Goodhand in Banbury

Being Missional Today: Disruption, Liminality and Reconciliation  Now that is a mouthful of a title for a gathering, and almost enough to put you off going. However I attended the conference run by "Reconciliation Initiatives" which was co-sponsored by the Iona Community which is how I came to hear about it. I may be retired but my brain is not and I still want to learn. The conference was held at Coventry Cathedral, a great setting, on 10th June. Well over 150 people had gathered from around the country and I was surprised to spot one or two familiar faces.  The day kicked off with a conversation between Bishop Guli-Dehqani (Bishop of Chelmsford) and Al Barrett Vicar of Hodge Hill in east Birmingham.  They spoke about their own contexts, the need for openness, about power and privilege and the need to allow others in.  Al touched on the fragility of our world, Gaza the USA etc and how people are feeling anxious.  The Bishop touched upon how so many conversation...

 If you are in need of a good read then get yourself a copy of John Bell's excellent "And Then She Said True stories without morals" It is the kind of book you can read from start to finish or just dip in where ever you want to. They are all short stories of people John has met. He has the knack of telling the story and leaving you the reader to make of it what you will. My overwhelming take away is just how amazing people are, and how important is to meet people where they are, and try not to carry too much baggage of your own when you do so.  They are deceptively insightful stories that make you laugh, cry and in places you find your self angry with how people are treated.

Feeling very smug to be able to get our grey water into the water butt i.e. our bath water.  The garden is very dry and having had no real rainfall now, our previous two water butts are empty. So keeping our pots moist let alone our greenhouse and raised beds watered is a real challenge.   So what do you do?  Well you rig up a hose pipe to another water butt and get your bath water into it. Amazingly, though worryingly, the bath almost fills the water butt. It does mean not turning on the tap to water the flowers etc. This is more than wanting to save water or saving money on the water meter, though its helpful. It is because the reality with the ever changing climate we are all going to have to use water more wisely.   You would think that with a planet whose surface is 71% covered by water this should not be an issue. But we are talking about freshwater availability. Most freshwater 2.5% is locked up in ice and the ground so it means only 1% of freshwater water is ...

  I'm supposed to be retired, but due to a set of circumstances, I found myself attending the local mayor making to act as the new Mayors chaplain. I was leading worship at St Hugh's, which I do very occasionally, while we await a new vicar. It just so happened that Sunday there was someone I didn't recognise in the congregation. It turned  out to be someone I had spoken to on the phone when undertaking  research about our community, as we explore future uses for our building. It was Kieron our local town councillor, district councillor and county councillor. He has had a long association with the church. Chatting about various matters he said he was going to be made mayor in a  couple of weeks and had hoped the new vicar could act a s chaplain. "He wont be in place till end of summer I'm afraid" I said, and then almost as an after thought I said "I'll do it if that helps"  Be careful what you offer!! So I found myself sitting int the Town Hall a...

  Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?   It was worth a year’s wages. ”    He did not say this because he cared about the poor .   Let us pray We call upon you our loving God,  the God of justice and truth,  to hear our prayers  offered in the face of a world that can be selfish and greedy. Where phrases like charity begins at home  are spoken to deny those in greater need than ourselves.   Where politicians play the public,  under the guise of bringing them greater prosperity,  while amassing greater power and wealth for a chosen few,  leaving the poor worse off  and the planet heading for ecological disaster. We call upon you our loving God  to move afresh  and turn our world upside down.  So that the values of your kingdom  might direct this and all nations  into the ways of truth,  compassion, peace and justice. Lord in your mercy   hear our prayers We p...

 This year instead of offering taize worship through Lent we had a Saturday together to look at two aspects of our life together worship and scripture. It was really good to see 19 people come to the day which began at 10.30 and ended at 2.30pm. With Iona style worship to start the day and finish, a fish and chips lunch and it was all in all a relaxed time. The morning focussed on a simple worship game. Thinking about a Sunday service people were invited in small groups to deal out various cards with words which related to worship. They were invited to explain why they would put that particular word in a certain column, ranging from essential to not necessary. Of course there are no right or wrong answers. The important part was to listen to each other and gain an insight why somethings help one person to worship though not neccessarily everyone. The key thing was to talk, listen and smile, which I'm glad to say occurred, and those who were a little uncertain about the day began to...

  Luke chapter 6: 20-26 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now,      for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you,      when they exclude you and insult you      and reject your name as evil,         because of the Son of Man.  “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.  But woe to you who are rich,      for you have already received your comfort.  Woe to you who are well fed now,      for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now,      for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone s...