Simon Says ...

Review of Pass It On: Bible Tales Like You've Never Read Them Before (Bible Society, 2015) I picked this up for free outside a branch of the Entertainer toy shop.   It is the retelling of five Bible stories, together with illustrations.   It’s from the Bible Society , and they have brought in some great names to do this. First up is Anthony Horowitz retelling of the Tower of Babel ( Genesis 11.1-9 ).   It is a solid and enjoyable retelling, with all kinds of references to missiles, ancient kings and Bruegel’s painting of Babel.   Martin Coleman’s retelling of Daniel in the Lion’s Den is poetic in the way that books for young children are, and beautifully illustrated by Tim Slater.   It should really be in the larger format of a picture book for bedtime stories!   The comedy of Jonah is captured by Gavin Tyte (who wrote T he Hip-Hop Gospel of Luke ).   This is a bit saggy in places, but worth it for Jonah thinking ‘tha...

Psalm 23 ; Jeremiah 23.1-6 ;   Mark 6.30-34, 53-56 If familiarity breeds contempt, then Psalm 23 must be the most despised Psalm that we have been given.   It is still a favourite reading at weddings and funerals.   It has been adapted into several hymns and modern worship songs.   It was even the theme tune for the Vicar of Dibley. But its popularity is, in fact, a measure of its importance.   It is also a measure of how much it has to offer us as Christians and followers of Jesus.   So for a few moments this morning, I want to explore this most famous of Psalms and offer you the chance to reconnect with the Psalm in a way that speaks of the lives lived in the service of God. The image of a shepherd is one that is very powerful in the Bible.   Moses, who led God’s people out of slavery into freedom, was a shepherd when God called him into his service.   King David, the greatest of all Israel’s kings, was a shepherd...

So that was it – the last General Synod of the Quinquennium.   Many will not stand again, having seen the advent of women bishops due to the work of this Synod.   Bits of the four days in York had an end of term feeling, things being finished off and loose ends tied off.   So we had the immense joy of considering the Synod’s own Standing Orders.   But all this has to be done, and done well. The Convocations of Canterbury and York (gatherings of the clergy only) met first to approve a new set of Guidelines for the Professional Practice of the Clergy.   Duly approved, they constitute an Act of Synod, and will be published in the autumn.   Synod was then addressed by two Archbishops – York and Uppsala – before a first outing of its standing orders so that the evening session could follow new rules. Friday evening was question time.   The rules were new, and simpler.   The atmosphere was a bit grumpy.   One Bishop st...

Thank you for calling me Chair. Thanks also to the Faith and Order Commission for this excellent piece of work, and to Simon Killwick for his PMM.  There is a great deal to welcome in the report. The readings for Morning Prayer over the past few days have been taken from the book of Esther. A young Jewish girl, thrust into a leadership position based on criteria that amount to nothing more than that the King fancies her, with no mention of God anywhere in the book.  Yet Esther saves the whole of the people of God. The Bible is full of surprising leaders, who do not seem to meet any criteria, who have no position from which to lead.  If there is an element missing from this superb report is the notion of surprise.  Paragraph 99 speaks of biblical leaders greeting their call with surprise.  Undoubtedly this is true. But the Biblical leaders are themselves surprising – Esther being but one example. As we move forward in our consideration of leadership in th...

--> Jeremiah 7.1-16 ; Romans 9.14-26 Earlier this week the Houses of Parliament hosted an event in which the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar met to discuss the contributions of their religions to peace in the world.  One MP took to Twitter to describe a conversation at the gate to the Palace of Westminster.  A man in a dog collar approached a policeman to gain entry.  ‘You here for the thing with the Archbishop of Canterbury’, said the policeman.  ‘I am the Archbishop of Canterbury’, replied the cleric. In our first reading, Jeremiah is railing against those who look to particular practices and accomplishments as proof that they are safe from the judgement of God.  “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord.’” he warns his people. There is no complex theology in this warning, no difficult to read message.  It is very simple.  P...

Below is my speech to the General Synod this afternoon. The speech was to support two amendments: 1. Add "(b) invites the laity and clergy of the Church of England: (i) to commit themselves to learn, pray, worship and proclaim the Gospel together; (ii) to suggest what the Church of England and its leadership could do to help them deepen their discipleship; and" 2.  Add at the end: "(iii) to engage in a wide consultation with all people in England, of all faiths and none, to discern how the Church of England could deepen its discipleship to enable it to better work to serve the common good of this nation" The amendments fell, but the reason for putting them was to register that a much wider variety of voices is needed in the way in which we are approaching this as a Church. Synod, let me begin by saying that I am excited by the package that is before us today.  And that the whole thing is founded upon discipleship, upon our following of Jesus is one...

January 1st. A day for making resolutions. This morning I got up, had a shower, shaved, brushed & flossed my teeth, and clipped my nails. It seems like the day to start things clean and well. And, of course, I have some New Years resolutions. In no particular order, mine are: To lose weight To get fitter To be more disciplined at my prayers To write more. And they've been the same for about the last 5 years (and probably longer). They remain my intentions no matter how hard I try each January. The start of the new year seems like a day that offers the chance of a new start. That's why we make those dreaded resolutions.  But it is not a particularly significant day in the Christian calendar. The start of the Christian year is Advent Sunday. The major winter festival is Christmas, a week ago now. Today in the church's calendar is the Circumcision of Christ. Not a major feast, and one which I can't help feeling was invented to support a rather dubious relic in...

--> A sermon for Remembrance Sunday Amos 5.18-24 ; Matthew 25.1-13 Some words from our first reading this morning: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”.   The prophet Amos has harsh words for those who gather for religious ceremony, but who do not allow their celebrations and rememberings to affect their daily lives.   God, says Amos, hates gatherings of people, especially religious gatherings, that neglect those who are in need.   God looks for justice and righteousness, in all our doings, so that they might form mighty waters, an ever-flowing stream. As we gather on this Remembrance Sunday, we gather to recall with gratitude and sorrow those who have died in war.   We remember those who have served in the armed forces, and those who continue to do so, with gratitude for the spirit of service that they demonstrate.   We remember those who have died, and those who continue to die, in ...

On Wednesday, Radio 3's Choral Evensong came from Derby Cathedral. You can find the service on iPlayer , or it will be repeated today at 3pm. Here are the prayers I wrote for the service.   The readings were Zechariah 7 and Mark 10.17-31 In peace, let us pray: In the evening of the day, we come to you, O God, bringing those we have met, for your blessing, our hurts for your healing, our sins for your forgiveness, our labours as our offering and our lives as our worship; we come to you through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who became like us, that we might become like him. Amen. We pray for the church throughout the world, for Justin our Archbishop, for Alastair, Bishop of Derby, for the church here in this place and wherever this service is heard. Lord Jesus, you give us the gift of eternal life; keep us from the love of riches and all that diverts us from your service; strengthen those who are persecut...

A sermon for the Feast of St Matthew.   2 Cor. 4.1-6 ; Matthew 9.9-13 “Follow me”, said the teacher to the tax collector sitting in the office.   And Matthew got up and followed.   Perhaps Matthew never know why Jesus called him.   Matthew ate with Jesus, laughed with Jesus, cried with Jesus.   Matthew became one of the Twelve.   He ran away when Jesus was arrested.   He hid when Jesus was executed.   He met Jesus when he rose again.   He was filled with the Spirit on Pentecost.   He wrote the Gospel that tells us of his call.   “Follow me”, said the teacher to the tax collector sitting in the office.   And Matthew got up and followed.   About a third of the way through the Gospel that bears his name, Matthew records the day that Jesus called him.   He records it in the middle of stories of healing.   From the middle of Chapter 8 to the end of chapter 9, Matthew records all k...

A Sermon for Trinity 12. Matthew 18.15-20 Let me start with a little quiz.   It’s very easy, simply try and tell whether these statements are true or false.   1.      Christianity is about following the teaching of Jesus. 2.      Christianity is based on God’s love for us, seen in Jesus, overflowing into how we treat other people. 3.      For the whole history of Christianity, Christians have never disagreed with one another. I’m glad you laughed! Christians do, in fact, disagree.   They have done since the very beginning of the Church.   The first major disagreement comes at the beginning of the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, although there are lies creeping already at the beginning of the fifth chapter.   And of course, there are many stories in the Gospels of the 12 disciples, the pillars of the church, disagreeing with one another (normally about...