andygoodliff

BWA

This evening I returned from the Baptist World Alliance Congress in Birmingham, where I've been since Wednesday. I stayed with Hannah's aunt and uncle in Aldridge, which was very hospitable of them(especially as it was a last minute request). This is the biggest Baptist get together, which happens every 5 years. 11,000 Baptists all-together! I was involved in running a young adult seminar stream with Simon Hall (Revive, Leeds), Adam Eakins (Joshua Generation and leader of a young adult congregation in Broadmead Baptist, Northampton), Clare Earl (Baptist minister in Ipswich) and Ed Powell (Revive, Leeds). We were joined by Andrew Jones (Tall Skinny Kiwi - wed-fri) and a Mike, a DJ in Leeds (sat). This was the first time the BWA had run anything for young adults and if our feedback is anything to go by, the 3 seminars were a great success.

As a team we  had a great time hanging out, sharing stories, dreaming dreams for Baptist churches. Alongside this dreaming of emerging baptist churches and a growth in young adults in our churches, I have been reading Nigel Wright's new book: Free Church, Free State: The Positive Baptist Vision, which is his account of baptist ecclesiology. I've been also thinking about the comment I made on Brodie's blog on what church is. All this is inter-connecting and speaking to one another. I hope to work again with the team above. Each of us are doing different things, but I think we share a common dream for the UK church and particularly, the baptist stream.

It was good to meet up with and talk with Geoff Colmer (CBA regional minister), Steve Holmes (one of my lecturers from King's, now a lecturer at St. Andrew's), Paul Beasley-Murray (who among many things edits a journal called Ministry Today), Steve Chalke (who was a speaker at one of our seminars) and Roy Searle (who was also a speaker - Roy is the leader of the Northumbria community, which I would like to explore some more).

The event itself was an interesting affair with the evening celebration being very multi-national and multi-cultural, although many of those involved - choirs, worship groups, etc were sadly very Westernized. Although Thursday night saw the worship led by a guy from Mexico and we sang Latin American songs which was cool. Myra Blyth spoke that evening extremely powerfully.

It was a good few days. No stopping though, I'm off with Hannah to Lemmings holiday week (a week for 7-12s), which should be good, if not very tiring. I'm leading the leaders worship times in the evenings.

Should RE be scrapped?

Yesterday's Sunday Times had an article in its Review section by Chris Woodhead called Let's Banish God from the Classroom. He argued that RE is often so poorly taught that it cannot reach the aspirations of QCA and that  knowledge devoid of experience means RE is often worthless. He writes, 'It is the pusillanimity of the politicians responsible for what is taught in schools who approve the teaching of knowledge about different faiths, but who recoil nervously from the prospect of offering children any experience of that complex of doctrine, worship, ritual and prayer which is religion.'  Has an RE teacher do I think RE should be scrapped? Would the time be spent elsewhere? Does RE teach anything meaningful about religion?

RE that teaches the "facts" of the six major world religion is pointless, because its knowledge without the understanding or experience of what it means to be religious. Equally the idea that there is something which we can define as "religious" is false, different religions or worldviews (here I include postmodernism, humanism, etc) are different. Andy Wright writes that contemporary religion is

‘a set of ambiguous, competing and often overlapping narratives about the true nature of reality’ (Wright, 1996a: 173)

According to Wright, religion is concerned with claims to truth, to describing the world in certain categories.  Too often, Wright says, contemporary religious education tends to approach ‘openness to difference on a purely cultural level, requiring students to empathise with the life-styles of adherents of a range of religious traditions, but not to engage directly with the question of truth of their accounts of the ultimate order-of-things (Religion, Education and Post-modernity (2004) London, RoutledgeFalmer, p.226).  That is, RE is taught without any sense of controversy; we avoid asking the question, 'but is this or that true?'.

Good RE is needed more than ever in our present climate - our young people need to recognise the difference between a Muslim and a Muslim terrorist and even ask the question can you be a Muslim and a terrorist? Good RE puts religion in the public arena. RE, along with every subject in school, should be focused on transforming the lives of pupils, to widen their horizon and encourage them to articulate and own their worldview and also recognise that others have an alternative worldview, with which we can engage.  Good RE, Wright says, will have 3 virtues: honesty, receptivity and wisdom. With regard to receptivity, he writes,

'The virtue of receptivity requires students to become sensitive not merely to their own thoughts, feelings, narratives and meanings, but also to those of the other individuals, groups, narratives they encounter … If such receptivity is genuine then it will enable students to feel the full impact of alternative worldviews, and demand an informed and reflective response to them ... Receptivity to difference brings us face to face with a complex and ambiguous world, one that we can only hope to begin to understand by learning to become wiser persons (224)

That is a huge task for those who teach RE and recognises that we need more specialist RE teachers, who are honest about the agenda they bring to the classroom, but model receptivity and wisdom. That is, when I teach I am not out to rubbish Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or any other religion or worldview. In fact, the better question to ask is what can we learn from the Hindu, the Muslim or the Buddhist, but also with the willingness to ask questions of truth.

Over this last year I learnt, that perhaps more than any other subject, their is wide variety in how RE is taught, both historically and in the present - some approaches tackle it through a fact study of each religion; others go for a more (postmodern) experience-orientated approach, where the distinctives of a religion are underplayed (see the recent Spirituality Shopper for a popular version of this); others remove any religion and turn the subject into a secular ethics course; while others, like Andy Wright, approach it through questions of truth, what is known as the critical-realist approach.

RE is a subject very much still working itself out, often on the fringes of a child's education, where perhaps it should take a more central place, informing the whole of a child's education.  RE at its best should enable pupils to become wiser and more open to those ideas or people who are different from them. RE at its best reduces the 'fear' of the 'other'.  Woodhead suggests that a national drive to up the profile of RE would fail, I think, it would be a good place to start.

For more by Andy Wright see:
Religion, Education and Postmodernity (2004)
‘The Contours of Critical Religious Education: knowledge, wisdom, truth,’ British Journal of Religious Education, 2003, 25(4): 279-91

the last few days

I had hoped to post much early, but a number of things have put me out of action this week. Last Friday I and 5 young guys from Bunyan and other churches embarked (and I hasten to add completed) an 18-mile walk from Bishop's Stortford to Stevenage. Over fields and along country roads we walked through the night and early morning. There was a great sense of encouragement and friendship as the six of us walked.  It took us 8 hours.

After a few hours sleep, I got up and went to a training day on church planting @ Bunyan with Stuart Murray. It was really useful to have Stuart with us - to teach and advise - as we explore a church plant here in Stevenage. Stuart was able to articulate the big choices facing us as we discern the future.

Sunday saw us do the whole church communnion sunday I spoke about in earlier post. There were a few things for us to learn, but in the main I thing there was a real sense of our togetherness in Christ.  It is something I would like the church to do more regularly: the more we grow in our understanding and experience of being around the table, the more I think we will learn what it is to be the body of Christ.

Monday evening to Tuesday evening I read the latest Harry Potter (and the half-blood prince). Is it a sign of good book or bad one that I read it so fast?  Rowling does develop good journeys with some of characters and the question of what is good character. Something I'll write more about another time.

Tuesday night saw Hannah and I watch Hotel Rwanda. This was a film I missed on the big screen back in Jan/Feb time. It was a powerful display of the moral failure of the West to intervene. I recommend if you've not seen this film, rent/buy now. Brian McLaren writes some good thoughts here and there is a good article at the metaphilm site.

One last thing is to highlight Chris Erdman's 5-part series on preparing to preach: part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; and part 5.

why do we do what we do

This Sunday at Bunyan we're doing a whole church sunday (the name we give our all-age or famly services) where the whole church will participate in communion.  As Baptists, children can often/sometimes get excluded from this important meal and often takes place once they gone to their different activities. This appears to be a traditional thing, rather than one informed by any theology - when you do some theology, it is my contention, that the whole church should always be present for communion - it is the meal that joins us together in Christ.  Taking an idea from my mum and dad's church in Bicester (baptist as well), we're involving children like children are involved in the Jewish seder meal during Passover. Here, the children ask questions which basically ask why do we do what we do.  The point of this, theologically is to pass on the story and to remind everyone of the meaning and the reason for the meal. Again, communion in free churches often, because of their lack of shared liturgy, can be devoid of explanation - its assumed - and without a shared understanding of what the bread and wine symbolize.  A recent post from Graham @ Leaving Munster quoted this:

The Eucharist is the place where the church practices postconsumerism. The communion table levels those of different economic means - poor and rich get the same portion. It effaces our carefully cultivated tastes - there is no menu, no list of options, no "good, better, best!" hierarchy of products.

I like that phrase postconsumerism - it would be wonderful if the whole church could grasp that, could experience that, could recognise that the communion is foretaste of the kingdom. For the church what we eat and how we eat are so important to our identity as the church.  Last year, I blogged (here) the following, below, which I found Jonny Baker.

When we take the Lord’s Supper, we aren’t just agreeing to a theological principle or performing a dutiful act of remembrance like laying flowers on a grave. The Lord’s Supper is a many-layered subversive and prophetic act that declares once and for all - the exile of God’s people is over. The kingdom of God has come and will culminate in a final feast where all the friends of Jesus, regardless of class, race, gender, or nationality will sit at his table. Israel is - not a proud, pure, triumphant nation - but a rag-tag band of sinners living in the grace of God. That’s who we are and that’s why we bother with the Lord’s Supper.

Greenbelt

Hannah and I have booked on to this year's Greenbelt - 26-29 Aug. It should be good. I went a few times during the mid-90s when it was at Corby and once back in 2000 I think for a day. From 1998 until last year I went to Soul Survivor, but this year just held no real appeal and my young people were slow on the uptake. Looking forward to hearing maggi, David Ford and also Simon Hall and Revive lead some alt.worship. Music wise I'm looking forward to Iain Archer.

Yesterday

The end of this week was meant to see the announcement of good news for Africa. So much work had go on from Blair and Brown and also from the organisers of make poverty history to see  this G8 summit be something historic. As I felt Live8 somewhat overshadowed those in Edinburgh, so yesterday the G8 was overshadowed by something all the more shocking and horrific and deliberate.

Being someone who has been in and out of London sometimes daily and regularly weekly over the last few years into King's Cross and then on the tube to Holburn (via Russell Square) or on the bus down to Aldwych (via Tavistock Square), the events of yesterday seem unreal.

Others have responded with better words than I have at the moment - Robin Cook in today's Guardian writes that 'the struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means'. Blair spoke yesterday of defending our way of life and that must also mean we do not attack others' way of life. Is democracy (at least the Western version) the answer to the ills of world? Is our way of life everything we claim it to be? I think of Jesus words about noticing the log in your own eye. I'm not seeking to justify the actions of those who yesterday attacked our way of life, but I am concerned that we trumpet our way of life as if it was the only way to live, without recognising and acknowledging that others have a different worldview to us, Islam is life - what we're trying to do in Middle East is say no its not.  Mark Greer has also written a helpful piece called 'bursting our bubble' and asks (albeit implicity) what is the difference between a bomb on a bus in Tel Avi and a bomb on a bus in central London.

Reflections on Making Povery History Day (Updated)

Well we made it - there and back again. It was a great day. It was a long day. We left Stevenage about 11.45pm and got to Berwick for 7am, where we shown marvellous hospitality by the parents of Hilary (a member at Bunyan), including a cooked breakfast. Katherine and Henry are special people - Hannah and I are already considering our next trip to Berwick. We were on the train to Edinburgh at 9.39am and arrived soon after 10.30am. We then made the walk up to the Meadows where everything was happening.
The day had a real festival atmosphere, with two stages, stalls from all the organistations supporting. We wandered round and listened to what was going on. We joined the march at about 2.15pm, but by 3pm (the minute's silence) we had moved only a few yards. So we didn't end up marching.

Reflecting on the day, you saw how it was hijacked by the socialists and anti-war protesters, with their messages. The day was about 'making poverty history' - trade justice. drop the debt. more and better aid. I also wonder whether day ended up being overshadowed by events in London. As Simon Jenkins wrote in The Sunday Times yesterday: 'Geldof is to fast politics what McDonald's is to fast food. He is simply good at it. How can you do nothing, he screams, "watching people live on TV, dying on our screens!". Fill up on McCartney and Madonna and you will feel much better.' For me a minute silence wasn't long enough, it felt too easy to give a minute silence. I supposed the day lacked a spirituality (for myself) what with contrasting messages and our inability to march.

Having said that, it felt right to be there, to make the journey, to take a stand, to say the way we run the world is unjust.

Hannah: We had been queuing to do so for about an hour with little progress when the minute’s silence took place. I was feeling quite tired and getting quite impatient at this point. I felt trapped, as there was no other known way out of the venue. That minute reminded me why we were really there. It was not for our own personal gain. I thought of those who are imprisoned by poverty and have no escape. Parents struggling to feed their children and doing anything possible to earn the little money they can. Those people are tired; those people have something to be restless about. (Read more here).

Helen: I wasn't expecting any sort of spiritual experience going on the rally.  I was just fed up of myself, along with a lot of other people, sitting around moaning about the state of the world and not doing anything about it.  I know that some say marching around Edinburgh won't help much, but I knew I'd rather do that than sit at home watching the entire Live8 and hoping.  I had to put my money (or my feet) where my mouth was. Personally it was a shame that we didn't get to march around the route, but when I think that the reason was that 230,000 people were all trying to do it, over double the number anticipated, then it feels OK!  I got so much out of the whole 'adventure', including the demonstration of what 'being church' means from my fellow passengers and Hilary's parents.

Ashley: What did touch me, though, was that there were more "normal" people there than there normally are at protests. Aside from the protest regulars and the odd few people that decided to go along because it was a nice day and all the shops were shut anyway, there were about 200,000 everyday folk. People that don't protest. People that have never been to a rally. People that don't spend their spare time tie-dying shirts and selling Ban the Bomb badges at car-boot sales.

These people were, for the most part, there because they've had enough of the global injustice that is extreme poverty. And, to me, this was amazing.  (Read more here).


 

Tomorrow

Tomorrow Hannah and I and some friends will be in Edinburgh to help make poverty history. I've never been on a march, let alone one this size so should be good. I'll be on the look out for Brodie and Si Johnston, but needle in haystack comes to mind. Apparently Roy Searle, BU president, is leading some prayers at 2pm in the contemplation tent, so might see if I can make it for that too. We're travelling through the night tonight to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, where we'll have some breakfast before training it over to the Scottish capital. I have a sense it could be a great time.

   People hate this kind of talk.
    Raw truth is never popular.
     But here it is, bluntly spoken:
    Because you run roughshod over the poor
    and take the bread right out of their mouths,
    You're never going to move into
    the luxury homes you have built.
    You're never going to drink wine
    from the expensive vineyards you've planted.
     I know precisely the extent of your violations,
    the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
    You bully right-living people,
    taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down.

    Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
    Decent people throw up their hands.
    Protest and rebuke are useless,
    a waste of breath.

    Seek good and not evil--
    and live!
    You talk about GOD, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    being your best friend.
    Well, live like it,
    and maybe it will happen.

    Hate evil and love good,
    then work it out in the public square.
    Maybe GOD, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    will notice your remnant and be gracious.

    (Amos 5:10-15)