| End the Week with CME - October 23, 2009 | 23rd Oct 2009 | Download | Email to a Friend |
Welcome to End the Week with CME! This weekly email is sent automatically to Clergy and Readers in the diocese (if you don't want to receive it, please send an email to CovEW-unsubscribe@lists.covlec.org) but anyone is welcome to subscribe to the list, and we are especially keen to pass it on to any interested lay people, especially those who may have responsibility for preaching. To subscribe they simply need to email CovEW-subscribe@lists.covlec.org.
There’s no ‘End the Week’ next Friday, so this is a ‘2 for the price of 1’ edition, with thoughts on All Saints Day as well as Remembrance Sunday below. We’ll be back in a fortnight, on November 6th.
Clergy Study Day
Bishop Christopher is looking forward to seeing clergy and licensed lay workers at the study day on Monday 2 November (at the Ricoh Arena Community Space, 9.30am - 3.30pm).
If you haven’t yet replied regarding your attendance at the study day, please contact Maureen Prett as soon as possible by emailing maureen.prett@btconnect.com or calling 024 7667 2244.
Reminder - Special Book Offer
My SCM Core Text: New Testament came out recently. It’s an introduction to the New Testament, and some bits will be familiar to regular End the Week readers! It offers a fresh perspective for those who have been studying the NT for a long time as well as those who are just beginning, and is, I hope, readable and easy to follow. It provides a way in to some of the latest thinking about the New Testament and Jesus himself. The contents list can be seen at (diocesan resources page).
The RRP is £24.99 but by passing on the author discount I can offer you a copy for £17.50 (a saving of £3.74 on the Amazon price!). To reserve a copy please email Sarah.Palmer@CovCofE.org and we’ll let you know when the copies arrive to be collected from the Cathedral and Diocesan Offices, or make alternative arrangements. Clergy will be able to collect copies at the Bishop’s Study Day on 2 November.
CME Events Coming Up
Special Offer available – book three CME courses and we will invoice you for only two of them. This offer only applies until 2 November so please act now!
Safeguarding Children and Young People
This training will be based on the new Diocesan Guidelines and will cover all aspects of safeguarding, including types and indicators of abuse, how sex offenders operate, what to do if a disclosure is made, making a referral to Children’s Social Care, ex-offenders in the Church, safe recruitment, Criminal Records Bureau and the Independent Safeguarding Authority. The training days will be led by Carol Clarke, Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser.
Tuesday 17 November, 10am-3pm at St Peter’s Church Centre, Wellesbourne
Thursday 10 December, 10am-3pm at Holy Trinity, Attleborough
This training is free. Please book through cme@covcofe.org.
November 25, 2009 - Handling the Past
How can we understand the role of historic churches as a positive mission opportunity rather than a negative burden? On this study day we shall look at Victorian strategy for mission, the situation we’re in today, and share some ideas about the future.
An historic churches study day with Richard Cooke, Helen McGowan and Claire Strachan. Wednesday 25 November at St John the Baptist, Berkswell, 10am-3pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch). Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
February 1, 2010 - Reconciliation
A study day on the theme of Reconciliation with Canon David Porter (Coventry Cathedral). Monday 1 February at Red Hill Christian Centre, 10am-3pm with an abbreviated repeat from 7.30-9.30pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch) for the daytime course, £17.50 (including coffee and cakes) for the evening. Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
February 25, 2010 - Mercy-Shaped Ministry
‘Since it is by God’s mercy we have this ministry we do not lose heart’. 2 Cor 4.
Ministry is demanding and costly but Paul insists its source is God’s mercy before all else. A day reflecting on what it means to live by the mercy of God and exploring what a mercy-shaped church might look like.
Through the day there will be input, prayer, personal space and shared discussion time.
A study day with David Runcorn, Thursday 25 February at Offa House, 10am-3pm with an abbreviated repeat from 7.30-9.30pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch) for the daytime course, £17.50 (including coffee and cakes) for the evening. Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
April 22, 2010 - Seeking the Angel of the Church
‘To the angel of the church write…’
Churches and communities, like individuals, have their own character and spirit. The reason long term transformation is often missing is because the spirit has not been named and ministered to. Based on the work of Walter Wink, a day exploring the name and character and ‘angel’ of our communities and how to minister to them.
A study day with David Runcorn, Thursday 22 April at Red Hill Christian Centre, 10am-3pm with an abbreviated repeat from 7.30-9.30pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch) for the daytime course, £17.50 (including coffee and cakes) for the evening. Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
April 27, 2010 - Learning from Luke
A Bible Reflection day with Paula Gooder and Richard Cooke. Tuesday 27 April at Offa House, 10am-3pm with an abbreviated repeat from 7.30-9.30pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch) for the daytime course, £17.50 (including coffee and cakes) for the evening. Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
July 6, 2010 - Spanish Mystics
A Spirituality Reflection Day with Ruth Tuschling, Tuesday 6 July at Offa House, 10am-3pm with an abbreviated repeat from 7.30-9.30pm. Cost: £40 (including lunch) for the daytime course, £17.50 (including coffee and cakes) for the evening. Grants of half the cost are available for clergy and Readers. Book through cme@covcofe.org.
Other Events Coming Up
Diocesan Board of Education
Continuing Professional Development Opportunities
3rd November 2009 - Transforming Collective Worship: A little light liturgy for pupils
9.30am-3.30pm at Red Hill Christian Centre, Snitterfield, Stratford upon Avon CV37 0PQ
10th November 2009 - Being a Governor in a Church School – An Introductory Session - Exploring the Roles and Responsibilities of Governors in Church Schools
7-9.00pm at Clifton upon Dunsmore CofE Primary School, Main Street, Clifton, Rugby CV23 OBT
To book: contact Joanne Evans on 02476 521250 or email joanne.evans@covcofe.org. A full list of the courses can be downloaded from http://www.covdioc.org.uk/courses%20and%20conferences.htm
Professor Stephen Bevans
Next month there will be two open events marking the visit of Professor Stephen Bevans SVD to Birmingham.
19 November, 2 - 4pm at The Queen’s Foundation
An academic seminar with the theme ‘Theology in Global Perspective’
To register or request further details, please contact Adam Hood at ah@queens.ac.uk or call 0121 452 2625.
21 November, 10am - 1pm at Newman University College
The session is entitled ‘What Contextual Theology can offer the Church of the 21st Century’
Lunch will be provided; the suggested offering for the morning and lunch is £15
To register or request further details, please contact David McLoughlin at d.b.mcloughlin@newman.ac.uk or call 0121 476 1181 ext. 2239.
Fr Bevans is the Professor of Mission and Culture at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.
Ministry Where You Work?
Saturday 21 November 2009, 9am - 12.30pm at St Margaret’s Chapter House, Whitnash (tea and coffee will be available) followed by a pub lunch (at your own cost) for those who would like to stay.
This is an invitation to all readers, OLMs and NSMs in the Coventry Diocese to attend a half-day workshop exploring ‘What Sacraments Do I Discover At Work?’ The programme will allow time to talk about what you actually do at work, and to explore how this might be ministry. In particular, the sacraments discovered in the course of that work will be explored. As well as talking together, there will be work in small groups and time for individual reflection. There will also be time for prayer, focussed on the issues of the workplaces discussed.
To book, or to request further information, please contact Revd Dr Felicity Smith on 01926 492452 or at felicity@fandi.me.uk
Preaching and Teaching about Science and Religion - a discussion group
The Darwin 150 celebrations this year, and the continuing activity of few well known 'public figures' have combined to bring publicity to the interaction between science and religion. There have been strong views expressed from both sides of the (assumed) divide, promoting standpoints of either strict biblical or strict scientific infallibility. Preachers and Teachers in the churches are faced with the need to respond to the concerns raised whilst taking in to account the scientific and theological backgrounds of their congregations.
The purpose of establishing this discussion group is to allow for the exchange of ideas, experiences and resources, so that those who 'labour in the vineyard' are enabled to learn from one another and so aid the understanding of those for whom they 'preach and teach'
The first meeting is on Thursday 26th November 2009 at 7.00 p.m at The Queen's Foundation, Somerset Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2QH
If you would like to attend, please contact Revd. Dr Adam Hood at hooda@queens.ac.uk or John Parkin at john.parkin@blueyonder.co.uk
For details of all the events coming up, which have been advertised in recent editions of End the Week, please go to http://www.coventry.anglican.org/ministry/learning/trainingstudy/
Notes on the Gospel Readings for Sunday 1 November (All Saints’ Day) & Sunday 8 November (Remembrance Sunday)
The Resurrection of the Dead (John 11. 32-44)
The ancient symbol used for John’s Gospel is an eagle, rising high and seeing far. Richard Burridge helpfully explains the structure of John’s Gospel using this symbol. It is, he writes, ‘like an eagle, with the two main sections being the “wings” on which it flies, separated by a thin body of material in between with the prologue and appendix forming extensions on the wingtips’ (Four Gospels, One Jesus, SPCK 1994, p.137). The two wings represent the so-called ‘Book of Signs’ (John 1.19-10.42) which takes up the first half of the Gospel, and the ‘Book of Glory’ (John 12.11-20.31) which narrates Jesus passion. John 11 forms, in this analysis, the body of the eagle, the pivot on which the whole story of Jesus turns. And John 11 offers a story about new life out of death, the climax of Jesus’ ministry and the greatest sign or miracle of them all: the raising of Lazarus.
Jesus hears of Lazarus’ death. He is in hiding and delays his arrival in Bethany. When he does so he is confronted by the grief-demented figure of Martha. I always imagine her battering Jesus’ chest with her fists as she cries out ‘If you had been here my brother would not have died’. The note of anger is unmistakable. ‘But I know that, even now, whatever you ask God will give you’ (John 11.21-22). Jesus’ response is not to move to the tomb and work the miracle straight away. He listens to Martha and points her to a future horizon. ‘Your brother will rise again’ (John 11.23). ‘Oh I know that he will rise in the rising of the last day’ is her response (John 11.24) but it seems cold comfort. She wants her brother back now. Jesus’ response, ‘I am the rising and the life’ (John 11.25) focuses the hope back from a general resurrection one day to trust in him, himself. ‘Trust me now – in the dark place’ is what Jesus seems to be saying and the application is of course much wider than Martha’s forlorn figure. As Thomas will, later in the Gospel, hear the blessing of those who ‘have not seen and yet have believed’ (John 20.29), so now the call to Martha is to turn from her specific grief to Jesus himself. (This is not to say that grief is wrong – this passage is filled with it, notably Jesus’ own, John 11.35.)
Now the stage is set for the actual passage set for All Saints’ Day (John 11.32-44). Vividly and economically described, the story tells of Lazarus’ blinking and stumbling emergence from his four-day burial, trailing grave clothes. It tells too of Jesus’ emotions, deeply moved (the Greek word is one used of a horse about to bolt, vv.33, 38), weeping (v.35). And of Jesus’ commanding presence; he calls Lazarus, in a loud voice, with his name and two simple Greek words: ‘Here! Out!’ (v.43). The voice of Jesus rings across the divide between worlds and Lazarus finds himself spat back out of the jaws of death, no doubt bewildered at what has happened.
The passage runs from Jesus’ ringing claim to be, himself, ‘the resurrection and the life’ to his ringing demonstration of his power over life itself. Yet it is no triumphalistic celebration of Christian hope in life beyond death. The way in which Jesus is both unparalleled miracle worker and yet also a moved and emotional human being points to both sides of his identity as simultaneously God and human. It may be that the stress on his emotional involvement is the key to understanding the passage rightly. For his anxiety is perhaps not just natural grief at the death of his friend, but also awareness that by coming out of hiding and displaying nakedly the power he has at his command, that is to say, revealing unmistakably at last who he really is, that even death itself bows to his command, Jesus is now in open sight and fair game for his enemies. Who at this point, according to John, resolve to eliminate him (John 11.53).
It is clear that life for Lazarus is going to mean death for Jesus. Only by setting out on the path that will lead to the cross can Jesus bring life back to the grieving family at Bethany. In John’s typically allusive way, as we attend to the details of Lazarus’ story, we glimpse the divine cost that lies behind the joy that is given. To be truly ‘the resurrection and the life’ Jesus must go through death and come out the other side. Only by doing so is there a path of resurrection for others, ultimately to follow (see John 14.1-6).
On All Saints Day we celebrate this hope of resurrection and we celebrate those who have believed in it and followed in Jesus’ footsteps. But most of all we celebrate the one whose sacrifice made resurrection possible. ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me, even if they die, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me never dies. Do you believe this?’ (John 11.25-26).
A Reflection for Remembrance Sunday - ‘Father, Forgive’
The great tapestry of Christ in Glory dominates the east end of the Coventry Cathedral. On Wednesday mornings we sit beneath it for the Cathedral and Diocesan Staff prayers. Again and again I find myself drawn to look upwards at the face of Jesus above us as we worship.
The eyes of Christ in the tapestry look out over the whole Cathedral, seeing people come and go, tourists and school-children, graduations and concerts, grand services and simple ones like our Morning Prayer. But in September the Cathedral was twice packed to overflowing for the funerals of two young Fusiliers. James Fullarton and Shaun Bush, both in their early twenties, were killed in Afghanistan in August. In James Fullarton’s case the Cathedral funeral was almost unbearably poignant, as he had got engaged in May and had planned his wedding for next June, in the Cathedral itself.
November brings round Remembrance Sunday once again. And as the casualty list from Afghanistan grows by the week, Remembrance seems not just about memories of conflicts past, but also about our present and future.
Bishop Christopher preached the sermon at the funeral of Shaun Bush. It was hard to do, he said, especially because one of his own sons is the same age as the dead Fusilier. Here are some of his words:
To you, Shaun’s family and to Amy, we say thank you. Thank you for your son and brother and beloved. For all the love and life you gave to him. I pray that you will know the presence of Jesus Christ who makes all things new and brings life out of death and strength for a new day out of the pain of this day.
To you, his regiment, may we say we do not want you to avenge his death with revenge in your hearts, for as your regimental motto says, ‘Evil be who evil thinks’. We dare simply to ask that you follow his brave example and labour in your dangerous fields for the fruit of a better future for all human kind, and when you are called to fight, to fight for peace for everyone.
To our Government, amidst all the unenviable dilemmas and complex decisions you face, we ask you to remember always that your duty to this nation and to all the nations of the earth is to wage war only to the extent that is necessary to build a peace that will last. We ask you out of respect for Shaun’s sacrifice, and the ultimate price he – and his other Fusilier colleagues - was asked to pay, to do all in your powers to build a lasting peace by helping the nation that has become a theatre of war to reconstruct itself into a place of peace and prosperity where all its children – young and old – can thrive in their schools and homes, villages and cities.
As the coffins, draped in union flags, were slow-marched through the Cathedral, the eyes of Christ gazed down upon them. Eyes of love and compassion for a world in pain. Eyes of experience, too, for it was Jesus himself, being nailed to a cross, who cried out ‘Father, forgive’. Those words are written at the heart of the old Cathedral, destroyed by bombs in 1940, past which the soldiers marched at the end of the service.
The three things which Bishop Christopher picked out – thanksgiving for the good, deliverance from the desire for revenge, and commitment to bring peace – are important themes for us to hold on to at Remembrance time. They may give us hope that in remembering those who have died we are also praying for a better future.
And Finally...
The following questions were set in last year's GCSE examination in Swindon.
These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)
Q. Name the four seasons?
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar
Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink?
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists
Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire
Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed
Q. What are steroids ?
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs
Q. What happens to your body as you age?
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental
Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes?
A. Premature death
Q. How can you delay milk turning sour ?
A. Keep it in the cow
Q. How are the main 20 parts of the body categorised?
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A, E, I, O and U
Q. What is the fibula?
A. A small lie
Q. What does 'varicose' mean?
A. Nearby
Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'?
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome
Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor.
Q. What is a terminal illness ?
A. When you are sick at the airport.
Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas
Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you understand its meaning?
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face.
Q. What does the word 'benign' mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight
Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head
(Thanks to Grove Books for these jokes.)
That's all, folks!
Richard
Richard Cooke
Coventry CME
Richard.Cooke@CovCofE.org