
Tradition
“Tradition is peer pressure from dead people!”
“Tradition – the living faith of the dead
Traditionalism – the dead faith of the living”.
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”
It’s only impossible until it’s done”, words attributed to many including Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.
On a Thursday morning in January 2022, 24 ministers, elders and others from within the ITsForMinistry Facebook group meet on Zoom for a Conversation triggered by some of Seth Godin’s thinking around Leadership always being qualified by ‘this might not work’.The Seth Godin’s Video which all had watched prior to the conversation was this one:
The recording of the conversation is available to those within the FB Group. If you are not already a member there you can request to join. (There are a few simple questions including commitment to the group rules which must be completed)
Following the conversation a number of the group have committed to reading Seth Godin’s The Practice and to meet regularly to discuss its content and to encourage one another in our practice in the context of ministry.
Details are in the FB group if you are interested in joining in.
An Advent Meditation – take time to ponder Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Faith…
Link: churchofengland.org/resources/advent-and-christmas-2021-resources-heart-christmas
Songs from Resound Music might be helpful this Harvest time…
We See the Fruitful Harvest
Praise Awaits You (Psalm 65)
Freely
From a recent collaboration with Christian Aid with its themes of justice for all:
And, really, any song from Resound Worship’s Doxecology collection – in particular:
God the Maker of the Heavens
If the Fields are Parched (Have Mercy)
As the Seeds Are Planted (Let the Earth Find Rest)
I was looking for the George MacLeod quote ‘Take us outside holiness’ – from the prayer prayed during the rebuilding of Iona Abbey in the 1930’s.
Before finding it, I came across another George Macleod quote
“I simply argue that the cross be raised again,
at the centre of the marketplace
as well as on the steeple of the church.
I am recovering the claim that
Jesus was not crucified
in a cathedral between two candles
but on a cross between two thieves;
on a town garbage heap;
at a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan
that they had to write His title
in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek …
and at the kind of place
where cynics talk smut,
and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died,
And that is what He died about.
And that is where Christ’s own ought to be,
And that is what church people ought to be about.”
Lord George MacLeod of Fuinary
Words which the church might ponder again as we seek to discern where God is leading in the post-pandemic world, as we rationalise the building stock, looking to ‘well equip spaces in the right spaces’, and seeking to bring meaningful relevant faith in Christ to the folk who don’t ‘come to church’.
…And then I found the quote I was looking for…. Worthy too of renewed contemplation…
It is not just the interior of these walls,
it is our own inner beings you have renewed.
We are Your temple not made with hands.
We are Your body.
If every wall should crumble,
and every church decay, we are your habitation.
Nearer are you than breathing,
closer than hands and feet.
Ours are the eyes with which you, in the mystery,
look out in compassion on the world.
So we bless you for this place,
for your directing of us,
your redeeming of us, and your indwelling.
Take us ‘outside the camp’, Lord.
Outside holiness,
out to where the soldiers gamble, and the thieves curse,
and the nations clash at the cross-roads of the world…
So shall this building continue to be justified.
George MacLeod (A prayer during the rebuilding of Iona Abbey – circa 1938)
You can easily include an RSS news feed in your Church website – here’s the current listing from the Church of Scotland News Page. In WordPress add an RSS block with the URL: https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/feeds/news
A consolidated list of good sites to download free graphics…
Are you getting too many notifications on TEAMS… or too few… or just the right amount? Take control of what notifications you receive and how…