Gossiping the Gospel

As a student at The Bernard Gilpin Society in Durham in 1965 we used to have a Friday evening session led by the Archdeacon of Auckland.

I remember one evening in particular when the Archdeacon spoke at length about the role of the Priest in sharing the Good News of the Gospel, in describing this priestly work he extended an interesting metaphor which he called 'gossiping the Gospel'.

This concept was further developed when considering the trade routes between the Middle East, The West Coast of Ireland and the English Channel, the idea of the sailors discussing and describing this new religion that had appeared and was spreading, the story of a Man raised from the dead and an ex Pharisee who had converted and begun to spread the message around the ports in the Mediterranean.

The emphasis on 'gossiping' of course carries with it the risk of dismissing it all as 'old wives tales', making a subtle distinction between truth and fiction.

Yet the essence of  the story is what makes it radical, what makes it good news because it offers freedom to slaves, it enfranchises societies' poorest, in the words of The Magnificat it has:

'put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble and meek

filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty

In this way it becomes everyones story and it is shared with eagerness and enthusiasm, 'Have you heard?', 'Do you know?' 

In this way the gossiping becomes the essential mission of the whole family of Christians across the world, individual to individual, group to group, people to people, nation to nation.

For it to be shared it needs to be owned and so my individual story comes first:

Who am I? What is my experience of the Divine? How would I describe my spirituality? What are my hopes for my life? What are my dreams?

The story of the parish and its people as a place, a parish, a wider community might follow:

What is our history? What is our herstory? Here both positives and negatives must be owned and rolled out. This is how we have told our story historically our shared/joint hopes and aspirations. Arts, Crafts, Music. Visitors. Church growth.

The third story is where we are now as a society, socially and economically:

What is happening to church life nationally? What is happening to church life ecumenically? How do people earn a living? Is the Churches Mission widely owned or owned only narrowly? 

Is it shallow rooted? How do we balance survival with the need for growth? Can we identify and talk about our strengths as a community? Our weaknesses?

This strategy can be taken forward if each member takes a share in the telling of the story.

This has been described as ‘Gossiping the Gospel’ to explain the spread of the Gospel around the Mediterranean and across the sea routes to Ireland and the UK.

A modern expression of gossiping the gospel in the 21st Century is that it should go viral. 

Effectively reversing the contemporary decline in both Church life and in Church membership it is an everyman’s/everywoman’s way of discipleship.

Fromagism .......

I heard a story last evening told by a poet. She had entered a competition to write a poem about Cheese.

The poem was rejected because she had eulogised the cold storage which helped preserve the cheese but left customers chilled.

Management wanted customers not cheese to come first.

A clear cut case of Fromagism.

The church tends on the whole to be more concerned about bread and wine than cheese, I haven't heard too many sermons about cheese, although I have heard some cheesy sermons!

What the church is not too bothered about is satisfying current legislation especially employment legislation, although the treatment of majorities, minorities, children, vulnerable adults or people with disabilities is poor, it's employment practices are fairly slack too.

Of course you will be told about safeguarding, the courses that are run, the safe guarding officers appointed and the concerns stemming from recent events, accusations and enquiries.

I have attended two safeguarding events neither were very well presented and really did not help individual course members to accept their responsibilities confidently.

In one course the question of how individuals could be abused was turned into a game show a la Bruce Forsyth. How something so serious could be turned into 'laugh a minute' was unreal. In the second course with a recently bereaved man in the room, which the presenter knew but had clearly forgotten, the story was told about the man who committed suicide on the first anniversary of his wife's death, I continue to be troubled by the image.

Since the death of the indoor critic I have wondered about moving back into  ministry, I have seen a number of house for duty jobs advertised and applied for a couple without success.

What has become clear from this process is exactly how lightly the church sits to legislation of any kind. The historic lists by which people were approached about jobs apparently no longer exist, (AS IF!) and applications are invited by advertisement.

However a quick survey of the Church of England website for employment resulted in no contact names, no email contact, no telephone contact and eventually a list of secular lay appointments via an independent recruitment agency.

Even in a diocese where I am told Recruitment is a real problem attempting to pursue an opportunity to find a House for Duty appointment became all but impossible because of the failure to follow due process in a courteous or informative  manner.

There was certainly no evidence of anyone involved in the process reflecting: 'current good practise and expectations for work in a modern world. ibid. Church of England National HR Department.

Of course it may be that I am just too old. But when asked this perfectly straight question I simply receive imperfect and crooked answers.

Obviously no-one wishes to be accused of Fromagism or is that too cheesy?

Some of the House for Duty posts currently advertised are, it seems to  me, good examples of Christina Rees' comments about the church of the future, where she describes the Church holding on to its self image with a priest in every parish, even though in some areas it is a case of a priest in every thirteen parishes. One advert I saw recently was for a house for duty priest to cover a huge geographical area where there were once three full time clergy.

Christina is calling for a radical re-think reflecting the early church or as I experienced in the USA the rethinking of the parish system built around gathered communities of Christian men and women, children and young people.

On retirement I moved to an area where I had once worked. At that time there were thirteen clergy in the Deanery, now there are are five, it is a similar picture across the Church of England, yet as the staffing levels literally collapse, the number of Bishops and Archdeacons remains constant for why is a question that is impossible to answer.

It cannot be because they are managing a successful forward strategy, numbers continue to fall, there are fewer bums on seats and as one commentator observes for every mission outreach programme that attracts one new convert about twenty leave.

It cannot be because they are necessary, when you ask around it would seem that for the most part the hierarchy spend more time on Virgin Trains than in the Diocese. So people muddle along as best they can.

I recently bumped into a clergyman in the rest room at a Jeremy Corbyn meeting, he had recently moved to become what is known as a Community Mission Leader, his comment: 'I haven't a clue what I should be doing'. A recent advert for a similar titled post suggested that the job was to work out what the job title actually meant.

Given that I am now exiled to Gehenna, too old, too stale, too useless and not worth interviewing, all that is left for me I guess is to:

LOVE JUSTICE AND WALK HUMBLY WITH MY GOD. AMEN

The Politics of Disarray

Sometimes when you get into a mess it can be good to sit down and write a list.

This is my advice to the PM, sit down and write a list. Do this because the world is divided into plate spinners and list writers and you are not a very good plate spinner.

I know this because whenever I wake up and switch on the news I hear about another plate crashing down and shattering as though you were running a Greek restaurant.

David Cameron appears to be in hiding having wished this Brexit business on the electorate, George Osborne is probably still parking in disabled parking spaces whilst editing the Evening Standard, and meanwhile the calm, sensible, phlegmatic British public is witnessing the nonsense of our negotiations being performed as though it was a Brian Rix farce, the only difference being that David Davis (whilst exiting stage left) has managed to keep his trousers on, although whether his dignity is intact is a moot point.

Meanwhile the Foreign Secretary (exiting stage right) had very little dignity to keep intact despite being seen recently in Kabul lying down in front of a bulldozer.

As we descend from bad to worse into the maelstrom of confusion, short measures, counter measures that Brexit has brought in its wake along with Michael Gove who is a living, talking, contradiction, being both for, against, alongside, with and without, as Mr Johnson discovered, little or no moral scruples whatsoever.

Irrespective of their various viewpoints with regard to Brexit, the Tories telling stories in todays Torygraph resemble nothing more than vultures gathered round a dying corpse left out under the burning sun in an arid and waterless desert. Edwina Curried eggs announcing that: the last days of a prime minister are dreadful, she was referring to Mrs Thatcher but maybe, and it is only a maybe, she spared a thought for John Major too?

So time to write that list Mrs May.

First, I think that a playful run through a field of wheat might just shake one out of the doldrums. After all why not have some wild, irresponsible, frantic fun? And if you choreograph it properly you could perhaps create the illusion of mysterious crop circles appearing as if by magic, or extra terrestrial visitors or immigrants or Europeans with unlimited access, such as for example Mr Raab's Czech refugee father and his Brazilian wife.

Having created a diversion with the crop circle mystery let's move on.

Next, a walking holiday, what should it be Wales?, Scotland?, Dorset?, The Pennine Way?, The Coast to Coast?, Hadrian's Wall? My husband and I love a walking holiday.

Why not Hadrian's Wall?

What a reminder of failed European integration, a land without borders, defined at its northernmost extent by a Wall to keep the troublesome Picts at bay.

Of course the Roman's European Project failed just as Mrs Merkel's will and then chaos ensued of course, what with reivers reiving, until Francis Drake created a new global trading nation, painted half the world Red and hoisted a Union Jack instead of a skull and crossbones.

So yes, a pilgrimage from East to West, starting along the Solway with the Irish Border floating in the middle somewhere and heading to Wallsend which allows us to be nostalgic about ships whilst avoiding the pesky Nissan factory in Sunderland.

I think next on the list must be Church. I could go to one, after all I know the hymns and prayers almost by heart, my Dad taught me well.

But I'm sure I could learn something from Justin as well. After all the Church of England is, well 1662 and all that, Henry the Eighth and all that, they certainly gave Europe something too think about Monsieur Barnier. UDI, independence, go it alone and we did and we did alright didn't we? That's the whole point of it really just to press on without free  movement and without immigration, forget the Huguenots, well forget everyone who came here, everyone who was persecuted and was welcomed here and forget especially Karl Marx and Ecumenism, we just don't need it.

Next on  my list? Well that will be President Trump, he leans on me, especially after I helped him down the stairs. I know the Foreign Secretary, the one who resigned, goes on about the Donald, but I am sure once the european thing is sorted the good old special relationship will start to deliver and not just chlorinated chicken.

Well I am glad I took your advice. Now I've got a list I can relax. Think about the future, stop worrying about these B......'., is that what John Major called them?

I know there's still a few around but my Brexit will be the only true Brexit, it'll be, it'll be, oh I know, it'll be May's Way.

 I did it May's Way.