| End the Week with CME - November 13, 2009 | 13th Nov 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.
CME Events Coming Up
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 day will be led by Carol Clarke, Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser.
Thursday 10 December, 10am-3pm at Holy Trinity, Attleborough
This training is free. Please book through cme@covcofe.org.
Cancelled - November 25, 2009 - Handling the Past
Unfortunately we have had to cancel this study day due to a low number of bookings. It is hoped that the study day will run in the late spring or early summer next year.
January 14, 2010 - Multi-parish benefice day
Through a strange land: leading the rural church into the future
10am - 4pm at the King’s Centre, Oxford
The rural church is caught between maintaining church as it used to be and seeking to imagine what it might become. The purpose of this conference is to:
- Acknowledge that the task is tough
- Recognise where the rural church has come from
- Think with daring and imagination about the journey ahead
- Share encouraging stories
- Inspire the rural church with hope, as God's people
The cost for the day is £40 (including lunch). Clergy and Readers can claim the full cost from their CME grant.
For more details, or to book a place, please contact Ruth Wagstaffe at ruth.wagstaffe@covcofe.org or on 024 7652 1326.
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
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/
Reminder - Special Book Offer ends December 1
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 flyer and contents list can be seen at http://www.coventry.anglican.org/ministry/learning/resources/ (scroll down to the 7th & 8th resources in the list).
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.
Notes on the Gospel Readings for Sunday 22 November (Sunday next before Advent)
John 18. 33-37
‘Are you a King?’
Did you know that, in general the tallest candidate always wins the American Presidential election? Since 1928 only Nixon, Carter, and George W. Bush have beaten taller candidates, and in 2000 Bush probably didn’t actually beat the Al Gore anyway! (If you want the facts and figures have look here.)
It’s perhaps no accident that this period coincides with the media age, when the looks of a leader make a big difference. There hasn’t been a bald president, for that matter, since Eisenhower in the 1950s, nor a bald Prime Minister since Churchill. On this basis William Hague and Ian Duncan-Smith never had a chance as leaders of the Tory party, and Tony Blair was probably wise to leave office before his hair-loss became an election issue. David Cameron works hard to conceal his thinning thatch, though baldness seems to be the only leadership failing of which The Sun hasn’t yet accused Gordon Brown.
Recognising a genuine leader is not easy, so it’s simple to fall for the person who looks most likely (and there may be an issue here about how we more easily recognise men than women as leaders). But in fact leadership can often be exercised informally rather than formally, through the exercise of what has been called ‘soft power’ rather than through the official channels of ‘hard’ power. And this week’s Gospel reading takes us straight into a fascinating encounter between Pontius Pilate, wielder of very hard power as the Roman governor of Judea, and Jesus of Nazareth, whose soft power was persuasive and attractive rather than coercive or financial.
Pilate’s problem was that he couldn’t square the appearance of Jesus with the scale of his following. The subtext of the conversation between Pilate and Jesus probably boils down to whether Pilate would be wiser to crucify Jesus or let him go. Which would be the least inflammatory action in a tinder-dry Jerusalem at Passover? But such a calculation raises the question of how real Pilate’s power actually was. Clothed in a Roman citizen’s toga, or dressed in the military uniform of the procurator he would have looked an impressive sight. The bound and bruised figure before him was hardly impressive. Yet who held the greater power?
Jesus defines his task quite simply: he is there to witness to the truth (John 18.37). And this is what leads John to portray the crucifixion of Jesus as a coronation rather than a defeat. To claim the kingship of Israel before Pilate would have lessened Jesus’ role. He was not there to be another military leader (like Barabbas), but to show the truth: that even in death the power of God was not defeated, and that by his sacrifice the world could be set free. John Ashton comments that ‘what the world sees as defeat is really a triumph...the end of Jesus’ hopes and aspirations is really the beginning of his ascent into glory’, and goes on to say that readers of the gospel are expected ‘to see past the physical reality of Jesus’ death to its true significance: the re-ascent of the Son of Man to his true home in heaven’ (Understanding the Fourth Gospel, OUP 1991, p.496).
True leadership can be exercised far from the places of power and prestige. It can be found at all levels in society and organisations, wherever people witness to truth and challenge outward appearances. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of looking only for the photogenic leader who has formal qualifications for power. Jesus before Pilate reminds us that the heart of the Christian story is of a leader who ruled quite differently.
In his final years in exile on the island of St Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte reflected on power and its exercise. He said to one of his attendants:
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and to this day millions would die for Him.
Napoleon went on to say that such an achievement was what marked Jesus out for him as more than just a human being. True power lay in the love of Christ, and through it a window into heaven was opened.
Cartoon worksheets
Dave Walker's cartoons and observations on church life delight many (and his website makes it easy to get reasonably priced licenses to reproduce). He even has some worksheets!! http://www.cartoonchurch.com/content/cc/category/cartoon_worksheets/
And Finally...
Three jokes that were in the top 10 at the Edinburgh Festival this year (ie don’t blame us!):
Dan Antopolski - "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"
Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."
Rhod Gilbert - "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."
That's all, folks!
Richard
Richard Cooke
Coventry CMERichard.Cooke@CovCofE.org