Yes! I’m still here – just not using social media as much as I once did.
And I’ve only put my head above the parapet because someone has encouraged me to post a link to an essay I wrote about a year ago. Consider it done! However, I must add the disclaimer that I have made good use of resource material (unattributed).
I’ve been to church quite a lot over the past few days.
On Tuesday I went to “Church” – aka “Temple of Fun”. It is a fusion of many things: vegan cafe bar, arcade bar, live music venue, home to an independent fashion label and a tattoo parlour (“Purgatory”). The place was built as Osborn Works 100 years ago, designed by an architect who was responsible for many Sheffield Methodist churches. However the decor has been inspired by South American iconography – I can’t help but wonder whether the designer/owner has had issues with Roman Catholicism – perhaps putting the confessional to use would be in order (yes, there is one)! Or saying a prayer at the altar with its crucifix, or paying reverence at the gaudy corner with statues of angels, fairy lights, candles, skulls, flowers……… Amazing! Not forgetting the bar with statuettes of the Virgin Mary among the bottles next to a Rambo arcade machine.
On Thursday I went to a friend’s church. This is what she calls her local tea rooms which exude charm and attention to service. The cafe is located in a village-like part of the city where she has lived for many years and is known by plenty of people (even if she is still an incomer!). She spends a lot of time in the place, meeting friends and local people, listening to what is going on for them in life, and sharing her experience of faith when asked to or when it makes sense to say something. My friend meets up with other people, in the tea rooms or elsewhere, with whom she can explore prayer and creativity as expressions of faith.
On Saturday I had a walk out to an Edge (for non-Sheffielders an Edge is a gritstone escarpment found out into Derbyshire). There were plenty of people walking along any number of different tracks on their (life) journeys, all enjoying the Spring sunshine and the views of creation. Birds soared and hovered overhead, away from the Edge small birds sang, there was mysterious mistiness before sunset, and majestic stones pointing heavenwards. My contribution was a smile and “Hello” when people looked in my direction and we briefly encountered each other as Stranger. It felt like a shared communion within the natural world. Was this Church?
On Sunday I definitely went to church. After all, I was meant to be leading a church service. I dressed in smart clothing (not clerical apparel) which made me feel out of place as I walked to and from the church building. The atmosphere in the service was informal and we enjoyed each other’s company, offering a gift of music or a relevant insight. The usual sort of things happened: hymns, prayers, Bible readings, listening to and discussing the Word, sharing bread and wine, offering of money etc. Afterwards we had coffee and cake or tea and biscuits and people continued chatting and catching up with each other’s life events.
And in between all these experiences I have weaved my usual rhythm of prayer in my conservatory chapel. Sometimes I have been glad that God honours my presence despite my unreadiness for prayer and encounter; other, far fewer, times I have sensed a word or understanding lodging itself within me.
So what counts as Church?
… for the one or two who encouraged me to write more blogs and said they would read them!
I do feel another blog coming on me – so watch this space and something might arrive soon.
Just over 5 years ago I joined Facebook. A late convert. Actually I was cajoled into it – assured that I needed to join up in order to communicate with people.
So what has been my experience? Mixed!
On the positive side I have discovered people and organisations engaged in interesting stuff. I have “signed up” to certain pages either via Facebook or via email. My horizons have been opened up and deepened (can you do that with horizons?). This has been particularly true with my monastic wanderings. I have also appreciated the use of Messenger for contacting people (especially family) and having mini conversations. Work-wise the Open House page has acted as an events manager and diary.
On the negative side I realise that it can have an impact on my mental health. It is easy to feel the equivalent of being lonely in a crowd. I can feel intimidated by people who seem to use Facebook easily and frequently (do people actually read stuff they “like”?). It can all feel a bit addictive. I know that I have to work out how I should use the medium and what works for me. I’m on it….
When I became a pioneer minister I was left with the impression that all pioneers should blog. This is how we communicate; this is how we convey our pearls of wisdom (such that it is!). Out there is a ready audience waiting to read our thoughts.
I have a problem with that. Firstly it’s not my natural medium. Secondly you seem to have to put in quite a bit of effort to actually build up a following. Thirdly I don’t see why I should assume that anyone wants to read my random thoughts. And fourthly that’s not how anyone really gets to know me and how I’m thinking and feeling about stuff.
So, I’m reviewing my blogging life (very limited to date of course). If anyone happens to read this, do let me know your thoughts – if it is an appropriate thing for you to do! Is there anything that you would find remotely useful/helpful that I might write about??
Oh, and “Happy New Year” to anyone out there.
Continuing my personal exploration of monasticism ……
My first Holy Week and Easter without any churches to look after! What should I do? I decided to journey through the 8 days from Palm Sunday to Easter Day with prayerful activities and reflection. I kept a personal journal to record my thoughts and feelings – and they will stay private! I also weighed up what the experience was telling me about the monastic vocation.
Semana Santa
This was the inspiration for my week-long observance. Anyone who has visited Spain, especially southern Spain, knows about the processions and celebrations of Holy Week.
My visit to Malaga a couple of years ago introduced me to the high emotions of Holy Week as the days go by until the quieter observance and respect of Holy (Good) Friday and the Great Silence of Holy Saturday. I was captivated by it all. I experienced the desire to live the week in my own way back home.
Holy Week – Open House style
My usual rhythm of prayer, including lunchtime and teatime prayer (people are welcome to join me), was supplemented by evening reflections, conversations about the meaning of the Week, washing one another’s feet (as Jesus did with his friends), and a Passover-style meal in remembrance of Jesus’s Last Supper.
For Holy (Good) Friday I joined with my pioneer colleague and people gathered at the local food bank for a lament about the things that are wrong in society and the wider world. Words representing these wrongs were nailed to a cross. Open House was privileged to look after the cross for a little while and to hold in prayer those who suffer at the hands of others. Holy Saturday was spent in continued prayer and reflection and ended with a service of light to greet the dawning of light amid the darkness.
I don’t do early morning! But I was awake just after 6am on Easter Sunday so said my morning prayers in the early light. After a happy day with family I rounded off the week with an evening reflection and a dedication to love, life and hope through the bread and wine of Communion.
So what more have I discovered about the monastic vocation?
The importance of showing up…… One important role of the monastic life is to follow the daily rhythm of life (with prayer as a central focus) and the seasonal pattern of the church year. I do this whether anyone else joins me or not. Obviously the format of what I do varies according to whether I have any companions at events, but I continue with the experiences even when I am on my own. I guess it is the representative nature of the monastic vocation – to support the Church as a whole by maintaining the constant pattern of prayer and reflection and to help keep the faith story alive.
Once more I have reflected on the issue of status – see my previous blog – and the very human desire to be relevant, useful, and to have significance. Yet monastic living goes on in unremarkable ways – often unnoticed and even undervalued.
And again the importance of ‘being’ in a world where people have become consumers (“I shop / buy stuff….therefore I am”) and are intended to become producers or active agents too (“I make / do stuff ….therefore I am”). Perhaps the monastic vocation is primarily to ‘be’ and to affirm other people in their prime identity of ‘being’ (“You are …… and you are loved”).
A basic monastic desire is to know yourself truly and deeply. It is via this journey of self-knowledge within the love of God that I might discover wisdom and experience to share with others. But I can never forget that I am just a very ordinary human being, as flawed as anyone else, and daring to believe that I may be as gifted as anyone else too.
Greetings to you for this continued Easter Season (another month to go yet!)
Open House Sheffield 