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Dear
Sir,
I have read your manifesto with great interest
but it says nothing about singing
It came to
mind recently as I ploughed through the various election addresses of
those who have been standing for election to the General Synod of our
Church - the results of which will be announced tomorrow. I was
hard pressed to vote at all because, as Mitchell put it, there was nothing about singing. There
was noting about the things that really matter and all of them seemed
more intent on assuring us of their stance on women bishops, human
sexuality issues, the Anglican Covenant which aims to keep our fragile
worldwide Anglican community together. There was much on finance
and clergy terms of service. It all seemed a bit like navel
gazing. I have read your manifesto with great interest
but it says nothing about singing
I looked in vain for anything about how we might engage with a society which is multi-ethnic, multi-faith, hurting from an economic crisis, the repercussions which have yet to be fully realised. There was nothing much about how we might promote Christian values in a world which has lost its way. There was precious little about ecology and about how we might manage the resources of our planet for the good of all creation. Not a great deal was said about world poverty; word debt and fairtrade. There was a dearth of views about our vocation as Christians to serve God in healing a fractured world. In fact, there was little about vocation at all. There was nothing really joyful or hopeful that could be a message to world and to a society which is rapidly losing any sense of God's grandeur, glory and providence. In short, there was very little in the words of those who seek to serve the church in its decision-making that would get the angels singing.
It came as a particular joy therefore to be present yesterday in our Cathedral at an inspiring service in which 14 people were licensed as Readers. They joined a great swell of other Readers who, throughout this Diocese, are seeking to serve God in a special and particular way. Amongst those of course, we now count Carole Goddard who comes amongst us today as our new Reader, sharing the ministry with Bob and Diana as well as our Ministry Team of clergy, Lay Evangelist and Pastoral Assistant.
As Bishop Laurie led all the serving Readers to form a huge arc outside the Cathedral after the service, he thanked them for the ministry they give and the sacrifice with which they give it. This was a reminder of how our Readers serve us in their gift of time, talent and spirituality. I would like to think that is true of your stipendiary clergy too, but people like Bryony, Helen and I are set apart for full-time service and are paid a stipend to free us for this work. You will rightly expect us to be busy in the Lord's work and in your service because that is why we are freed from other concerns. But our Readers and other lay ministers combine this ministry with other occupations and devote more than their free time or our well-being. They are selfless in giving of their gifts and as such are a reflection of what Baptismal vocation is all about.
We, in the Epping Team, have had some difficult times over the past few years when our ministry team was reduced by death and by departures. Now, at last, we can rebuild our team so that we can the more effectively serve you and our community. That is our hope, our manifesto if you like , and I ask for your prayers to help us do that more sensitively, more sacrificially and more joyfully. Because what is at the heart of all ministry is joy. The Joy of God, shown through the immense and lavish love of God and the providence of God and the joy of serving God. the purpose of ministry is to serve God in the world and in the Church, as we seek ways in which we can respond to that incredible love and joy of God.
Those whom the Church ordains, licenses and commissions are part of God's provision to help us all to minister and witness to God's holiness, mercy, love, justice and peace. That is the task that is laid upon all Christians through our Baptism by which we become the Church. In order to do this effectively we have to take to heart something that was at the centre of yesterday's service. Its theme was words from Colossians 3
Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly.
(If Carole,
you remember nothing else from yesterday's service - do not forget
that!) Nor must any of us.At the heart of all mission and ministry, Christian service and Christian spirituality - is that the word of Christ is so formed within us that it will enrich not just our own hearts but also those with whom we come into contact; the church community, the local community and the world community. Of course, for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly, there is a demand that we hear and read and live that word - not only in a deep attentiveness to scripture, especially the Gospels, but in the word of Christ that comes to our hearts in the Eucharist, in our praying, in our Christian study and in our fellowship with each other. Seeing Christ in one another is as much part of celebrating the Divine Word that is Christ as anything else we do.
Our hope for Carole is that she will help us grow in the richness of the Gospel and be a constant sign of God's Good News to his people. That is something that all ministers must constantly aspire to and reflect but that is also true for every one of us. We don't always succeed, of course. I am often conscious that measuring up to this high ideal is very hard. At a recent PCC for example, I was less than generous at one point, in seeing Christ at work in others and failed to see His Word speaking to me from the mouths of others. But as Christians, sorrow for our failures and the joy of repentance can only lead to new efforts on our Lord's behalf. Thankfully, (as you will find Carole), the Grace of God can do a great deal to overcome our ministerial shortcomings. But then, we already know that, if God has called us to any kind of ministry.
In all Christian lives, the Word of Christ is at work, silently, even secretly, forming us from within. God's grace is constantly active in all our lives and when that grace is truly perceived then it sets us on a journey both of faith and of expressing that faith through service. Carole's story, like that of any who offer themselves for public ministry endorsed by the Church begins a long time ago. The action of God's grace in her heart has been busily drawing her to that moment yesterday when Bishop Laurie gave her and her fellow Readers authority to exercise the office of Reader. Bishop Laurie was setting a seal on a vocation that has been long in forming.
Just before the candidates left the Chapter House for the Cathedral, Bishop Laurie prayed or them and he said that now was their time. This was the moment they had been working for. From that moment they would be exercising ministry in today's church as representatives of God, as ambassadors and as co-workers in proclaiming the Good News, the Word, of Jesus Christ. This is the time of the ministry for which they have studied hard, prayed deeply and longed for, because unless they long for it, they will not be filled with the joy it will bring. So, today, at this time, Carole will begin that longed-for ministry. This is her time.
But in the New Testament, in its original Greek version, there are two different words for time. First there is the meaning I have just given it - and the Greek word for this is Cronos (from which we get our English Chronology - a sequence of time). But a second word for time is kairos which is not about a particular moment that we can set our watch by. It is the appointed time of God, when God acts
For Carole, the time of ministry as a a Reader is now but she is also entering into that different time when God acts and this is not a moment but a continuous action that God has been doing since he formed the world and, in particular, in his action to save that world in and through Jesus Christ - and by extension in and through those whom Jesus Christ calls to be his co-workers today.
We live and operate in the world of chronological time. We are born on a certain date and we shall die on a certain date and the chronology of our life - the events which mark our journey into history - can be charted between those two dates. Not, however, before them or after them. But as Christians we also live in God's time, the time of God's decisive action in Jesus Christ. There is something eternal going on of which we are a part and which we share.
Carole has been called at a moment of chronological time to stand for something eternal - to be a sign of God's eternal love and salvation to all to whom she ministers. This is quite a mind-blowing ministry carrying a very particular responsibility. Fortunately for Carole and for all who minister, we don't go it alone. We do it as part of the Church whose ministry we actually share. We do it through the grace of God who is constantly refreshing and renewing us and guiding us in the work we do in His Name. That work is to guide others to live eternally - to live as signs of God's loving, eternal Kingdom here and now.
Eternity is not a reward for good behaviour that we are given at the point of death. It is about the quality of our lives now. How we respond OT God and how we praise him for his goodness towards us - and, in case you think I've sidestepped today's Gospel it's a perfect example of both meanings of the word time. The Leper was cleansed at a particular moment in his life. In that cleansing he recognised God's healing action through Jesus and whilst the other ungrateful nine went off into the distance, he returned and thanked Jesus - and praised God. At that moment the faith that made him well also took him into the eternal love of God. The Kingdom came alive within him.
And that is precisely the point of the ministry that Carole must now exercise. She must lead people to the praise and thanksgiving of God as she acts in a Christlike way towards them. She must lead the from time to eternity here and now. She must help us to bring the Kingdom alive within us. She won't find that purpose of ministry on the agenda of many Synods, but she will find it if the Word of God dwells within her richly.
It all boils down to showing what is missing in the Adrian Mitchell's complaint about the politician's manifesto. She must teach people to sing. She must teach us to sing the praises of God; to sing of His love for all; to have in our hearts the songs of the angels; to sing the song of Jesus Christ who leads us joyfully into our eternal salvation. This is the manifesto God lays on all who minister in his name and there is no going back on it - for that is what we all promised God through our Baptism and which, yesterday, was particularly enacted in Carole through god's grace.
It will be enough to keep her true to Him and to us.