Category: newsletter

Church | Children welcoming children

Welcome children! That’s the directive for Day 35 of Lent, this Monday just gone. The phrase of course assumes that ‘we’ are adults, and ‘children’ are the ones ‘we’ need to welcome. But as the fifteen-year-old who wrote a reflection on the passage pointed out, the children who participate at Sanctuary “will continue to learn and see church as something for them, not for their parents and elders.” (Read the rest of her reflection here). Continue reading “Church | Children welcoming children” →

Discerning the spirits: Six approaches

Many of us have had the experience of feeling driven to do something, barging off and doing it, then experiencing that sick realisation that it was not the right thing at all. Many of us have also had someone tell us that ‘God has laid it on my heart and …’; yet their words have left us feeling confused, anxious, coerced or manipulated. Many of us seem to lack confidence in discerning the spirits or testing whether a prayerful experience or prompt is from God; and as a result, many of us seem to mistrust or deny any spiritual experiences at all. And yet, we have faith that God works through the Holy Spirit and prayer: and so, rather than denying all such experiences, we must find ways to discern the work of the spirits, good and bad. Continue reading “Discerning the spirits: Six approaches” →

Mothering Jesus

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you.
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride;
you tenderly draw us from hatred and judgement;
you comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds;
you nurse us in sickness and feed us with pure milk. Continue reading “Mothering Jesus” →

Pell-mell to the cross

It is Lent, and one of the most powerful men in the Catholic church has just been sentenced to jail for the sexual assault of two altar boys. It reminds me of a terrible story by the Jewish writer Elie Wiesel, which is based on his experiences in Nazi concentration camps. Three people were sentenced to hanging for sabotage, among them a young boy. The two men died quickly, but the boy, too light, writhed and swung between life and death for over half an hour. Continue reading “Pell-mell to the cross” →

Overweight, overwrought, and overwhelmed by stuff

Last year, I wrote about bi-cultural Christmas: that idea that there are two Christmas cultures. The first, seen all around us already, is a cultural event; the second is Christian, and happens only after the waiting time of Advent. Many Christian commentators suggest that, if we are not to be joyless Scrooges, we need to find ways to participate in both. But I struggle with this. Continue reading “Overweight, overwrought, and overwhelmed by stuff” →

Ministry | The ring theory of kvetching

My mother was a pastoral caregiver: the person everyone approached to talk, weep and rage through life’s crises. When she became sick, a problem emerged. People would come and pour out their strong feelings about her illness (not theirs); and she, in pain and exhausted, would quell her own feelings and comfort them as best as she was able – even as she desperately needed comforting herself. Continue reading “Ministry | The ring theory of kvetching” →

Further thoughts on gossip

Gossip is so often named in the church as bad, bad, bad, that I am suspicious; so on Sunday I reflected on how healthy gossip can build community (here). After the reflection, someone commented that they had been told as a young person never to talk about anyone else; and that meant that they never even shared good news, not even with their spouse. The idea of healthy gossip was new, and suggested intriguing possibilities of positive communication. Yay! Continue reading “Further thoughts on gossip” →

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑