A commoner in the commons

I spent yesterday afternoon in the House of Commons. I'm not even sure that Ruby knew I was there!

I went, with other Christian church leaders to have a conversation with Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. A good conversation was had in which she articulated the commitment of the Government to teaching the English language to all, citizenship education, and creating greater social cohesion and integration in all aspects of our society.

Between us we were able to make various points, which I trust and hope might bear fruit.

First, that greater recognition for all that the faith communities do (and particularly Christian Churches as a major Faith) in terms of developing and sustaining communities - and have done for a long while - would be welcome. The Commission on Integration and Cohesion makes many good points, but there is a disappointing dearth of recognition of the many roles Christian churches play, in it. I once heard someone say that if every Christian ceased to do the voluntary tasks they undertook - ferrying folk about, visiting, good deeds for indisposed neighbours, lunch clubs, etc etc etc) then the Country would grind to a halt very quickly. Not to mention the role local churches play, many in rural and inner city communities. So credit where credit is due, I think.

Second, that most Christian churches are more concerned with who benefits from a particular neighbourhood project, rather than who runs it. That we Christians are not only concerned with 'Christian' values but also 'human values' and that conviction enables us to work with others of good faith to common Good ends.

Third, that we considered the suspicion levied at 'faith communities', resulting in many deeming them unable - by simple virtue of being faith communities - to receive any Local Authority grants for good, socially cohesive projects - a mistake. It was naive to imagine that peoples faith can be removed and ignored in such things in contemporary Britain. In some senses people of Faith had something deep in common that those without (a) faith could not possess. But that did not mean we were all the same, or that particular faith communities were 'uniform' - i.e. all Jews, Muslims, Christians think alike.

Fourth, we expressed ourselves as those committed to dealing justly with migrant workers, and standing against political extremism.

A good afternoon's work, I thought. Now all we've got to do is keep trying to put words into action.

Oh, by the way, an anticipatory Advent to you all!

Chanukah

It is all go this week. Last night found me back in the State rooms of the Speaker's apartments to celebrate Chanukah and this was presided over by the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks. The candle was lit in the silver Menorah which was commissioned by Speaker Martin in 2003 as part of the Speaker's silver collection.

I enjoyed the opportunity to sing in Hebrew and the Chief Rabbi kept us to time. It was also good to have the English translation written down as we went along. The Jewish people have a history of persecution and the Chief Rabbi reminded us that this service of thanksgiving for the deliverance of the Jews is relevant to Christians and Moslems whose history builds on the experiences of the Jewish people as we worship the same God, the God of Abraham.

It was a privilege to join in with the celebrations and yet again to use the images of light as we worshipped God.

Christians in Parliament

Last night I was at the Christmas reception held by Christians in Parliament (CIP) in the Speaker's Apartments. It is a good opportunity for people to mingle and enjoy some refreshments and listen to an inspirational speaker. In the past these have included the ARchbishop of Canterbury and Adrian Plass. Last night it was J.John.

J.John is an evangelist, motivational speaker and author. His appeal transcends gender, age, culture, race and occupation. He aims to help people to see the spiritual dimension of life and enable people to find a purpose to their everyday lives. For more information visit: http://www.philotrust.com/ He was very amusing whilst getting across a strong message of what Christmas is about - talking regularly about what "the original script" has to say. A good evening.

Today CIP met in the Chapel of St Mary's Undercroft for the monthly service led by Steve Webb MP, with testimony and music from Sarah and other CARE interns. Gary Streeter MP spoke and I led the prayers. It was good to be together and worship God in advent. Gary took as his text "The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light" Isaiah 9 v 2. Time out at work among the busyness to recognise the light and love and comfort of God in such special surroundings is itself a reason for thanksgiving.

Visit to Sheffield District

This weekend I went to the Sheffield District on what really felt like a flying visit. On Saturday evening we met with some friends who live in Yorkshire and caught up with their news. One great sadness was to hear that a stalwart of Sprotbrough Church, where I would be preaching on Sunday, had died on Saturday afternoon. Joy Mears was a wonderful, godly woman who left a lasting impression on everyone she met. She was well known in the village for her love, kindness and, indeed, her joy in the Lord. She will be greatly missed. She had been ill for some time but it is always a shock when a life passes, even when it is not totally unexpected. Joy was very involved in the church, having been on note as a local preacher when she was 16 and she was greatly loved through her work with children and young people.

On Sunday morning we began the service with some thoughts about Joy and we reminded ourselves of her love of God and her enthusiasm for singing and for learning new songs and hymns. Her presence was with us throughout the service. I knew Joy a little, having eaten with them on a number of occasions and slept on the floor at the home of Joy and Keith when attending another friend's 30th birthday party. We remembered Keith and their children Ann, Louise and Peter and their families in our prayers as we looked to think about the season of Advent.

In the evening I was at the annual Ladies' Guild service in Ryecroft Methodist Church near Rotherham. It was good to be with them and take part in the service alongside their minister Alastair Sharp. They told me they had been the young wives - and I don't know why they felt the need to change the name!

Back down the motorway last night and into work this morning, feeling blessed and encouraged by the opportunity to share with some more people around the Methodist Connexion.

Questions and Answers

This week I was part of a panel for a recording of "Burning Questions" for Premier radio. Rob Frost asked me to be involved some months ago and he had been planned to chair the panels. John Pantry did a great job standing in at St Mary's Church, Walthamstowe. The programme's a bit like Question time where all of the panellists are invited to bring a Christian perspective to the topics of the day. These ranged from whether Tony Blair should have been more "up front" in talking about his faith to whether Desmond Tutu was right in saying that the Anglican Church is too obsessed with sexuality with other questions such as whether the rules on giving to Political parties are transparent enough and whether we would be surprised to find one of our neighbours living alone had fallen ill and died because no-one was being a good neighbour. The other people on the panel were all really interesting - Stephen Timms MP, Joel Edwards, Jonathan Oloyede, Matt Summerfield and Alan Craig. See http://www.premier.org.uk/engine.cfm?i=1212 to read more about them. I really enjoyed it but forgot that it was being recorded so probably sound awful!

On Wednesday I was able to spend a little time with 5 Methodists from the Birmingham District - Nicola, Margaret, Dane, Elixabeth and David who had come to the House of Commons to lobby their MPs about the situation in Palestine. They brought me a carved "guardian angel" from Palestine and left me after a cup of tea to get involved with their real business which they all care passionately about. I met a couple of other Methodists that day who were in for the same reason. We keep the situation in the Middle East in our prayers.

It was good to have Martyn back and to see him briefly at the tea party I hosted at the House of Commons for MRDF on Thursday. The photo above shows Kirsty Smith, the Director of MRDF with MPs Meg Munn and Hilary Armstrong and myself. Alan Beith MP was there as well and Lords Griffiths and Walton and lots of invited guests and supporters. Brian Caveney, the Youth President was there on his first official visit. Kirsty began her presentation by sharing some of the questions people ask about the Methodist Relief and Development Fund - why, why, why..? she shared some great stories, answered the questions of why? and then challenged us to ask ourselves and others - why not MRDF to support in the work of small miracles. Hilary Armstrong told us of how much difference her two years on VSO had made to her as a young woman and the importance of development, lending her support to the work of MRDF. I think that people enjoyed the opportunity to come to the House of Commons and the tea - sponsored by Methodist Insurance- and most of all to learn more of and give thanks for the work of MRDF. http://www.mrdf.org.uk/pages/home.php

return of the missing President

What on earth have i been doing! No blog entry for 2 weeks!

Well I had a great time with a group of mission accompanists in Scotland, then opened a church in Hoylake - a most encouraging time. I then set off for the Youth Conference in Cardiff - read Ruby's entry for this exciting event.

I then jumped on a plane and went to Malta (as you do)! I'd never been to Malta before and didn't know what to expect. In the event I found it a most interesting place, with its long and proud history of resistance, and, until recently (i.e. the 1960's), the reality of living under successive colonising powers.

I'd gone to share in the celebrations of St Andrew's Scots Church in Valletta. It is unique (I think) in that it is an ecumenical project between the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church. So I led worship to celebrate 150 years of witness, but also attended the 'kirk session'. It is interesting to see how other traditions do the business of running church - but in the end I guess one church meeting is much like another!

The last couple of days have been spent in London, first at a meeting on Wednesday, then on Thursday a visit to Christian Aid, and a meeting with its impressive leader Daleep Mukarji. Then, if that were not enough joy, on to the House of Commons to share in a splendid MRDF event and listen to its equally impressive leader Kirsty Smith.

Hilary Armstrong MP spoke movingly of the importance of development aid, and its role in her own discipleship, and the whole event was made possible by Ruby in her important role in the 'House'. Well done all concerned - a really good 'do'.

Whether 'large scale' like Christian Aid, or the 'small miracles' undertaken by the Methodist Relief and Development Fund, the sheer need of the world, and the profound call to Christians to meet it in the name of Christ through justice, integrity, generosity and grace has taken centre stage in my thoughts and spirit this last while. And so it should.

So, happy but a bit brainblocked the weekend beckons, then its off again.

NCH service of thanksgiving

On Thursday evening I went along to Wesley's Chapel for the NCH Annual Service of Thanksgiving. NCH is a children's charity which has it's roots in Methodism and it is a
really great organisation doing fabulous work. See http://www.nch.org.uk/
for more information. I went to their presentation at Conference this year and responded to what Clare and the then Chair of Trustees had to say. I felt inspired as we considered together their vision and values:
Our vision is of a world where all children and young people have a sense of belonging, and are loved and valued, a world where they can fulfil their potential, shape their destiny and experience the joy of life.
Passion - we are driven by our desire to help children and young people overcome injustice and disadvantage
Equality - we believe all children and young people have equal worth and equal rights
Hope - we believe in a child or young person's potential, no matter what they have experienced or what they have done.
To me this felt like the Methodist Church was really seeing Our Calling being worked out in the best of ways.
I was in good company on Thursday waiting to process into church behind a young man and his mum with a member of staff from the Pinnacle Project and the senior staff member of the London region of NCH. Then came Hilary Armstrong MP, the Chief Executive - Clare Tickell, the Chair of NCH Trustees - Pamela Chesters, the Revd Baroness Kathleen Richardson, the Revd Lord Leslie Griffiths, Revd David Deeks and Revd Bill Lynn. We had an organist called Elvis (Pratt not Presley) and sang lustily throughout the evening. David Deeks preached, on the topic "Thank God for nothing much in particular", Hilary Armstrong and Kathleen Richardson shared stories from the Going Strong project, we heard of the work of the Pinnacle project working with young people and parents and Pamela Chester read our Bible reading.
Four candles were lit before Bill Lynn and Clare Tickell led us in prayer. I lit one to remember the Going Strong project, a young person from the Pinnacle project lit one to remember that (he was great as he shared in the earlier presentation too), Mike King, Team Leader of the World Church office lit one to remember the overeas work and a member of the Trustees lit one to remember all of the Trustees and staff. Leslie Griffiths led our closing responses and blessing. Then off for tea and mince pies! I felt proud to be linked to this important work with young people. It's good to be part of a family which has got such expertise. It was the last service in this role for Bill Lynn who has been the Church and Faith groups link person for over 17 years and retires at Christmas. Thank you for all you have done Bill.