Inky Fingers
Inky Fingers
I must be getting older – except that, for me, it’s not policemen but bishops that appear to be getting younger! We have a new leader coming in the person of Bishop Tim, who is profiled later in this issue. However, for a “young ‘un” his CV certainly appears to pack a punch, appropriate not only for our Diocese but for the Church now in the 21st. century. Revivals and missions come and go, sometimes with apparently little to show that they have been here. But we do have a mission, graphically set out, for example, in Matthew 10, and the operative term is “GO into the world” – waiting for it to come to us is not an option: challenging without antagonising. 2000 years on, it may be later than we think.
Having said that, our own Church here in Camborne has stood the test of time, like many others. Our own projects are moving ahead steadily – some fruits of this can be seen already. A wise general consensus, it seems to me (apparent as early as our January “brainstorming”), is concern that the life of our Church be maintained on solid ground, however that may be expressed in terms of the needs of our time. We pray for the clergy, PCC and leaders as they push forward with our plans – boldly but prudently: “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16, NIV), my emphasis.
Speaking of bishops and issues, the 10-yearly Lambeth Conference is under way in Canterbury as I write. After all this time, I am personally incredulous that we are still “hung up” on issues of gender – even more animatedly so than on mass poverty, disease and illiteracy it appears, very disturbingly. Writing to the then “emergent church” of the 1st. century, Paul is at pains to point out (in Romans 14 for example) that the Good News is not just about yet another Jewish cult. In the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles we get a good picture not only of the differing people involved but of the difficulty Paul experienced in keeping them focussed on the Truth. But as we now know, by brothers and sisters pulling together, despite having differing backgrounds and understandings, the early Church did “take off and fly like an eagle”. It didn’t just waddle around like a turkey!
Yours in fellowship