Simon Says ...

The Independent has this story which confirms what a number of us suspected. The white bands many of us wear are produced in less than good working conditions. It's a fairly spectacular own goal, but nothing more. Hopefully Christian Aid, Cafod and Oxfam will think more carefully in future, and I hope they will continue to work with the factories concerned to improve conditions, rather than simply abandoning them. When even MPH uses sweat shop labour, surely it becomes abundantly clear that we need better trade rules throughout the world! Oxfam's response is here . Cafod have a statement here . Sadly, neither Christian Aid nor Make Poverty History have anything on their websites about this (that I can find anyway). UPDATE (3rd June): Christian Aid have now got a page dated 2nd June which says that White bands can be bought with confidence . Shame it took so long for them to respond. Still nothing from MPH ...

Just back from the Kirchentag , so a chance to record some reflections. Several posts required, I think, and sunhats off (it was very hot all week) to Phil who did manage to blog while we were there! There's little to compare the Kirchentag to in terms of the UK. In terms of size, it's huge. Think Greenbelt in multiples. At least 100,000 people were there, and we took over Hanover for a fantastic time. In terms of influence, even though Germany is in the midst of a political crisis , the Chancellor (=Prime Minister) and the leader of the opposition were there. And they weren't just there to politic, they led Bible studies! Where would that leave Alasdair Campbell's 'We don't do God'? Bishop Margot in action As far as organised activities go, I heard Eberhard Jungel (a pupil of Karl Barth's, and an enormously important theologian in his own right) speak and debate the nature of the church with Cardinal Lehmann; heard Wim Wenders speak on why he...

Off to the Kirchentag in Hannover today on a trip organised by a Lutheran colleague. I'm currently printing our lots of timetables for the trams (my first attempts to find these ended with a trainspotter's guide to the engineering joys of northern Europe). The programme is a book, which my pigeon German is scarcely capable of. Fortunately, the delightful Rob D has found his way around it (including a Robbie Williams theme service!). It's also Rob who has found the timetables etc for me. Should be a good trip. Hopefully with lots of stories to relate...

This is a 'Pray station' from 2018 designed by Douglas Maitland. According to the BBC website , 'It offers "Fast Faith" in the shape of a booth, where an e-priest plays the part of a conscience and downloads forgiveness or absolution.' [To find the Pray Station image, click through to the 8th picture] It reminds me of the 'Electric monk' that Douglas Adams thought of in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency . How much of our attempts to make Christianity 'culturally-relevant' looks like this. Can we make religion more desirable in a consumer age? If we have things to offer, why not make them quick and accessible? I'm all for making faith, and forgiveness accessible. And there's something of the elecric monk in being ordained. But won't 'fast-faith' lead to 'spiritual obesity'? More than a whiff of cheap grace here, I fear. And in our attempts to make Christianity relevant ...?

A quotation from Karl Barth: Theology will not try to illuminate the heavens with a searchlight mounted on earth, but will try to see and understand earth in the light of heaven. A good warning for those of us who have to preach on Sunday!