Simon Says ...

This evening will see Bristol ’s first ‘state of the city’ debate . Every part of the Council’s discussion can be followed online via webcast . It’s a new experience for Bristol , and one to which all Bristolians have been invited to contribute. Tonight’s debate owes much to the American President’s ‘State of the Union Address’. But there is an important difference in that Bristol has a debate, including many voices, not all of whom agree, whereas the United States has an address, given by one man, presenting one point of view. The Bible is full of cities. The first city it records was founded by Cain, who was more famous for being the first murderer in the Bible. But the last city it mentions is the New Jerusalem, the city of God . This is the place where everything is good and all has been put right, all hopes are fulfilled and pain and sorrow are no more. We, of course, live between those two cities. There is still death and crime in our city, there are ways in ...

Whatever you think of Gordon Brown’s idea of a check-up on the NHS , he has his timing right. The New Year is a good time to be looking things over and putting things right. So may I suggest that now is a good time for a spiritual check up, to look at our inner-lives and see if they are working as well as they might? There is an ancient spiritual discipline called the examen that can help with this. It suggests that we ask ourselves two questions: where have I met God in the past day?; and where have I failed to recognise God in the past day? The first question asks us to look back over a day, or a week, or even a year, and ask ourselves what there is to be thankful for; the people, places and things that have done us good. It doesn’t ask us to be sentimental, simply to be honest with ourselves, and to recognise the good that we have encountered and then to say thank you. The second question asks us to look back and to ask where we have not done all that we shou...

'Uncle Simon, were the dinosaurs before or after Adam and Eve?' A good question, that only a six year old could ask. How to respond? Option 1 - 'Well the dinosaurs were creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago, while Adam and Eve are characters in a story to tell us that God made us, and that we messed up God's good creation. So they're not really before or after the dinosaurs.' This is not a good answer to a six year old. Response shelved. Option 2 - 'That's a good question. Let me talk to your Dad and get back to you.' The coward's way out, which naturally I took. Option 3 - 'Before' Mummy's voice from the kitchen. The right answer.

1. What's in a Name. I thought I’d begin this irregular series (also to be found in a certain Parish Magazine) by looking at the different names that the Eucharist has been called. Often these mark out a particular church or tradition or view of the Eucharist, but I think that they all have something to teach us about this act of worship. 1. The Lord’s Supper Calling this act of worship ‘The Lord’s Supper’ reminds us that this service is rooted in the final meal that Jesus shared with his disciples. When we gather to share bread and wine, we gather to remember Jesus. We are obedient to Jesus’ instruction to ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22.19). We remember Jesus, and especially his death and resurrection, in the context of the Passover meal – the great festival of freedom. This is Jesus’ own interpretation of his death, given to his disciples at the meal table at which the story of the Exodus (the freeing of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt ) was ...

Year C: Daniel 7.1-3,15-18 ; Ephesians 1.11-23 ; Luke 6.20-31 . To be frank the Daniel reading has been castrated by the lectionary - only the bare remnants of the vision are left, what remains is aimed only at getting to the punchline about the saints receiving the kingdom and possessing it forever. The struggle of the saints against the beasts has been removed. But it is the kingdom that is at the heart of these readings. Daniel tells of the promise that the saints will possess it. Paul's letter to the Ephesians is his great letter about the nature of the church. In the passage here, we have Paul praying that the eyes of his readers would be opened so that they might know the true reality of which they are part. In Christ, God has given us the inheritance of the saints (which in Daniel remains a promise). The kingdom has arrived, all power has been given to Jesus, and why? For our sake. The point of all of this is us - the saints who toil below, as the hymn puts it. It is...

The 'blurb' on some books can stimulate as many ideas as the content. I'm reading The Redemption , a collection of papers from a 'Redemption Summit'. The papers are on the whole superb, and bursting with ideas. However, on the back there is a quotation from a review of the book: "I would recommend this book highly to all involved professionally in the study of redemption". Who, I wonder, does this refer to? Theologians? Certainly. Clergy? Well, we're supposed to point those in our care to the redeemer. All Christians? What else are Christians if not students of redemption? I'm just not sure I would recommend a book this technical to all my parishioners! And, incidentally, a search for 'Redemption' on Amazon produces 1326 results.

What is good theology? Theology that is organically linked and firmly rooted in the sources and traditions of Christian doctrine Theology that opens those sources and traditions in a new way, or enables fresh insight from them Theology that comes from and sends one back to prayer Theology that is open to and engaged in life, with all its variety and mess Theology that is humble, aware that there are other insights and that God is bigger than anything it can say Theology that feeds and is fed by the life of the people of God Conversely, bad theology is: Theology that is divorced from, embarrassed by or seeking to remove its biblical or traditional roots Theology that simply repeats or restates traditional or biblical formulae Theology that is nothing more than an intellectual exercise Theology that is only looks inward on a Christian sub-culture Theology that insists on its own veracity, and will not engage with dissenting or differing voices Theology that has no connection to the Chris...

I haven't posted recently, largely because I had started to be bored by my own writing. Not good. Simon Says had become a bit of a 'what I did on my holidays' blog, and I'm not really interested in writing like that. So, with thanks to Bruce for helping me renew my ideas, Simon Says will relaunch soon. Expect cosmetic changes over the next couple of weeks and then new content will start once I've sorted that. I hope you'll enjoy it ...

"Granted all the weaknesses of the church and the limitations of the ministry as a profession, where can one invest one's life where it can be made more effective in as many directions? "Here is a task that requires the knowledge of a social scientist and the insight and imagination of a poet, the executive talents of a business leader and the mental discipline of a philospher." Reinhold Niebuhr It's a great life - hard work but very rewarding.

This morning was in school presiding at a Eucharist for Valentines day. The students had put the service together brilliantly, including cutting lots of pieces of bread into heart shapes. What a great idea! When it came to the breaking of the bread, all I could think of was the mess in the Anglican Communion at present and how it must break the heart of God. But then, isn't the eucharist the place to find the heart of God broken to heal us? Thank you to all the students who taught me something this morning.

I went to hear a paper at the University this evening entitled 'The Apocalypse according to Johnny Cash: Examining the 'Effect' of the book of Revelation on a contemporary apocalyptic writer'. As well as some fine music and lots of humour from YouTube , the paper was examining how we detect the effect of the Bible on the world, and using Cash's The Man Comes Around as a means of doing this. One of the papers themes was that because Cash doesn't name Jesus as the Man (who comes around) he has a weak Christology and leaves his work open to a range of interpretations of who 'The Man' could be - from Cash himself to George W. Bush! Lots of food for thought about how what we say is then heard and repeated in our culture, which has little understanding of the Gospel. But the thing that really stood out for me was the suggestion that it was possible to tell that Cash was really reading the Bible in this song (rather than just regurgitating what his traditio...

One for Sunday's sermon (on John 2.1-11): A policeman stops a car which is driving erratically. When he approaches the driver, he sees that he's a priest. 'Excuse me Father', says the policeman, 'but have you been drinking?'. 'No', says the priest, 'I only drink water'. The policeman spots an empty wine bottle on the passenger seat and says to the priest 'So why do you have that?'. 'Well I never', replies the priest, 'he's done it again!'. One because it's true: A man is making a tour around England visiting churches. He starts in Canterbury Cathedral and spots a golden phone with a sign saying 'All calls £10 000'. Asking a steward what it is he is told that it is a direct line to heaven. He finds similar phones in Westminster Abbey, York Minster and Durham Cathedral. He finds them in Roman Catholic churches, Methodist chapels and even in hospital chapels. All golden with a sign saying 'All c...

Just back from a deanery chapter retreat in Glastonbury, where Christianity nestles between homeopathy and Goddess (at least it did in one bookshop I went into - and that was the one the mentioned Christianity!). We were watching films (or at least long extracts from them) which was both fun and full of insight. On Monday night we watched the Life of Brian which is always entertaining. I seem to spot new things every time I watch it (the Chariots of the Gods insert baffled me for ages until I worked it out!). But it struck me yesterday that, despite all the fuss at the time it came out, these days only Christians (or ex-Christians) can hope to get the jokes. The secular world simply doesn't know the story well enough to get the basic jokes, never mind the digs at liberal exegesis, Eric van Daeniken, first century history etc. Will the same be true of Jerry Springer: The Opera in 20 years time? The Life of Brian remains essential viewing for all Christians.

Eliot's Epiphany poem worked well for us this year - the heating broke down yesterday (Epiphany). Apparently, it's the circuit board and 'these things just don't break'. That'll be why we drove 20 miles for a shower last night. Happy New Year everyone.

Congrats to Paul who was canonised in a service in Bristol Cathedral this afternoon. His involvement with alternative worship was a crucial part of the 'citation', so it's recognition of the importance of this strand of the church. But 'Revd Canon Dr' is too much of a mouthful, so (since he's been canonised) 'St Paul' it is. Sancte Paule ora pro nobis UPDATE News has reached me of a priest in America who can consecrate anything as a communion sacrament. Perhaps Paul was bitten by the same radio-active bishop!

I spent this morning at Diocesan Synod, where the only item of business was a consultation on the future of clergy pensions. Basically, the CofE can't afford to continue with both the current levels of pension provision and the current numbers of stipendiary clergy. It's a hard place to be. But it got me thinking about what it is we're trying to provide. And that takes us to the Parish system. The Parish system is one of the jewels of the Church of England (lifted, as so much else, from the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic church). It aims to provide the services of the church for everyone in England, whether or not they are Anglican. Certain rites of passage (Baptism, marriage, funerals) are guaranteed for everyone who asks. At its best, the Parish System is an organised way of serving the whole community, both practically and spiritually. The Parish church grows out of the community that it seeks to serve. It's often said that the Parish system doesn't work ...

At SMR, if the high bulbs go it costs us £11,500 to change them. Apparently we can do them a few at a time for £7,500 ...

It's back and this time it's heresy ! Can you tell a heresiarch from ten paces? Do you have problems distinguishing docetism from donatism? Fancy some conspiracies that Dan Brown hasn’t got to (yet)? Do you just fancy being able to call people ‘heretics’ with authority? Or do you secretly fancy being a heretic yourself? If so, then the Bluffers Guide to Heresy is for you. What exactly is heresy? Is it dangerous, or healthy? Do old heresies die out, or just come back again and again, like persistent weeds? What should we do with heretics? Burn them or make them Bishops? 13th September Gnosticism – Heavenly conspiracy theories 20th September Marcionism – Cut-down Christians? 27th September Pelagianism – Copying other heresies? 4th October Donatism – Splitters! The Paul and Simon show returns, Wednesday evenings at the Bristol Folkhouse (just off Park Street). The talk will be begin on the dot at 7:30pm on each of the evenings. At 9:30 the talk will end and there'll ...

I've spent a good deal of this week doing things with the local secondary school. Last term, the deputy head who deals with worship and I decided that to try and fit the whole school into the church for a service at the start of term wouldn't work. So we concocted a plan to do a service a house (about 200 students) at a time. As the summer drew to an end, we found we had to create a service. So we did. The theme was hope and along the way we also tried to use the church in a different and more interesting way. So at one stage we sent the students to four different parts of the church to do different things. In one place they watched a video. In another they wrote one of their hopes on a luggage tag and hung it from string. the effect was spectacular, the forest of hope grew over the course of the day. And the head of music wrote a new song especially for the service. I did a session on praying using pictures. After doing the same meditation 20 times over the past two d...

The internet was supposed to be about freedom and breaking down barriers. Yet censorship, to the level of torture, imprisonment and death, is still to be found in relation to the internet. Bloggers are particularly vulnerable. Unfortunately some of the big companies, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo in particular, have capitulated to the lure of money and are helping governments to do this. Google censor their search terms for China and Yahoo have even helped with the arrest and imprisonment of a journalist in China . So here's a way to stand in solidarity with bloggers who are censored. Visit irrepressible.info ; sign the pledge and download a link that puts fragments of censored text onto your blog or site. A small step, easy to do, but a way of ensuring that repression is exposed. Go on, what are you waiting for?