lookalike

Yesterday a member of the congregation indicated that she thought I looked like Neil Diamond. The fact that he is 10 years older than me did not do much for my ego. But it reminded me of a similar comparison while I was a student. I was in a church for 4 weeks doing a summer placement. After the first Sunday a member of the congregation mentioned that she thought I looked a bit like Rabbie Burns. She had just got a book out of the library about the great man.(I was thin and dark haired in those days). The following Sunday she apologized profusely for having made the comparison. By then she had read the book and learned about his life! I am not sure about either comparison but if I look at the two pictures perhaps I can see just how I have aged.

New member of the family.

It is ages since I blogged. But I thought that I would post in honour of the latest edition to the family. Rhianna Joy Scott was born at home in Stourbridge at 9.45pm on the 3rd of November. She weighed in at 7lbs 9oz. Annette and I are delighted grandparents and we can't wait to go and see her and hold her. Congratulations to her parents, Andy and Shona. Andy will now be sharing a house with 4 females! He will be totally outnumbered and hopefully totally spoiled by all 4.

back to work

Warm sunshine in Italy. Days spent with the family in the West Midlands. Holidays are now over and it is back to work. First week back turned out to be busier than anticipated and now it is our Holiday Club week at church. For a week our church hall will be turned into Rocky's Plaice - a chip shop church!
The hall is now set up and it looks good. The wonderful Holiday Club team are primed and ready to go. Tomorrow morning 40 children are booked in. I am sure it will be a great week. ( I am led to believe that at some point during the week it will indeed be a chip shop church!).

Not to be

Disappointed that Italy have failed miserably at the World Cup. I was hoping that I might be able to watch the world cup final while in Italy on holiday. Being in a town square filled with passionate Italian fans watching their team on a big screen would have been fun ( and blessed with sunshine too, of course).
I suppose I will just need to enjoy the sunshine!

Vuvuzela

I am indebted to my good friend Humph who sent me this information -

http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1106238

"The Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe) in KwaZulu-Natal, which claims that the vuvuzela is its invention, has threatened to go court to stop its use during the World Cup if the church is not compensated....".

This Sunday I will be sharing a vuvuzela duet with Jonah.

World Cup fever

I went to pick Annette up with the shopping at Sainsbury's this afternoon. As usual she takes longer than I would expect. As I looked at the World Cup section, I could not resist.
I will use it on Sunday morning as part of the 'word to the children'.

In three weeks time, just before the World Cup final, we will be in in Italy on holiday. I am hoping Italy get to the final. I might then be able to find a big screen in the town square filled with enthusiastic Italian supporters. But after their performance in the first round of matches my hope might be a forlorn one.

World Cup

Just under 3 weeks until the start of the World Cup in South Africa. Sadly once again my nation will not be represented. As it happens I will be on holiday ( in Italy) for the latter stages of the competition.

In preparation for the World Cup the Church of England has produced some prayers for the occasion. The 3 prayers have been written by the Right Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon.

A prayer for all those involved

Lord of all the nations, who played the cosmos into being, guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup.
May all find in this competition a source of celebration, an experience of common humanity and a growing attitude of generous sportsmanship to others. Amen

A prayer for the host nation

God of the nations, who has always called his people to be a blessing for the world, bless all who take part in the World Cup. Smile on South Africa in her hosting, on the nations represented in competition and on those who travel to join in the party.
Amen

A prayer for those just not interested

Lord, as all around are gripped with World Cup fever, bless us with understanding, strengthen us with patience and grant us the gift of sympathy if needed. Amen

The first prayer seems to picture God launching the cosmos into being perhaps like a goalkeeper sending the ball up field? Is that stretching the account of creation a bit far?

The second prayer is a good general prayer about all the people involved. I hope the competition will be a blessing to the people of South Africa.

But is the third prayer anticipating the sympathy that will need to shown when a certain nation fails to fulfill its potential again?

At Harrogate Baptist we are planning to show the England games on a big screen in a family friendly venue. I am looking forward to it.

PR

I was asked today if I could explain the different forms of Proportional Representation. I had to confess that my knowledge of this subject is sadly lacking. But in view of what is now at the heart of the discussions about forming a coalition government, I will need to get studying.
Watching as the results began to come in on election night I was struck by the number of times I heard politicians speak of the need for humility. As it became clear that there was likely to be a hung parliament, so it was suggested that politicians would need to act with humility and accept that this is how the people have voted. Hopefully in the on-going discussions taking place at the moment there will be humility expressed. It would surely do all our politicians good to take note of Philippians 2:3-4.

On another note - on Sunday afternoon I watched my team receive the SPL trophy. That makes for a world record of 53 Championships. Of course, I mention this in all humility!

Joy and sadness

Back to work this morning after a lovely weekend off. The sun shone on the West Midlands. We enjoyed spending time with the family on Esther's third birthday. Among her lovely presents was Maddie the doll. Maddie burps very realistically at the appropriate moment. You can imagine the hilarity!

After the enjoyment of the weekend, this morning began with the news of the death of one of the members of the congregation. His death came tragically and far too young. He leaves behind a family who are understandably stunned. The congregation will be equally stunned to hear the news. Planned theme for this Sunday will need to be revised.

Easter

It has been a busy week in the run up to Easter. Holy Week prayer breakfasts every morning( Monday to Sunday). Today we celebrated Easter after the prayer breakfast with a quiet and reflective communion service and then a Family Celebration Service which was much more upbeat in style. It has been a good week all round. Tomorrow will be a day off and maybe a nice lie-in.

Mad as a Scottish Hatter

Annette and I went to the cinema this week to see Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately we got there to discover that the 3D had broken down. As we had booked online we decided to take a small refund and watch it in normal 2D.
We enjoyed the film. But I was slightly miffed that the Mad Hatter used a thick Glaswegian accent when revealing his darker side. Could he not have chosen to use a nice plummy southern accent for that part of his character? I remember too that in a Donald Duck film of some years ago, Scrooge McDuck also had a Scottish accent.

But I must not get paranoid about such things and become like some football fans north of the border.( the ones whose team never ever lose fairly it seems. It is all a conspiracy).

Freedom

Spoke at a U3A discussion group yesterday. I decided to reflect on the issue of religious freedom in the light of all the discussion with regard to the Equality Bill which is going through Parliament at the moment.
I began with the fact that at the heart of why the Baptists came into being was the issue of religious freedom and I quoted from 'The Mystery of Iniquity' by Thomas Helwys -

"For men's religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the king be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Jews, Turks or whatever, it pertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure".

I also quoted some words spoken by the Archbishop of York when speaking recently in the House of Lords.

“Successive legislation over the past 35 years has always recognized the principle that religious organizations need the freedom to impose requirements in relation to belief and conduct that go beyond what a secular employer should be able to require.
“Noble Lords may believe that Roman Catholics should allow priests to be married; they may think that the Church of England should hurry up and allow women to become bishops; they may feel that many churches and other religious organizations are wrong on matters of sexual ethics. But if religious freedom means anything, it must mean that those are matters for the churches and other religious organizations to determine in accordance with their own convictions. They are not matters for the law to impose.”

Same sentiment from different eras and from men of different church traditions.

And on a very different subject. Annette and I had a walk today to Harlow Carr, a snack at Bettys and a stroll home through the pine woods and Valley Gardens into the town and home. Then there was time to watch the final 30 minutes from Ibrox. Another 3 points in the bag to add to last Sundays brilliant result.

Pancakes

Once again our Guide Company's Pancake Supper provided excellent pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. I was very restrained and only had two this year. It was good to seethe event was well attended.
Of course, it is also a reminder that tomorrow,Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning Lent.
This year I am planning to use a Lent Study on 'Christ and the Chocolaterie' which uses themes from the film Chocolat as a stimulus to reflection and discussion. For Sunday preaching I am torn between two approaches which were both suggested by Lutheran New Testament scholars. One suggestion is to use the theme of 'wilderness' which can be seen to represent an in-between space - 'a space of testing, trial, learning, discovery, and transformation outside the established rhythms and norms of community life.'(Dwight Zscheile). The other suggestion is to use Lent as a journey to the baptistery. The themes would be doorway, tomb, womb, bath, spring. As I am away this Sunday in order to attend a very important 5th birthday celebration, I still have a few days to ponder which suggestion to follow.

Cober Hill

The annual YBA ministers' conference at Cober Hill (Cloughton, near Scarborough) was a very enjoyable 3 days this week. The speaker was the Dean of Chester Cathedral, Trevor Dennis, whose subject was 'Listen again; Stories of the Old Testament - a fresh look at Ruth and Jonah'. His input was excellent as he talked us through these two very familiar stories. As always it was good to meet up with colleagues and the food at Cober Hill is also very good.
It is back down to earth today with tonight's study group to prepare for and also Sunday morning to get ready. This Sunday will end a short series of sermons on the theme of 'epiphany'.

sermons

Two members of the congregation very kindly passed on a newspaper cutting with the results of a survey carried out by Durham University. The survey revealed -

99.6% of churchgoers looked forward to the sermon.

When asked about how long they wanted a sermon to last -

Catholics - 10 minutes

Anglicans - 10-20 minutes

Baptists - 1 hour 15 minutes

Where did they find the Baptists who gave that answer?

Youth Group weekend away

Just about to head off and visit the Youth Group on the first night of their weekend away. The venue is a Boys Brigade owned building in the small Hamlet of Glasshouses which is in the Nidd Valley just over 12 miles from Harrogate. The accommodation is basic but the young people love it. After doing an epilogue I will drive the 12 miles back to Harrogate to the warmth and comfort of my own bed ( having declined the kind offer of staying the night there).

Burns Night

Could not let today pass without a mention of Robert Burns and the remarkable fact that across the world at this time of year the man and his poetry will be celebrated.
Harrogate St Andrew's Society held its Burns Night on Saturday with all the traditional elements included.
Tonight I have been invited by the Guide Company attached to the church to join them for a kind of mini Burns Supper. But I will need to work for my haggis, neeps and tatties by reciting the Selkirk grace and also give the 'address to the haggis'( a shorter version though).
The faults and follies of Burns are well known. But in his young life he did write some remarkable poetry. Is there a better celebration of the worth of the ordinary person than 'A man's a man for a that'? Is there a better love song than 'My love is like a red red rose'? Is there a better expression of that call to battle than 'Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled'?
Sir Walter Scott said of him - "Long life to thy fame and peace to thy soul, Robert Burns. When I want to express a sentiment which I feel strongly, I find the phrase in Shakespeare or thee...."

the end of a snowy week

A clear sign of the kind of weather we are having in Harrogate was the sight of a mother and son skiing along our street yesterday on the way to school. The only other time I remember seeing someone ski past our house was in Elland, West Yorkshire in the early 80's when we had at least two very snowy weekends there.

All my meetings have been cancelled this week. I have done a fair bit of 'telephone' visiting rather than try and get round on foot or by car.

Annette and I are just about to get wrapped up and walk into town for my slightly delayed birthday meal out.

Birthday snow

Snow fell steadily this morning on my birthday. Sadly I have not had time to enjoy it and no grandchildren nearby to enjoy it with. The weather will mean that this will be a much quieter week in terms of meetings. If I need the car I will need to clear the drive. The last time I remember snow like this was when we lived in West Yorkshire - more than 20 years ago.

New Year

More snow fell in Harrogate during Saturday evening and it meant there was a good covering this morning. It would have been better if the snow had fallen a day earlier and I could have enjoyed it with our grandchildren before they went back home after 4 nights with us. This morning I did miss my two human alarm clocks insisting that grampa should get up because it was breakfast time.

Despite the snow this morning there was a good congregation for the first Sunday of the New Year. As usual it included communion and a covenant prayer shared by all.
Morning service was followed by a delightful lunch with friends.
It will very much back to normal now, although the weather forecast suggests that more snow is on the way.