What’s in Kelvin’s Head

Here is the sermon that I preached at the Jazz Mass on Sunday. It is preceded by a fanfare organ improvisation from Frikki Walker, to get me up into the pulpit, which if I'm not mistaken was based on a song from Michael Jackson's Bad album.

Here is the text:

Can I say how wonderful it is to have jazz in church today. We don’t do this kind of thing often enough. I know of a number of American churches which have built up a special ministry, scheduling jazz vespers several times a year and reaching out to a whole new set of people who find their own spirituality reflected in the music.

Indeed, it is great to be able to have the jazz musicians with us today in celebratory mood. The last time I had jazz in a service it was at a funeral, probably the biggest funeral that I’ve ever taken.

It was for a University Principle who died in office. I’ve taken a number of similar services and I have learned that Universities tend to go to town on funerals for their great and their good. This one was no exception. Several thousand people gathered for it and it took place in the local town hall. Not only because none of the churches were big enough, but also because the man who had died was not supposed to be a believer. As I planned and prepared for the service, I kept getting told the same thing – He was an atheist, you know. Make sure you don’t mention God. Read more »

Here is last week's sermon – I've got myself behind in uploading things.

Here is the text:
The gospel reading can be read in two ways. Well, at least two ways, I dare say that there are more. I'm going to describe them to you and I want you to think about which comes most naturally to you. Once we have thought about that, we may be able to face some of the big questions, that I have just described.

This morning seems to be a morning for boating stories – so here is one of mine. I remember a June evening some ago – I was away on holiday, sailing with my friends who have a boat. And I remember hearing the forecast come on the radio. Winds force six to seven, eight for a time. And even as I stand here now, I can remember what it felt like to hear those words. Force six to seven, eight for a time. Read more »

It is 40 years since the Stonewall riots which kickstarted the modern gay human rights movement. In forty years, things have changed a great deal though there is lots to do yet.

I was asked this week if I would go to Edinburgh to speak at Pride Scotia, the annual Scottish Gay Pride march and celebration. Thus it was that at 1230 yesterday I was standing on the top of an open-topped bus alongside some a number of politicians addressing the addressing the assembled crowd through a slightly underpowered microphone system. Along with the politicians I was also asked to carry the banner at the front of the march. As you can probably tell from this photograph, it did rain, just a little, on our parade. However spirits were not dampened. (There are lots more pics being uploaded to Flickr – see here).

Thanks to those Episcopalians who showed up. It is always great to know you have friends in an unpredicatable crowd.

As it was, there was a certain amount of whooping and a-hollering when it was my turn.

Here is what I said: Read more »

We are doing a jazz mass on Sunday morning at St Mary’s. Full choir, jazz piano, bass and drums.

1030 am. All welcome.

You just want to be there, don’t you?

I feel very privileged to have received an invitation to speak to the crowd at tomorrow’s Pride Scotia march in Edinburgh. That means that I will be speaking unto the crowd at 1230 ish from the upper-deck of an open topped bus outside the City Chambers in Edinburgh.

Scottish Episcopalians who want to join the march together are encouraged to meet at the top of Carrubers Close at 12 noon. Carrubers Close is the set of steps up from Jeffrey Street to the Royal Mile which have Old St Paul’s side entrance half way up. Kimberly will be waiting at the top of the stairs to rally the troops. Dress: clerical shirt (optional) + ear plugs + white knot + rainbows. (Steal the regalia from a Cursillista if necessary). Straight friends and family members are particularly welcome.

I’ll be speaking about the worldwide white knot movement seeking equal rights for gay and lesbian couples to tie the knot.

I remember a couple of year’s ago taking out my laptop at General Synod and starting to blog. “You’re doing what?” shrieked the incredulous crowd. Well, actually, the crowd in synod was not terribly interested though the crowd beyond the synod hall was fascinated. Actually it was Mother Ruth who shrieked in derision, though not for long.

Last year, blogging was much more mainstream at synod. We have internet access in the hall now and you don’t need to dash out to have coffee in a wifi enabled coffee show to post updates as I did the first year I did it.

This year it was the turn of twitter to fascinate the episcopalian technorati. A number of us were doing the one line updates directly from the synod floor. If you don’t know what twitter is, check out this article which will tell you more.

One of the things that the I and C Board had arranged was for Mother Dunblane to come and give a lunchtime seminar on twittering for beginners. It certainly had the desired effect, with a number of people, including the Bishop of Edinburgh having a go.

We had feedback via twitter during the synod from, amongst others, clergy who could not be at synod, someone in the Alban Institute in the states, someone in Kentucky (one of Glasgow and Galloway’s companion dioceses) and Dave Walker the Cartoon Blogger (who put it on the Church Times blog).

Meanwhile, out in a world made darker by repression and violence, twitter is allowing Iranians to tell the truth about what they are seeing on the streets.

Twitter is just fast and furious one-line blogging. And as Bishop Pierre has observed, it gives us revolutionary power.

It is a revolution inside the church, as well as outside, and you can find me revolting, twittering here.

Any ideas what we should use it for next?

One of the main themes emerging from this year’s Scottish General Synod was the issue of inclusion. I’ve mentioned before the phenomena of getting just about any group of Scottish Episcopalians together and asking them what our church is about. The answers are always the same – good worship and being an inclusive church. (Interestingly, no-one ever defines us as having anything much to do with having bishops. I remember one provincial conference where I’m sure everyone would have voted to change the name to the Scottish Inclusive Church if such a thing could have been proposed).

And all this came up again last week. In the long debate about mission and in other parts of the synod, the ethos of the Scottish Episcopal Church was claimed to be being an inclusive church. I’ve long had a suspicion that part of this is that Episcopalians in Scotland are all a bit odd in one way or another and when we say we are an inclusive church, part of what we mean is, “Thank God, I’ve found a church that welcomes me. There is no-where else to go”.

Anyway, on and on it went. “We are an inclusive church” sayeth the crowd.

Yet I’ve come to the conclusion that this is aspirational talk rather than something that we have already achieved. Some of the most interesting things said at the synod were when people said things that suggested that perhaps the church was not quite yet as inclusive as they would like it to be.

Marion Chatterley got us to agree to a gender audit.

Analu Waller reminded us that cutting grants for buildings could mean cutting support for access for disabled people. She also challenged us to go back to our congregations and count the disabled people there and then ask whether we are really an inclusive church.

Ian Ferguson from the big evangelical congregation Trinity Westhill in Aberdeenshire said, “Inclusion is not just about the gay commmunity”. (And everyone nodded along).

I said that the bishops’ current policy on gay blessings and ministry was not something we could all support. (The bishops are directly stating that they are discriminating against gay people for the first time in our history).

And then there was the Faith and Order Board saying that inclusive language amendments to the liturgy would do tucked into the back of the book as an appendix of permitted texts. It was me again, who reminded them that the liturgy committee has been trying to get us to think of liturgy as formative for faith and that making inclusive language merely optional was not really the kind of thing that lots of us are hoping for.

All these things were comments from people complaining that we are not inclusive enough for them. Yet still we say (and indeed our new Primus seemed to reiterate), “We are an inclusive church”. It is a distinct theme and one which needs a bit of thought throughout the church.

What’s the most important next step?

I hasted to Kelvingrove (bonnie lassie-o) yesterday afternoon for the big event of the West End Festival. The park was looking lovely in the sun. Actually, I hasted to Kelvingrove (bonnie lassie-o) twice. I went down once in my dog collar to smile and nod my way through the crowd and speak to people on some of the stalls and then came back home, changed into something a little more comfortable and went back for the parade.

Highlights were the Amnesty stall, the astonishing Falun Gong people meditating in absolute stillness whilst all around them was noisy and busy and the LGBT Youth stall. I’ve not seen LGBT Youth take a stall at the W E Festival before but they certainly knew what they were doing – a steady line of parents and children queuing for facepainting. Brilliant.

Is it next week that it is the Gibson Street Fair? Must try to pop in on St Silas – they are having their open church afternoon which was fab last year. Oh, and I received a request for liturgical equipment from Nick Cox who is organising some of it. Must get in touch to pass over the goods.

The Rt Rev David Chillingworth who blogs at http://www.bishopdavid.net/ has been elected as Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. I think he probably becomes the first blogger to become a primate in the Anglican Communion.

Congratulations to Bishop David and best wishes for the next part of his journey

I was given 3 minutes to speak at Synod on the Misison of the SEC. This is what I said.

We need two strands of missionary activity – firstly building local congregations where people who would never expect to discover God can find that they are already welcome and are already loved and secondly, the surprising places where people don’t expect the church to go. That means, for example, being the church in the streets, in the wedding show, onto the broadcast studio, in the newspapers and the church that dares to make find anew its commitment to chaplaincy in higher education.

The news we have to share is that Jesus Christ, the incarnate son of God has come into this world and told us we are loved.

We share that news in many ways as people who sometimes differ.

There will be no peace in the church unless we learn to accept that we may disagree. There will be no peace in the church until we recognise that God is at work in those who see things differently. Indeed, there will be no peace in the church until we recognise that our mission is compromised by our infighting. We must find ways to accept and celebrate the good things that God is doing in and amongst people who are different from us.

I want to finish with three things that I think must characterise our mission. They are spirituality, the bible and love. Each of these is our heritage and each of these is given us as a free gift to share and pass on.

People are queuing up to pay good money to all kinds of teachers of meditation to discover the kind of practical spirituality that has already been given to us by God to share for free. Mission is teaching people to pray. Mission is creating worship that changes our hearts and souls.

The bible because again it is our heritage. Ours to read and ours to share. As someone who comes from an evangelical background, I’m often surprised by the lack of knowledge of the bible in our church. The Bible is our heritage and it is ours to share. And it is one of the most exciting parts of our calling to teach people to read the scriptures anew – reading them with passion and with the old fashioned orthodoxy of common sense. Mission is setting people free by giving them the tools and the skills to read the bible.

And love, because again, it is our heritage and it is what we have to share. It is our heritage because God loves us. Mission is simply finding ever more creative ways to share what it means to know the giddy joy of being utterly loved by God.