Church Life

Photo: Germán Póo-CaamañoLots of churches have had their summer holiday clubs for children - they do them as soon as term finishes. We do ours the other end of the summer - just after the bank holiday weekend.

(Quick plug: If you live in or near Kemsing, and have children who have just finished a year at primary school, we can probably still fit you in - 4 mornings starting Tuesday 27th August).

I'm looking over some of the resources we've got for the club. Never mind which one we're using, as I'm not wanting to make a point about any resource in particular. As it happens, I think the resource we're using for this year's club is excellent.

I cannot grow plants.

It's true that I'm not very good at gardening, or even at caring for house plants. But that's not what I mean. Even if I do remember to water them, put them in the right place, prune them, leave them alone when they need it - I can't make them grow. I cannot turn my care of the plant into cellulose and chlorophyll.

Which is also one of the most humbling, frustrating and relieving aspects of pastoral ministry.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. (1 John 4:7)

Today, the Church of England's General Synod meets for 3 days; on the agenda for tomorrow is a debate and then a vote on "final approval" of the measure that could see women become Bishops in the Church of England.

A friend recently e-mailed me to ask for advice as he looks for a church to join in a new town that he'd moved to with his young family.

Part of what I wrote back may be of help to others, so I thought I'd paste it here.

Fulcrum have recently issued a statement articulating their view on the vote before General Synod, this November, on whether to proceed with women as bishops.

Many Anglican Churches across the country still use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for some of their services. That is a good thing. It's theology is not without fault, but it attained a high standard of theology that has not been reproduced in any liturgies written since. A high proportion of all of its services are taken straight from Scripture, with the effect that a great number of Scriptures are read during any BCP service. The BCP takes the Bible, and turns it into a prayer book.

Next Sunday (24th June), at our 10.30 service, we will sing the hymn Immortal Invisible. It's well known.

And, it turns out, mis-known.

I simply copied the words from the recent hymn book, Praise!, to insert on our service sheet. The version they include is copyright to Jubilate Hymns, but what struck me was that there were more changes here than just modernised words. The last two verses contained (between them) some of the thoughts of the last verse most of us sing, but were clearly two entirely different verses.

I love this quotation from Abraham Kuyper (paid link), quoted by Pastor Doug Wilson.

"Therefore, a long exposition of facts or propositions with a short application is in conflict with the nature of the sermon. The application must not be the dinghy behind the ship. Rather, the purpose of the sermon is really in the application. The whole service of the Word centers on the edification and building up of the congregation. The service is not like a brick factory where the bricks are baked and then piled up for would-be buyers to come and pick them up; the service is more like using the bricks that have been prepared for building" (Kuyper, Our Worship (paid link), p. 201).

A year ago, my friend James Cary wrote a short piece entitled "What's so good about Good Friday?"

Reading that would be two minutes of your time well-spent.

What's going on when someone preaches?

How does God's word preached relate to God's word written?

How does the sermon relate to the other parts of a church service?

How does preaching relate to / differ from the other contexts and events in which we hear God's word?

How do the words of the preacher relate to the words of God?

Where does the Spirit fit into preaching?

OK...