South Wales Baptists

Life moves on

2011-06-27T22:39:00.003+01:00

Well what a great couple of weeks, life always has a new turn of events to keep you interested, what a great night the valedictory was but it has its sad side it came to me how much I will miss the fellowship at Baptist Collage all the freinds I have made over the last three years. With everyone taking different paths I wonder if we will ever see each other again, there are a number of ways but I think that the collage forum needs to be a place for all the ex- students to meet maybe that could be something that we all could commit to it could be a way forward ?

A new start

2011-04-24T06:47:00.004+01:00

With the last of the teaching weeks ended its time to look to the future so they tell you but this is one of the most testing times of our lives, gone is the routine of collage life and until it comes to the end you never realize just how much a comfort that is. Students who are leaving this year enter what is called the settlement process that word sounds so safe and comforting but beware it is only one of the most unstettling times of a students life. All around you people tell you that the Lord is in charge and to rest in the arms of Him who sustains us, thats all very well ,but they are telling you this from there nice safe cosy life so what do we do how do we cope with not knowing what is going to happen where we will settle. For all that you may dimiss the words that you are told thats all you can do is to trust and to rest in the arms of Christ

Whitley Lecture - 23rd March - all welcome!

2011-03-15T16:11:00.001Z

We are pleased to announce that this year's Whitley lecture is returning to Cardiff next week.

The lecture "Wrestling with the Word - a woman reads Scripture" will be given by Anne Clements at SWBC on Wednesday 23rd March, beginning at 3pm. All are welcome to attend, and the lecture will end by 4.30pm.

This lecture grapples with the issues raised when a committed Christian woman comes to the biblical text and realises that not only are there the verses from Timothy to negotiate but far deeper hermeneutical problems. How does a woman who does not wish to reject the authority of Scripture but who increasingly becomes aware of the androcentric, male centred, nature of the text and the patriarchal character of many of its stories come to terms with the Word ? Not only the text itself but patriarchal interpretation of these texts has caused anguish for many women called in different ways into God’s work. The lecture traces one woman’s journey from a call to ministry that led to an intellectual engagement with issues of interpretation and the formulation of her own hermeneutical stance. Out of this came her revisionist work on the women in Matthew’s Gospel in the conviction that the Biblical text contains a self-critique of patriarchy. The gender issue is now a mainstream topic both within the academy, the church (the BUBG Council 2010 debated the issues surrounding women in ministry) and at popular cultural levels. It is increasingly important to be able to articulate and develop a hermeneutic that both recognises the Bible’s patriarchy for what it is, whilst at the same time hearing God’s Word speaking to us within the complexities of lives lived in the 21st century.

The Rev Anne Clements is minister of West Kingsdown Baptist Church, Kent. She has been happily married for thirty years and is the mother of three grown daughters. She originally trained as a teacher and she and her husband spent ten years teaching in mainland China (1986-1996). She was called to the ministry in 2002, trained at Spurgeon’s College and was ordained in 2006. Anne is currently completing her PhD on the women in Matthew’s Gospel.

Edwin Stephen Griffiths Lectures 2011

2011-01-28T12:46:00.004Z

Edwin Stephen Griffiths Lectures

Wednesday, 2^ndMarch 2011

1.30 & 3.30pm,

at South Wales Baptist College

Given by: Revd Dr Anne Phillips MA, PhD (Co-Principal, Northern Baptist Learning Community)

Lecture 1 Daughters of God: Girls Growing in Faith

Children’s spirituality is a growing area of interest and research. However children come in two varieties, and gender differentiation increases at puberty; we therefore do girls (and boys) a disservice by ignoring, as most popular studies do, that they may ‘do faith’ differently. In this lecture, Anne will explore the ways early adolescent girls understand themselves, God and their faith within the contexts of home, church and school, setting their self-understanding within a framework of research into a spectrum of developmental theories.

Lecture 2 The Power of Un-naming: Girls and the Bible

Why are so few biblical girls named? Is motherhood a girl’s only God-given purpose and destiny? How does it feel that ‘there aren’t many parts for girls’ in biblical drama? Where do girls find their biblical role models?

These questions identify some of the issues many girls and women face when they read the Bible. This second lecture breaks new ground in taking a scholarly look at pre-adolescent girls in scripture, and through studying their place in God’s story argues for a ‘theology of girlhood’ that defines their distinctive role in salvation history.

After graduating in Theology from St Hugh’s College, Oxford, Anne worked for several years as a secondary school teacher and mother. After her call to Baptist ministry, she served in a local pastorate before joining the staff of Northern Baptist College (now Learning Community) where she is now Co-Principal. She has for many years been involved in the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s work on children in the church, abuse and domestic violence, and women in leadership, interests which demonstrate her passion to seek justice for people the church too often marginalises. Her book, The Faith of Girls, is due to be published by Ashgate in 2011.

We extend a warm welcome to all ministers and church members who would like to join with us for these lectures

New Morning Class

2011-01-26T12:31:00.000Z

Mark's Gospel: A manifesto of radical Christian discipleship

With Rev Simon Woodman

Hosted by Cardiff Adult Christian Education Centre, City URC Church, Widsor Place, Cardiff.

Mondays 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Four sessions starting 31 January 2011

This course will explore ways in which Mark‘s gospel can speak directly to the world we live in today. We will encounter again the call to radical Christian discipleship which so transformed the lives of those who first heard it, and we will investigate ways in which that same call can be heard in the twenty-first century. With an emphasis on the social, economic and political dimensions of discipleship, the words of Jesus can be heard to echo down the centuries, raising vital questions for those who would follow him today.

31st Jan 2011 - Encountering the radical messiah
7th Feb 2011 - Engaging in radical relationships
14th Feb 2011 - Living a radical life
21st Feb 2011 - Asking radical questions

Core Text: Ched Myers et al, “Say to This Mountain” Mark’s Story
of Discipleship, Orbis Books, New York: 1996

Course Fee: £20

Simon Woodman is a lecturer in the South Wales Baptist College

'Prophetic Voices From the Margins: The Contemporary Witness of Anabaptists, Celts and the New Monastic Movements'

2010-06-15T11:55:00.003+01:00

Or see the Facebook Event

A first note from a leaving student but a new dad!

2010-06-08T12:50:00.003+01:00

I find it a proud and special moment that my first entry to the college blog is to announce the safe arrival of my first born son Reuben James O' Herlihy, who was born on June 1st at 5:24 pm and weighing 8.2 lbs. Mum (Rachel) is good and recovering well and our bundle of joy is changing all the time, starting to look more like his mum which is a good thing. I was told shortly before the birth by a good (female) Friend that the closest a man will ever get to giving birth is writing a book, well I'll stick to sermons and essays because, well let me just say 'respect to the mothers of the world'. I have lost my cable for my camera so photos will have to wait, but let me tell you he is lush.

Ian

Job Advert: Principal of South Wales Baptist College

2010-05-15T22:06:00.002+01:00

As advertised in the latest edition of the Baptist Times:

South Wales Baptist College Cardiff

Seeks to appoint a Principal

Applications are invited from persons with suitable experience and academic qualifications to lead this well-established College in its work of ministerial formation, as from September 2011.

The College prepares candidates mainly from the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Union of Wales, and engages with churches in seeking to facilitate the mission of Christ in and beyond South Wales. Facility in the Welsh language would be an asset but is not a requirement.

SWBC is a constituent member of Cardiff University's School of Religious and Theological Studies.

Details of the application process and further information can be found on the College website www.swbc.org.uk

Closing date for receipt of applications: 21 June 2010. Interviews 21 July 2010.

"Persecute me - I'm after the Brownie points"

2010-03-06T17:44:00.004Z

Ian Thomas has picked up this very interesting Times Online column article by Frank Skinner, entitled

'Persecute me – I’m after the Brownie points: We Christians thrive as a minority. A bit of strict us-and-them keeps up the quality'

2010-02-01T12:11:00.000Z

The church that I am a part of are in the process of the consultation the association offers. On Saturday we had a day together that marked the midway point in this and we concluded together that an area in church life that we need to give serious attention to is that of Evangelism. We need to see people coming to their own faith in Jesus Christ and that is going to be largely down to the personal witness of each of us that part of our church. I was at a the Ignite Youth event last night and it was so exciting to see teenagers make a decision to follow Jesus at that event. It is always a huge joy to see anyone discover the reality of a personal relationship with Jesus, something that all of us as Christian ministers surely desire to see. Some of us made a promise at our Ordination and Induction to do the work of an evangelist. The normal form of words these days are that we promise “to lead and enable God’s people in their mission to the world, seeking God’s kingdom, proclaiming the gospel in word and deed and seeking to make Christ known in every way”. People need to know that they need to be saved! Enabling people to discover for themselves ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10) is both our duty and our exciting privilege. Let’s go do it!

2010-01-25T14:37:00.001Z

I got some wheels on Friday – and got stopped by the police last night! You can guess what I was thinking, ‘O don’t tell me this car’s been stolen’! It hadn’t been but clearly they had run a check on the car whilst following me and informed me that I was driving without tax and insurance! Fortunately I was able to prove my innocence to this accusation. I am aware however that if their computer was clever enough to see all the road traffic and highway code laws I had fractured over the years I wouldn’t have been able to prove complete innocence. I’ve been reading Job where, it could be said, Job does a reasonable job of defending himself against his friends but has no chance of defending himself against God. Would I get any grace from my road traffic friends? Unlikely but from God I have known huge amounts of grace and am hopeful for yet a whole lot more. So I just took a little time out to thank God for his mercies and again I realize I have more to be thankful for than I thought!

unbalanced!

2010-01-18T10:49:00.001Z

I found over the last week or so that I had allowed myself to get a bit unbalanced! It’s a common thing I guess, things happen and we allow them to affect us a little more than we should. For me it was a number of things including my car dying and broadband not working. Silly isn’t but we so often allow this to happen. Quite often it’s financial, more often it’s relational. We allow ourselves to feel offended far too often. The more we dwell on the problem facing us or the hurt we have experienced the bigger these things get. Soon we have lost proportion, our ability to make decisions is affected and relationships further fractured. Jesus tells us not to worry about the stuff of life but to seek his kingdom and righteousness (Mt 6:33). I‘m sure our relationships are implicit in this but he also tells us to love even our enemies (Mt 5:44) and Paul helpfully calls us to consider others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3) and urges us to accept one another in the way that Jesus accepts us (Rom 15:7). All to helpfully enable us to keep a balanced Christ like view on things. Why not pause and check out where anxiety is running unduly high or grudges are beginning to take a hold and offer them to the Lord seeking his peace to reign in your hearts (Col 3:15). It may be a very simple thing but I encourage you to just stop and do it.

Surprise!

2009-12-21T15:47:00.000Z

Time to grab your sun tan lotions and head off to the beach! You wish! Though I am one of those crazy people that will go for a boxing day swim in the sea. Don’t worry I haven’t gone completely mad, I am still aware its Christmas time. Last week I reminded you of the need to tell the story and be open to the Holy Spirit to bring a freshness into the Christmas Good News. One thing that strikes me about the whole Good News, the whole Gospel is that it is full of the unexpected. Who would have expected God’s Son to come as a poor, illegitimate refugee? Who would have expected the Messiah’s message would have been one of love? Who would have expected that he would have revealed a way into a relationship with the Father by Grace? Who would have believed his preference for the poor and marginalized, his value on women and children? Who would have expected the company he kept or would have second guessed who it would be he would most criticize?

It’s all too easy for us with the benefit of the New Testament and over 2,000 years distance to think we would have been more ready for his coming. And if the truth be known, he still catches us unawares again and again. His spirit blows where he wills and I for one would say that he continues to surprise me but I am so glad he does. Sometimes following the Lord feels like a rollercoaster, but that’s the thrill of it!

I do pray you will be surprised by him this Christmas. I don’t know what next year will bring. For some it will be an amazing year of fruitfulness, for others a year of heartache but I know he will be with you all in equal measure and whatever surprises are there for us, they will be opportunities to discover the Grace of God and the Joy of serving the Master.

In Christ I desire for you a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year.

It's Christmas time, and time is running out

2009-12-14T09:44:00.000Z

It’s hard for me to think about Christmas time without thinking of a Sketch I did as a teenager that seems imbedded in my mind. I played the Vicar and the particular line that has come back to haunt me is – “This year I’m going to preach a meaningful Christmas sermon, I will not have Darth Vader or Tinky Winky, La La or Po in the pulpit, nor will I ruin my sermon notes with one of those dolls that wets themselves! I will think through everything carefully beforehand, and preach on the relevance of the birth of Christ to the modern world. If only I had time!”

I have a narrator’s part in a production this year, but won’t be preaching and so I don’t even have to face the temptation of going to the file of old material after hours of trying to come up with something original. And so my thoughts are with you because I do know the agony of trying to get it just right each Christmas. Of tying to present the Christmas message in a new and relevant and fresh way.

How do you say anything new? Anything that will so impact your congregation in such a way that will stop them in their tracks and cause them to think WOW! I never thought of it like that! and will have such an effect on them that they live their lives in a whole new way as a result of hearing you.

But it’s about you or me, it’s about Jesus. The Christmas story about Jesus is just so amazing that we want people to see it that way too!

The trouble is it’s near enough impossible to say anything new. It’s all been said! How do you improve on 2,000 years of storytelling? It’s newness depends on its freshness, and it’s freshness depends on openness – an openness on our part to hear God speak.

My advice for what it’s worth – just tell the story - and invest the time you could spend in coming up with something new in prayer for that openness of spirit that will allow God’s Spirit to bring Jesus into lives in a fresh way!

Christmas is coming

2009-11-23T12:54:00.000Z

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Christmas is coming! High street lights are being switched on, decorations are going up, cards are being written, and the perfect gift sought! Joy, Peace and Goodwill to all men or Bah Humbug! I don’t know which end of the spectrum better fits you but I do know how we all strive to encourage people towards the real meaning of Christmas, that the perfect gift has already been given! I have no ‘thought for the day’ as such today but just wanted to assure you of my prayers in the run up to Christmas. It is an especially busy time for pastors. I pray that through your ministry people will discover and gladly accept the gift of Jesus.

And by the way, it is unlikely you will hear from me next Monday, I’ll be Christmas Shopping!

God is Love!

2009-11-16T08:30:00.001Z

My wife, Jackie, is leading a small group tonight on the theme ‘God is Love’. Recognizing my Biblical knowledge and profound teaching experience (well I can dream) she asked me if I had any good material. So I looked through my preaching and teaching files to pull something out for her to have a look at. To my huge surprise I discovered I didn’t have anything! To be sure, the theme was present in all sorts of ways, plenty on God loving us and more than a little on encouraging our love for God. But on the nature of God as Love - very little. Something that I will have to redress.

The last 3 words of 1 John 4v8 form one of the most profound statements of the whole Bible and perhaps for many people today one of the hardest to believe. ‘God is love’. When we think of this 'grubby tennis ball' of a planet, set in the vast infinity of space, our own lives as just moments in the onward surge of time, and our individuality among countless millions, can we really talk meaningfully about God loving us? And when we look at the world with all its evil and suffering, so many damaged and broken lives, how can there be a God who really loves us? Yet, John insists, this is the very nature of God. And if we are not to empty the word 'God' of all its meaning, we must realise that such an infinite yet personal Creator is not too great to be bothered with my tiny life. He is so great that he can be bothered with each of us individually. John is not identifying a quality which God possesses; he is making a statement about the essence of God's being. It is not simply that God loves, but that He is love. Focussing on who he is enables to believe what he does. And so though of course I want to say to you, ‘God Loves you’. But maybe it is even better to say to you ‘God is Love’!

Faith and the Environment

2009-11-12T11:31:00.002Z

Revd Dr John Weaver, Principal of South Wales Baptist College, was a guest on the BBC Radio programme All Things Considered this Sunday.

"Looking ahead to the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference in December, Roy Jenkins is joined by four guests, each from a different faith community, to explore the extent to which religious beliefs shape our relationships with the natural world? How do they influence how we act on an issue like global warming? And what – if any – is the distinctive contribution which people of faith have to make to one of the most crucial issues of our generation?"

You can listen to or download the programme either from the BBC website, or from the College Download Page.

Happy Birthday Sesame Street

2009-11-10T01:13:00.000Z

Well this week’s Monday morning note is being written in the early hours of Tuesday morning! The reason is I left early this morning (sorry yesterday morning now) to come to BU Council in Swanwick. So today Tuesday we are celebrating 40 years of Sesame Street. No not at Council, though it will be interesting to see if It comes up! We did however spend some time today considering how we may better address the needs of children and better include them in the life of our churches. I have just had great fun however on www.sesamestreet.org go on, you know you want to! It never did take off in the UK as it did in other parts of the world but it has been a major player in the education of children around the world for, hard to believe, 40 years. And Bert and Ernie still look good on it.

The stars still want to be part of it. The Independent carries these four quotes:
MICHELLE OBAMA "I never thought I'd be on Sesame Street with Elmo and Big Bird... It's probably the best thing I've done at the White House."
JAMES BLUNT "I always wanted to be a Muppet. So when Sesame Street approached me, I thought: 'I'm going to be on this!' It's pretty incredible stuff."
RICKY GERVAIS "You know you've made it when you get asked to do Sesame Street or sing with a little furry puppet. It's quite weird in a funny way."
KOFI ANNAN "Elmo and his friends, they tell it straight... Keep it simple and it brings you back to earth. I think that is very important, we all need that."
Kofi Annan has of course simply restated what Jesus said: “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The utter trust and dependency in the Father is sadly lacking in most of us and has been replaced by a self sufficient maxim that, well that, let’s be honest is really ‘childish’ rather than ‘childlike’!

God is Good

2009-11-02T20:48:00.001Z

God is Good! (Nahum 1:7). We have to begin there in each and every situation. The problem is that we so often fail to tap into the goodness of God for lack of trust. One dictionary definition says that trust is ‘confidence in’ and ‘reliance on’ and secondly that it is a position of obligation. Eph 1:3 lets us know that the entire Christian life is learning to access what God in Christ has already provided for us. But in the learning we often meet with failure and disappointment. If God works in everything for our good (Rom 8:28), by implication we will fail in some things when first we try. We are wrong to limit this verse to the bad things that happen to us which are beyond our control. It also has to have reference to the things we do! And believe me this is a hugely positive thing. If you are succeeding at everything, you’re not trying hard enough! You’re not risking enough!

My kayaking club are going to award a trophy at the end of the year to the person who has had to bail out of their kayaks and swim the most. All that has accomplished is stopping many club members from having a go at a stretch of river that is a bit beyond them and this means improvement is hampered. We need to risk, we need to go out on a limb, we need as Will Carey said, to “attempt great things for God”. We have after all an assignment from God to see to it that His Kingdom comes, His will is done. Trusting a God that is good and always works good gives us the confidence to keep at it, to pursue those things that are beyond us naturally. It is how we grow. Learning and growing through failure Keeps us tethered to the goodness of God.

Father and Son bonding

2009-10-26T10:35:00.000Z

Just had a great weekend white water kayaking on the river Dart, Father and Son bonding and all that! It’s the reason we took up kayaking. The trouble is I absolutely love it where as my son, Lewis, has not been quite that enamoured with it. As many of you who came to the Roadshows would have heard, my son’s thing is def metal and he’s a drummer! (Pray for me). So in the summer I went to Sonisphere festival at Knebworth and discovered there is an advantage to going deaf in old age. Actually we had a great time together and even though some lyrics were far from wholesome they were a great launching pad for conversation with my son. It did strike me that if the command on God’s people is to make disciples of all people groups (Mt 28:19) who’s doing it amongst this tribe? If you are aware, I would love to know. What I truly loved about being there was seeing my son energised. It seems both of us want to live life to the full and I know that Jesus himself said that was why he came. I am praying that my son will discover that for himself, even that he would be one Jesus would use to reach that culture.

You will find this email and the previous two on the South Wales Baptists Blog
http://southwalesbaptists.blogspot.com/
Have a look and join in the conversations on this blog!

By the way, the dart was so good this weekend he’s decided that Kayaking really is fun so I’m sorry but we are praying for rain this half term week so we can get on another river!

Rest in Him (19th Oct)

2009-10-26T09:47:00.001Z

It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks and looking at the diary over the next few weeks it’s only going to get worse. And so it was such a blessing to get away for a 24 hour retreat last week with some other regional ministers. We need these occasions not simply to recharge but to recalibrate and as the Lord graciously did for me last week, reiterate his call upon my life. Whether it be a full blown retreat or the valuable moments we take each day, to listen to the Lord, allowing the Holy Spirit to regulate our heart beat with the Father’s is vital to our ongoing walk and fruitfulness in his service. It is the learning to rest, remain, abide in Christ so that we are able to bear the fruit he produces in us. We find our place in God and he finds his place in us. We become a hospitable place for him to dwell in us. Strange that we still insist on rushing around so much!?! But on that note hope to see some of you at the last of our Roadshows this week; Wednesday at Monmouth, Thursday at Woodville Cardiff.

first weekly email 12th Oct

2009-10-26T09:45:00.001Z

I have had in mind for quite some time to email all of you as ministers within the association on a regular basis, say every Monday morning, simply to encourage you in what the Lord has called you to. It is after all an easy way to communicate quickly in the world we now live in. Paul tells us to make the most of every opportunity (Eph 5:16). And there are many opportunities. What about taking opportunities to help one another? As disciples of Christ we are ever learning from his word, by his Spirit and from each other.

I wonder if we can commit ourselves to taking the opportunity to sharpen one another (Prov 27:17). For encouragement, challenge and enabling each other. This can be done in twos and threes, in small groups, using our monthly ministers gatherings, then there are the bigger gatherings like Mainstream and the Ministers Conference. Andy and I are currently running missional roadshows focusing on change and transition. Tonight at 7pm we are at Jerusalem Pentrebach, tomorrow Ebbw Bridge. There are many opportunities to develop our gifts and understanding of what the Lord has called us to.

Perhaps begin by giving another minister a ring today and plan to meet up!

CREDO: An affirmation of Christian faith

2009-09-26T00:17:00.001+01:00

Life after Festivals

2009-09-03T11:42:00.009+01:00

So the summer is over and the canvas festival season of Leading Edge, Keswick, Greenbelt and others is done for another while. But what is it that we come back to and have our trips away helped us with what is to come?

I'm reading George MacDonald's Fairy Tales at the moment and in one called The Shadows after a mortal has returned from a mysterious journey to the Shadow Church, he offers these few lines:

This made it the more likely that he had seen a true vision; for instead of making common things look commonplace, as a false vision would have done, it had made common things disclose the wonderful that was in them.

Have a wonder full day ... and may your vision be beauty full.

2009-08-25T11:04:00.003+01:00

MAINSTREAM WALES announces that
Revd. Kwame Adzam will be the guest speaker on
Thursday 24th September 2009
at Carmel Baptist Church, Pontlliw (Nr. Swansea)10.00am Coffee, 10.30am Start, 3.30pm Finish
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
* Cost: £7 : Buffet lunch will be provided
* Directions: Exit Junction 47 of M4; take the A48 (Swansea Road) heading towards Pontardulais.
* Open to all those in church leadership position.
PLEASE REGISTER BEFOREHAND by contacting Mark Thomas at the SWBA Office on either 029 2049 1366 or mark@swbabugb.org.uk

Jazz in Worship

2009-07-23T17:29:00.003+01:00

Jesus - either you love him or you hate him (allegedly)

2009-05-28T20:13:00.002+01:00

Just when you thought Jesus had given up on South Wales...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8071865.stm

See that's the problem with Jesus, people either love him or they hate him!
I'm glad he's 'my mate...'.
But I'll never be able to sing 'May the fragrance of Jesus...' seriously again.

South Wales Baptist College Newsletter

2009-05-20T10:39:00.002+01:00

Be the first to read the new newsletter from South Wales Baptist College!
Available to download from here.

Tony's in Town for Mainstream Wales

2009-04-17T09:13:00.003+01:00

MAINSTREAM WALES announces that

Tony Campolo will be the guest speaker on Thursday 11th June 2009

at Carmel Baptist Church, Pontlliw (Nr. Swansea)
10.00am Coffee, 10.30am Start, 3.30pm Finish

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

∞ Cost: £7 : Buffet lunch will be provided.

∞ Directions: Exit Junction 47 of M4; take the A48 (Swansea Road) heading towards Pontardulais.

∞ Open to all those in church leadership positions

∞ REGISTRATION BEFOREHAND IS ESSENTIAL DUE TO LIMITED SPACE
Contact Mark Thomas on either 029 2049 1366 or mark@swbabugb.org.uk

Confused.com

2009-03-30T20:29:00.004+01:00

Suggested this to Simon as a post to this blog. His response was to invite me to join as a contributor. Could be a big mistake...

Anyway, I came across a review for a new edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which included an extract from the Wife of Bath's prologue. The esteemed lady is speaking to her fellow pilgrims about the experience she's gained by being married five times. As she does she says something about Jesus' perspective which made me laugh because it's often how I feel when reading the Bible.

This is for all those who know just how hard preaching can be, for all those who are training for pastoral ministry, and especially for all those who think that they understand the Bible quite well.

The Wife of Bath's Prologue, as retold by Peter Ackroyd [Italics added by me]

I don't care what anyone says. Experience of the world is the best thing. It may not be the main authority but, in relationships, it is a good teacher. I know all about unhappiness in marriage. Goodness me. Oh yes. I was 12 years old when I first got a husband. I've had five altogether, thanks be to God. Five of them trooping up to the church door. That is a lot of men. By and large they were gentlemen, or so I was led to believe. Yet I was told quite recently - I forget by whom - that our Saviour attended only one wedding. It was in the town of Cana. So, the argument goes, I should only ever have been married once. And then there was the time when Jesus rebuked the Samaritan woman. They were standing beside a well, weren't they? “You have had five husbands,” He said. “And the man you are living with is not your husband.” He was God and man, so I suppose He knew what He was talking about. I don't understand what His point was, but I am sure He had one.

To read the rest of the extract and the accompanying review click this link - http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5945019.ece

Simon Woodman interviewed

2009-03-30T10:10:00.003+01:00

Simon Woodman of South Wales Baptist College has been interviewed by Andy Goodliff. You can read the interview here.

What do you get if you divide science by God?

2009-03-27T10:45:00.007Z

Another interesting BBC News Magazine article I missed earlier in the week.

Well It's interesting to a non-scientist like me!

The Bible and Hip Hop

2009-03-23T15:29:00.018Z

The music-video channel which had been blasting in the cafe this morning went suddenly quiet, causing me to glace up. You can imagine my suprise to see...

When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
But when I became a man,
I put childish things away.
- 1 Corinthians 13:11

...before the music of 'Dead and gone' by T.I featuring Justin Timberlake started up.

If (like I was) you're curious, there are links to the video and lyrics below. But a word of WARNING - it contains explicit language, of the variety found in most hip hop.
Video & Lyrics

Even more T in Church

2009-03-21T13:45:00.007Z

Sermon Bingo. We've all either played it, or secretly wished we had the guts. For those serious about the game, there's another semi-pro level of play opening up to us:
'Naked Pastor' has been creating theologian T-shirts.

How about challenging a friend? You each wear one to church, and whoever's got the first thologian to get a mention in the sermon wins.

I reckon I'd have pretty good odds with this one!

De-baptising?

2009-03-14T10:22:00.005Z

An interesting article on the BBC news website.

Comedy quotations from the Edwin Stephen Griffiths Lecture

2009-03-12T23:18:00.004Z

Held at the South Wales Baptist College on 11 March 2009.

A deacon questioned if the woman minister would be physically able to baptise a man. The response:
“Good gosh man – have you seen her hands?!”

If baptism is like birth...
“Should we add a new bit to the end and give them a slap?”

Baptism without coming into fellowship is like saying:
“I want to be married, but not actually to anybody”

From the speaker to a tutor, repeatedly:
“I wish you’d behave!”

One person’s relationship with chocolate is:
“...outright adoration, within the bounds of idolatry”

“Your mission should you choose to accept it is to save the entire church. Good luck.”

From one tutor, to a superior:
“I’m just glad you realised that if you were perfect, that isn’t you!”

“I found myself struck down in Asda whilst pushing a trolley with appendicitis”.

Darwin vs. Divine?

2009-03-06T10:27:00.003Z

Focusing on the important issues

What is really important in our Christian discipleship?

On March 10th I am due to give the final lecture in an eight lecture series on Darwin and Evolution, which are being given through the Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regent’s Park College in Oxford. The title of my lecture is “The Challenge of Evolutionary Theory for the 21st Century Church.”
The lecture series has been chosen as 2009 marks the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin (February 12th) and the 150th anniversary of his major work on natural selection, the Origin of Species, (November 24th).

Darwin’s observation of natural variation and selection together with Mendel’s recognition of genetic inheritance paved the way for our modern understanding of the evolution of life. For biological research and our knowledge of life on earth this is truly important, but for Christian faith?
This scientific breakthrough has led to some heated debate both in science and in the church. There are scientists who believe that everything in this world can only be explained by science, and there are Christians who believe that the only way to understand the origin of this world and its life is through a literal reading of Genesis 1-3

By emphasising extreme positions both suggest that the theory of evolution leads to atheism, and both emphasise that the literal interpretation of scripture is the crux of the argument. This is bad science and bad theology: reducing life to a nothing but atoms and molecules, where there is no room for meaning or for human freedom, and a biblical interpretation that fails to recognise context and genre of the words – giving a one-size-fits-all approach to reading and understanding of scripture.

The result is a false dichotomy of nature or God, which is far removed from the ways in which both scientists and theologians of 17th and 18th centuries viewed the world – they saw the discoveries of science as a revealing of the ways in which God worked in the world.
Darwin’s theory of evolution put God back into the world as an active participant, rather than the machine minder of Sir Isaac Newton, who was outside of his creation.
It was therefore no surprise that Christian scholars Charles Kingsley, Frederick Temple, Aubrey Moore and John Henry Newman in the UK, and Benjamin Warfield, James Orr and Asa Gray in USA welcomed Darwin’s ideas. In fact Darwin himself and also his keenest advocate, Thomas Henry Huxley, both left room for God in their assessment of the origin of the world.

We know that God faithfully and lovingly ordered creation, and declared it to be good.
Evolution is a process within the universe’s story. This story is not a chance process but is constrained by the physical (God-given) parameters of the universe’s beginnings and by its (God-given) laws. I believe that we should recognise the way in which God has brought the universe and life of planet earth into being, and praise God for his faithfulness, his creativity, and every aspect of his grace that we find in our lives in this world.

When we have reached this conclusion we can move on to our calling as disciples of Christ to be Gospel people sharing God’s desire for all human beings to know him, and through the Cross of Christ to be brought into an eternal relationship with the creator of the universe.

In a radio discussion last month about Darwin and evolution on BBC Wales’ “All things considered,” presenter Roy Jenkins asked me if I thought there were more important issues for attention by the church. I responded with my sadness at the amount of time and money that is being spent in this debate, especially by those groups that advocate ‘creationism’ and ‘intelligent design.’
We are living in a time when the world is in the grips two crises: an economic crisis and the crisis of global climate change. Both require drastic and immediate action, and both are having a disproportionately adverse affect on the poorest in our world. If we are to act out our Christian discipleship standing up for God’s priorities of justice and mercy we will need to give priority to allowing God’s redeeming love to flow through us and to change us, so that our lives will bring hope and life to those in greatest need.

Our priority is to focus on the important issues of life in Christ and life in all the fullness that God intended now, rather than arguments about how life on planet earth developed in past ages.

John Weaver.

'School trip' to Babylon and Byzantium

2009-03-02T16:56:00.005Z

A great day in London to see some very informative exhibitions. A huge thanks from all who made it to Simon for all his work organising it and shepherding us around on the day:

These are the days of the Prophets

2009-02-16T13:01:00.012Z

So much talk about the credit crunch / economic crisis has been taken up with statements of either 'We never saw it coming' or 'Why did no-one see it coming.' Last week it came to light that some of the insiders who did see it coming were not thanked for their prophecies of doom and were sacked for their trouble.

I've been ill for the last few days but the positive side effect that comes with that is being pretty much unable to do much except lie in bed and listen to the radio. (I did get up for the rugby!) So it was that I caught most of BBC radio 4 output on Saturday, including Any Questions / Any Answers. Listening to the comments on our economic crisis almost made me get up and email a response. Almost ... Instead 'Mr Angry from Cardiff' let it go ... but now that I am up and well I need to get it out of my system.

During 'Any Questions' the 'same old same old' about no-one could have predicted this came from the politicians who in turn pointed out (on the basis that the best defence is offence) that no-one in the Media had been running stories predicting the problems on TV or in Newspapers. So it seems that no-one could have possible known what was going to happen.

Well .... no. There have been voices in the Church and charities movement clearly criticising the growing culture of individual and corporate debt and prophetically anticipating the future as it has come to pass. Folks such as Kathy Galloway, leader of the Iona Community who six years ago this month gave the The Christian Socialist Movement John Wheatley Lecture, entitled the Spirituality of Economics http://ilrs.org/faith/wheatley2003.pdf Much of what she said there is still so relevant to the crisis of today ... not the financial one but the spiritual crisis that diseases our souls. Of course there have been many others, raising similar prophetic voices, Kathy's lecture just came to mind as one, and I am sure it gives her and others little pleasure to know that their uncomfortable message was been proven right

None of this is to encourage smug I told you so's

but it is to encourage the rest of us to listen again to the voices from the radical margins ... on economics, on ecology, on matters of violence and justice ... because these may well be the days that belong to the prophets.

A Positive Vision?

2009-02-11T11:19:00.000Z

This is worth reading...

In my darkness...

2009-02-09T17:33:00.010Z

Our theme at college this week is 'wilderness'. I think ASBOJesus' latest post is very appropriate and helpful:

All Things Considered: God and Darwin

2009-02-09T10:34:00.003Z

"As we mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, this week Roy Jenkins and a panel of guests explore whether there is any conflict between believing in God and believing in Darwinian evolution."
Special Guest: John Weaver
You can download the podcast here in case you missed it.

In search of true love

2009-02-09T10:23:00.002Z

John Weaver's BUGB Blog entry for Februay:

The staple diet for many popular magazines like OK and Hello are relationships: who is going out with whom or who has broken up with whom. Amongst the latest are Paul McCartney who is allegedly about to marry his girlfriend Nancy Shevell, and Chelsy Davy who has split up with Prince Harry.

Relationships play an important part in all our lives and our interest stems from our fundamental need for love – the desire to find someone with whom we can share our lives at the deepest and most intimate level. This is something that God intended for us, as we read in Genesis 2.

When God provided Adam with a partner, Eve, she is a “helper fit for” Adam, which in Hebrew has the meaning of one who provides what is lacking in the one needing help, one who is a counterpart, a companion, a complement, and matching Adam’s distinctiveness in creation. There is no sense of superiority or inferiority or subordination here. So here in this second story of creation we have the equality of the sexes; and we find that we need each other for our wholeness.

Scripture tells us that relationships are good. They are to be rejoiced in, and they are affirmed by God, and they find their context in commitment, which Genesis 2 presents as marriage.

Sadly today many relationships between men and women and also between communities and nations are marked by abuse, a lack of trust and a thirst for power and control. Loving relationships are sometimes marked more by fear than by fun; sexual fantasies and temptations get out of hand; and sexuality becomes the context for shame, guilt and destructive and abusive lives.

February brings a day that causes as much joy and heartache as any other day in the year – Valentine’s Day. My youngest grandchild is very fortunate as she was born on February 14^th. No teenage pain for her, not the ‘tragedy’ of no one loving her – she will be awash with cards on Valentine’s Day.

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. St. Valentine helped Christian martyrs and secretly married couples in defiance of an edict from Emperor Claudius II, who was worried that marriage led to a fall in the number of men joining the army. St. Valentine was condemned to death, beaten with clubs and had his head cut off on 14th February, 269AD. At that time it was the custom in Rome, to celebrate Lupercalia, a pagan feast, where amongst other ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men in a lottery.

Gradually, February 14^th became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. So a day to celebrate one Christian’s sacrificial love and discipleship has become a day of joy or heartbreak, a day to bask in popularity or to feel rejected. Far from a day of celebration, many dread its approach. In Wales you can suffer a ‘double whammy’ with the celebration three weeks earlier on 25^th January of St. Dwynwen’s day, the Welsh patron saint of friendship and love.

St. Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and when she was prevented from marrying her true love she devoted herself to God for the rest of her life. She founded a convent, where a well named after her became a place of pilgrimage. Visitors believed that the sacred fish that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be filled with love and happiness.

Valentine or St. Dwynwen cards express one kind of love that we feel for each other, but we will find greater happiness in expressing the love that their lives demonstrated.

‘Journey to Jerusalem’ – a Christian Aid pilgrimage

2009-02-08T08:51:00.003Z

From the Baptist Union of Great Britain:

During Lent we want to challenge you to go beyond hearing about the people in the Holy Land, and hear from them instead. Every day through Lent, a virtual pilgrimage will take you on an interactive journey. Using short videos, podcasts, photo galleries, prayers and stories it will bring the Holy Land alive. We will follow a route that takes in many of the locations mentioned as part of Jesus' journey towards Jerusalem. And along the way you will be able to find out more about issues, connect with other users, share your views and take part in actions that will help change lives. Our Christian Aid pilgrimage is supported by BUGB, and the Faith and Unity Department have been involved in preparing some of the material that will be used. To sign up go to: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved/lent/journey-to-jerusalem.aspx

Reluctant Fundamentalist

2009-01-30T10:47:00.007Z

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I've just finished reading Moshin Hamid's book The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
Anybody else read it?
I really loved the whole thing
but I want to make sure I understood the ending?

or at least talk about different interpretations

2009-01-28T20:17:00.003Z

One to watch out for...

Thanks to ASBO Jesus for this bit of genius.
http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/640/

Discussions on retreat....

2009-01-27T21:41:00.002Z

Here are 3 interesting questions raised at our last college retreat in my discussion group:
1) Does the absence of sin in heaven imply the absence of free will?
2) What do decisions look like at a molecular level; i.e. if all my decisions are ultimately reducible to chemical reactions at cell level, then where does my ability to make decisions reside?
3) If atoms from each living being are recycled when the living being dies, then what will our resurrected bodies be made of?
Answers please...

Paul on Women in Ministry

2009-01-27T18:33:00.003Z

The following is the script of part of a lecture on 1 Corinthians which I gave yesterday. Some of the students said it would be helpful to post it here to facilitate discussion on the subject. It's actually an extract from a longer piece, originally published in the Baptist Ministers' Journal.

1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Central to any debate about this passage is the conclusion reached concerning Paul’s use of the word ‘head’ in verse 3. In modern usage, ‘head’ implies a sense of authority, as is seen in the sentence: ‘He was promoted to become the head of the company.’ However, in Paul’s time ‘head’ did not automatically imply a sense of authority. Anatomically, people were not understood as thinking with their heads – rather, conscious and emotive thought were understood to originate in the breast or the stomach. The head was the place through which nourishment entered the body and from which speech flowed, and in this way it was frequently seen as the source or origin of life and relationship. Therefore the head was not seen as directing the body in the way in which we would understand it today, and we need to be careful not to impose our modern perspective upon Paul’s usage.
So, if it is unlikely that Paul was intending his use of ‘head’ to indicate a relationship of authority, what did he mean when he said that, ‘Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ’? Paul appears to have in mind the understanding of ‘head’ as source and origin, something which becomes clearer in verses 8 and 12 where he speaks twice more of man as the source of woman. Paul is obviously here drawing on the story of creation, where woman originated from man, just as Paul would see the Son originating from the Father, and all creation originating from the Son. Paul is putting forward here, not an argument for authority, but a series of three analogous relationships to try and explain to the Corinthian church that man and woman relate to each other as the head relates to the body, as the Father relates to the Son, and as the Son relates to humanity. His point is that just as humanity found its source in Christ, and Christ found his source in God, so woman finds her source in man, as is evidenced in the order of creation. Paul is not here suggesting an ordering based on dominating authority, with superior and subordinate. Rather, he is likening the relationship of man and woman, with that of Christ and humanity, and of God and Christ. The relationship between the Father and the Son functions, in Paul’s mind, as an image for the way in which Christ and humanity, and man and woman, relate to each other. This relationship is not one of subordination, but is rather a relationship of interdependence and unity.
Some have argued that there is an inherent subordination in the relationship between the Father and the Son, and that this provides a model for a relationship of subordination between man and woman. This is not a new argument, as discussions on the power relationships within the Trinity occupied the minds of many of the early church fathers. The orthodox position was that the Son and the Father are coequal, rather than superior and subordinate. Scriptural backing for this position can be found in a number of key texts, and John Chrysostom (Archbishop of Constantinople AD 398-404) used the word ‘heretic’ to describe those who would seek to understand ‘head’ in terms of authority, preferring instead to see headship as denoting origin and source. If, therefore, it is not appropriate to try and understand the Father-Son relationship in terms of a divinely ordained hierarchy, neither is it appropriate to extrapolate from this to see unequal submission as part of the natural order of male-female relationships.
The broader context of 11:3 is a passage which is primarily concerned with hairstyles and propriety in worship, and an obvious link can be seen between Paul’s discussion of head-coverings and hairstyles, and the relationship of ‘head’-ship that he has proposed between Christ, man, woman, and God. To understand Paul’s logic here, it is necessary to realise that Paul was writing to a specific situation, and was therefore using the arguments which he thought would best convince the intended recipients of his letter. His logic may seem convoluted to the modern reader, because we are reading his words in a context far removed from that of the original recipients. It is important to note that Paul refrains from giving instructions as to how women should dress, and neither does he argue that woman is subordinate to man. Rather, he draws supporting arguments from creation and nature to convince the Corinthian Christians that, for the sake of propriety, certain head-coverings were appropriate in worship and some were not. In Jewish custom, a woman’s head covering was indicative of her commitment to her husband, and in Roman culture, women would cover their heads for worship, whereas Greek women would not. Women’s hairstyles could also make both social and sexual statements, and in the cosmopolitan city of Corinth, where class conflict and sexual politics were rife, it is easy to see why Paul was concerned that this should not become a controversial issue in the church. However, as is clear from verse 16, Paul is not here seeking to make a grand theological point. Rather, he is concerned to avoid controversy and preserve propriety.
Overall, then, 1 Cor 11:2-16 does not lend itself to an understanding of male authority. It recognises that the male-female relationship parallels those between God and Christ, and between Christ and humanity, in terms of interdependence and unity. Paul is using this parallel to make an intensely pastoral point about propriety in public worship, and his intention in writing was not to deal with gender issues, but to provide pastoral instruction in a specific context. Paul’s priorities were love, unity and good witness, and whilst the freedom of Galatians 3:28 may be his ideal, this freedom didn’t mean that the believers were free to throw off all customs to the detriment of the church’s unity and public witness.

1 Corinthians 14:33b-36
This passage is problematic because, at first glance, Paul seems to contradict what he said in 1 Cor 11:4-5. In the earlier passage, Paul clearly expected that women would pray and prophesy in public worship, and his concern was that they should do so with propriety and decorum, whereas a superficial reading of 14:34 appears to say that women should be silent in church. The key to solving this is found in 14:35, where Paul says that if women desire to know anything, they should ask their husbands at home. Paul is actually only restricting women from the shameful public asking of questions.
One of the problems in the early church, and particularly the church in Corinth, was that of order and propriety in worship. In so many ways, the post-Pentecost community of Christian believers had broken down barriers of race, class and gender; but the danger of this freedom was that it ran the risk of breaking down into anarchy, which would seriously hinder the witness of the church. In the Corinthian cultural situation, women would traditionally have received little formal education, and would have been restricted in their access to temple worship. In the new Christian community, they suddenly found themselves, for the first time, being given liberation from these restrictions, and being allowed equal access with men to worship services. The problem seems to have been that they didn’t know how to handle that freedom appropriately.
It was common practise in worship to interrupt the speaker to ask a question of clarification, or to make a relevant point. Which was fine as long as the question was appropriate and useful. The problem was that the granting of equal participation in worship to uneducated women, could so easily have led to them disrupting services by continually asking inappropriate questions. So to avoid this and preserve propriety and order, Paul proposes both short-term and long-term solutions to the problem. The short term solution is that women should keep quiet in worship, and refrain from asking uneducated and disruptive questions. The long term solution is that women should receive education in the form of private tuition from their husbands. These solutions were actually more progressive than restrictive, as Paul is not doubting the abilities of women to learn, and he is opening the door for them to receive an education that would otherwise not be available to them. However, until that long term solution paid dividends, Paul was concerned to preserve dignity and propriety in public worship. This passage is a further example of Paul tempering the freedoms of Galatians 3:28 with a concern for love, unity, and good witness.

Conclusion
Paul says, when answering the question of whether Christians should eat food which has been offered to idols, ‘take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.’ Paul also says, when addressing the issue of freedom in Christ, ‘“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial.’ It seems that Paul, the idealistic champion of Christian freedom and equality in Galatians 3:28, is also something of a pragmatist. It’s as if he has caught this wonderful grand vision of the way it should be in the new Christian community, and then has to come back down to earth and start to think through the practical implications of the transition from law to grace. Hence Paul welcomes the freedom of women to minister in his churches, except where it is exercised in such a way as to compromise the church’s unity and public witness. Of his own ministry, Paul says, ‘though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them… I have become all things to all people, so that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel.’ It seems that he expects no less of those in his congregations.
The passages where Paul asks women to set aside their freedom in Christ for the sake of the unity and witness of the church remain a challenge to the contemporary Christian. In Western culture it is no longer harmful to the proclamation of the gospel for women to minister in church; in fact the converse is probably true. Those who persist in seeking to restrict the ministry of women actually alienate the church from the culture to which it is called to minister, in much the same way as allowing women to minister in Ephesus would have done two thousand years ago.
The challenge from these passages to the contemporary church is this: What freedoms are ours in Christ, which we are being called to set aside for the sake of the gospel? What about our freedom to invest our money wherever we choose, without regard for the ethical practises of our financial institutions? What about our freedom to drive our cars and consume irreplaceable natural resources? What about our freedom to buy our goods at the cheapest price, regardless of the human cost of their production? What about our freedom to remain a predominantly middle-class church? These, and many more, are freedoms with implications for the public witness of the church. In this way, I believe Paul’s approach to Christian freedom is one which can helpfully challenge the contemporary church.
To return to the issue of women in ministry, I would like to close with a quote from Paul Fiddes:
As long as there is no equality of opportunity, social stereotypes will block the path to finding the real distinctiveness between male and female that reflects the distinction in unity within God.
As long as our dominant models of ministry remain informed by predominantly male patterns of pastoral leadership, we will continue to be denied the true richness of ministry that is potentially ours in Christ; even those women who are called to the office of pastoral ministry will face the expectation that they have to become, in some sense, ‘honorary men’ in order to fulfil their calling. If the Christian community could truly grasp Paul’s radical vision for gender equality, women would be called to ministry as women, and free to minister as women. It is tragically true that nearly two thousand years after Paul wrote Galatians 3:28, the Christian church still retains divisions based on race, class and gender. It is equally tragic when the public witness of the church is compromised because the prevailing culture has a clearer grasp on human equality, than does the community of Christ’s people. The time has now come for the church to adopt wholeheartedly what it has always known; that both women and men are called and gifted by God for the task of ministry in the church of Christ.

Crystals versus Christ

2009-01-27T15:40:00.006Z

An interesting BBC News 'Magazine' article plublished today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7853494.stm

Sabbatical Reflections from Karen Smith

2009-01-13T15:53:00.002Z

I am coming to the end of my sabbatical and found myself thinking about a wonderful picture I saw in an exhibition in Louisville, Kentucky about 23 years ago. The image has never left me and from time to time I find myself thinking about it again. The picture, by Thomas Faed (1826-1900) speaks to me of the compassion and care of God. In my own meditation on the painting yesterday, the words of the song ‘Bring Many Names’ by Brian Wren came to mind (see below).This morning, in our Issues of Faith Group in Orchard Place, we used the picture, and the words of the song and Luke 15.11-32 as the focal point our discussion. I thought others might find it helpful, too. (And no, I do not feel worn out!)

Worn Out
Thomas Faed - R.A. ARCA. HRSA. (British) 1826-1900

Bring many names, beautiful and good,
celebrate, in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God.
Hail and hosanna! Bring many names!

Strong mother God, working night and day,
planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play:
Hail and hosanna, strong mother God!

Warm father God, hugging every child,
feeling all the strains of human living,
caring and forgiving till we're reconciled:
Hail and hosanna, warm father God!

Old, aching God, grey with endless care,
calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of good surprises, wiser than despair:
Hail and hosanna, old aching God!

Young, growing God, eager, on the move,
saying no to falsehood and unkindness,
crying out for justice, giving all you have:
Hail and hosanna, young, growing God!

Great, living God, never fully known,
joyful darkness far beyond our seeing,
closer yet than breathing, everlasting home:
Hail and hosanna, great, living God!

Words: Brian Wren
Words © 1989, revised 1994 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
For permission to reproduce this hymn, contact:
In US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand: Hope Publishing Company, www.hopepublishing.com
Rest of the World: Stainer & Bell Ltd., www.stainer.co.uk
Music: Westchase, Waterdown
Meter: 9 10 11 9

Engaging Contemporary Culture

2009-01-02T11:38:00.001Z

The forthcoming course 'Engaging with Contemporary Culture', starting on Weds 21st Jan, will be of interest to anyone wanting to explore the relationship between Christianity and the prevailing culture in which we find ourselves. It is open to all, and will be both challenging and inspiring for those who want to take their discipleship in mission seriously.

This module will explore the main features of contemporary culture, focussing particularly on the complex relationship that exists between faith and culture. It will look at varying attitudes towards, and understandings of, different faith communities; together with suggestions as to ways in which the Christian church might engage with modern culture.

Course Tutors: Roy Kearsley and Simon Woodman of South Wales Baptist College
Date: 21st Jan, 7.30-9.30pm for 10 weeks
Fee: £68.50 (Reduced £55.00)
Venue: City URC, Windsor Place, Cardiff
Contact: Simon Woodman sw@swbc.org.uk 029 2025 6066

This 10 week course will enable participants:

To explore the main features of contemporary culture, and the complex relationship between faith and culture.
To explore possible attitudes towards, and understandings of, other faith communities.
To explore ways in which the Christian church can/is engaging with modern culture, and to identify potential problems with this engagement

Drawing on the experience of the participants, this course will examine the main features of contemporary culture. It will look at new ways of being church that respond to the cultural changes in our society, and will consider the basis for Church engagement with contemporary culture.
The significance of issues such as the nature of truth, the importance of story, and attitudes towards the environment/creation will be examined. Particular attention will also be given to the implications of living in a pluralist society.

Radio 4 Sunday Worship

2008-12-21T13:10:00.003Z

This morning's Sunday Worship on Radio 4 will be of interest to South Wales Baptists...

Good Tidings to Zion

From Albany Road Baptist Church in Cardiff, featuring Cambrensis and the St David's Praise Choir. The service is led by Jeanette Minns and the preacher is Rev Dr John Weaver, president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Musical director: Kelvin Thomas. Organist: Jonathan Davies.

You can listen again here.

"Cardiff Bible College"???

2008-12-01T08:43:00.004Z

ASBO Jesus on top form as ever!

2008-11-28T15:27:00.005Z

I am beginning to feel like an old grumbler on this blog ( must do something positive next time) but surely, even if Hazel Southam couldn't get the basics right, someone at the Baptist Times would know that her report on this week's EA / Tearfund Climate Conference at Calvary is wrong to name John Weaver as the Principal of Cardiff Bible College ... (no such place even exists to my knowledge) when as we all know South Wales Baptist College is alive and kicking!

See it's even written above the door!

I promise to return a cheerier chap

2008-11-21T09:11:00.000Z

don't wish to be accused of being an unseasonable grouch, but in a week where Archbishop John Sentamu did a Radio 2 'Thought for the Day' on the angel visiting Mary with words of 'Do not fear', I also received my first Christmas card (from another notable Anglican).
What's going on ... It's still the middle of November!

We are still well over a week away from Advent, they must have been a fortnight away when the scripts and cards were written. The Anglicans are supposed to be the ones who understand the Church's Year, but it seems even they are being pulled further into the premature culture that see mince pies and charity cards in the shops long before All Hallows Eve.

Why are we in such a rush to get to Christmas and then in so desperate to leaver it all behind again just a few days later. It's not a day .... its a season ... and we are nowhere near it yet.

There is, says the Bible, a time and season for everything, maybe we Baptist's out there could start a movement to reclaim the proper time and season of Christmas.

I guess this means I can still be accused of being a grouch but at least I'm not not an unseasonable one! The church in its wisdom has allowed four weeks of preparation for Christmas ...
surely that should be enough.

Unless of course God is coming early this year and only the Anglicans know about it.

John Weaver's latest article for the Baptist Times

2008-11-20T13:44:00.001Z

Reflection on Romans 8:18-25

Our God is both the transcendent creator and the ever present sustainer of the whole universe. God has created and is creating (Genesis 1:1-2:3), and he declared that the whole created world was good (Genesis 1:31).

We understand from the Bible that human beings are created in the image of God, sharing God’s creativity and God’s care of the planet (Genesis 2:15). But things didn’t work out too well, selfishness and wanting to play God got in the way, and still does. The result is that God had to redeem human beings and the planet. God has done this in Christ and redeemed human beings are called to be channels of God’s redeeming love for all creation (Romans 8:19-21).

It is in Christ that creation is redeemed. Our involvement and call to stewardship implies caring management, not selfish exploitation; it involves a concern for the present and the future as well as self.

Stewardship is not only a matter of how wealth is distributed, but also how it is acquired. Wealth is acquired from the finite resources of the planet, so stewardship must be concerned with issues of ecological and political exploitation; respecting the integrity of creation.

The world is set to face a global eco-crisis within the next 50 years as a result of human activity.

The path to follow is neither too difficult nor too costly, but does require a change of life-style. The demand of consumers can have far-reaching effects. It is a matter of what we want and are prepared to pay in both costs and consequences. John Houghton believes that the practical problems of stewardship of the earth are beset by problems of human selfishness and greed which lead to overexploitation of the earth’s resources, and by human impotence – we know what to do, but lack the will to do it. This is a spiritual problem, and this task is not ours alone – God partners us.

When we speak of stewardship we need to understand this in terms of God working through us, rather than of God as an absentee landlord. Stewardship can be understood in terms of:

to be in the image of God
to become children of God
to be in Christ

We have a contribution to make. God created and entrusted the earth, and will redeem the whole of creation (Rom.8:19-22). We learn to think and act ecologically. There is a need to be re-awakened to the Gospel ethic, and recognise that human greed is at the root of the environmental crisis. Understanding and perceiving the situation and moving to a change of heart or mind is repentance. There are steps that we should take in sustainable consumption, which involves ethical choices in our buying and lifestyle. We will need to recognise our ecological footprints on the earth – our impact on our local and global environment. We can take environmental audits of our church and community, and establish eco-congregations.

For western Christians there is a need to develop a global perspective that recognises the impact of their lifestyle choices, and their economic, trade and industrial decisions on the rest of humanity. In accepting their relationship with the developing world, western Christians must actively seek to address the issues of justice and poverty, which are an integral part of global environmental concerns.

The call of Christ is expressed as “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34)

This is a different sort of life, a Christ-like life, a life that is evn Cristw|. It is to deny self – move away from a selfish materialistic life style; take up the cross-shaped life of sacrificial love – sharing God’s good gifts of creation with all; and follow Jesus – in his compassion for others and for the world. The call is to join in Christ’s redemptive mission.

So to be co-redeemers – for Christ’s redeeming love to flow through us, in the power of the Spirit we must:

Deny self: live more simply, use less of the world’s resources; treat the created order with care.

Take up the cross: live sacrificially for the sake of others; give up our greed; sacrifice our wants

Follow Jesus: see the created world as an expression of God’s order and love; see everyone as equally valued by God; take special care of the poor and the outcast; and love our neighbour as ourselves.

Let the Bible be itself

2008-11-05T17:34:00.001Z

The following lecture would be well worth attending.

University of Glamorgan Chaplaincy Lecture 2008 - 'Let the Bible be itself'
November 24, 2008 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Chaplaincy Centre

The guest lecturer is the Rev. Ray Vincent, Baptist minister, member of the Chaplaincy team and author.
This lecture will be based on Ray's newly published book and will address the origin and nature of the Bible, its relationship with the Christian faith, and some of the ways in which it is interpreted and used. It will propose a realistic, critical and appreciative approach to reading it
Ray says, 'people often use their Scriptures as instruments of conservatism and conformity rather than as sources of inspiration to think new thoughts and face new issues'.
Refreshments will be served.
RSVP: The Chaplaincy, 20 Llantwit Road, Treforest, CF37 1DL chaplaincy@glam.ac.uk 01443 654060

Remember, remember!

2008-11-05T09:30:00.005Z

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot

November is a month for remembering, but it is not always helpful to remember. Remembering divisions in the Christian Church and burning effigies of the Pope or Guy Fawkes on a bonfire, and setting off Catherine wheels, a form of torture used in the martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria some 1500 years ago, is not a good idea.

At the end of the month our North American cousins will celebrate something far more positive, Thanksgiving, which commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people at Plymouth in 1621. The fourth Thursday in the month of November is marked for this annual celebration. On Thanksgiving Day people express their gratitude to God for his blessings and give thanks to their family for their love and support. It is a day of communal celebration marked as a sense of the gratitude people feel for all the good things in life. This is done by offering prayers and giving gifts to your friends and family.

Yet for many of us it is the time of remembering in the middle of the month that is of most significance, Remembrance Day. This year we celebrate 90 years of remembering. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns of Europe fell silent. After four years of the most bitter and devastating fighting, the Great War was finally over. The Armistice was signed at 5am in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, France on November 11, 1918. Six hours later, at 11am, the war ended.

The first Remembrance Day was conducted in 1919 throughout Britain and the Commonwealth. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of hostilities the previous year. It came to symbolise the end of the war and provided an opportunity to remember those who had died. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 Armistice Day became Remembrance Day to include all those who had fallen in the two World Wars and later conflicts. Millions of young men and women lost their lives in the First World War, 863 of them on the very last day. Millions more died in the Second World War.

The second Sunday of November is Remembrance Sunday. At 11am a two minute silence is observed at war memorials, cenotaphs, religious services and shopping centres throughout the country. The Royal Family, along with leading politicians and religious leaders (including the President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain) gather at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London for a service and all branches of the civilian and military services are represented in ceremonies throughout Britain and the Commonwealth.
In recent years there has been a return to the practice of celebrating the two minute silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of November, with shops and offices pausing in the midst of their busy day to remember.

At a time when soldiers and citizens continue to die in various wars including Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important to stop, reflect, give thanks for lives lost in the search for peace, and pray for peace, trust and reconciliation between peoples and nations. It is also an opportunity to think about the meaning of life, death, and life beyond death. There are the familiar repeated words of remembrance:

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

And there are the words of the Apostle Paul:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

John Weaver, October 2008

Principal at the Cenotaph

2008-11-05T09:22:00.005Z

On Remembrance Sunday John Weaver, Principal of South Wales Baptist College and President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, will be representing British Baptists at the remembrance service at the Cenotaph in London.
Tune in on the BBC and see if you can spot him!

Church Times, 31 October 2008, p.18

2008-11-04T15:00:00.002Z

What the Spirit is still saying
Here are two very different ways of reading the Bible, says Michael Perry
David Pawson, the veteran Baptist preacher, says: “I would feel terribly insecure if my religion was not founded on something or someone infallible because I would never know whether I was right or wrong in my faith.”
But have no fear: the Revelation of St John, on which he provides a running commentary, and which, he assures us, comes directly from Jesus, “is there to tell us accurately what future history will be like… Every single thing that this book says will happen will certainly happen” (and probably within the next 30 years).
Some of it, of course, is symbolic; but Pawson takes its basic thrust literally – including the 1260 days of the final tribulation, the 3944 million cubic miles of the New Jerusalem, and the precise site of Armageddon. We should love god, provided we fear him first; because the anger of Jesus, like the vengeance of God, will come to judge all those who reject the message and to bring them eternal punishment. Activities like inter-faith dialogue, or support for a world government, sail dangerously close to the wind.
If this is not your way of reading the book of Revelation, you may be happier with Simon Woodman – another Baptist, but with a very different agenda.
Woodman writes with second-year undergraduates in mind, but his book will appeal to a far wider clientèle. He gives us no verse-by-verse commentary, but a series of essays looking at the overall impact of John’s exuberantly kaleidoscopic metaphorical vision.
John wished to encourage the Church of his own day – small, apparently insignificant little house churches, beleaguered and seemingly powerless. He showed them what they really looked like – from a heavenly perspective, in which they were vital participants in a cosmic drama.
Woodman expounds the book’s structure, its dramatis personae, its imagery, and its message – which is not simply for the Church of the last days, but for Churches of any age. Those who persevere through hardships and persecutions will eventually enjoy the future that God has planned.
There will be bloodbaths and natural catastrophes on the way, but they are not vindictive punishments. Satanic evil holds the seeds of its own self-destruction, which will be the natural outworking of a system in which the mindless luxuries of the few are provided by the repression, poverty, and hunger of the many.
Rome feasted on titbits while its provinces starved. So we do any better, nowadays, for the Third World?
Canon Perry is a former Archdeacon of Durham.

“Throwing the baby out with the font-water”?

2008-10-21T16:07:00.002+01:00

This week we'll be having a conversation in College about a Baptist Theology of Children’s ministry

Here are some questions we'll be asking

• What Gospel message should we tell children?
• Should we seek to convert children?
• What should we tell them about sin?
• How do we understand ‘belonging’ in a Baptist Context?
• In what way do children ‘belong’ to the church?
• Should children take communion?
• Is there a minimum age for baptism?
• Is there a difference between the standing of children with Christian and non-Christian parents?
• How does your theology of children relate to your belief about God?

• How would you tell the story of the feeding of the 5,000 to various age groups?
• How do you present the gospel in a school as opposed to a church?
• Can you think of some examples of appropriate and inappropriate teaching with children in the church?
• What do you intend children to hear, and what do you think they actually hear?

Further Reading:
Fiddes, Paul S. Tracks and Traces: Baptist Identity in Church and Theology. Vol. 13, Studies in Baptist History and Thought. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2003. pp. 131-9, 151-2, 183-5
Wright, Nigel G. Free Church, Free State - the Positive Baptist Vision. Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2005. pp. 138-158

Four men and a bridge in the dark

2008-10-08T08:13:00.005+01:00

Here's a puzzle which kept our pastoral group happy for a few hours last week...

When you've got it - don't post the answer. Just comment in a smug way that you worked it out!

Four people have to cross this bridge at night.
There cannot be more than two people on the bridge at any one time.
It is too dangerous to be on the bridge without a torch, but there is only one torch, so two people crossing together will move at the speed of the slowest walker, and one must then bring the torch back.
The four people walk at different speeds - taking 10, 5, 2 and 1 minutes to cross the bridge.
How do they all get across in 17 minutes?

Anger

2008-10-06T09:26:00.003+01:00

This week the College will be welcoming Revd Dr Craig Gardiner to preach on the theme of 'Anger' at our Wednesday service. In preparation, Craig has asked the College community to think about three questions:

1. What makes you angry?
2. What does society think makes the church angry?
3. What do we think makes God angry?

We will be talking about these with Craig on Weds - but if anyone wants to have a preliminary discussion here, feel free...

FWIW, here's my initial thoughts:
1. I get angry at so many things, I'm afraid. I'm angry that there are people living in starvation and poverty while I struggle to keep my weight down, and I'm angry that I don't do enough about either of these! I'm angry that the church so often seems to think the gospel is about good news for the saved, not good news for the whole world. I'm angry that we obsess about personal morality while failing to condemn systemic and corporate immorality. I could go on and on ranting, but I'll stop before I turn into Mr. Angry.
2. This is a harder one for me - as I'm such an 'insider' that it can be difficult for me to see the church as those beyond the boundary we put around ourselves see us. But I fear we are often perceived as a collectively angry group who rage against 'sin', while hypocritically implying our own sinlessness. I hope that the fair trade, trade justice, and environmental movements have led to society grasping our anger at injustice and the abuse of creation.
3. What makes God angry? I'll go out on a limb here and put in just one word: Idolatry. Make of that what you will...

Lord Mayor of The City & County of Cardiff

2008-10-05T08:47:00.002+01:00

Councillor Kate Lloyd MBE, JP, one of the members of Ararat Baptist Church, Whitchurch, is currently the Lord Mayor of Cardiff. I have the privilege of moderating Ararat during their current pastoral vacancy, so this morning, along with many city dignitaries, I will be joining the congregation at Ararat for Kate's 'Civic Service'. It is a significant moment in the life of the city to have a committed Baptist in such a senior political position, and I'm sure Kate would value the prayers and support of all those who care about Cardiff.

Evening Course - Introduction to the New Testament

2008-09-29T08:51:00.001+01:00

The evening course - 'Introduction to the New Testament' started last week - but due to an administrative error it was very poorly publicised and only a (select) handful turned up.
It is still not too late to start coming to this course which runs on Weds evenings 7.30-9.30pm at City URC, Windsor Place, Cardiff.
The course is suitable for ordinary church members who are interested in taking their knowledge of the New Testament a bit deeper, and in getting some insight into the context and interpretations of the various books of the NT.
The group are a friendly, non-intimidating bunch, and it is an ideal opportunity to make a start on some further study.
If you - or anyone you know - would benefit from this course, IT'S NOT TOO LATE to start the course.
Please contact Simon Woodman at SWBC for details - or just turn up on Weds this week at about 7.15 to register.

Happy New Year

2008-09-29T08:41:00.002+01:00

The new academic year starts today. So a big welcome to all students - either new or continuing.
When I went off to University to study Biblical Studies, an old (in both senses of the word) friend, Leonard Lane (the Baptist minister who dedicated me as a baby, kept a close eye on me in my teens, and only died after fulfilling his promise to participate in my ordination) invited me round for a meal and some advice.
His advice was this:

'Faith is a relationship, not a theology'

Wise words from a wise man.

Ministerial Recognition and Ministry in the 21st Century

2008-09-23T22:05:00.002+01:00

We held a Ministerial Recognition Committee today to interview some ministers who have completed their first years in ministry and are now able to become fully accredited and also some candidates for ministerial training. They were asked to do a six minute presentation on 'Ministry in the 21st Century'. A tall order in six minutes! Sitting here this evening I wonder what would I have said? Fortunately I was interviewing rather than being interviewed but I guess it would have been along the lines of: Post Christendom World, Pulling down the sacred/secular divide, enabling God's people to be his people in his world (being 'Missionary Disciples' to use the great corporate slogan). I would be keen to emphasise the reproducing aspect of discipleship and making room for 'not yet christians' to belong before they believe before they behave. But I bet I wouldn't have been able to keep it to six minutes!

Current SWBC Students

2008-09-23T10:03:00.003+01:00

Year One
Louise Polhill - Open Option - BA - Full-Time
Ian Hughes - Ministerial BUW - BTh - Part-Time Church-Based
Lewis Fry - Ministerial BUGB - MTh - Part-Time Church-Based
Michael Martin - Ministerial BUW - BTh - Full-Time
James Mulenga - Accredited Youth Specialist - Graduate Diploma Part-Time
Peter Everitt - Open Option - BTh - Full-Time
Ian Thomas - Open Option - BTh - Part-Time Church-Based

Year Two
Robyn Steele - PostGraduate - Full-Time
Steve Dyer - Ministerial BUGB - BTh - Full-Time
Simon Jennings - Ministerial BUGB - BTh - Full-Time Church Based
Rosa Hunt - Ministerial BUGB - BA - Full-Time
Anne Roberts - Ministerial BUW - BTh - Part-Time Church Based
Debbie Marshall - Open Option - Graduate Diploma - Part-time

Year Three
Jason Wilkins - Open Option - BTh - Full-Time
Ian O'Herlihy - Open Option - BTh - Full-Time
Lee Presley - Ministerial BUGB - BTh - Part-Time
Rhiannon Francis - Ministerial BUGB - BTh - Part-Time Church Based

Year Four
David Gwatkin - Open Option - BTh - Part-Time

Year Five
Ben Dare - PostGraduate - Full-Time
Helen Dare - PostGraduate - Full Time

Books by SWBC Staff

2008-09-09T11:53:00.001+01:00

Kearsley, R.
2008 Church, Community and Power, Aldershot: Ashgate.
1999 Tertullian's Theology of Divine Power, Carlisle: Paternoster.

Smith, K. E.
2007 Christian Spirituality, London: SCM Press Ltd.

Weaver, J.
2007 Outside - in: Theological Reflections on Life, Oxford: Smyth & Helwys.
1999 Earthshaping Earthkeeping - A Doctrine of Creation, London: SPCK Lynx.
1994 In the Beginning God: Modern Science and the Christian Doctrine of Creation, Oxford: Smyth & Helwys.

Woodman, S.
2008 The Book of Revelation, London: SCM Press Ltd.

Welcome to the South Wales Baptists Blog

2008-09-09T09:42:00.001+01:00

On this blog, you will find thoughts, news, and updates of interest to Baptists in South Wales. Contributors include South Wales Baptist College, the South Wales Baptist Association, and the Baptist Union of Wales.