Rev. Mindy’s Meanderings

Now I don’t know Mark Rowland personally (though I do hope to make his acquaintance when we both reside in the same country), but I recently read what he wrote on the Candler Admissions blog. I found his comparative perspective on Methodist church life in the US and UK fascinating. Mark is a ministerial student in the British Methodist system and just spent a year as an international student at Candler School of Theology, which is part of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I do know a number of American United Methodist seminary grads who are now serving in the UK and with these folks I occasionally compare notes. However, prior to Mark’s article I haven’t often had an opportunity to hear from folks whose travels have been a mirror reflection of mine by their heading in the opposite direction “across the pond”.

Mark’s story is particularly interesting to me because his travels in the opposite direction closely mirror my journey. For those of you who don’t know, just prior to moving to the UK I graduated from the very same Candler School of Theology with a Master of Divinity degree. The M.Div is a three-year full-time program and for my last two years there I worked for the Office of Student Programming as the international student coordinator. Thus I was in close contact with many of Candler’s international students during my seminary days. These two bits of my background combined with my current experience of British Methodism makes me very interested in Mark’s perspective. If you too are interested in a comparative perpective on Methodist church life in the US and UK I encourage you to follow the link. Enjoy Mark’s article!

I had a great time, met lots of interesting folks, and tried lots of interesting food. I spent most of my time at the party visiting and didn’t watch much of the actual contest. This doesn’t matter because I recorded it for Ted, who was unable to participate or watch it. However, anyone at the party to whom I mentioned the fact I was recording the contest was seriously surprised because none of them could imagine being interested enough to watch all 25 countries compete over 3.25 hours. However, if Ted is so inclined the recording is waiting for him. For those of you who don’t want to spend 3.25 hours of your life watching the contest I can share with you that Russia won. Since the winning country always hosts the contest the following year, I am signing off for this year as a Spanish señora… until we meet again, in Russia!

A good time was had by all! The consensus opinion is that the weekend of celebratory events in the Milton Keynes Circuit last weekend went very well. Thanks to all of you who helped out in all kinds of ways to make the special celebrations possible. I will be posting more later and sharing some of the highlights of Saturday and Sunday in photos. However to tide you over till I have time to do that, I thought I would share the link to the blog of the President and Vice President of Methodist Conference. On it Ruby Beech, the Vice President of Methodist Conference, wrote about the various activities in which she was invovled in her weekend in the Northampton District. The Sunday morning service in Stony Stratford is featured in her write-up, both in words and picture. Follow the link and enjoy!

In this time of great tragedy by natural disaster I am praying for the people of Burma & China. The contrast in the way the governments involved are handling the crisis makes the tragedy in Burma all the more stark. Besides lengthening my prayer list the tragedy in Burma instigated research into the naming of meteorological phenomena. I hadn’t previously run into the term cyclone enough to know what it really meant. So when it started popping up in the news I thought I should gain some clarity. Now having done the research I thought I would share my surprising discoveries with you.

My discoveries are surprising to me because I thought I had learned this lesson many years ago when I figured out that typhoon was the name of a hurricane in Asia. Little did I know I only learned a part of the story. I only learned that part because when I lived in Hong Kong, there was a typhoon. Everything was canceled on the day it was to come near, people were advised to stay indoors and thus the NGO I worked at didn’t open that day. However, I didn’t live to far from work and had a bit of catching up to do before I left on a trip to Korea to attend the Asian Methodist Youth Conference. So I walked to work. It was rainy and very windy outdoors but I got lots done in the quiet office and I made it to work and back. Only as I was waiting to fly out of Kai Tak Airport, along with all the stranded passengers who were camped out on every available flat surface, did I read a news article saying that a typhoon was a hurricane. The same phenomenon was just called by a different name when it happened in Asia. At that moment it all clicked in place and made sense why it was so windy on my walk to the office the day before. I then thought, if only they had told me it was a HURRICANE I would NOT have ventured out! So having learned that lesson, stupidly but thankfully safely, I thought I had learned all about the subject.

Then a cyclone occurs in Burma and from what I hear about the devastation wrought I thought, “this sounds like a hurricane, but it can’t be because it is not called a typhoon.” Thus the research. It turns out that the part of the lesson I didn’t learn is that the both the terms hurricane and typhoon are “regionally specific names for a strong ‘tropical cyclone’.” Growing up in North American I thought that hurricane was the universal word and that any others were regional variations. Now I come to find out, cyclone is the descriptive word and that the terms hurricane and typhoon are both regional variations.* In addition, typhoon is only the regional variation in the Northwest Pacific, not in all of Asia.

This confusion over words, even amongst those who speak the same language, reminds me of all the times we talk but don’t communicate. Words come out of our mouths, but we don’t get the meaning across. Unfortunately, this often happens in religious circles and we talk around each other instead of to each other. Many Christians, myself included, when talking about faith quickly descend into church jargon. After all it is a comforting and familiar language to many of us, and there is a time and place for it, but it doesn’t always help us to really communicate with others. In speaking about faith the words that communicate best are descriptive of your own experience and feelings, not big fancy words. You don’t have to prove you have read a theological (theology=God talk) book; it is better to speak from the heart. I encourage you to give some thought to the words you use so that you might be clearly understood in matters of faith and in all areas of your life.

For those of you who live in the UK, this is Christian Aid week. The ads on TV have reminded me that the donation of £40 can provide a community with a loudspeaker system and flags to act as an early-warning system to help prevent the widespread loss of lives in the case of a cyclone such as the one to hit Burma. A smaller donation of £4 can provide water purification tablets for one day for 10 people. Disasters, such as those of this past week, are tragic but we have an opportunity and responsibility to help those in distress rebuild their devastated communities. Such help is one way of communicating across any language barrier. As St. Francis was reputed to have said, “Preach always, when necessary use words.” Keeping that in mind, when we do use words lets try to be clear and really communicate our meaning.

* It turns out that the breakdown of the cyclone terminology is quite precise. I found this very detailed description from the NOAA for those interested:

If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph), then they are called:

• “hurricane” (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)
• “typhoon” (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
• “severe tropical cyclone” (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)
• “severe cyclonic storm” (the North Indian Ocean)
• “tropical cyclone” (the Southwest Indian Ocean)

We have much to celebrate and you are invited to join us. On Sunday the 18th of May, members of Stony Stratford, Hanslope, and Deanshanger Methodist Churches are gathering together with others to celebrate. These are some of the things we will be celebrating:

• the planting of a “new” Wesley tree* on the Market Square in Stony Stratford
• the visit of the Vice-President of Methodist Conference (the elected lay leader of British Methodists for the year 2008), Mrs. Ruby Beech, to dedicate the “new” Wesley tree
• Rev. John Wesley’s leadership of our Sunday service (John Wesley, 1703-1791, was the founder of the Methodist movement and will be portrayed by actor Mark Topping.)
• Hanslope Methodist Church’s 180th Anniversary
• Stony Stratford Methodist Church’s Anniversary
• the long and faithful history of the people called Methodist in the life of our communities.

The above picture was taken on the occasion of the planting of the “new” Wesley tree. It is this tree that will be dedicated on the 18th of May. The following is the list and location of festivities on Sunday the 18th of May. We are pleased that the mayor-elect and members of the Stony Stratford town council will be joining us. You are welcome to join us for any or all of the festivities no matter if your interest is local history, Methodism, trees, Christian worship or any other reason.

10:00 am Worship Service @ Russell Street School

11:00 am Procession to the Wesley Tree, Market Square

11:15-ish Dedication of the Wesley tree & unveiling of the plaque by Mrs. Ruby Beech

11:45 am Tea, Coffee, & Cake in the Stony Stratford Methodist Church Hall, Silver Street

12:15 pm Address by Mrs. Ruby Beech in Stony Stratford Methodist Church Sanctuary, Silver Street

The parking nearest to Russell Street School is in the two public lots on Vicarage Road (which can be accessed from either Russell Street or Ostlers Lane). From those parking lots it is just a short walk to the school, the square, and the church.

* It is called the Wesley Tree because Rev. John Wesley preached from under this tree at least once on his travels through Stony Stratford. He didn’t have access to churches to preach in so he preached in ordinary places where people were gathered, to share with them the message of God’s love and forgiveness. The old tree which J. Wesley preached under died as a result of Dutch Elm Disease.

Additional Opportunity:

Saturday, May 17th at 7pm Hanslope Methodist Church will celebrate it’s 180th Chapel Anniversary with Mark Topping portraying John Wesley. John Wesley will be arriving by horse and will then tell us about his life and work. I have seen the show before; I can report it is a fascinating show and transports one back in time. The program for this evening will be entirely different than that in the following morning, so feel free to come to both events. Tickets are £5 each and available at the door. Hanslope Methodist Church is on High Street in the village of Hanslope next to the Chinese take away.

I wrote this for the May edition of The Link, Hanslope & Castlethorpe’s monthly church magazine. As it is seasonally appropriate, I thought I would share it with all of you now.

Happy Birthday to us!

Happy Birthday to us!

Happy Birthday, dear church!

Happy Birthday to us!

Pentecost is the Birthday of the church and we will celebrate it in church on the 11^th of May. Pentecost is one of my favorite days of the church year; after all I always like a good Birthday party. Pentecost marks the end of the Easter season, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church.

The story of Pentecost is told in the book of Acts. It tells of the disciples being sad together because Jesus had gone and they missed their friend. They knew they wouldn’t see him again on this side of heaven.

These friends of Jesus gathered to pray together to God when they were surprised by the extraordinary. Suddenly the room filled with the sound of a great rushing wind. It was bright and everywhere they looked they could see what looked like flames of light resting on each other’s heads.

They were then even more surprised that they were speaking and praising God in different languages; languages that they had never spoken before. They were no longer afraid or sad; they were filled with joy and happiness. They rushed out into the street praising God in the different languages they were speaking.

The gift of the God’s Holy Spirit made this miracle possible. That same gift of God’s Holy Sprit assures us that God is with us, through the Holy Spirit, here and now. The miracle of Pentecost began in one small back room but it gave birth to the church, which today still speaks a myriad of languages in praise of God.

On Pentecost you might think of sticking a candle in a piece of cake, singing Happy Birthday to the church, and remembering the gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence with us, which came as wind and light, as you blow out the candle. Happy Birthday, dear church!

At the Meeting of Methodists last week Michael, a circuit lay worker, reminded those of us gathered that the challenges we face are really opportunities. I needed to hear that; it was good for my soul! I needed to be reminded that challenges can be more than just overwhelming difficulties. This can be true if we take another perspective. We can encourage this new perspective by giving the challenges more space and thought so that something new, something more authentic, something better suited to its environment, and something more loving might be born. As I said I needed the reminder, but as I sat there I realized that there is something authentically Christian about this notion. After all, we believe that from the “challenge” of the cross came the “opportunity” for new life. Now that is a definite change in perspective, one which we celebrate at Easter. Thanks, Michael, for prompting me to re-consider my perspective!

During pauses and other quiet moments in the rest of the meeting I sat contemplating how much our perspective matters. I was contemplating these matters of perspective in the back of my head as I gazed around the interior of their lovely church. This is what my view of Queensway Methodist Church in Fenny Stratford looked like.

Queensway Methodist has a simple beauty and when I am there my eye always is caught by the cheery painted ceiling over the chancel (the front of the church where the choir pews and communion table are).

I like the design of the painted ceiling but as I gazed at it a thought wriggled out from the back of my mind and entered my consciousness. I realized I wasn’t sure what the symbol was that I was gazing upon. What is it I was looking at? From my American perspective it seemed a bit too similar to the dollar sign ($), but I was sure that it couldn’t be that. After all, such an crass expression of commercialism would be just plain weird in any church, but it would be over the top weird here in the UK where the monetary unit is pounds (£). I decided that there was some other meaning there that I couldn’t see, try as I might, because I was blinded by my American familiarity with the $ sign.

At the end of the meeting I asked a church steward, who shared with me how the painting it is understood by the congregation. It turns out it is a stylized Christogram, a representation of the name Jesus Christ. It is IHS, the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus. In this particular instance it the letters are painted on top of each other, like a fancy monogram.

Formed in one perspective I saw what was familiar and needed help to see it from this new (to me) perspective. Likewise, this steward was amused by my perspective and had never seen dollars in their church’s ceiling before, despite having looked at it regularly for many years. We each looked at the same exact thing and saw it very differently.

I write to share with you this lesson I learned at this Meeting of Methodists; your perspective does matter, so be attentive to it. I was fortunate to have this lesson clearly stated and then reinforced by the my reflections on the space. In both ways, I was reminded how our perspective shapes what we do or don’t see. From your perspective, what do you see?

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you Happy Easter one last time this year. This week churches celebrate the last Sunday of the Easter Season. Let this picture of the Easter Garden at St. James Church, New Bradwell remind you of the mystery and love of the Easter season. Happy Easter!

As Easter season ends, churches prepare for Pentecost on the 11th of May. At Pentecost we celebrate the birthday of the church in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Despite the Easter season ending this Sunday, every Sunday we gather together as Christians to praise and worship God we always remember the joy and promise of Easter. For one last time this year, Happy Easter!