbible #biblefresh - great vid for ESV http://is.gd/huOgs

@Mac_Wood: @biblefresh the Message Bible - breathes new life into familiar verses #favbible

So, what’s your favourite Bible and why?

Beer and Bible

2011 is the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible. In celebration the General Synod of the Church of England overwhelmingly endorsed a motion from the Diocese of Chelmsford expressing confidence in the Bible and encouraging the whole church to use 2011 to promote biblical literacy within the church and society as a whole.

Under the heading of Bible Year 2011 Chelmsford Diocese is committed to supporting initiatives to celebrate and teach the Bible throughout wider society. A range of initiatives for diocese, deaneries, parishes, schools and individuals are being developed.

One particular initiative, which I am coordinating, is Beer and Bible.  The aim is to encourage the reading of the Bible in pubs across the diocese. The vision is to have the Bible read in 200 pubs with a focus on seasonal times in the Christian calendar and particularly during Holy Week and Easter.

Though the aim is the public reading of the Bible, churches may want to use this opportunity to explore other activities and events in conjunction with this. We hope that Christians across the diocese will take up the Beer and Bible challenge and help promote this initiative in their churches, parishes, communities and most importantly their pubs!

A variety of social networking sites and web pages are being set up to support this initiative and there will be a wide variety of resources and suggestions about possible approaches. Why not check out:

Twitter: Beer and Bible
Facebook: Beer and Bible
Diocesan Website: Beer and Bible

I did explore whether I could use part of my Continuing Ministerial Development grant to research the pubs of the diocese in preparation for Beer and Bible but with little success.

"If you are tired and downhearted, take a drink; but this does not mean being a pig and doing nothing but gorging and swilling... You should be moderate and sober; this means that we should not be drunken, though we may be exhilarated."
Martin Luther: Sermon on Soberness and Moderation

Natwivity: Tweeting the Christmas Story

Here’s a great way to follow the Christmas Story via Twitter.

Natwivity writes: We all have fond memories of taking part in the school nativity play. Now here’s your chance to revisit the 2,000 year story – this time online.

From December 1^st you can follow a day-by-day account of a nativity play on social media sites Twitter and Facebook. Known as the Natwivity, the online play aims to use the social media platforms to retell the 2,000 year-old story of the birth of Jesus.

Each day throughout Advent (1^st December to Christmas Day), different members of the cast will tweet a140-character update. They include Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the three wise men and King Herod.

By reading these daily tweets, followers can learn more about each character’s thoughts and feelings, from Mary’s angst as she rides on a donkey over the hills of Bethlehem right through to the night the shepherd’s saw their familiar hills illuminated by an angelic host.

The Natwivity has been made possible through collaboration between Share Creative, a creative design company, and the Evangelical Alliance. Huw Tyler, of Share Creative, says: “We want to tell the Christmas story, an amazingly exciting story in a way that is not only accessible, but is fun and relevant to today’s internet generation.”

Followers can read daily accounts by logging onto Twitter and clicking ‘follow’ or visiting the page on Facebook.

The play is suitable for everyone and begins on 1^st December running up until Christmas Day.

Pickfords – the sequel

Yesterday I wrote a post about the unpleasant experience of a clergy family using Pickfords for their recent move. Today I am pleased to post the following comment that was left on my blog by a representative of the company:

My name is Charmaine Watts, I am responsible for Customer Service at Pickfords.

I noted with concern, your blog and the photographs that have been posted onto Twitter by our customer. On behalf of Pickfords, I apologise unreservedly for the incident, it was the individual failing of one person within our organization and is not representative of the service we deliver to thousands of families on the move each year.

I did not hear of the concern from the Reverend directly, but we have reacted quickly to your blog and have investigated the case this morning and interviewed the crew.

We were very disappointed with the conduct displayed by the concerned individual who has been immediately suspended for gross misconduct pending investigation and formal disciplinary action.

I will make contact with the Reverend directly to extend my personal apologies for this regrettable incident.

It is good to see the company responding so promptly and interesting to note that they monitor Twitter and the blogosphere. I wait to hear if their unhappy customers receive the promised apology and some appropriate recompense.

Pickfords – sign of the times (10)

The slogan of the Pickfords moving and storage company is: A move as individual as you are. Well, one clergy family found out what that meant when they had the privilege of being moved by Pickfords this week. Rounding off a generally unpleasant experience they discovered this witty epithet on one of the packing boxes.



A sad reflection of the contempt with which some companies treat customers who have paid good money for a service. Not clever really as clergy move quite a few times during their ministry and word soon gets around about which firms to use and who to avoid.

Photo courtesy of @Kneewax

Gossip: cancer of the community

Earlier this year a new Bishop of Chelmsford was announced. I can’t be bothered to go through all the steps in the process of the appointment, which started last summer and hasn’t finished yet, but want to make some general comments in the light of recent publicity over the appointment of the Bishop of Southwark. If you want the details of the process for appointing a diocesan bishop go here. I ought to declare an interest; my godfather Roy Williamson is a former Bishop of Southwark so not surprisingly I’m interested to see how things turn out the other side of the Thames.

Anyway, what I want to say is that the process for appointing a diocesan bishop involves a great deal of consultation but is also confidential. I was one of over 140 people who met individually with the Prime Minister and Archbishops’ appointments secretaries as part of the consultation and there was also an open meeting that anyone could attend. Because of complaints about lack of publicity for this part of the process, which coincided with the school holidays, the consultation period was extended to ensure anyone who wanted to contribute had an opportunity to do so. By the end of this process no one could complain that they hadn’t had their say.

Then the Crown Nominations Commission began its series of meetings to consider possible candidates. Two things need to be said about this part of the process. Firstly, I have no doubt that those serving on the CNC committed themselves to prayerfully seek the right person, guided by the Holy Spirit. Secondly, these meetings were confidential and those who served committed themselves to keep that confidence. In the case of Chelmsford I believe that confidentiality was honoured. I happened to meet two members of the CNC on the train after what turned out to have been their final meeting and they said not a word about their deliberations.

However, the confidentiality of the process didn’t stop the gossip. I remember sitting in meetings where someone would declare that they knew who had been appointed. Bit of a surprise really as I happened to know that the CNC hadn’t finished meeting at that stage. Try as one might to point this out some were insistent that they knew what was going on and what the outcome was. Others intimated that they had the inside track from other ‘sources’ about who was still in and who had been ruled out.

The process ran its course and I turned up to work in the Diocesan Office one morning to learn that there was to be a press conference an hour later at which the new Bishop of Chelmsford would be announced. That was the first time I was aware an announcement was to be made; those  who of necessity had prior knowledge maintained the confidentiality. I was delighted to attend the conference where Bishop Stephen Cottrell was introduced as our new bishop. I blogged about his appointment here.

And so to Southwark and the process of appointing another diocesan bishop. Over the last few days we have been treated to a constant stream of press reporting based on leaks and speculation. Bloggers, Twitterers and other commentators have picked up on these stories and shared their opinions on the basis of what they have read. I have a general rule with press reports like this; if they are based on a leak or unattributable source I ignore them because they are likely to be even more inaccurate or slanted than the less publicised speculation that did the rounds over the Chelmsford appointment. If someone has been leaking from the CNC then they will have to answer to God for their dishonesty and to their colleagues on the commission for their betrayal of trust.

Some brief reflections:
The press do not appear to have the best interests of the Gospel at heart. They have a story to tell and the more salacious the material the more likely they are to get it passed their editor and into the pages of whichever chip paper they work for. Even the more respectable are not averse to sinking to the despicable. If they depend on gossip, the breaking of confidences and title tattle for their information then that speaks volumes about the quality of their work.

Too many Christians have been quick to dash to comment on the basis of gossip and speculation. I am particularly dismayed with the comments of some clergy, so quick to judge without the facts and in some cases quite clearly with little knowledge about the processes. Of all people they should know the damage that rumour mongering causes a Christian community. They will have been on the receiving end of it enough in their own ministries; if not yet then they will be in the future. The process may not be great but that’s no excuse for some of the bile that has spewed forth.

No one has been well served in this story. Certainly not Jeffrey John whose life and ministry have been hijacked as a cause celebre by some and used as the excuse for ecclesial infighting and point scoring by others. Certainly not ++Rowan Williams. I have only spoken to the Archbishop briefly, though I have heard him speak on quite a few occasions. When I read the stuff that’s written about Rowan, I think of how Jane and the children must feel. I’m sure they feel the same as any of us would feel when witnessing their loved one being lambasted on the basis of innuendo. What is even more galling is that some of the vitriol is piled on by the very same people who on Sunday will lead prayers for the church and for her leaders, including the Archbishop. How can we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ on Sunday and then slag them off mercilessly on Monday?

As for the Gospel of Christ. Well we can’t expect the press to treat the precious Good News with respect when we are so poor at doing that ourselves. In what way has what has been said and written on this affair commended the mission and ministry of the church to the wider community? The press have every right to turn round and say to us ‘don’t complain about our splinters when your chucking your own logs at each other’.

Update: Excellent article in The Guardian by +Nick Baines on the process of appointing a diocesan bishop.

Update 2: Very poor article in The Guardian claiming that Bishop Stephen Cottrell could be the next Bishop of Southwark. Difficult as he was appointed Bishop of Chelmsford back in April. A sad refelction on the quality of journalism covering religion in the national press.