Coalition Spirituality

Caroline Wyatt has done an impressive job as the BBC's religion correspondent, and has an interesting reflection on Easter observance in the UK

Perhaps Lent is now seen by some as a secular opportunity to cleanse the body from daily abundance, if not the soul.

Yet while many of us may be able to sate our hunger for treats more often than in earlier decades, and the majority in the UK are either avowedly not religious or far less religious than in previous decades, there is a hunger that remains.

It is a hunger for some kind of meaning in life, above and beyond the materialistic.

From the growing popularity of humanism and mindfulness, of non-religious "Sunday services" or "kabbalah", and the enduring popularity of yoga, not to mention the growth of some of the non-established churches, and books such as Alain de Botton's 'Religion for Atheists', many in the west are clearly still searching for the answer to the question "why are we here?", even if they no longer believe the answer lies in organised religion.

The new organisations and individuals offering answers could perhaps be seen as the "independent retailers" in this market for higher meaning, as the former established retailers of the Christian Church in the UK lose worshippers, albeit more gradually than the steep decline of previous decades.

The founder of the 'atheist church' Sunday Assembly recently visited 3 London churches including Hillsong. I was struck by how positive he was about all three. It also sounds like he experienced God in various ways, though he wouldn't put it in those terms. 

Spiritually we have done what the party system is doing. There isn't a binary choice between Christianity and Atheism, though there are spokesmen on both sides who like to present it that way. There are 7, actually more like 77 alternative voices, and many people's spirituality is a coalition: a mixture of afterlife, fate, morality, mysticism, belonging, family traditions and prayer. The challenge for the church is how to encourage people to consider Jesus as a candidate, let alone prime minister. 

The Spirituality Spectrum: 21st century believing

The University of Exeter published some research earlier this week on evolving attitudes among those born in 1970. Here's the analysis of their views on religion and faith, with analysis by Prof David Voas (who's also been involved in some of the CofE research recently). More details plus a link to the full research here.

Professor Voas concludes that it would be more meaningful to allocate people to one of seven categories:

• Non-religious (28% of the 1970-born cohort): Does not have a religion or believe in either God or life after death.
• Unorthodox non-religious (21%): Does not have a religion or does not attend services. Believes in God or life after death but not both.
• Actively religious (15%): Has a religion and believes in God and life after death. Attends services.
• Non-practising religious (14%): Has a religion and believes in God and life after death. Does not attend services.
• Non-identifying believers (10%): Does not have a religion, but believes in God and life after death.
• Nominally religious (7%): Identifies with a religion. But believes in neither God nor life after death.
• Unorthodox religious (5%): Has a religion and attends services at least occasionally. Believes in God but not life after death (or, in a few cases, vice versa).

It's a fascinating spectrum, and a reminder that the UK doesn't have a simple Christian/atheist binary option (if it ever did). On first sight it reminded me of the current political opinion polls, a spectrum of identities with no one block claiming a significant or decisive percentage. 

What I'd love to see is some way of tracking how people end up at these points. The research suggests that the stronger your religious upbringing, the more likely you are to have a faith now, and be practicing it. No surprise there. But how do you end up as an agnostic who believes in God and life after death. Or a Christian who doesn't believe in either?

It's a reminder that we can't pigeon hole people, everyone's faith is part of their life story, not everyone in church will believe the same thing, nor will everyone at a Richard Dawkins book signing. People need to be listened to, rather than lumped together, 

The report also notes that men are much less likely to identify with a faith than women. Another challenge. Given that Jesus started with a bunch of blokes, the church has to ask itself what we've lost of authentic Christianity that the majority of men don't see Jesus as any of their business, or themselves as any of His.

Spiritual but Not Religious? You're Braver Than I Am

A recent piece of research found that people who claim to be 'spiritual but not religious' are more prone to mental illness than both the non-religious, and members of an organised religion. Echurch blog has the full abstract, including this conclusion:

People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder.

'I'm spiritual but not religious' is an increasingly common phrase, the postmodern nephew of 'you don't have to go to church to be a Christian'. Both are nonsense, and, as the research shows, toxic. Christian faith is hard enough without isolating yourself from a supportive fellowship to practice it. Yes some organised religion is about as conducive to genuine spirituality as a crystal shop in Glastonbury, but what religious traditions carry, at their best, is accumulated wisdom, structure and practices for spiritual growth.

The Spectator comments
 the survey might also go to prove the value of that least trendy thing: organised religion. It is a very strenuous thing for the psyche to accept the idea of transcendental power (or whatever you want to call it) without some structure and external guidance. In grappling the eternal questions with little religious routine, the spirtual-but-not-religious are putting too much strain on their subconscious. Organised religion, for all its flaws, does offer support to believers

Which makes our postmodern education experiment all the more concerning. Our schools encourage children to develop 'spiritually' but we are more and more rejecting organised religion as a way of expressing it. Religions are discussed as a form of cultural education, the main goal being to inform young citizens so that they can live in a mutually tolerant society, rather than to introduce people to ways of seeking God and living for him in the world.

So we open up massive issues of meaning and identity but carefully separate them from the religious traditions which take people on the ancient paths through them. A logical consequence of this research is that any exploration of 'spirituality' within mainstream education needs to be done within a faith context, or not at all.

Final thought: one of the factors in the research might be the continuing stigma over mental illness in our society. So if someone with depression is also trying to pray, they may shy away from opening up to others about their condition, for fear of what will be said. Mental illness is, in and of itself, isolating. Which means that churches need to work extra hard to be welcoming places for people who struggle with it.

update: for more on the benefits of good religion, see this piece by Ann Morisy. (thanks Simon M!)

The Benefits of Meditation

BBC report here on 'mindfulness meditation' and scientific research into the parts of the brain affected by it. Results include a reduction in pain, and a reduction in activity in the 'ego' part of the brain.

I keep coming across 'mindfulness' in literature on anxiety, OCD and mental health, as a non-chemical strategy for calming your thoughts and improving mental health. I'm still not sure if it's just the 'latest thing', or a proven and effective practice. Having said that, it shouldn't be surprising that an ancient spiritual practice turns out to be good for us.

3 Dimensions of Discipleship: Great Grub from Dallas Willard

Fantastic piece from Dallas Willard. Here's a snippet

Living as Jesus’ disciple, I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of the Heavens everywhere I am, in every activity I engage in. There are three dimensions of this learning.

First, I am learning to do the things which Jesus explicitly said to do. It is quite literally nonsense to call Jesus “Lord,” and not do what he said. “Lord” means nothing in such a case. (Luke 6:46-49) But because I do accept him as Lord, his instructions on behavior are my treasures for living life. Of course I cannot do what he said by just trying. I must train! I must, through appropriate courses of action, become inwardly transformed by grace to become the kind of person—in my inmost thoughts, feelings, attitudes and directions of will—who will routinely do the kinds of things he said to do. I will then not be governed by anger, contempt or lust. And I will be able to bless those who curse me, love my enemies, and so forth, because I am one in whom the character and power of Christ has come to dwell through the processes of discipleship to Christ.

Second, I am learning to conduct the usual activities of life—in home, school, community, business and government—in the character and power of Christ. Jesus himself, of course, spent most of his life on earth as an “independent contractor” or businessman. Jesus could have led the ordinary life of the ordinary citizen in all of its legitimate respects. He can show us how to live now, as a mother or father, banker or computer programmer, teacher or artist, in the Kingdom of the Heavens. His character and power and personal guidance will lead us into life as it should be in all of these areas of human existence.

Third, I am learning to exercise the power of the kingdom—of Christ in his Word and Spirit—to minister good and defeat evil in all of the connections of earthly existence. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38) Apprenticeship to Jesus means that, in tiny steps, we learn to exercise this power seen in Jesus. Growth in character is primary, for power requires substance of character if it is to be used for Christ’s purposes. Christ had no character problems, but we do. Prayer, in its aspect of training for Kingdom life, is primarily a matter of learning to exercise power in a way that is both profitable and safe.

I've printed out the whole article, as, like Christmas turkey, it needs several days of preparation, cooking, chewing over and digesting. Ht David Cooke, a link well worth visiting in its own right.

Where to Start?

“You cannot cure the souls of others or ‘help people’ without having changed yourself.

You cannot put in order the spiritual structure of others so long as there is chaos in our own soul.

You cannot bring peace to others if you do not have it yourself"
Alexander Elchaninov, Orthodox priest. (quoted by Gordon MacDonald)

Nursing and Spiritual Care

Missed this at the time:

Patients missing out on spiritual care, say nurses
Published: 12 May 2010

Patients are missing out on important spiritual care despite it being a nursing ‘fundamental’, according to nurses who responded to a new RCN survey published today (28 April).

The survey of over 4,000 nurses found that only a small minority (5%) felt that they could always meet the spiritual needs of patients, and the vast majority (80%) felt that spirituality should be covered in nurse education as a core aspect of nursing.

The most important spiritual need identified by nurses was having respect for privacy, dignity and religious and cultural beliefs (94%). Spending time with patients giving support and reassurance especially in a time of need (90%) and showing kindness, concern and cheerfulness when giving care (83%) were also key concerns.

Today’s survey shows how important nurses view meeting the spiritual needs of patients. Almost all (90%) feel that providing spiritual care improves the overall quality of nursing care, and the vast majority (83%) believe spirituality is a fundamental aspect of nursing, even for patients with no religious beliefs.

Other findings include:
• the overwhelming majority (80%) feel that the need for spiritual care also applies to atheists and agnostic
• 91% of nurses believe that they can provide spiritual care by listening, and allowing patients time to discuss their fears, anxieties and troubles
• almost all (94%) do not believe that spirituality involves only going to church or a place of worship.

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN, said:
“Nurses are clearly recognising a need in their patients for care which addresses more than just their physical symptoms. Nurses of all ages and generations are telling us that spiritual care is fundamental to why they became a nurse. However, this is not about harking back to an age of daily prayers on wards – instead it is about personalised care and giving nurses guidance and time to get to know their patients as people rather than just their medical conditions.”

The RCN believes that there should be clear guidance for nurses and other healthcare professionals to allow them to approach spiritual issues sensitively and with confidence while being able to meet the needs of patients. Nurses in this survey made it clear that spirituality is the joint responsibility of nurses, patients, chaplains, families and other health professions working together.

Nurses detailed their views on the meaning of spirituality. One said:
“I consider spirituality to be part of the ‘whole’ care one should be giving to patients and families. To me it means ensuring that the ‘mind’, i.e. thoughts, worries etc, as well as the body, is considered when providing care.”

Another said:
“I am a Christian. However, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to impose my beliefs on others while they are in a vulnerable position. What I do believe is that I support them in the particular spiritual needs during that time – whether they be Christian, Muslim, Atheist, whatever. It is their right to be treated as a whole, unique person and it is our duty, as nurses, to treat all our patients holistically, for the person they are and the beliefs that they hold. Physical care has to be tailored to each individual and so should spiritual care.”

full press release here. Two immediate thoughts:
1. 'Spiritual care' could just as well be described as 'holistic care' - giving someone time and a listening ear isn't overtly 'spiritual'.

2. It sounds like nurses themselves would like to work holistically, to attend to patients as whole people, not just as bodies with symptoms. Whether they have the time to do this is another matter (or perhaps it's just that the targets are all to do with bodies?), and there seems to be a call for the skills and knowledge to offer more spiritual care. In turn, that might mean that part of the chaplains role is enabling and encouraging nursing staff to offer spiritual care on the job, rather than simply being on the other end of a pager if a patient/family wants someone to talk to.

An experience: At one NHS hospital, having had a consultation for a medical condition which I was quite worried about, the doctor pronounced me fine and then left as quickly as he possibly could. I had lots of questions, and would have been much more reassured and less anxious if I'd had the time to ask them - or at least felt that I had the time to ask them. It felt like my questions weren't an inconvenience a person who clearly had better things to do than talk to me. The body was treated but the rest of me seemed to be incidental. I have to say our GP is excellent in this regard, though he must be sick of the sight of me by now!

Ht Christian Research, who have updated their website, it now looks much better, well done them.

Art and Christianity Meme

Jonathan Evens has posted a summary of the responses to the 'Art and Christianity' meme from a couple of months ago, where people were asked to post ideas on novels, art, music, drama etc. which for them 'expresses something of the essence of Christianity'. Fascinating list, with a summary post on what the choices reveal. Jonathan raises an important issue (my italics):

the need for clarity in what we are responding to within such works i.e. are we suggesting that the Christian themes/language/imagery/forms we are responding to are consciously or unconsciously inherent within the artwork or its creation and, whichever we suggest, whether they are being subverted or affirmed through their use.

Fresh Expressions of Bookshop

Update: full statement from Living Oasis here, plus links to a brochure with their vision for the new shops/centres.

Dave Walker blogs on the plans for a number of former Wesley Owen shops to be relaunched as 'Living Oasis' shops, complete with:

# Coffee shop to be open to all – Christian and non Christian
# Lounge area – to be used, for example, by Church youth groups
# Children’s Play Area – a supervised and safe place for children whilst Mum/Dad relaxes or does some shopping in peace and quiet!
# Meeting room for Church use
# Prayer ministry facility

A few days ago I read the latest Encounters on the Edge by George Lings of the Church Army. Encounters is a brilliant series of booklets, looking at new forms of church, church planting, and questions of church and mission for todays church. The latest is on the '7 sacred spaces' of monasticism - 7 characteristic places found within 'new' and old monasticism which express the life of the community.

They are, in no particular order:
Chapel - place of public worship
Chapter - place of decision making and ordering community life
Refectory - place of eating and hospitality, community and service.
Cell - place of private prayer
Cloister - 'inbetween' space, unstructured, allows for informal interaction
Garden - place of manual work
Scriptorum - place of study.

There's a balance between places of work (the work of prayer, study and manual labour), public and private, formal and informal spaces, spaces where there are specific forms and 'rules' and places where things are more informal. Lings notes that in many churches, the only one of these spaces on offer is the 'chapel', but more and more churches now have a kitchen/community space, prayer chapel, office etc. Our local Yeovil Community church has a main auditorium, meeting rooms (chapter), places for prayer, and plenty of informal space for conversation and community life. There's also offices and workplaces, and a cafe (currently being re-thought).

So reading the bookshop proposals, lights began to go on all over the place. We have traditionally modelled the church's public presence on the Chapel, the place of public worship, and the other 6 spaces have had to fight for space around it (or in many cases simply don't exist). Cafe church is an attempt to put the Refectory at the heart of church life. What about Bookshop church, where the Scriptorum is central, but also with a balanced use of space for Refectory, Cell, Cloister (informal space = lounge) and Chapter? That's what the above list sounded like to me.

Except that it's not clear if these are intended to be the hub of an intentional Christian community, or simply a resource to the wider church. Can there be an intentional Christian community based around a high street workplace, the way that monasticism is an intentional Christian community built around a place of prayer, work and study? Would it be a church? (Does it matter?)

Our local bookshop functions a bit like the 'cloister' in Lings' list - I'm constantly bumping into people I know whilst browsing, and it's a good place for conversation and networking, as well as finding and buying books. I know of several churches who have added in bookshops to their site: it would be fun to do it the other way round: to start as a bookshop and add in places for prayer, worship, and the spaces needed to sustain and nurture a community life.

More Spiritual Songs from Simon Cowell

After hitting the Christmas No.1 last year with Hallelujah, another Cowell protegee is selling her CD faster than anyone else this year, and might even do better than Leona Lewis. Probably best to pause this when the music stops....



This isn't really my style of music, but heard it on Radio 2 the other day and thought it was beautiful. Strange to then discover that Wild Horses is a Rolling Stones song.

Christian Today have the track listing for Susan Boyles CD, with comments about what the songs mean to her, including several hymns. I think it's a shame that there's a different record company to deal with the 'Christian' market - come on folks, get out of your pigeon holes. Good music stands on its own two feet without needing some spurious label put on it. Crikey, I'm starting to sound like the British Humanist Association. Bye.

Sin and Misery

"Failure to attain a deeply satisfying life always has the effect of making sinful actions seem attractive. Here lies the strength of temptation.

this is no less true if the failure is caused by our efforts to be what we regard as 'spiritual'. Normally, overcoming temptation will be easier if we are basically happy in our lives. To cut off the joys and pleasures associated with our bodily and social existence as 'unspiritual', then, can actually ahve the effect of weakening us in our efforts to do what is right."

Dallas Willard, 'the Spirit of the Disciplines' p81

A place of beauty

For some reason I never linked it at the time, but around this time last year, some folks set up a prayer room in a secondary school, for students to use as they wanted. Accounts of the room are here and here.

I even got a sense of peace and stillness just reading about it, which is pretty unusual for me. Here's some of the poems written by students using the room:

here are a few of the amazing Letters From God that the students have been writing;
"If you don't love me, I will love youIf you don't care for me, I will care for youSo think - why should it be this way?"

"Everyone is beautiful
Everyone is special
Everyone is different
Everyone is smart
A poem from God to you all
Good luck!"

"No matter what, I will love you, watch over you and care for you. In the good times and the bad times. God"

"Never forget that I am with you always. I am protecting you and guiding you all the way. I love you and will never stop loving you. When you sin I will forgive you. I am your God."

"If you have a problem,
I will listen and not judge.
God"

"Dear Child
Calm down
Breathe and relax
God is love."

After Sunday: what connection between church and work?

The very excellent After Sunday project has published the results of a survey they did at Greenbelt last month on how well churches equip their members for the world of work. Here's a couple of the charts

3. 'The church values me more for the work I do inside the church than for what I do in my daily work'

9. 'My church feels like another thing to fit in to a life, full of parts competing for my attention'

Lots of food for thought here, both for church members and church leaders/teachers. Lots of resources and helpful things on the After Sunday site, including this quote, which I like:

All of life is spiritual, for all is part of God's creation. There is no division between sacred and secular, work and worship, religion and politics. Spirituality is not apart from our daily lives, it is our daily lives. But it is a life with a cutting edge not avoiding the pain or fear. Alan Ecclestone

Gabbin' about God

Having just been to 'Beyond the Barricades', a tour of songs from West End musicals, I was going to blog about music and spirituality, but that'll have to wait. Couple of much better things to have a look at:

Phil Ritchie has a chunky post on Nick Cave's spirituality, and his take on the Bible and how it influences lyrics like this:
I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you


Ruth Gledhill has done us all a service in transcribing an interview between Ian Hislop and Rowan Williams. A few snips:

(Ruth Gledhill) I've not had time to transcribe all the questions yet but one response by Hislop at the end made me laugh. On a Good Friday, he and his family went off to a cathdral for spiritual refreshment. There were just seven people in the congregation in the cavernous building. The clergyman in the pulpit spent the entire sermon preaching against - Ian Hislop


(Ian Hislop) What I think is interesting is that you (the church) are still news in a country where supposedly no-one's interested, they are all very secular, you have an amazing ability to get headlines. Often the wrong ones or not the ones you want. But there is still an interest. So the media is not bored. It may get it wrong, it may distort it. But it's still available.....If the journalists had a tick list it would say, gays Islam gays, more gays gays Islam, gays gays gays, he looks a bit like Karl Marx is he one of them. My guess is you've done other things in the last few years.


(Hislop) I remember being a friend of mine who was a priest, I said, You don't seem to have got this message into the media. He said I'm not trying to convert the media, you lot are irredeemable. He said I'm trying to convert the people in my parish. His point was, everyone else has shipped out of these areas. The State's not here any more, the social workers barely ship in. There's me. And I'm doing what I can. You're not interested in that, but it doesn't matter that you're not interested. Which is quite a good point.

ABC: I remember people sometimes say about the Church, especially the Church of England. I remember one of my students saying, It's still a place where you put the stuff that won't go anywhere else. And I find that quite a moving definition of the Church


(Hislop) I wonder if the Church is not making it clear enough that it is still there in the middle, that you don't have to be an American evangelical, you do not have to be a Muslim fundamentalist, you do not have to be Richard Dawkins.


ABC: The point is often being confident enough about what you are inviting people into, which is not simply an entertainment but a journey and process of change. ....I went with the family to Taize for a few days in the summer.... one of the things I shall remember for a long time is the sound of 5,000 teenagers being quiet. That was an environment that didn't make any concessions to entertaining anyone. It assumed that if you were there, you wanted to be taken a bit deeper. That's the crucial thing.


ABC: Business propositions always represent a very carefull sophisticated calculation of what the market will wear. It is demand as well as supply. Reduce mission too much to that model, you do end up saying, So what are people willing to hear? Which I don't think is mission.

There's very few long blog posts that I'll get round to reading all the way through, but the two pieces above were an exception. Hopefully I've not breached copyright laws by borrowing so much of Ruth's piece!

Christians in a Spiritual Age - event in October.

SOMERSET CHURCHES TOGETHER AUTUMN FORUM 2009

Christians Together in a Spiritual Age

Saturday, 17 October 2009
10.00 am – 3.45 pm (Registration from 9.30 am)

Locking Castle Church, Weston Super Mare

Keynote Speakers:-
Revd. David Grosch-Miller,
Moderator, South Western Synod, United Reformed Church

Steve Hollinghurst, Church Army Evangelist

Presentations, Workshops, Displays and Resources.

For more information and booking form contact:
Robin Dixon, sctog at blueyonder.co.uk

some blurb:
This year our theme is Christians Together in a Spiritual Age and we are delighted to welcome as key speakers Revd David Grosch-Miller (Moderator, South Western Synod, United Reformed Church) and Steve Hollinghurst (Researcher in Evangelism for the Church Army). Steve is a leading national speaker and author on how, as Christians, we can engage with contemporary culture and new age spirituality.

The day offers lots of opportunities for networking and encouragement. We will set the scene of what is happening ecumenically across Somerset. We will hear stories from groups of local churches seeking to bring the gospel to people in their communities. In smaller workshops we will explore practical ideas for mission in our context. Coffee and lunch (both provided) will create welcome space to chat and meet old friends and new.

If you're in the SW and can get along, Steve Hollinghurst is well worth hearing, should be a good event.

Attitude of Gratitude

Great one from Jon Birch

Blast from the past: the spiritual benefits of washing up.

Our dishwasher is broken. We wonder now whether we should have left the old one in Darlington, and had a closer look at the fitted (but very unfit) dishwasher we've inherited in Yeovil.

Someone observed today that they quite liked washing up, as it gave them time to think. Loading a dishwasher doesn't give you that. Thinking back to my mum, who spent the best part of a day doing 'washing day' (loading the twin tub, putting things on the line, ironing etc.) and often the best part of another day baking and cooking, one of the things we've lost in labour saving gadgets is time to reflect, because doing things used to take time, and that was ok.

Now everything has to be done as quickly as possible. We have watches, but we don't have time, as an African sage once put it.

Made me wonder when I reflect, if at all. With a commute which consists of 10 steps with a mug of coffee from the kitchen to the study, there's not much reflection time there. But do I see myself volunteering to wash up? I doubt it.............. being busy is easier than being thoughtful.

Maybe that's the wisdom of attending the daily offices (strange churchy phrase for daily prayers at set times), since it's impossible (surely?)to spend all that time saying the same words without getting bored rigid, perhaps it's time secretly used by clergy to daydream and reflect, and let their souls catch up with their bodies.

It Raineth Upon....

Somerset is a snapshot of English religion at the moment. And it's been raining on all of them:

- The 'atheist summer camp' at Bruton, with 24 children attending. I hadn't picked up that it was an American 'ministry' extending its reach to the UK. Less press coverage is being given to the thousands of children and young people on CPAS Ventures and Falcon camps - if you count Soul Survivor there's roughly 30,000. If 24 is a 'big following' (the Times) then I wait to see what adjectives are used of the Christian camps. To its credit, the Times has a couple of pieces on Christian summer camps too. (note to commentors: no rubbish about 'brainwashing' please, that's what happens in places like North Korea, please don't cheapen the term by applying to these camps, whichever sort it is you don't like).

- a few miles to the West it's New Wine at the moment, and tweeters have noticed the rain and mud, along with lots of other, better things. Thousands are there for worship, teaching and fun, and along with Soul Survivor NW pretty much takes over the Bath and West Showground for the whole of the summer holidays. For a flavour, the evening talks will be live on Hope FM next week (2-8th Aug)

- further along the Mendips, a witch has just been selected for Wookey Hole (local cave/tourist attraction) out of 50,000 applicants. The original 'witch' is a rock formation in the cave, but the Hole trades quite heavily on 'the witch of Wookey Hole' as a marketing snare. Some of the applicants were clearly practicing witches, rather than just folk wanting to dress up in black and cackle. Bizarrely, the job is supposed to give people an idea of what the caves were like in the Dark Ages. Erm, exactly the same, but without spotlights and handrails?

- just up the hill from Wookey Hole, the Big Green Gathering (an outdoor Green Festival, bit like a smaller Glastonbury with less music and more eco stuff) has been cancelled following some shenanigans with the police. It would have had a healing field, sweat lodge and assorted New Age stuff, along with a few of the Christians who've developed forms of prayer and outreach for New Age contexts.

- Back down from the Mendips is Wells Cathedral, which next week will be hosting a memorial service for Harry Patch, the last surviving WW1 veteran who died recently. Over 1000 are expected to attend.

So, what's the rain? Is it God's judgement on the atheists and the witches, or a trial to prove the faith of the Christians? Is it a succesful deluge to wash away some New Age claptrap, or a suitable sign of mourning to mark the passing of a generation?

Or is it just rain?

5 books that influenced me

I've been tagged by Clayboy with an interesting challenge:

1. Name the five books (or scholars) that had the most immediate and lasting
   influence on how you read the Bible. Note that these need not be your five
   favorite books, or even the five with which you most strongly agree. Instead, I
   want to know what five books have permenantly changed the way you think.
2. Tag five others.

credit to Ken Brown for originally kicking this one off. He's compiled many of the responses here. Most of the lists look far too learned for me! (update: Ken has also compiled the 10 most popular authors from these lists. I've got one of them below, see if you can guess which before visiting)

Had to do quite a bit of thinking, and I'll probably work out as I type which the 5 are....

1. Fee & Stuart 'How To Read the Bible for All It's Worth'
One of the few specialist books about the Bible that I can actually remember reading, and getting excited about. The authors go into the different genres of Bible literature in a way which really made the Bible come alive, and make me want to take it more seriously and in more depth.

2. Francis Schaeffer 'The Church at the End of the 20th Century'
During my year out, at age 18-19, I had access to a whole load of taped talks from Schaeffers L'Abri community. The root conviction was that the Biblical worldview could address everything that modern culture struggled with, everything from nuclear disarmament to psychology to politics. It was a fantastic exercise in applied theology, and for an impressionable teenager, a great confidence boost. Here were timeless scriptures coming alive in conversation with modern technological society, and still hitting the bullseye. Schaeffer's whole approach of a Biblical worldview lived out in community, and critique of society from a Biblical standpoint, have stayed in my DNA.

3. Matthew Fox 'Original Blessing'
An absolutely dreadful book in many ways. Fox's 'creation spirituality' was adopted by the Nine O Clock Service in Sheffield as it put cultural and theological distance between itself and the mainstream. Though Fox's theology wasn't the reason for its subsequent collapse, I've often found that if people are falling apart morally, they'll tend to adapt their theology accordingly. Worse, very few people in the CofE seemed to be bothered that NOS was getting into Fox, indeed the then Archdeacon of Sheffield (now a Bishop), seemed to be a Fox fan, and wasn't alone among CofE clergy in this.

The upshot was that I decided to do an MPhil on Fox's 'theology', reading about 13 of his books, plus a whole host of other stuff on science, creation, feminism, politics, economics, spirituality, mysticism etc. There were two major challenges in Fox's work:
a) He argues that Christianity is run by a 'fall-redemption' paradigm, in which we're all cast as miserable sinners. Fox argues that we are more of an 'original blessing', and its by recovering this attitude that we'll be 'saved'. So debating with Fox involved revisiting much of the theological framework I'd adopted as an evangelical, and working out why I believed it.
b) Fox was one of the only theologians I'd encountered who translated their theology into everyday life. Most 'systematic theology' seemed to stay in the rareified clouds of doctrine, without ever encountering real life. Not so with Matthew Fox. His 'creation spirituality' offers a systematic theology of life - work, fun, sexuality, creation, food, science, history, war, politics, you name it. It made me realise how pathetic most evangelical theology was in terms of application - thousands of tomes on the atonment, but hardly any on living.

As it turned out, Fox's theology was neopaganism dressed in Christian language, but for 2 years he was a fascinating conversation partner.

4. David Watson 'Discipleship'/Richard Foster 'Celebration of Discipline'
I could probably add a whole family of books here, including Dallas Willard and Eugene Peterson. An approach to scripture which sees it as a life-shaping, dynamic book which doesn't just tell the story of redemption, but teaches us how to live transformed lives which reflect Christ.

5. Cray et al Mission Shaped Church
At heart mission is what makes me tick, and this is one of several mission books I could have chosen. God is a missionary God, who sends both his Son and his church to redeem a lost creation, and to spread the news of his love. MSC reminds us that, first and foremost, the church exists for mission. If it has ceased to be and to spread good news, it has ceased to be the church and become something else.

I'm conscious that, apart from the first one, none of these are directly about the Bible, they are about something else. Perhaps that's my pragmatism coming through. But ultimately I don't believe the Bible is supposed to sit there in glorious isolation, if it hasn't anything to say at 0am on a Monday morning in Soweto, Seoul and Somerset, then we've been reading it the wrong way.

Ok, I'll tag Mark Meynell, Rachel at Revise Reform, Jonny Baker, John and Olive Drane (2churchmice), and Archbishop Cranmer. Why? Because I'm really curious.

Death and All His Friends

The BBC website currently has a vid of the 'UK's first Festival of the Dying'. The Transitus Festival, held yesterday in Sturminster Newton, Dorset (just down the road), comes with a strong New Age agenda. One of the sponsoring bodies is very keen on 'sacred sites' around Glastonbury, and many of the festival workshops feature guardian angels, psychic artists and the like. The Christian chaplain from Dorchester was also down to do a workshop, so good for her for getting involved.

The main themes of the Festival included palliative care, green burials, and helping with the dying process. Our culture has lost a lot of its rituals and beliefs around death, so it is open season for pretty much anyone who can help to steer people through it. One challenge for the church is how do we engage with New Age beliefs around death, and how do we engage more meaningfully with people than simply delivering the funeral service.

Intriguing that the BBC reported on the festival without any sense that it was coming from the 'wacky fringe'. The core of the report is that the NHS is percieved to be failing people at the point of death in the care it gives to patients and their loved ones. It also mentioned spiritual values around death.

It's significant that the reporter talks of 'new rituals' springing up around death and dying, and that people want a 'more personal approach'. At a recent research day at Church House there was talk of a 'Funerals Project', which might engage with how people percieve church-led funerals. The outcomes of a similar project on marriage spoke of how much people valued the personal touch, rather than a conveyor-belt approach. The challenge is how we create time and space for that to happen alongside so many other things which seem like priorities.

For info, here's part of the Transitus philosophy:
The Network comprises a growing group of people working in a way that honours all aspects of life - mind, body, spirit and emotions - that are involved with the sacred process of dying. Our aims are: to release fears and taboos; support those dying and bereaved; raise awareness of 'green' and family-based approaches to death; and to encourage the acceptance of the concept of continuity of consciousness. The Network also supports its members so that none of us feels alone. Members include those working with: midwifing the soul; music thanatology; alternative funerals and celebrations; natural burials; grief counselling; life after death; related workshops; and more.

At one level this is a typical New Age paragraph about death. But apart from a couple of strange bits of jargon, why isn't this seen as part of what Christian faith offers? Death as a sacred process, the treatment of the whole person, life after death, enabling people to die well, grief counselling, etc. Maybe the problem is that our engagement with death has become so professionalised - through the clergy and the clergy alone - that creative and personal approaches which could come from the wider body of Christ have been crowded out.

What do you think?