Take Risks

I'll start off with an advance apology. After all it is the Church of England - we usually apologise for having any sort of view on anything at all, so the word 'sorry' is definitely in the vocabulary.


I'm sorry if articles don't appear as often as they have been for the next few weeks - with assignment dates looming my attention is elsewhere, but I am thinking of you dear reader. Consequently the articles that you do get may have more of a "Dear Diary, this is what I've been doing flavour" than usual.

So, anyway, term started on the 20th April, and it was almost straight down to business. This Easter term is very short - exams for those who have them (essays for those who don't) are in the last week of May, and there's 4 weeks of teaching to be given and received in some modules. There's no messing about with short courses - once we'd had a full college 'Hall Meeting' and the staff had had a training day it was back into the timetable.

I've still got lectures in Greek, Old Testament and 'Life & Service', and as I mentioned last time 5 pieces of work to hand in. It tends to keep the mind focussed. Add into that the half-hour for a college photograph (all in suits and dresses - very nice), and the odd game of croquet as a de-stressing activity AND the lovely hot weather forcing us out onto the benches to sunbathe and the week soon passes. Already one week of the four gone.

Friday's Life & Service saw us being sent out onto the streets of Cambridge to talk to real people about their views on/relationship with The Church. That was really interesting, and encouraging. It's so easy to sit in your study and think you know what people think without actually asking them. The picture at the top is of us in our highly stressed de-briefing afterwards.

Saturday saw '160 Glorious Years' - a celebration of four 40th birthdays as Charlie, Jane, Mark and I shared a party in the Ridley Lecture Hall. Families, friends and a lot of the students joined us - I've never seen so many people in the seminar room that we were using for the food!

It would have been nice to have Sunday as a day of rest after the party, but being trainee vicars we all had things to do on Sunday morning. I had managed to agree to jointly lead the 10am service at St George's*, along with the other 3 ordinands. So a bright and early start as we celebrated St George's day a few days late, making a dragon and slaying it with a lightsaber before talking about the myths and realities of both George and Jesus, with only a minor controversy between High and Low Church ordinands as I nearly said a prayer that 'must' be said by a priest if a priest is present. The 'highs' couldn't contemplate a priest not doing that bit, the 'lows' didn't even know there was such a requirement!!

After rushing home for a barbecue lunch with Mum and Dad, it was time to go back to Ridley to restore the rooms to a state fit for theological study. I'm sure Our Lord Jesus Christ must have been familiar with the smell of stale wine, and what was good for him is good for Ridley students.

In gaps between lectures I managed to finish one essay, which Tasha now needs to proof-read, and attend a seminar and start the reading for the Theological Reflection which I must do on Romsey Mill.

On Wednesday night I went to a talk by Canon Andrew White, the so called 'Vicar of Baghdad'. Truly inspiring, if totally bonkers. He's a former Ridley student, who had no idea when he was at Ridley that he'd be doing the challenging and dangerous work that he's doing now. I asked him what advice he had for ordinands who were trying to discern their long-term calling: his answer was 'Take Risks'.

So that leads me to Thursday, where at a Common Room meeting I've been appointed to the risky task of 'Student Hosts Deacon' for the next 12 months, and I think I've persuaded a number of students to do a social action project. More on those another time, as well as something about St George's.

Extreme essay avoidance

I haven't written for a while - that's because I've been enjoying my Easter Holidays. For the last 20 years my Easter Holiday has consisted of the same as most other people - Good Friday and Easter Monday - but while I'm in Cambridge I get four glorious weeks! And glorious is an apt description - wherever I've been the sun hasn't been far behind.

We spent most of the first week furniture shopping. Yes, I am a poor student, but one in receipt of a bequest, so we trolled around the sofa and dining table outlets of Cambridge and even as far afield as exotic Newmarket, before returning to the first sofa shop and a local pine/oak business to place our orders.

Much of the second week was spent reading theology books in preparation for writing an essay. Then I had an e-mail from my landlord's agent giving me permission to remodel the patio. Not something I make a habit of, but since we arrived it had been bugging us! In order to meet building regulations for disabled access into our three-storey, narrow-doorway, no-downstairs-bedroom-or-bathroom house the builders had left a hideous and impractical ramp leading into our kitchen, rendering the patio useless for anything other than putting a single chair out on. My books were put down and my most extreme form of essay avoidance so far was in action within ten minutes! And over the course of the next few days it was transformed, for the cost of a few bags of cement and 24 hours hire of a slab cutter, and several trips to the tip.

BEFORE and AFTER

It might not look like much, but the lack of a six inch step in the middle of the area makes all the difference! And Cambridge is not one of those places that hides behind fancy words - the tip is not known as a 'civic amenity site' in these parts...

By now it was a few days before Easter and time to visit Ferndown. Staying for a few days with Tasha's parents in Blandford we seemed to make the 40-mile round trip to Ferndown at least once each day - I think we did more mileage that way than actually getting from and to Cambridge. We visited St Mary's church twice, the house and Lidl once, the beach and Beth's friend Louise once each, and met some of our former youth group in the pub one evening before having dinner with the Caleys. And even went into Blandford...

It was great getting back to St Mary's - it was the first time I'd returned since August, and I needed to catch up with a few people, but even more people needed to catch up with me. I can tell who has been reading the blog and our magazine articles from the questions asked of me! Our arrival on Good Friday was previously unannounced, but we were only 30 seconds or so into the service when Rev Martin Howard asked for volunteer children and did a spectacular double take when Isaac appeared in front of him!!

By the Wednesday after Easter we were back home and into the final week, and I couldn't avoid it any longer. The 'Theology and Practice of Mission' essay needed to be written, and I was running out of excuses. It got mostly written on Thursday, and is now stewing before I polish it off in a few days time - it's not due in for another couple of weeks, but 4 more assignments, one Sunday service, one sermon and a few other things all need to be started.

Easter Term started today, and I'd barely got to Ridley before Tash phoned, very excited, announcing that the new sofas will be delivered tomorrow at 9am. Up until then I'd been planning to do some reading today. My mission changed in an instant to a new and unexpected bonus essay avoiding tactic of disposing of the two old CYFA-worn sofas before tomorrow morning. An hour later, one was in its new home in C staircase kitchen. By now there are three other students pitching in for the second one!

Jade's funeral

I was a little surprised when I turned on the TV at lunchtime to find BBC News carrying live coverage of Jade's funeral, even though I shouldn't have been - our final chance to see every aspect of her life being broadcast.

I've been sceptical about Jade's personal faith, but reading the text of the sermon preached at her funeral I take it back - the vicar who knew Jade best in these last few weeks is quite clear that Jade genuinely turned to Jesus as she faced death. I hope the wider church is ready to welcome all those who come through its doors in the coming weeks and months asking the same questions as Jade.

For the text of the sermon go to: http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/jade-goodys-life-celebrated-at-buckhurst-hill-church.html and then pick up that dusty copy of the Bible, turn to Luke's Gospel, read it for yourself (it will only take about an hour - same as an episode of Big Brother) and make your own decision.

The "Essex Princess"

So Jade's time on Earth is over. Farewell Jade. You were interesting.

I've been watching these last few weeks with fascination, and morbidly waiting for the end - every time I've gone online I've headed for the BBC website looking for bad news. Love her or hate her, Jade has done wonders for cervical cancer screening rates nationwide and her public fight for life has made many younger people contemplate their eternal fate where previously they thought they were invincible.

There are enough articles on the web already commenting on how Jade has used the media to her own advantage over the last few years, so I'm not going to make further comment on that, but a few things have struck me.

1. It's Mother's Day today. I'm sure Jade's not the only mother who has died today, but she's the one who is getting all the attention. She's left two little boys, who in all likelihood had made her a card and bought a present that they will not get to deliver to her. That's happening up and down the country today, to children young and old, but everybody else is doing their mourning out of the public glare.

2. Jade's mum Jackiey said this: "My beautiful daughter is at peace. Family and friends would like privacy at last". That's ironic then. I'm guessing that family weren't too comfortable with Jade's hunger for attention.

3. Jade's spirituality. In her last few weeks Jade did some interesting things. She got married, she was baptised and she got her children baptised. I've read some interesting things about her motivations for these (I'm a bit concerned that she may have gone for the 'baptism will get me into Heaven' ticket, and also heard that she'd been hedging bets with other faiths too) but by now she'll have had the conversation with Jesus where he looks for her name in the Book Of Life (I always think that sounds a bit Monty Python-ish) and her eternal destination will have been determined by her personal relationship with him, and nothing else.

4. Bishop Jonathan Blake performed the blessing at her wedding and was interviewed on BBC News this morning. He's an interesting character. Very convincing, and from the same vein as Jade and Max Clifford. I didn't know that we had a Bishop of Greater London. Oh, we don't. And neither does the Catholic church. Or any other mainstream Christian church. At the risk of increasing his self publicity here's a link: http://www.bishopjonathanblake.com/. Just look at what he's not saying about himself and make your own decision. At least I know where to go if I have any trouble getting ordained!

I'm off to watch the news now - the public reaction to this is going to be interesting. I'll be watching for what people say when they drop some petrol station flowers off at the gates of her house, and for what they don't say - what being English prevents them from saying....

More news from East Angular soon.

Easter hols!

Believe it or not, it was the end of the Lent Term yesterday. Such stress we have in Cambridge for a whole 8 weeks in a row. I'm not quite sure what these other universities are messing about at with their 12 and 13 week terms....what on earth was I doing all that time in Brighton in the early 90's?

Essay on "The Difference between Worship and Liturgy" handed in, we gathered in the Lecture Hall for our twice termly meeting of students and staff, where we hear all the news and plans that have been brewing since the start of term.

And then we prayed, which is where it all started to fall apart. There have been quite a lot of pregnancies announced this term, as well as the sadness of a stillbirth. After we remembered that sadness I wanted to give thanks for the joys of pregnancy and ask protection for the expectant parents. Except once my mouth opened it seemed to lose connection with my brain, and before I knew it I'd dug a huge hole that there was no getting out of. A sentence that was meant to celebrate the joys of children turned into one about the joys of making children. Fortunately by now all were laughing so loud that my next few words were lost.....

At least everybody was smiling for the rest of the day!

Change? Change!!

There's a saying in the Church of England that if you do something once it's a change, but once you've done it three or four times in a row it's a tradition and you'll never be able to get rid of it.

I used to be amused by our youth group's impatience to shake things up at church and to make things a bit more, well, modern. Whilst I encouraged experimentation in worship I always used to stress the point that there's a time and place for some things and that not every Sunday morning can be the same as the youth events we used to frequent. There are ways and means of introducing things, although sometimes radical change can be introduced sensitively too.

So it's with amusement that I observe those same young people (and a curate friend of mine) reacting with horror when their favourite occupation, Facebook, makes some changes to its layout. And for the second time in six months too!

Look, I still haven't worked out where my Wall went to the last time Facebook made changes, but let's face it - all they need to do is make a third change and it'll be a tradition, and then nobody will be moaning about it.

As far as the east is from the west

Today's session with my Romsey Mill group was a completely different experience from last week.

Between 9 of us we planted and fenced in about 20 shrubs. I say 9 of us - me, Gavin and Ruth enjoyed planting and fencing whilst many of our charges observed proceedings with some disinterest and complained about how hard they were being worked, whilst Iwan did his best to chivvy and encourage.

Over the course of 90 minutes everybody got along just fine. My un-friend from last week is once more my friend, without me having done anything different.

So things aren't so different from my nice cosy hot-chocolate-and-biscuits-in-my-lounge CYFA group that I left behind in Ferndown. But the Ferndown lot didn't use quite so much Anglo-Saxon, not that close to my face anyway.

And I'm not sure how well Slum Survivor would go down in this group.

I've had many comments about the article I wrote last week, from a variety of sources. Thank you all for your interest and encouragement.