Please apologise Bishop.....

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was launched this week at Westminster Central Hall. I wonder did anyone realise what FoCA sounds like? mmm!! I am not convinced FoCA is either wanted or needed by most evangelicals. Most of us are fed up with arguments and want to get on with the real business of mission and evangelism.

However there is one comment I simply cannot believe was either said, or remained unchallenged. The Bishop of Fulham (a Forward in Faith Bishop, a Flying Bishop opposed to Women's ordained ministry) made the comment that "satan is alive and well and resides at Church House". I am totally appalled at this disgraceful comment. To call another Christian Satan is outrageous, but to be so offensive to the Staff of Church House who serve this church so well is nothing short of scandalous!! As a member of Archbishops' Council, I not only rebutt this remark, I will write to the Bishop to ask him to both withdraw his comments and apologise.

Come on Bishop...say sorry

A social norm for giving?

As a Labour Party member I had a challenging train journey from Sheffield to London on Tuesday when I read the new Conservative Party Green Paper on Charities and Volunteering. A challenging ride because I found myself in agreement with huge swathes of the document! This is a policy consulation by the Tory Party to ask people to reflect on their ideas for improving the government support for charity and the voluntary sector. For the past few years this sector has become known as the Third Sector, but the Tories are suggesting it be renamed the First Sector.

But the bit of the report that grabbed my attention was the Tories suggestion that if they were in power they want to start a national debate on a "social norm for giving". They argue persusavely that most of us know the "social norm for tipping" is 10% in a restaurant, so most of us add 10% as a tip, because we believe that is what is what others do. There is no such "social norm" for giving. The paper argues that most charity donations in the UK come from a small faithful and generous segment of the population.

Giving to charity in the UK is going down in real terms, and that is not helped by the recession. I welcome anything that raises the profile of giving in our national debate, and encourgaes people to give more.

Join the campaign...

This week Church Army launched a new website www.makejesusfamous.org.uk This is part of our desire to help the Church do more to make Jesus known in our culture.

The Jesus of the Bible is bold, radical, exciting, dynamic and life changing. His teaching was earth shattering, and he was seen as dangerous by the religious and political leaders of his day. It takes some serious talent to make Christianity dull and boring, but it seems we in the Church have a great talent at it!! I dream of helping our culture re-connect with the Jesus of the Bible.

This new website, allows you to join the campaign to Make Jesus Famous, to share stories and ideas of how you can help promote Jesus in your community and with your friends. Do join up, and get involved....by clicking HERE and look us up on Facebook!!!

Iain Duncan Smith

A few weeks ago I met with Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, and now Chair of the Centre for Social Justice. I am pictured here in his office at the House of Commons alongside Phillipa Stroud, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ)

Iain had a pretty rough ride as Tory Leader, and yet has now found a role as Chair of CSJ and a real champion for grassroots organisations making a real difference in alleviating poverty and injustice. I spent an hour with him, and briefed him on how Church Army was making a real difference in communities up and down the land. But above all, I was deeply impressed by the fire and passion in his soul, to make the lives of the poorest people better. His committment to better social housing, more early intervention, better support of parents, and creative ways to deal with crime have really impressed me. Even more so, as I am a Member of the Labour Party!

I had the privilege of attending the Centre for Social Justice Awards the other evening, and met some amazing people doing incredible things. Interestingly, the word that was embalazened across the front of the stage was the word "HOPE".

Tears in Iraq

Two years ago I met Andrew White at HTB. Andrew is Vicar of Baghdad, and probably holds one of the most demanding and tough jobs in the Christian world. Andrew suffers from MS, and is one of the most courageous, and godly people I have ever met. He exudes grace and love, and yet carries the pain of the people he pastors. His congregation in the centre of the city is made up of Iraqi Christians, and so many of them have suffered, been tortured and indeed died.

As our news has been filled with the news of the murdered hostages in Iraq, I got a circular email today from Andrew which I wanted to share a little with you.

"Well, today has been awful. For two years we have worked every day on getting the two Jasons back. They were my friends; I ate with them and lived with them. One day when I was ill, one of them cared for me in the hospital; he had been an army medic. These people were not just hostages I was working on, they were my friends. Every day I prayed for them and sought their release.

In the midst of all this we are told to love our enemies. It is so, so difficult but this is what we are called to do.I confess that once the news was confirmed about the two Jasons, I cried. David was with me and he was also in tears. I cannot imagine the pain of their dear families. How terrible it must be for them and how we pray for them.As I was in tears I was trying to preparing for our service. At one point, I did not even think I would be able to do it. The lectionary reading today was about David and Goliath. We did a play in church with the Children. I was Goliath, David was one of the little boys. When I preached on the subject, I told them about what had happened; they have been praying so hard for so long. As I looked around at the many hundreds of people, literally everybody there has suffered much. I told them that despite all the awful things that have happened to us, we must all love G-d and follow Him anyway. Often it is the little people and small things in life that overcome what is huge and seems insurmountable, just like David and Goliath.Church was great as usual, the people are all so nice and so encouraging; together we shared our pain and love. So I will return to England this week and my colleague Samir will stay and continue working on the case. Please pray for us, we need all the wisdom and guidance possible."

Please pray for Andrew and his people at this remarkably tough time

Coded messages

It's funny how excitement at a headline can be lost in the detail. Driving home last night, I heard the headline on Radio 4 that the Israeli Prime Minister, Binjamin Netanyahu had said for the first time, that he accepted the need for a 2 state soultion in the Middle East. I nearly drove of the road! Could this be the same hardline Likud leader who when Prime Minister last time, who said he would never accept a 2 state solution.

Of course the world has changed since then. The USA has elected a Rockstar President, who made a stunning speech in Cairo, and in his other carefully nuanced comments, had made clear he saw the 2 state solution as the only game in town.

So when I heard the headline I thought, this could genuinely be a kiaros moment for peace in the middle east. Then I got home and read the speech. Netanyahu accepts that a Palestinian state could have it's own government, flag, and borders. However, jewish settlements remain on the West Bank, and the President of the United States has said they must stop. Also Netanyahu states that the new government in Palestine cannot have its own military, yet Israel can. There is no movement on Jerusalem, and the Palestinians cannot control their own airspace. I was downheartened. More Israeli preconditions.

Then I heard that the White House has welcomed the acceptance of the 2 state solution. I welcome that too, but if Northern Ireland teaches us anything, it is that lists of preconditions of which sacred cows cannot be slayed, is no basis for negotiation or finding a middle way.

Then I thought some more, and realised I had missed a trick. I think Netanyahu is a remarkably clever politician, and the hard right in Israel will maul him for even daring to suggest a 2 state solution. The settlers in the West Bank will call him a traitor for even suggesting a Palestinian state could be created. This was a speech that said we need to accept change.

David Trimble when he was Ulster Unionist Leader moved too fast in Northern Ireland and didn't carry the Unionist people with him in the peace process. In doing so, he lost their trust, their votes and the process stalled. It took Ian Paisley, with all his bluster and his might at the ballot box, to slowly move and take the majority with him. He needed to move slowly, and public opinion changed when they had the hardline Paisley lead them. Nethanyahu is the hard liner of old, and it will need him to slowly shift his people towards a shared future for that troubled land.

I think Netanyahu is trying to slowly move his people towards the vision President Obama set out in Cairo. Yes he didn't go far enough, but he went far enough to accept the 2 state solution and hopefully persaude Israeli public opinon to move. This was a brave speech, and with enough coded messages to make the DaVinci Code look dull ! So I will not join the chorus today criticising Netanyahu, I think he has made a very clever speech.

The whole region as ever will be in my prayers.

First blogging Primate!

I apologise for my lack of blogging over the past 3 weeks. A combination of being way too busy, and not having anything I wanted to put on here. Not that my normal content is particularly creative, I was struggling from writer's block! Apologies to those who missed me!

I was delighted over the weekend to hear that my fellow blogger and friend, David Chillingworth was elected the new Primus for the Scottish Episcopal Church! Before you ask, I know, why would a bishop be elected to be a camping stove! The Primus, is the lead bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church, coming from the latin, primus inter pares, meaning first amongst equals. He is the lead bishop in Scotland, and effectively as far as the outside world is concerned, the leader of the Episcopal Church in Scotland.

David is a great guy, full of energy and drive, and of course I am equally delighted because he is a good Northern Irishman ! In fact when I was a boy, David was the Rector of the Parish where I went to school in Portadown. David is passionate about mission, and making the church more relevant and accessible, and he has my full support and good wishes.

David is also a fellow blogger, and I am sure this must make him the first ever blogging primate. You can read his excellent blog HERE

Do pray for David as he prepares to take up his exciting new appointment!

unfinished Christian

Please do check out this blog. www.unfinishedchristian.wordpress.com The author talks a lot of sense !!!

Irish Catholic scandal

I have been deeply troubled this week by the news from Ireland of the major report into the abuse of children in homes run by the Catholic Church. This is just so awful, to think of places supposed to be centres where God's love was made known to broken, lonely vulnerable children. Instead they experienced horrific pain and emotional damage.

Please join me in praying for those affected by this terrible legacy.

MPs

I wonder if the outcry over MPs expenses, will finally prompt this nation to ask hard questions about our democracy. I remember learning as a Law student, that the UK has effectively an elected dictatorship. That just over 43% of the popular vote can deliver over 60% of the seats in the House of Commons, and the whip system and Prime Ministerial patronage means the government normally gets its way. The Executive have the Royal Prerogative, which means significant Royal powers are available to the Prime Minister which do not require parliamentary approval. Powers to declare war, make treaties, seize land,etc etc.

The anger over MPs expenses of course will get tied up with the scintilating details of moats and duck ponds, but the real question is the fettering of respect for politics and the political system.

I think we need an urgent Consitutional Convention, of all parties, respected academics and people from across public life, to ask hard questions about our democracy. Britain needs to reform the system this nation is governed by. It is not acceptable that MPs for safe consituencies have a job for life, nor is it acceptable that this nation has an appointed second chamber.

In 100 years time, political students will learn about the crisis of 2009, and the sweeping from office of the Speaker for the first time in 300 years. What will they make however of our response to this? Let's be bold, and grasp the challenge to create a new politics for a new era.

Poor guy resigned

So the guy who authorised Air Force One to fly over New York on a photo op, has resigned. Over $300,000 to get the pic of the famous plane over the Statue of Liberty...

$300K, and frightening the life out of the people of New York, giving the President of United States a major PR disaster...did no one think of using photoshop?

Opportunities

In the space of a month, I have had the chance to speak to hundreds of young people in two of the finest Cathedrals in England. On Easter Monday, I joined Rowan Williams for the Easter Youth Pilgrimage at Canterbury Cathedral, and today, I had the honour of speaking in Durham Cathedral (pictured here). This is truly a phenomenal and mindblowing building! I was speaking at the College Day for the College of St Hild and St Bede, part of the University of Durham.

Durham Cathedral is the most amazing Norman building in the UK, if not Europe, and work stated in 1083. The Cathedral contains the remains of the Venerable Bede and St Cuthbert.

Today I had the privilege of speaking in this Cathedral with a congregation of over 600 students from the College, many of whom told me it is their annual visit to a church. The privilege of being able to sow something of the Christian message into their lives was just so moving. As I drove home I was reflecting on this service, and the fact that so many students got up on Saturday morning to come to the cathedral. They chose to come, and they seemed to really enjoy the service. The Church of England, still has these amazing opportunities because we are the established Church. We get chances to speak at major events, university services, civic services. We need to make sure we use these well, I just hope today I did justice to the opportunity.

I spoke on Jesus calming of the storm, and the thought that even in danger, the disciples were safe because Jesus was in the background. If nothing else I hope I have used a little passion and enthusiasm, to suggest to these young people, that God loves them, and that God is always there, in the background, a constant in a world of change.

Priorities

I serve as a member of the Archbishops' Council, which is one of the central bodies of the Church of England. Like most charities, the Council is facing a strategic review of it's spending priorities, and the first draft of this review was published on the CoE website, and came to Council for discussion in April. The report is public, so I am not breaking any confidences. I am a CEO of a charity myself, and I understand the need for review, and asking hard questions about how money is spent.

The review document makes all kinds of presumptions, and tries to divide the work of the national church into "essential" and "valuable". This distinction between sheep and goats is deeply damaging. The implication being anything not in the "essential" category could have its budgets cut. That although the work is useful and good, the review paper suggests it is not totally essential to the work of the church. So what comes in that category you might well ask?

Well, in that category you will find the budgets for national youth work, childrens ministry, and lay discipleship. You will also find the work with higher and further education! Most of the major areas where our national church's work impacts younger people!!!

I cannot begin to say how much I am opposed to these areas of work being fingered! It seems our work with younger people is bearing the brunt of these suggested cuts, and you won't find similar cuts in our work in central machine, or the backroom costs, or the rising costs for bishops.
This is an accountant's review and not a strategic review. Where is the theological wisdom in this? Where is the strategic mission sense in this? I will do all I can to oppose the cuts falling in these areas. If the church nationally decides to stop funding the children and youth work budgets, then I am concerned that dioceses across the land will feel they too can cut their youth and childrens work budgets. This is just crazy!

You can read the paper for yourself on the Church of England website, or click HERE The report is out to consultation until 22nd May, and I urge you if like me, you want to see the work with children and young people remain a key priority for the Church of England, then write and tell the review group so !

Exam stress!

May was always a hard month. Sunshine, hayfever and revision ! As a youth worker for nearly 10 years, I saw young people get more stressed each year. The pressure on our young people is immense. Pressure to succeed, pressure to get the grades, pressure to get starred grades, pressure to get into the right university.

Today the Church of England has helpfully published 2 prayers for stressed out young people. Yet another example of our communications team responding to situations with resources for people. The recent prayers for people worried about job loss and the recession have been very well received. So let me print the 2 prayers for stressed young people, and I hope they help.

Jesus,
Keep reminding me of the bigger picture over the next few weeks,
Keep me in your hands when all other hands disappear,
For I am convinced that neither entry requirements nor exam results, neither anticipation nor doubts, neither success nor failure, nor any expectations, neither last minute fears nor anxieties, nor anything else in life, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Please, don’t let me forget it!

Another of the prayers to be reproduced in postcard format is written by the Rt Revd John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln and Chair of the Board of Education:

Dear Lord,
I want to do my best to fulfil the potential you have given me.
Help me:
- to stay calm
- to keep things in perspective and be content with the best I can do on the day
- to look out for my friends who need a bit of encouragement, and
- to always remember that the real test is how closely I can follow in your way.
Amen.

Yes it is important to do your best, and give exams your best shot. but they are not the be all and end all. People are important and significant, and God loves us no matter what grades we get!