We have to talk about Israel and Hamas, don’t we? Because we not only read and watch – we are to pray. One of the shocking moments that happens on our church trip to Israel is when we visit Bethlehem and Bethany, see the settlements on both sides and the dividing wall that Israel has constructed, and begin to experience the deprivation of the Palestinians living behind it. It’s a brutal moment. And it lives with me as I see the horror of the kidnap of babies, murder of festival-goers and torching of villages.
Here are five truths I need to remember. This whole issue is complex – and, frankly, I don’t trust anyone who thinks all rights lie on only one side (although I will come back to terrorism). There are multiple parties and arguments, and if you’ve ever been involved in a serious conversation with anyone who is engaged, you will know how easily labels become attached to opponents. To support Israel, is to support apartheid. To support Palestine, is to support antisemitism. You’ve experienced how arguments get pushed to extremes, and nuance is lost. Any nuance is hard-won, and fearfully difficult to maintain. So, Truth number 1: we worship and pray to a God who can handle such complexity. He is infinitely wise (not just very wise; infinitely so), and he sees to the bottom of each and every question, with complete thoroughness and clarity. He’s not bewildered like we are by this. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth (that’s infinity!), so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9). This is also problem with a history. I mean, when do we go back to, for a fresh start, or to draw the borders? The Oslo Accords? Camp David? The Yom Kippur War? The Six-Day War? The founding of modern Israel in 1948? The British Mandate? The Balfour Declaration? The First Zionist Congress in 1897? The Crusades? None of those moments, and they’re a tiny sample – is mere, dead history. They are remembered and killed for to this day. Each killing justified as response to a previous one. And then there is the Holocaust. Do you know how many of your Jewish friends still live in fear of that, and have their passports ready, just in case? Even if they’ve been British for generations, and are the fiercest critics of Netanyahu, they still see the case for the existence of Israel, just in case? So, Truth number 2: we worship and pray to a God who sees everything, and saw, and remembers everything. Not a tear is lost. Three thousand years ago, the Psalmist prayed, Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record? (Ps 56:8). Yes. They are still on record. As is the despair, the fear, the fury, the spite. There’s blood on all sides, too. Crimes and war crimes, past and present. Atrocities and hard hearts. It’s impossible for us to balance out those competing injustices, isn’t it? Does consistently losing your lands to Israeli settlements justify bombs? Does the reality of living in fear of bombs justify the building and arming of a wall? How do you calculate the terror of being stateless in the face of Holocaust and Pogroms? Does it outweigh the terror of being stateless and living in refugee camps in Jordan for half a century? Is it right to be even-handed? Where does the principal injustice weigh heaviest? So, Truth number 3: we worship and pray to a God of absolute justice and fairness. He knows and acts (and finally, will act decisively) to vindicate rights and punish abuse. Without partiality or turning a blind eye. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. (Ps. 103:6) Because I can’t tell who’s telling the truth, sometimes. Politicians, leaders, advocates, have been proved liars and corrupt. And incompetent. Conspiracy theories abound, and will get worse. Atrocities are Photoshopped. Even the best of causes can have appalling leaders. And my heart isn’t pure and truthful either. So, Truth number 4: we worship and pray to a God who sees through to the human heart. A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart (Proverbs 21:2) And then we have Hamas. What has become very evident this week, is that with Hamas you are not dealing with the legitimate voice and leadership of the Palestinian people. You’re not even dealing with ‘ordinary’ terrorism in that cause. With Hamas Israel is facing the same type of enemy as ISIS or Boko Haram. We are seeing extreme Islamist terror, not only with a hatred of the West and its influences, but in particular a hatred towards Jews – not just Israel. Make no mistake: Israel cannot negotiate with Hamas for a two-state solution, because Hamas wants nothing other than the destruction of Israel, under the flag of jihad. Hamas doesn’t want Israel out – it wants Israel out of existence, and operates under a different moral code to achieve that. It doesn’t recognise Universal Human Rights. (Yes, friends, I do know about the hundred and more UN declarations against Israel – see truths 1,2,3, and 4). Hamas hasn’t signed up to the Geneva Convention. Israel faces an existential threat. This is plain evil. So, Truth number 5: we worship and pray to a God, who not only knows and names evil, but has defeated it, and will run that victory through to the end. The cross not only deals with your sin, and mine, it defeated the hosts of evil in the spiritual realms. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15). We can pray that God will run that victory through to its final conclusion. Which means we can and should pray for everyone involved in this terrifying chaos, right through to the worst of them, will come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ on the cross, and lay down their arms before him. Our Palestinian friends rightly fear for the lives of their familles and friends in Gaza. Our Jewish friends also fear for their lives here in the UK. We need to pray. first published by Chris Green on his blog, Ministry Nuts and Bolts
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The PCC met on Monday 9th October and discussed the following:
1. Ugochi opened the meeting with bible passages that reminded us that our strength comes from God and that we can say we are strong because he enables us to be. “Our Strength is in the Lord”. 2. Through the power of technology Josh took us through a Church of England plan to double the number of children and young people in our churches by 2030. The statistics showed that the Church of England had had a 10-year decline in this age group in 2 years due to the covid pandemic! We had booklets that showed us how we could get involved, using the acronym PRAY. Prioritise. Resource. Adapt. You. We talked in small groups and there was a feeling that some people would like more time to spend on this subject. Josh took away our ‘sound bites’. 3. The church tower clock is in need of repair and a facelift! This was discussed and the PCC agreed that it was a once in a generation cost for the facelift. We also talked about applying for a grant and the idea of including the community in possible fundraising. 4. Some history was given of the journey we had taken to get to the point we were at with our building development. We looked at the latest plans for the parish hall which unfortunately still wouldn’t really give us the space we were hoping for. They were, however, the best we thought we could hope to get planning permission for from Southampton City Council. As well as getting costings for the latest plans, the Building Development Group were going to start considering refurbing the buildings we have and comparing those costs. 5. Safeguarding is on the agenda at every meeting and this month we looked at the list of activities that take place in our church buildings that are non-church activities. They were all agreed except for a query about one, which Rosie is looking in to. 6. We talked about the church finances and Marie explained that the deficit probably wouldn’t be as large as we had thought when we set the budget, largely due to the utilities not costing as much as we had thought. Our next meeting is Monday 13th November. The meeting was devoted almost entirely to discussion of two motions proposed by Keith W concerning the current proposals coming from the House of Bishops within General Synod to allow for blessing of same sex relations in church. The first motion called on the PCC to support Dan’s right not to bless same sex relationships at St James' by the Park, irrespective of whether all PCC members agree with his theology. The second motion proposed that PCC should withhold a proportion of our Common Mission Fund contribution from the Diocese as an expression of concern about the process and direction of travel.
Tracy opened the meeting with three verses of scripture: John 3 v16-17 “For God so loves the world”, Mark 12 29-31 ““Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” and John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another”. As a PCC we reflected on which words struck us from these passages and prayed for our discussions. Dan introduced the topic, saying that the CofE is a broad church and when one group of believers tries to institute change that is difficult for another group tensions arise. It was inevitable that this debate was going to arise, however it has now become something of a can of worms. Not only is there a disagreement about the fundamental issue, but objections are being raised about the process that is being followed within General Synod. We have to acknowledge the hurt that has been caused by the church to same sex attracted people over many years. There is already an impact to our congregation from the debate in terms of people leaving the congregation or reducing their giving in response to the vote at the February General Synod meeting in favour of blessing same sex relationships. Simon C joined the meeting remotely from York, where he has been attending the July General Synod meeting as a representative of Winchester Diocese in the House of Laity. He explained that there has been a 7 year process of dialogue within the Anglican Church which has now crystallised into two equally principled positions. It is difficult to see how these two positions can be reconciled. This is going to impact us as a church family at local, national and global level. The impact on local churches doesn’t seem to be appreciated by the Bishops. If change is enacted then the current plan will produce a whiter more western church. He finished by informing us the final text of the blessings for same sex relationships together with pastoral guidance and arrangements to protect dissenting clergy are due to come back to General Synod in November this year for final approval. Keith introduced the first motion by saying that as a PCC we should support Dan, even if we disagreed with his position. He felt that it is important for Dan to have a formal expression of support to help deal with pressure from above, other clergy and below. Dan was asked if he needed this motion, and responded that at present it isn’t necessary but is good to have something in place for the future. Other questions raised included why the PCC should have this motion given that the choice not to bless same sex relationships rests with Dan, not the PCC, and what does “support” mean, could it be interpreted as support for Dan’s theological position, even if the motion as written doesn’t say this. The PCC passed the first motion by a large majority. Keith introduced the second motion saying the proposal is not designed to address the underlying theological proposal, but instead concerns the process and the impact on the wider Anglican communion. He said he felt there should be more opportunity for direct dialogue with the Bishops. Nick opposed the motion, having read 1 John 4:18 “perfect love dries out fear”. Withholding money from the Diocese is not a supportive act, it forces the Diocese to make decisions about which areas of expenditure should be reduced, eg number of clergy in post, training of ordinands or Church Schools? He asked how as a PCC we can ask the congregation to support Dan, but then take action which will harm the church at a higher level? Bishops Debbie and David do not have a vote to cast in General Synod, and the incoming Bishop Phillip has only just been announced. The PCC rejected the second motion by a large majority. This was one of the most intense PCC meetings for several years, we appreciate the congregation’s prayers for us as we continue to think about this issue in the coming months. Once upon a time, we used to let people eat a piece of bread that wasn't soggy (having been dipped in wine) and take a sip of wine from a cup. Then along came the big bad monster of covid - and everything changed!
For a while, of course, we weren't even able to meet in the church building. Then we could stream but not have a congregation. Then we could receive communion but we all had to wear masks still (apart from for a brief second to pop the bread in your mouth). To be honest, I've lost track of all the changes we've been through! The Church Council has agreed that it's time to go back to how things were pre-covid - with one or two improvements hopefully! From July 23rd, we will resume serving bread and wine separately for most people.
For those who are concerned about the hygiene of having a 'common cup', please read this document, which draws on some relevant research. It could be easy to get caught up in the practicalities and hygiene concerns of how we share bread and wine. So let's make sure we don't take our eyes off why we share bread and wine. Receiving is a wonderful reminder of Jesus' love and forgiveness for us personally, supremely expressed in his death for us; it's also a reminder that we are one body - one family together - sharing 'one bread' and 'one cup', just as Jesus did with his disciples. Draw near with faith, Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving. David Wagstaff read Revelation, chapter 4, which emphasised the awesomeness and holiness of God. We listened to Only a Holy God from City Alight. We then prayed that the church would reflect God's holiness, as well as praying for the meeting.
Dan reminded us of the vision for the church: God is calling us to become a community who embrace different expressions of church in order to make disciple-making disciples who increasingly reflect the diversity of our local area. The main outcome is to make disciple-making disciples. If we do the disciple-making right, we will reflect the diversity of the local area. Our buildings are a priority for this vision, as is leadership structure due to staff changes. To pursue the vision, the leadership structure needs to be broadened as having Dan as a bottle-neck is hindering our vision. Another priority is reaching younger people. We have made some work on this but it’s not complete. Dan shared that Josh, our youth worker, gave out donuts this week outside church to young people from Upper Shirley High and this led to conversations about God. PCC members were assigned areas of mission to take an interest in based on preferences they had already specified, such as teaching, worship and communications. The idea being that PCC members would keep their ear to the ground and be aware of what was happening in the different areas during and outside of meetings. We discussed plans for parish hall. The congregation had previously wanted a 2-storey design but the council had indicated that wouldn’t be approved, partly due to the heritage of the building and the design not being an improvement to the area. The architects have now suggested a 1 ½ storey design which may be considered more suitable by the council. However, it represents a compromise for us and may still not get planning permission. The large hall is not as large as hoped for and is upstairs, which is far from the kitchen and may affect bookings. Architects fees etc are expensive and getting drawings to the quality needed for planning application would be significant. It was decided that Nick would communicate reservations to the buildings group. Marie went through the budget for the year and the expenditure for the first four months of the year. We approved pay rise for contracted admin staff and our cleaner from July. Rosie gave us a safeguarding scenario. We talked about potentially changing back to taking bread and wine separately in line with the latest guidance, and agreed that those that wanted to keep the current ‘dipping’ method could choose to do that whilst others could choose to take bread and wine separately. We discussed choices for a new communion table. Nichola and Theresa agreed to give two options for the PCC to vote on in the next meeting. Same sex relationship blessings – we talked about the importance of being sensitive when talking about this issue as it affects some members of the congregation deeply. |