Loyal radical

CHRISTMAS STORY State schools are increasingly replacing the traditional nativity play with variations on a winter theme including pop songs and aliens rather than carols and Mary and Joseph. This move away from a faith-based story to a mish mash of ideas and imagery seems a retrograde step. An acknowledgement of the way faith has shaped our culture is sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. As one parent reminded her son, if you don’t want God we can forgo the presents and celebration! Secularists may want to remind us that it is the Christian faith that has highjacked a pagan festival rather than the other way round. However, the retelling of the story at this time of year with its associated traditions is a way of presenting the package of goodwill towards others rather than simple indulgent revelry which was the focus of its pagan origins. The Christmas Child shoebox service was a fitting way to move the focus away from our own needs on to those of others. The all-year r

A TIME TO REMEMBER With the dark evenings and the colder weather, it’s time to hunker down, get out the warmer duvet and turn up the thermostat. November is also the month to remember. Not only do we have the great memorials of Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, we also have more recent anniversaries. Listening on the radio yesterday the 10th anniversary of the tragic derailment at the Ufton Nervet railway crossing was being talked about. Memories are a powerful way of keeping the past alive. This is not to depress us or hold us hostage, but to create in us a thankful heart for God’s mercy and protection and a loving remembrance of lives that have been lost.  It is always heart warming to see how people cope with disability and suffering and find the strength to carry on. The resilience of the human spirit is something to celebrate and marvel at. None of us can know the future and each day we trust ourselves and our loved-ones into God’s care not knowing what the day will bring. The

Nothing new about 'Evidence-based Healthcare' On the 18th October the church traditionally celebrates the Feast of St Luke. As Luke was a physician, church and health communities use this anniversary to celebrate the work of healing. In a book called ‘Pills for the Poor’ Samuel Rogal explores Wesley’s contribution to the physical well-being of his followers. ‘Wesley's campaign to relieve the physical suffering of the poor began in 1744-the same year in which he instituted the lending-stock at the Foundery to ease the financial burdens of his London converts. Armed with a generous supply of pills, nostrums, and elixirs-in addition to £30 with which to replenish his inventory-Wesley proceeded to dispense, free of charge to those who came to the Foundery, both remedies and medical advice. "I found," he noted in his journal for 6 June 1747, "there had been about six hundred in about six months. More than three hundred of these came twice or thrice, and we saw

All is safely gathered in On the fourteenth of this month Overton Methodists celebrate Harvest, the time when we remember the fruitfulness of the land and God’s provision for our daily welfare.  The word harvest comes from an old English word meaning autumn and is associated with the gathering in of the crops to provide for the hardships of winter. If the ‘harvests’ were poor then survival through the winter was in jeopardy. The Bible also reminds us of the harvest of souls. Jesus connected the bringing in of the Kingdom with the harvest and the sending of labourers into the field as the work of mission. This year’s  Methodist Conference debated the Statistics for Mission report. The debate made clear that there is indeed much life and health across the Connexion, but also that the trend of British Methodism is clearly downward overall. It is right to celebrate the considerable and varied growth found in some churches, but that does not excuse us from facing head on the challenges i

I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God…..Ps 84:10 A doorkeeper might seem like quite a lowly occupation, but in reality they are very significant individuals. A doorkeeper observes the flow of human traffic and will step in to ‘defend’ the space if an unwelcome visitor approaches. In the psalm it contrasts this role with the alternative of living in the tents of the wicked. The contrast is obvious, but it is not just the environment which is in stark opposition to each other. God’s dwelling place is symbolised by a house whereas the wicked are in tents. One is static and the other moveable so that it can pop up wherever it is ‘planted’. The asset of infrastructure is a permanent reminder that we are ‘on the map’. We don’t use buildings to symbolise the presence of God like they did with the Temple in Jerusalem, but they are still significant reminders of the importance of Faith in society. The iconic frontage of the Royal Berkshire Hospital is a testimony to the importance

At Overton we are losing our senior steward of the last 4 years as she is moving out of the area. She has given enormous dedication to the task and will be impossible to replace. No one individual was prepared to take over the role so we are experimenting with a shared leadership where several people are taking over some of the roles of the senior steward. We have 2 new church stewards who will join the remaining steward, along with extra individuals taking on the roles of publicity and another taking on the church secretary’s role temporarily. This new arrangement will necessitate good communication and a great deal of understanding and accommodation as we go forward. The advantage of such an arrangement is that no one individual feels overwhelmed by the task, but the downside is that inevitably some things will slip through the net. One thing is for sure we will not be replicating the past, so inevitable things will have to change. The idea of shared leadership is not a new one. Eve

I don’t want to be perceived as knocking the structures of Methodism. They are its very genius! This applies to the foundational concept of circuit. Circuits were created to support mission using the principle of shared resources. This was acted out in planting new congregations – the strong (resourceful) helping the weak. This has always been a symbiotic relationship and not a one directional flow. The problem is most churches; even the large ones are in survival mode with little spare capacity to look beyond their own needs. So the challenge of leadership is not to become parochial. I am glad to read in the Statistics for Mission report that the rate of church closures has slowed to just 100 a year as opposed to 150! I am not advocating propping up dying causes, but the loss of a rural/small town chapels should be a cause for heart-break. I suggest as an organisation we have become too reliant on the minister for leadership. Yes the minister brings a wider perspective and specific t

Part of the government’s health and social care initiative was designed to free up commissioning and provision to create a far more responsive environment for the provision of care. Simon Stevens the new NHS England CEO has taken this on board and is challenging some of the perceived wisdom of the past. In particular the belief that bigger is necessarily better. He has the encouraged the focus on quality as well as efficiency with the emphasis on celebrating what is done well. In a recent interview commenting on the deployment of consultants Simon Stevens said, “..attaching our staffing to our bricks and mortar and to our traditional ways of doing things has got us to a very ossified set of services in particular places. And there is no God given reason why that should be true, and it’s actually in our gift to do something different.” see comment here As a church we are very structure bound which sometimes limits creativity. There have been attempts to free up structures, ministe

At the Methodist Conference in a couple of weeks time there will be a debate around the Statistics for Mission report, which looks at returns churches have made with regard to activity associated with their congregation. find the report here These statistics are then compared over a ten year period to examine trends and on an annual basis to see how things have changed over the year. The report makes for uncomfortable reading. The reason I refer to the report is the way it reflects what is happening at my local Methodist church. I should add that I do not have pastoral charge of the congregation as I have full-time responsibilities as a hospital Chaplain. However, I am committed to its future as it seeks to serve God in this village. Overton is a chapel built 177 years ago with a current worshipping congregation between 18 and 25 adults, of which up to 5 are under 60. A new family came to the village last September and have started worshipping at the chapel with their 5 year old daug