Vicar’s September Update
To see the latest email update, listing lots of things that are going on this Autumn, click here.
What is church?
Ask most people in the street “What is a church?” and they’ll probably point to the nearest tall building with a spire.
That’s what most people think church means: an imposing building to which they come for happy events like weddings and baptisms, and sad ones like funerals. They may even come into it weekly for to meet with Christians and to worship Jesus. But for most people church is the imposing building.
Of course the building doesn’t have to be imposing. I once visited a church that met in a converted supermarket. Another time I visited one that met in a coffee shop. They ran the coffee shop Monday to Saturday and moved the tables out of the way for Sunday. Sadly, they still charged for coffee. But these sorts of buildings tend to be the exception rather than the rule in the West, so for most people the word “church” conjures up something imposing, thick stone walls, high ceilings, a steeple to draw your eyes heavenwards.
But in the Bible, the word church is totally different. The Greek word that gets translated as church today is ekklesia ( ‘a gathering’) and in the Bible it has three different meanings, none of which were a physical building (the early church had no buildings –persecuted people don’t have time to build imposing buildings).
- The first meaning of ekklesia is never translated as church, because it is a gathering of citizens. In Greek and Roman culture – being a citizen wasn’t an automatic right, so the word has a sense of separateness about it; for example, although most people living in a Greek or Roman city were citizens, some residents, for example, slaves and foreigners were excluded. You can see an example of this sort of ekklesia in the Bible in Acts chapter 19, when the citizens of Ephesus call an ekklesia in the amphitheatre to decide what to do about the annoying Christians who are living in their city, and it nearly leads to a riot.
- The second meaning of ekklesia is what the theologians call the “local church” or congregation. This is a gathering of Christians in a location, usually meeting in someone’s home. And again it has a sense of separateness about it: based around whether you were a citizen of the Kingdom of God or not. It amuses me to think that as the citizens of Ephesus met in their ekklesia to work out how to deal with the annoying Christians, the annoying Christians were probably gathered as a congregation (ekklesia) to pray and to seek God’s guidance as to how to respond (in the end the disciples prevented St Paul from going to the amphitheatre in case the crowds killed him!)
- The third meaning of ekklesia is what the theologians call the “church universal”. This is the gathering that all Christians everywhere in the world and throughout history look forward to: the time when all those who have trusted in the risen Jesus for salvation are gathered around him in heaven. That’s the way St Paul uses it in Ephesians 1:22,
God placed all things under [Jesus’s] feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.”
And those are the only three ways the Bible uses the word church: in other words, in the Bible, church is never about the building, and it’s always about people. But if that’s the case, how did the word church come to be associated with imposing buildings? It’s time to blame the Germans! The English word “church” comes from the German word kirche which finds its origins in the third century Greek phrase kuriakon doma (house of the Lord). Quite how and when this German meaning crept into English is unclear, but it’s similarity to an ancient Anglo-Saxon word circe meaning circle (usually a stone circle for Sun Worship) would put it as far back as the fifth century.
So “church” is a Germanic building, and also the Bible’s way of describing local and universal gatherings of Christians. But just to complicate things, there’s yet another meaning – which we don’t find in the Bible but we do find in culture: what we call The Church Visible. This is more about the institution of church, and encompasses both local gatherings (ekklesia) and their buildings (kirche) But it’s also the legal and institutional framework that holds all this together. And it even includes people who may well not even be followers of Jesus Christ– the Church of England does try its best to be an equal opportunities employer!
As you might have guessed The Church Visible necessitates that there is also a Church Invisible, but thankfully that’s really just another term for the Church Universal.
So what is church? Well clearly it’s far far more than a building! Personally I like the definition my wife is fond of, “The church is what’s left after the building burns down.” In other words, it’s all about people and God.
To find out more about the ekklesia meeting in a kirche near you visit www.hopechurchfamily.org/gatherings!
Why gratitude is good for you!
One night in July last year I was woken by a loud low buzzing as something large and striped landed on my ear. Instinctively I swatted it away, reached for the light, and discovered I had a rather large hornet buzzing around the room.
Now July is the month the tabloids start running Asian Hornet scare-stories. Apparently, if just one Asian hornet queen manages to breed in the UK, our indigenous wasps and Hornets will be destroyed, our orchards devastated, and ultimately the government will fall, or something like that. And so determined to do my bit for Queen and Country, I resolved to vanquish this invader, until I remembered that not everything you read in the tabloids is true, put down the fly swatter and picked up a glass and postcard instead.
After a few slightly scary minutes of “catch the hornet”, the disturber of my peace turned out to be a rather large, but indigenous, European Hornet. And then because it was getting pretty angry at being confined, I took it outside and released it! Sorry if it flew into your house instead.
Now inevitably there’s a sting to this tale! But it isn’t about our attitude to immigration and foreign invaders, it’s about gratitude! You see, as I drifted back off to sleep I had a rather odd thought: what did hornet think when I released it? Was it grateful I didn’t kill it or were its thoughts so wrapped up in itself that all it could think was, ‘Didn’t I do well to escape there’?
Now in the cold light of day, I don’t suppose the hornet thought either of those things – but the mind does strange things at two o’clock in the morning – and mine started thinking about some of the times when I’ve thought “Didn’t I do well there?” When really I should have been saying thank-you to all the people who helped – and most especially saying thank-you to the God who makes all things possible and who loves to bless and heal and free his people.
One of the books in the Bible is a songbook largely written by an Israelite king called David. Here’s how one of his songs begins, “I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” (Psalm 9:1) Singing that song was David’s way of helping his mind move from being all wrapped up in itself, to a position of gratitude.
And the reason David wanted to do that is he instinctively knew what the psychologists will tell you: that being grateful is good for you! According to the scientists, grateful people have more friends, are healthier, happier, less prone to being angry, feel better about themselves, and are stronger and more resilient in the face of hardship. They even sleep better (except when disturbed by a hornet).
Gratitude is good for us! We shouldn’t say “If only life were better, I’d be grateful” instead we need to learn that being grateful makes life better. The more grateful we are, the better life will be. And that’s why gratitude is good for us.
May you enjoy the rest of our summer – and give thanks for all the good things in it. Even Hornets!
First published in the Bridge Magazine, August 2019
Introducing our New Administrator
We’re delighted to announce that Clare Bell has joined us to work as our new Benefice Administrator.
Based in the church office in Upton Parish Church, Clare will be the beating heart behind all our administrative work across our churches (except Welland) and will be responsible for making the clergy look slick and organised. Best of luck Clare!
Clare has some great relevant experience, some family who are clergy, and a mum who runs a church office in Dorset, to fall back on for advice!
If you need to contact her, you can reach her on the parish office number (01684 591241,admin@hopechurchfamily.org) from 27 August.
Her normal office hours (until Christmas) will be: Monday 1-3pm, Tuesday, Thu, Fri, 9am-1pm.
Diocese of Worcester faces financial difficulties
The Diocese of Worcester’s spent around £1 million more than it received in income during 2018, and is heading for a similar deficit in 2019, a situation which cannot be sustained using reserves for more than another year or two.
Earlier this summer the Bishop of Worcester wrote to all clergy explaining what his team are planning to do to resolve the problem. Further information was revealed at the Diocesan Synod in July.
The gist of the plan is a series of changes across the diocese which should result in a saving of around £1.67 million over the next three to five years, with savings coming from two main areas:
- The number of clergy in the diocese (currently 163 spread across 190 parishes) will be reduced by up to 15 full-time posts.
- Cost cutting in the diocesan bureaucracy in Worcester. This cost-cutting will trim something like £550,000 from the diocesan budget through a combination of:
- Budget savings (£127,500) in our spend on everything from our support to church schools, to diocesan training courses, mobile phones and closing the Old Palace’s loss-making cafe (which currently loses around £10,000 a year);
- Redundancies at the diocesan office (£181,000) – the equivalent of 5.3 full-time posts; and
- Moving the diocesan office out of the Old Palace in the centre of Worcester into some less impressive, and less expensive, offices elsewhere in the diocese. Due to the rent plus repairs deal the diocese currently has with the Cathedral (the owners of the Old Palace) this is expect to save some £160,000 per year. It will however create a considerable problem for the cathedral , which will have to come up with a plan for what to do with the Old Palace. Many consider it would make a fine boutique hotel: the magnificent view over the river and of Worcester’s Cricket Ground would certainly be popular with cricket fans!
Inevitably moving the diocesan offices out of the Old Palace will be a controversial decision. The Old Palace is a beautiful grade 1 listed building, and has been in religious use since the 12th century. However while acknowledging that many people feel a strong sentimental attachment to the building, the Bishop’s Council feel it is hard to justify cutting the number of vicars even further to maintain an office building where only 22% of the floor space is actually useable for office accommodation.
In addition to cost savings, the diocese has committed to reviewing the Parish Share system. Parish Share is the contribution each parish makes to the cost of its clergy. A lot of people imagine that the Church of England gets money from the government, however this is not the case. In fact the cost of clergy, all of our church buildings and local administration, as well as the cost of things like the Old Palace, comes from individual parishioners giving to their local churches. To put that in its local context, the eight churches and five parishes for which I’m responsible contributed some £68,000 to the Diocese of Worcester in 2018, which is roughly equivalent to the cost of one clergy post (the salary itself is only just over £26,000, the rest covers the cost of national insurance, housing, pension, initial and ongoing training and central costs). It is hoped that by reviewing how Parish Share costs are allocated between parishes, a better way forward can be found for 2021.
The Bishop of Worcester has asked for all who are associated with our churches to be made aware of the challenges ahead, and how the diocese is planning to address this. He asks us to go on being generous in our giving – and to give more to our local church if we can. In particular, he asks us to pray for those who will be made redundant as a result of this situation.
Barry Unwin 14 July 2019
Bishop Confirms Five at Upton Parish Church
On 23 June we were delighted to welcome Bishop Anthony Priddis, former Bishop of Hereford to Upton Parish Church for a confirmation service.
Being confirmed that day were five candidates from Upton, along with two candidates from elsewhere in the Diocese.
In a video shown during the service, the candidates spoke movingly about their faith journeys and of what Jesus meant to them. And afterwards Bishop Anthony enjoyed meeting all the candidates over a special meal of lasagne and cake!
The candidates from Upton were Lois Unwin, Martin Joliffe, Georgia and Katrina Raynor-Smith and Victoria Taylor. All of them are involved in our Deep End youth group, which has been a great chance for our younger people to explore the Christian Faith in greater depth, whilst also having loads of fun, sweets, and occasionally getting to wear a very odd mask!
The Deep End term ended last week with a fabulous trip to the Aztec Aquaventure at Upton Warren, but will be back in September. For more details of the Deep End, click here.
Parish Office Summer Closure
On 8 July our administrator Helen Inman departed, and while we’re recruiting her successor the office won’t be operating as normal.
- Please direct any enquiries about a funeral to Carol Hutchings (carol.hutchings1@btinternet.com, 01684 310920).
- Enquiries about baptism or a wedding should be directed to the vicar.
We hope to have a new administrator in post by mid-August, and to have the office open for normal hours very soon after.
Barry Unwin
Birmingham Community Gospel Choir to play Upton Church!
On Sunday July 20th, as part of a special Blues Festival Service, The Birmingham Community Gospel Choir will be performing at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Upton.
Founded in 2005, the choir won the BBC Songs of Praise Gospel Choir of the Year award in 2015, have appeared on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Songs of Praise, The One Show and most recently in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.
Bringing together singers of all ages and background from across the Birmingham area, and lead by experienced singer and song-writer Maxine Brooks, we can expect a fun and fabulous morning of joyous gospel music.
The event begins at 10:30am, but get there early to make sure you get a seat, and like all events at the Blues Festival, entry is completely free.
10:30am, Sunday July 20th, St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Upton.
Think you can help get us organised?
Administrator – Hope Church Family
14 hours per week, £10 per hour.
The Hope Church Family is a group of Church of England churches working to share the love of Jesus Christ in Upton upon Severn and its surrounding villages.
We’re a complex family of churches, and communications and good governance are vital. Your job is to help us maximise the impact of our team, buildings and resources by helping us with publicity, information flows, enquiries, as well as keeping us legal, safe and accountable;
Detail matters in this role – but you’ll have the wisdom to know which details really matter, to enable others to get on with their work.
Please do not send a CV, as we will only consider applications on our official application form.
Application deadline is Wednesday July 10th 2019. Interviews (probably) Tue 16th July 2019.
How to get better not bitter!
Vicar’s article from the Bridge Magazine, May 2019
How to get better, not bitter
I was catching up with some old friends at a conference recently, and they started talking about all the great things going in their churches: growing youth and children’s ministries, soup kitchens, Food Banks and so on. All good stuff. And yet for some reason, I struggled to be really happy for them. If truth be told, I was more than a little jealous. Later, as I reflected on the conversations, I found myself wondering, why is it that when you compare yourself with others, you always end up feeling bitter?
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Writing well over a century ago, long before Facebook and Instagram or other forms of social media, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th US President, said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Which rather begs the question, why do we compare ourselves with others at all?
Now at one level comparison is helpful. The business world has long had a practice called Benchmarking: a process by which a company can compare itself with other similar companies to identify opportunities for improvement. At its best, it’s a scientific, data-driven process that can be an incredibly helpful tool for growing an organisation. But done badly, without due consideration to the differing circumstances of the companies, and without access to all the data, it can be really harmful.
And it’s this lack of access to the data that makes comparing ourselves to others so damaging. After all, we might be experts on how we feel on the inside, but if all we have for comparison is how others look on the outside, we’re going to reach some dumb conclusions. As church leader Steve Furtick puts it, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel”
Jesus tells a story in Matthew 25 about a rich man who gives each of his servants some money and tells them to put it to work. Later, he assesses what they’ve done, and in a scene, not a million miles removed from Sir Alan Sugar in the Apprentice, one of the candidates is discovered to have done nothing at all with the money and is fired.
But where Jesus’ story differs from the Apprentice, is the liberating way in which the master treats the remaining candidates. Instead of ranking them to find a winner, he rewards each of them. It’s his way of saying that our task in life isn’t to sprint to the finish comparing ourselves with others to see who comes first, second or third. Instead, we’re to run our own race, in our own lane. The goal is not to win, but to make the best use of the gifts God has given us, by becoming the best version of ourselves we can possibly be. As someone once said, “No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you, than you.”
So next time you’re chatting with friends, or you’re jealously watching the highlight reel of their lives on Facebook or Instagram, remind yourself that God hasn’t called you to run their race. Instead, he wants you to focus on running your own. And when you do that, not only do you run your own race better, but it sets you free to enjoy the success of others. It makes you better, not bitter.