The Help

We had our first full house tonight at Reel Issues.  All 115 seats at the cinema sold for the Oscar winning film The Help.  I find it rather satisfying that people had to be turned away from an event organised by the church, that's not too perverse is it?  Considering it has been around a while I was delighted; in fact it's out on DVD next week. 

A good film but not really a great one in my humble... but I certainly enjoyed it.  I had to flee the discussion in order to buy in breakfast supplies for the minister's breakfast tomorrow morning but my spies tell me that some good points were made.  Perhaps the most telling was from a school teacher who said that she thought that these days the whole race issue is hardly an issue for kids whereas in comparison the older generation, who grew up in a different atmosphere of racism not always being seen as wrong, were more likely to be racist.  Sure that will cause some hackles to rise. 

Next month we show the excellent Gran Torino - can't wait!

Exeter City 1 Stevenage 1

Don't look too closely at the picture above there are some big flaws in it, just a quick thought at half-time.  Four pictures taken and then (very roughly) glued together.

Exeter City were boosted by the return of Jamie Cureton, secured on-loan until the end of the season after his Orient move didn't work out.  We could certainly use some goals from him before May and he came close, hitting the crossbar for what would have been the first goal.  In the end it was Richard Logan who broke the deadlock with a lesson in persistance and a lucky bounce or two that he took full advantage of.

The second half saw a Stevenage equaliser and they could have had a second a minute later.  Paul Tisdale made some good substitutions and at the death it looked more likely that Exeter would win the game but a draw it remained.  The point was a decent one for City, Stevenage being in the promotion play-off spots before the game, but it does leave us a point from safety.

It's going to be an interesting end to the season.  Here's hoping it isn't too interesting.     

Almost...

The second monthly competition for Camera Club this week and we had an external judge for the first time, rather than us all casting our votes.  Was interesting and beneficial to get his comments, well worth us doing it. 

The theme was Nightlife and I was unplaced in the first five but was named as one of three "Almosts".  Story of my life!  No complaints though, in fact there were better pictures, in my view, that didn't rate at all.

Touching the leper

The following is a quote from Jon McGregor's third novel, "Even the dogs..."

Sorry if any of the language offends, but I thought this was a subtle but deliberate (in the context of the novel) allusion to Christ touching the untouchables.  Of course, I might be reading too much into it, but from the title onwards, there are touches in there that seem to allude to the Bible.

The context here is of a homeless man who is addicted to drugs, getting his feet looked at. 

"Sat and waited and when it was his turn he took off his boots and socks and stretched out his feet for her.  One thing the army taught him was how to look after his feet, and he always made sure he had a pair of dry socks to be going on with, always aired his boots at night if he could.  Some things, when you've been doing them every day for years, you get stuck with them no matter how drunk you are. 

Nothing wrong with these feet, the chiropodist told him, cupping one in each hand and running her thumbs along the tendons and joints.  You must be doing something right, she said, smiling.

Didn't forget that one.  Things like that stick with you, even with all the gaps.  Things like then she washed and dried his feet, and cut his toenails, and rubbed away the hardened lumps of skin with a pumice stone before giving him a new pair of socks and asking him to send the next one in. Most people going out of their way not to touch you all day, to not hardly brush up against you or even catch your eye or anything.  And then that.  Washing and drying and holding his feet, one in each hand.  Things like that stick with you, on the whole.  Could sit and wait all day for a thing like that. 

Watching Ant stirring away at the mess in the spoon and remembering all this.  Waiting.   

Same with the hairdressers, when they go running their fingers through your hair.  Same with the nurses, changing your dressings or taking your blood pressure or listening to the crackling in your lungs, they got to touch you with their clean soft hands and no one says nothing about it but it all helps oh Christ but it helps."   (pages 72,73)

I started Even the dogs, thrilling at the beautiful way that McGregor writes - and he certainly does.  But the novel is pretty tough, a relentless circle of drink, drugs, death, and an autopsy thrown in for good measure.  It's cleverly done but not a light beach holiday read.  I still prefer his first novel, "If nobody speaks of remarkable things".

Oh, the irony...

During a fairly intense time at work at the moment, where I am supposed to be working part-time, my email inbox tells me that today is 'Work Your Proper Hours Day.'  Today is apparently the day that the average worker stops working unpaid overtime for the year and starts getting paid.  

More details here, including things we probably know about work life balance and health issues.  http://www.worksmart.org.uk/workyourproperhoursday/

I wonder how many of us will manage it.  Thing is, I could do with some notice for this. 

Sustainable and Sustaining?

Very interesting WEBA Ministers' Conference last week.  David Coffey was excellent on Joseph and though I had heard the sessions last year at a conference, it bears listening to a second time - and more.  Communion at the end of the three day shin dig was an unexpectedly emotional affair for me and I've come back with plenty to think about. 

Perhaps the most challenging session was from Stuart Murray Williams who asked lots of great questions about how we do church and, rather frustratingly, refused to give us easy answers.  His central question, or at least the one that stood out to  me and many others, was, "Is what we are doing sustainable and is it sustaining us?"  Rather less snappily, can we keep things going the way that they are, or is it killing us?  Are we trying to do too much and are we burning people out in the process? 

Stuart challenges us to have the courage to review what we are doing and to undertake some judicious pruning.  What could we do without doing?   One thing we all agreed in our group was that if we were starting church from scratch we wouldn't start from where we currently are.  But that is where we find ourselves, so what next?  Answers on substantially more than a postcard please!

Top Coffee Shop

It didn't look like a Christian Bookshop.  In fact, I went  in to check because it just didn't look right.  It was modern, clean, stylish even and served great coffee, paninis and wonderful soup.  The selection of books was good despite the limited space and the staff seemed like they were all from this planet and were very pleasant with it. 

Everyone knows a shop like this should be a bit shabby, smell slightly musty and be staffed by well-meaning volunteers who don't really know where things are or how the system works.  They have it all wrong at Cornerstone. 

Seriously, Cornerstone of Taunton, take a bow.  We came away with a bag of books, full tums and sense of peace restored after the trauma of a visit to Sports Direct.  Thank you - great job guys!

First one of the year

There's plenty wrong with this and it's been quickly processed without looking through all the attempts I made.  Still, an enjoyable time spent and I'm going to quickly post this before my first glass of wine (or alcoholic drink of any kind) since about half past midnight on New Year's Day.  Cheers!

A good start

First competition of the year on Tuesday with the theme "Favourite Image of 2011" and so an even higher standard than normal .  Was very pleased to get third place. 

Next month the theme is Nightlife.  Need to shoot something new for that...

"Bishops stand up for the poor" shock!

Very interesting piece in the Observer yesterday by Victoria Coren who argues, quite sensibly in my view, that it's all very well criticising the church for not speaking out more but then to slam it when it does because you don't like what it says isn't necessarily consistent.  She is writing specifically about the benefits cap legislation and points out that they are bishops and so they have no option but to speak out for the poor - after all, it's what their book is all about. 

A small sample -

"I think the problem they've got is that the New Testament, if read as an economic tract, is innately rather socialist. It's all sharey-sharey. Jesus wanted everyone to get a bit of bread and fish. He was all about the divvying up and the helping one's neighbour. So, if Christianity is going to make itself heard on tax-and-spend policies, it has got to lean towards spreading the spoils around.

There's not much the bishops can do about that. Their hands are tied. The gospels say what they say. If their lordships wanted to support the idea that handing out bread and fish is bad for people because it demotivates them from doing their own baking and fishing, they'd really have to leave the pulpit and get a job on a tabloid".

Click the link above for the whole piece and some very interesting comments by other readers.

Cirencester 12 Burnham on Sea 14

Good game of rugby today, I went back to my home town to watch the game between Ciren and Burnham, my current town of residence.  As a result wasn't altogether sure who to support but in the end found myself rooting for Burnham.  A cold clear day, good to meet up with family and friends and at least attempt my Mum's lunch, somewhere between two and three times larger than it needed to be!    

The only try of the game.

Lining up the winning kick, scored about two minutes from time.

Super Sunday

That's what they have been calling the big football matches on Sky today.  And from what I saw of the Man City vs. Tottenham game it lived up to it's billing.  But my Super Sunday started earlier and was, I reckon, more super.

The service this morning was great.  From before I arrived here I have been praying for the musicians we needed to form a band who could lead us in church.  So, about seven years!  This morning we had a band lead us for the first time and they did a terrific job.  They led firmly but sensitively and when I got up to preach I felt that they had set things up beautifully and I had a platform to build on.  I think I managed not to fumble the ball and people were in great spirits afterwards.  Some who were nervous about having a band (drums, bass, piano and voices) were relieved and appreciative afterwards and the feedback was incredibly positive. 

It was also our Gift Day - previous posts acknowledge that, like for a lot of churches and organisations, we are feeling the pinch and one outcome of this is that I am currently part-time.  Electrical work in the building and a need to replace the lighting pushed us over the edge, hence we had the Gift Day.  The response was excellent and we now have enough to cover the work and a good chunk towards addressing the deficit in our budget.  To give an idea of the scale of this, the Gift Day brought in more than a quarter of our total offerings for the whole of last year. 

We then had a great meal together afterwards.  We have been doing these more often recently and numbers have grown as we have gone along.  It seemed especially appropriate that we ate together in a mood of celebration today and so Super Sunday was great for me before a ball was kicked.  Now we need to pray for a guitarist.  I hope and pray it will be less than seven years this time.      

Murmurations

No, not about any rumours that might be going around, a murmuration is - apparently - the collective name for starlings.  They can also been known as a filth, though you can see that this might be less flattering to them. 

So I took my camera last week to get some shots of them over the reed beds here on the Somerset Levels and though I had less hits than misses, I was lucky with the colour of the sky with the setting sun and am quite pleased with one or two.  The mild winter has meant that only a million and a half are nesting at Shapwick this year, compared with the six and a half that were holidaying with us last year but they were still a brilliant sight. 

Bang!

Big drama here as a nearby house was raided and a man arrested under the Explosives Act.  People living within 100 metres were evacuated and the Community Centre was opened up as a refuge for them.  I went down to see if they needed extras spaces for people as it was looking like an overnighter and the church building would have been ideal for them.  In the end it wasn't needed, there was a controlled explosion and people were allowed back into their houses at around 10pm, after about 14 hours of the arrest.  All happens here!

Behind the times

Further proof that you could give a monkey a blue or red rosette in some parts of the country and he'd be elected. On Friday a Private Members Bill will be debated in Parliament to adopt the use of British Summer Time throughout the year.  I would like that bill to be passed and maybe, one day, it will. 

However, Jacob-Rees Mogg opposes the move and has tabled an amendment to reintroduce GWR time, which uses local time for trains - or at least it did until the 1840s.  This would leave Somerset time 15 minutes behind the rest of the country.  "Only 15 minutes?", I hear you cry.  As one poster on the BOS.com website puts it, currently when it's 6pm in London, in Burnham-on-Sea it's 1972. 

Much Appreciated

Sunday Morning I returned to my desk at the church building to find a note of appreciation and some chocolates.  Much appreciated.

Don't take care, take risks

Vicar of Baghdad, there's a job that you probably wouldn't volunteer for.  According to the Christian Today Website Iraq once had 5 million Christians, now it has 200,000.  Christians in Iraq face financial hardship, political instability and the threat of attacks from extremists, and so many have fled to the relative safety of Kurdistan. 

Canon Andrew White is our man in Baghdad, where his Anglican church runs a clinic and relief programme.  The church is in a hard situation there and yet his advice to us in the UK is telling: 

“Don’t take care, take risks and make sure that the church is totally and utterly relevant. The reason I became a clergyman was because I was too bored sitting in the pews. There are so many churches that aren’t full of life.”

Dear Mariella, Should I go to church?

The Baptist Union news service brings to my attention this interesting piece from the Observer last Sunday.  A women working 60 hours a week and seemingly getting abuse rather than support from her husband, writes to ask whether church is the answer.  Atheist Mariella has some interesting and rather surprising thoughts:

Mariella Frostrup's interesting reply