Signing the Gospel

This post was inspired by an initial misreading of a post from the Archdruid over at the Beaker Folk blog. The good lady had written a piece about her experience of worship at a church service yesterday and her bafflement at why they sang rather than read the Gospel. I thought the post was called ‘signing the Gospel’ rather than ‘singing the Gospel’. You can read her musings for yourself.

I want to say a big thank you to all those who give their time, gifts and energies to serving the deaf communities of our parishes through the ministry of Signing. I have over the last few years been involved in training for lay and ordained ministry those who have a particular calling to this ministry and they have challenged and enriched the wider body of staff and students through this distinct vocation. Part of my role with Chelmsford diocese involved planning various major celebration and licensing services in the cathedral and we always made sure the preacher submitted a text well in advance for the signers to work with.

All the main events at Spring Harvest are signed by a fantastic team from Signs of God who make the worship and teaching more accessible for our deaf sisters and brothers. I sometimes sit with the signers in my sight line and am fascinated by way they interpret the speaker. +Pete Broadbent once set the signers a demanding task as he launched into a discourse with some heavy theological phrases around the theme of eschatology during his Bible readings. The signers coped brilliantly  and I’m tempted to say they made it more intelligible for me but I might want a ministry gig in Willesden one day so I will say no more.

Yesterday we celebrated Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the rich diverse multitude of people gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2). One feature of that great event was that people of different tongues understood the disciples’ preaching in their own language. Signers have a Pentecost ministry as they enable those they serve to hear/see the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own tongue. I’m not sure what I think about singing the Gospel rather than reading it in worship but signing the Gospel is an essential work for the Kingdom of God.

Mitres are so last year

The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, who began his ministry as Bishop of Chelmsford this year, models some new Episcopal headwear. I was privileged to hear many great talks and sermons during the year from the likes of Jurgen Moltmann, Jane Williams, Miroslav Volf, Rowan Williams, Graham Tomlin and David Ford. However, the standout moment for me was +Stephen’s sermon at his Installation in Chelmsford Cathedral:

I come with one burning desire. It is that, in all our activities sacred and secular, and social, we should fix our eyes on Jesus, making him our only guide.

A bishop’s vision

Last Saturday’s Installation of +Stephen Cottrell as Bishop of Chelmsford was a wonderful celebration. I managed to fire off a few tweets and pictures during the occasion but as I was sitting directly behind the Bishop of London I decided to go easy on the social media activities.

The service included drumming, dancing, traditional hymns, singing led by an African group, anthems, as well the required legal bits and pieces. +Stephen was welcomed by political and civic representatives, bishops from our partner dioceses in Kenya and Sweden and other ecumenical brothers and sisters in Christ.

The heart of the service, however, was prayer and the ministry of the Word. +Stephen’s theme was 1 Corinthians 2:1-2:

‘When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom; for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.’

The sermon was recorded and I will include the audio once it is available, but for the moment here is the transcript:

Since the Prime Minister’s invitation to be the tenth Bishop of Chelmsford landed on my mat - the last PM (correct spelling) (laughter); and since I went to see the Queen to swear a not-very-ecumenical oath, and then chat about Essex . . . And I can offer, if the media are listening, the following exclusive:

‘Her Majesty likes, and eats, jam from Tiptree, but is not so keen on oysters from Colchester.’ (Laughter)

Though, for the record, I like both (laughter) and I am fishing for an invitation to the big oyster festival I missed this time round!
And since I learned that I do not have to change my name by deed poll - for surely I am the first Bishop of Chelmsford for 48 years who has not taken as his text Luke Chapter1 and verse 63 which, in case you don’t know, is ‘His name shall be John.’ And they were all amazed. (Laughter) . . .

Well, brothers and sisters, the amazement this time round is that you have got a Stephen and since it has been quite a long way to get here, from the arrival of that letter and all the other highfalutin shenanigans right through to this grand carry-on in the Cathedral . . . And, by the way, we clapped the dancers and clapped the singers – I think it’s about time we clapped the Choir! (Applause).

This is all becoming rather un-Anglican!

But since all this has transpired, people keep saying to me, with a mix of concern and consternation in their voice, sucking through their teeth like a builder surveying his predecessor’s work, ‘Chelmsford, eh?’ (Laughter) The good people of Berkshire – and I’m glad some of you are here – have been saying, ‘We thought you did quite a good job as Bishop of Reading. What have you done?’ (Laughter) So let me tell the good people of Essex that I’m glad to be home in God’s own county! (Applause).

People kept saying, ‘It won’t be easy’; ‘I don’t envy you that one,’ (this is the other bishops, of course); ‘How large! How difficult! How complicated!’ As though being a bishop in general and of Chelmsford in particular was like being appointed Captain of the Titanic’; or perhaps you think of the Church of England as the Marie Celeste!

Well, let me start as I mean to go on. I start here and now by saying to you, let us banish all talk of difficulty, of  complication. Yes, of course there will be challenges. Nothing of lasting value ever comes without a cost. But, brothers and sisters, what could be more joyful, more delightful – what greater honour can there be, than to follow in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ and be called to leadership and ministry in God’s Church; to be a custodian and a herald of the precious treasure of the Gospel?

Brothers and sisters, we have been sent with a message of Good News for the world! Therefore how can we be anything but joyful, animated, and eager to share with others all the goodness that we have received? God has called us to build the kingdom of his love where a new humanity is revealed and made available. And, if I can borrow for a moment the phrase of the hour, the ‘Big Society’ was always our idea first! (Laughter)

It is this vision of God’s new community and God’s reordering of the world that brought me into the Church in the first place; and it is this vision that sustains me. And it is this - and this only - that we will joyfully seek and celebrate together while I am your bishop.

Over thirty years ago, when I first started wondering whether God might be calling me to serve as a priest in his Church, I went to see Father Ernie Stroud, sometime Archdeacon of Colchester, now retired – and who I hope may be somewhere in the congregation . . .
He was the vicar of the church of St Margaret’s, Leigh on Sea, where my family and I discovered faith. We talked about the joys and demands of Christian ministry and sent me away with two biographies to read: the Life of Basil Jellicoe, the great slum priest and evangelist, and a life of William Temple, that great Archbishop of Canterbury during the Second World War. And both these books inspired me and have shaped my thinking about Christian ministry and faith.

I did indeed seek ordination (you will be relieved to hear that) and I thought it was Basil Jellicoe I would try to emulate. As an ordinand in this diocese, I was offered a parish in Loughton. And, with apologies to the good people of Loughton, I never took up the offer - rather pompously turning it down because it was not quite the slum that I was looking for! (Laughter). In fact I’ve already received a letter from the churchwarden of Loughton, wishing me all the best and praying for me, saying ‘I think I’m right in saying you were the person who looked at this parish.’ Goodness me, the churchwardens of the Church of England have very long memories!

And you will have discovered from reading the notes in the service book, while you’ve been waiting rather a long time for this service to commence, that I have travelled all around the country following a call ‘to make Christ known’.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my wife Rebecca and my three boys; because it’s not easy to be married to a bishop and have a bishop as your dad. And we have moved far too often and it’s hard for them. And I want them to know that I am here and we are here because we believe that God is calling us and that He has a purpose for our lives.

So, to my great surprise, the Church – and I hope God – has called me to be a bishop; first in Reading (and I give thanks for six very happy and fruitful years in the diocese of Oxford) and now Chelmsford, East London and Essex; returning to the places where I grew up and that I still think of as home.

And so, more and more, I find it’s William Temple that I turn to for inspiration; not just vision of a Christian society of justice and equity – though we need that vision today – but the way that he approached ministry. When he was enthroned as bishop of Manchester, this is what he said in his inaugural sermon:

‘I come as a learner with no policies; no plans already forged to follow. But I come with one burning desire. It is that, in all our activities sacred and secular, and social, we should fix our eyes on Jesus, making him our only guide.’

He went on:
‘Pray for me that I may never let go the unseen hand of the Lord Jesus and may live in daily fellowship with him.’

Brothers and sisters, I can do no better today than to make these words my own. Likewise, I make my own the words of the apostle Paul that is my text for today: that ‘I may know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’

You see, we do face many challenges. There is dis-ease and conflict in our world. We have forgotten how to live in peace with our neighbours; often we don’t even know our neighbour’s name. We abuse and exploit the natural resources of our planet and stress the equilibrium of its life. We spend vast sums of money on ever more sophisticated ways of killing each other: jealousy, fear and greed invade us, overwhelm us and, in so many cases, poison the well-springs of our hearts.

Meanwhile, thousands of people grow up knowing little or nothing about Christian faith and have no contact with the Christian Church. The values and disciplines of the Christian Church which we share as individuals and communities are left as personal choice where there is supposed to be public truth: Good News for a needy world.

You see, the Gospel is medicine. It meets us at our deepest need. It calms fears, forgives sins, wipes tears away. And this Gospel is not a set of rules or regulations; not a manifesto or a programme. It is a Person.

So fix your eyes upon Jesus. Know him in his death and resurrection. Make him your guide. And if, within the Church, we find ourselves swamped in disagreement on matters of profound importance; and where integrity is not the monopoly of one side or the other – that’s why it’s so painful. And, again, there will be only one way through. We must fix our eyes on the One who has fixed his eyes on us; who loves us with a love stronger than death.

You’ll probably hear me say this hundreds of times over the next few years, but let me say it loud: You can go to the Church of England for a lifetime and nobody gives it to you straight. You are loved. You are precious in God’s sight. He has a purpose for your life.

And, together, our task as God’s people in this great diocese is to know and reveal that love which God has for us in Christ. This is my prayer for myself and for our diocese. That is how I come to you. I do not have a master plan in my back pocket; I have only a prayer in my heart.

So when people say to me, ‘Bishop, what is your vision?’ you’d better get used to hearing me say, ‘I don’t have one. Not yet. Not on a plate. Not on my own.’ Once together, fixing our eyes on Jesus, making him our guide, we will discover – and, in discovery, be surprised, provoked, delighted that God loves his Church and has a purpose for his work.

Pray, therefore, that we, each one of us, may first of all live our lives in community with God. This must be our first priority. And when we live this vocation of prayer and service, within the community we call the Church, God can do great things.

Now, of course, the Church has many failings, and it is my sad duty to report that this bishop shares many of them. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus; if he is our guide, then from the wellsprings of our hearts, now cleansed by the Spirit of the living God, we will find joy in living and proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

So do not bang on about how difficult and complicated it all is. Put away all cynicism, gossip, prejudice and lack of love Stop taking yourself so seriously and, instead, join me in the great adventure of the Christian journey.

And, finally, in our Gospel today, Jesus says that his Church must be ‘salt’ and ‘light’.
And let me remind you that here salt does not mean you are supposed to be like the little sprinkling over your chips to make them taste a bit nicer. It is preservative. This is what Jesus means; like a piece of salted cod - you stop it from rotting. This is what Jesus longs his Church to be: a household of peace and joy where true and lasting values are held, taught and celebrated.

And light. We are supposed to be light; light that shines in the darkness. Light that reveals the way. Light that dispels fear. Jesus says that we, his people, are supposed to be ‘a city set on a hill’ receiving and radiating the light of Christ.

So, brothers and sisters, who are we - gathered in the midst of this Cathedral today; this motley band of muddled and broken humanity? We are the inheritors of a great vocation. We are the ones who are called to share the light of Christ today and shine with that light in our own lives.

This is what Basil Jellicoe did in the slums of London. This is what William Temple taught. This is what countless Christian people are doing every day in the diocese. And it is to this that we recommit ourselves: nothing less than the beauty of the Gospel and the building of God’s kingdom here.

Tomorrow is Advent Sunday, the beginning of the Christian Year. Let us begin again, inviting God into our hearts, letting his Gospel shape our lives. And let us know nothing other than Jesus Christ and him crucified. We have great Good News to live and share. Brothers and sisters, go back to your parishes - and prepare for government! Amen. [Applause]

Celebrating lay ministry

There are a few occasions each year that remind me of what I most like about my job as a diocesan lay education and training bod; this weekend was one of those times.

Yesterday Chelmsford Cathedral was full for our annual Readers’ Day service. During the service we admitted and licensed fourteen new Readers to work in the diocese and we welcomed and licensed five Readers from other dioceses. It is always a great privilege to be involved in the formation and training of our lay ministers but yesterday was a particular joy because Sandra Sykes was licensed to serve in our parish. I have known Sandra for about seven years and it has been wonderful to see her flourish as a Christian and as a minister.

This morning we welcomed Sandra as a fully fledged Reader in our parish services and she preached her first sermon in that capacity. The sermon was excellent; encouraging and challenging, with just the right amount of personal reflection and plenty of application for the congregation. Part way through I found myself thinking how good it was just to sit and receive from Sandra’s ministry, as in the past when she has preached I have been listening in my training role and assessing her sermons. The confidence and passion with which she spoke bore testimony to her faith and commitment to study and training over the last few years. I’m sure what I and the congregation felt in our parish was mirrored in the other parishes welcoming their newly licensed Readers today.

There is a certain amount of uncertainty about Reader ministry in the Church of England at the moment, not least a questioning of what the ministry should be called. Yesterday was a great celebration and reminder of the importance of lay ministry, as we rejoiced with a group of people committed to their vocation as preachers and teachers. May the word of God dwell in them richly as they minister to his praise and glory.

Bishop Laurie Green (Bishop of Bradwell) and Revd Dr Martin Kitchen (Warden of Readers) with the newly licensed Readers in the front rows at Chelmsford Cathedral

The new Readers and their parish clergy after the service

Dancing in the chancel

It isn’t often you get to see bishops, archdeacons and canons dancing in a cathedral but it happened last night. Chelmsford Cathedral was packed for the annual service celebrating our diocesan lay education and training courses. Over 80 students received their Course in Christian Studies certificates and 13 Pastoral Assistants and 7 Evangelists also received certificates for successfully completing their training.

The Bishop of Bradwell, Laurie Green, welcomed students, family, friends and congregations from across the diocese and reminded us all that this occasion was a springboard to future ministry and service. Annette Cooper, Archdeacon of Colchester, preached on Jesus sending out the disciples (Matthew 10) and focused on the themes of diversity and complementarity in sharing the Good News. A few were rather nervous when Annette began her sermon by exclaiming ‘sound the vuvuzelas’ but the call captured the sense of joy and achievement which were important features of the service. The music was led by Dry Bones , something of a fixture at these events, with just the right balance of prayerful meditation and praise. Things really kicked off following the sharing of The Peace as the cathedral resounded to the sound of We are marching in the light of God and that’s when the dancing started.

This service is one of the highlights of my working year and it is a great reminder of some of the really good things that God is doing in the church. I am so grateful for all the colleagues who work with me in delivering our lay education and training programmes and very proud of the students who have shown so much commitment in their studies and growing discipleship in Christ.

Now where did I put my vuvuzela?

Students of the Bicknacre CCS centre proudly display their certificates

It’s always been messy

I’ve been reflecting on a comment from Bishop Christopher’s sermon at the Chrism Service this morning in Chelmsford Cathedral. He pointed out that Messy Church is not some recent initiative for outreach and worship coming from the pages of a glossy magazine; it’s what the church has always been called to be. God, in Christ, engaged with the world and it was a messy business. The messiness of slopping water from a bowl as feet are washed; the messiness of the blood, tears and earth at Golgotha; the running, stumbling, breathlessness, confusion and garbled exclamations of Easter Sunday. The church runs the risk of treating messiness as an inconvenience and an embarrassment, when it should be a characteristic of what we are called to in proclaiming the Good News and engaging with the world around us.

As +Christopher spoke I remembered a Maundy Thursday service at Waltham Abbey where I served in the early 1990s. The then Bishop of Chelmsford had come to preside at the evening service and as part of the liturgy there was a foot washing ceremony. The chairs were carefully set out by the vergers, preselected members of the congregation came forward with their feet already scrupulously clean. Shoes and socks were carefully removed and the bishop, in a spotless purple cassock with a perfectly ironed clean towel tucked in his belt, knelt before each and washed their feet. I confess that before the service I had been tempted to tell those chosen for the foot washing to run barefoot around the field next to the Abbey church and tread in some nicely maturing dung. The whole experience was of an expertly choreographed ritual embedded in the liturgy. Was this really what Jesus was about? One of my colleagues commented that a more powerful action would have been for the bishop to go and make the tea for the refreshments after the service and then wash up!

If we follow the example of our Lord then things are bound to get messy; they always have. Messy Church is something we should embrace and rejoice in, not shy away from or try and tidy up.

still broken

About 11:30am on Monday I glanced out of my diocesan office window and wondered what was going on as I watched various cassocked men heading for Chelmsford Cathedral. Then I remembered that on Monday of Holy Week the cathedral hosts the ‘alternative’ Chrism service. Each Maundy Thursday a Chrism service is held in the cathedral and all the clergy of the diocese are invited to attend. It is an opportunity to gather together; to renew ordination vows; to bless oils which will be used in parishes throughout the year and to celebrate the meal Jesus gave us. However, as I said, an alternative service took place on Monday.

When the Church of England decided to ordain women as priests in the 1990s arrangements were put in place for those who could not support the move. These arrangements were set out in Appendix B to Ordination of Women to the Priesthood: Pastoral Arrangements and provide sacramental care as well as oversight for opponents of the ordination of women to the priesthood. Basically, provision is made in each diocese for a Provincial Episcopal Visitor, sometimes known as a ‘flying bishop’, who offers oversight to those who cannot accept the ministry of the diocesan bishop because of his acceptance of and participation in the ordination of women. It was these clergy who I saw going to the cathedral on Monday for their alternative Chrism service in Holy Week.

I thought back to another view through a window during Advent 2008. I was looking through the window of the small Franciscan church called Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives. The church is constructed in the shape of a tear and the view looks out over Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem. This is traditionally remembered as the site where Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).

So there you have it: Holy Week, when we remember what God has done for all of us through his Son the Lord Jesus Christ and we have two separate services because we can’t agree on what Jesus calls us to be and do in his name. We can’t even share together around the Lord’s table.

Jesus wept and we should hang our heads in shame.

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-22

Icons

Four stunning new icons have recently been installed in Chelmsford Cathedral. The icons depict from left to right, the Virgin Mary, Jesus, St. Peter, and St Cedd and are sited above the semicircular arch in the four blank clerestory windows of the Chancel. Through the arch another piece of artwork the Tree of Life mural is visible. These are just some examples of the many interesting artworks in the cathedral.

The icons have been created by Orthodox icon-writers who wish to remain anonymous as an offering to God.

commission4mission exhibition

Dropped into Chelmsford Cathedral this morning to see the commission4mission exhibition. Commission4mission aims to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a mission opportunity and as a means of fundraising for charities. The exhibition runs from 2nd – 7th November ‘09 in the cathedral and ends on Saturday 7th with a Study Day entitled ‘Perspectives on commissioning Christian Art’.

There is a wide variety of art on display including: pottery, painting in watercolour, oils and acrylics, embroidery, wall hangings, prints, sculpture, panel reliefs, mosaics, drawings, glass work and jewellery. The cathedral also contains many examples of contemporary art and one of the most striking features is a 20 foot painting situated in the North Transept and unveiled in January 2004 to celebrate the 1,350th anniversary of St. Cedd's arrival at Bradwell. It is of a "Tree of Life" painted by Mark Cazalet. It is a Gospel Oak which evokes different levels of response from the viewer with many symbols that give their own messages. The environmental and ecological themes are obvious. but it is also a celebration, which exults in the sheer splendour of this great tree, and is a call to worship the God who creates.

Jonathan Evens, one of the key people behind commission4mission, posted a guest blog which explains more about the vision here.

celebrating Reader ministry

A full Cathedral in Chelmsford on Saturday for the annual Readers Service. It’s always a great occasion, celebrating the ministry of over 380 Readers in the diocese. During the service 11 new Readers were admitted and licensed and, having journeyed with them through their training, I felt a real sense of joy as they were sent out to serve their churches, parishes and communities. The service was also an opportunity to thank Canon Pat Nappin, the retiring Warden of Readers, and to license Revd Dr Martin Kitchen who takes over from Pat as Warden.

David Lowman, the Archdeacon of Southend, preached a cracking sermon based on Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The address began with testimony as David shared a personal experience leading to a renewed passion for preaching the gospel. David went on to challenge those present that the ministry and mission of the church is the responsibility of all of us, lay and ordained. With so much focus on clergy in the news following the Pope's announcement, it's good to be reminded that God's work doesn't depend on one small band of workers in the vineyard.

On the Reader licensing retreat a couple of weeks ago at Pleshey. Canon Philip Ritchie, Jill Poole, Susan Riches, Sue Howlett, Chris Thomas, David Bates, Olive Thursby, Pam Kirby, Canon Michael Fox (retreat leader) (front) Diana Lowry, Liz Paxton, Rosemary Elden, Tina Rollings.

After the service on Saturday. It was rather wet so I was pleased to get at least one shot of the new Readers and their clergy before a dash back into the cathedral.

installed!

Headed across the road to Chelmsford Cathedral on Monday afternoon to be installed as a Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral by the Dean Peter Judd. I was collated by the retiring Bishop of Chelmsford a few weeks ago and this was the second part of the ceremony. The installation took place during Evening Prayer and I was delighted that family, friends, other Canons and colleagues were able to come along.

My canon stall is St Mellitus and the cushion shows Mellitus putting out a fire threatening Canterbury. Legend has it that he put the fire out by the power of prayer but the cushion shows him chucking a bucket of water over it; difficult to represent prayer pictorially I guess. I'm very pleased to have this particular stall as a member of the faculty of St Mellitus College. It was all very relaxed and we enjoyed a glass of wine in the Cathedral after the service before heading back to the Diocesan Office for some more refreshments.

Some of the College of Canons: Gordon Tarry, Dean Peter Judd, Philip Ritchie, Elwin Cockett (Archdeacon of West Ham) and Roger Matthews.

The best comment of the day came from my two children who wanted to know why all the Canons were in Gryffindor House and when we got our wands; they seem to be under the impression that the Cathedral is another version of Hogwarts!

Many thanks to Jonathan Evens who has posted about the service on his blog Between.