Is this what church feels like?

An excellent advert which prompts the question:

‘Is this what church feels like to many visitors?’

h/t Paul Trathen.

Not one stone left upon another

I was surprised to read a report today drawn up by the U.S. State Department which declared that there are no public Christian churches left in Afghanistan. The International Religious Freedom Report on Afghanistan covering the period July to December 2010 describes the situation regarding non-Islamic places of worship:

In the 20th century, small communities of Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Sikhs lived in the country, although most members of these communities emigrated during the years of civil war and Taliban rule. By the end of Taliban rule, non-Muslim populations had been virtually eliminated except for a small population of native Hindus and Sikhs. Since the fall of the Taliban, some members of religious minorities have returned, many settling in Kabul.

Nuristanis, a small but distinct ethno linguistic group living in a mountainous eastern region, practiced an ancient polytheistic religion until they converted to Islam in the late 19th century. Some non-Muslim religious practices survive today as folk customs.

There are two active gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) in Kabul and 10 in other parts of the country; there were 64 gurdwaras throughout the country before the war. There are four Hindu mandirs (temples) in three cities: two mandirs are located in Kabul, one of which shares a wall with a mosque; one is in Jalalabad; and one in Ghazni. Eighteen others were destroyed or rendered unusable due to looting during the mujahidin civil war.

There is one synagogue, located in Kabul, which is not in use for lack of a Jewish community. There is no longer a public Christian church; the courts have not upheld the church's claim to its 99-year lease, and the landowner destroyed the building in March (2010). Chapels and churches for the international community of various faiths are located on several military bases, PRTs (Provincial Reconstruction Teams), and at the Italian embassy. Some citizens who converted to Christianity as refugees have returned.

The report also commented on the persecution of Christians in Afghanistan:

The government's level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice declined during the reporting period, particularly for Christian groups and individuals. Residual effects of years of jihad against the Soviet Union, civil strife, Taliban rule, popular suspicion regarding outside influence and the motivations of foreigners, and weak democratic institutions remained serious obstacles. In May 2010 video footage of Christian converts being baptized aired on an Afghan television station and was re-aired every night for a week due to its popularity with the public. The station did a series of follow up segments as well. In response, inflammatory public statements were made against Christian converts by two members of parliament. These incidents led to targeting of Christian groups and individuals. At least two individuals who converted from Islam remained in detention at the end of the reporting period. (Note: All individuals detained for conversion from Islam were released after the reporting period ended.) Negative societal opinion and suspicion of Christian activities led to targeting of Christian groups and individuals, including Muslim converts to Christianity. The lack of government responsiveness and protection for these groups and individuals contributed to the deterioration of religious freedom.

The detailed account is well worth reading in full to gain a snap shot of the state of religious freedom in Afghanistan at the turn of the year.

I read this report on the day the Morning Prayer reading is Mark 13:1-13.

It begins:

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

And ends:

and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Gamechanger

Today we remember the life and death of a man whose gifts, passion and dedication to his work helped to change people’s lives and shape our culture. His gift was to harness a developing technology and to use it to make life changing communication available to the masses.

William Tyndale (1494-1536) committed his life to translating and publishing the Bible. Drawing from the Hebrew and Greek texts, he used the development of the printing press to make the Bible available for wide distribution in the common tongue. During this year when we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible it is important to remember that the scholars who laboured on that work drew heavily on Tyndale’s translation. Tyndale was strangled at the stake and his body burnt in Brussels after being found guilty of heresy. His dying words are recorded as being ‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes’. Within four years of his death four English translations of the Bible were published in England.

Worth remembering this great scholar, translator and Christian martyr, whose work was so significant, on the day we also remember the death of another game changer, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple.

Bert Jansch

Best known for his work with Pentangle, Bert Jansch has died at the age of 67. A great guitarist, singer and songwriter, Johnny Marr is just one of many guitarists to reference Jansch as a major influence: ‘He completely reinvented guitar playing and set a standard that is still unequalled today … without Bert Jansch, rock music as it developed in the 60s and 70s would have been very different’.

Here’s the beautifully understated One for Jo.



Watch out for the classic knitted jumper about half way through!

Fair Trade Spooks

Interesting idea from Fair Trade Canada for Halloween to encourage people to give out Fair Trade chocolate and stickers to visiting trick or treaters. I thought the wording of the French version of the poster was particularly amusing.



In our church we are offering an alternative to Halloween called Glitter and Glo. The event has been very successful in the past and we are looking forward to welcoming loads of local children again this year.




The Diocese of Winchester has some good links to interesting resources for Halloween.

h/t @fairtradesleuth

Chocolate Jesus

Excellent cover of Tom Waits’ Chocolate Jesus by Wooddragon and the video is beautifully rendered.



Listen out for the crow.

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…