2009 is the Centenary of Lesslie Newbigin’s birth. Churches Together in Britain & Ireland decided to celebrate this with a Conference held at Queen’s College, Birmingham.
CTBI Newbigin Centenary Conference logo
This post is….
part brief background on Newbigin;
part a quick glance at some of his theology;
part a ‘back of an envelope’ report on the conference;
and part a personal reflection on ‘Uncle Lesslie’
with a comment on the source of the CTBI banner photo above.
and… it should possibly be a ‘page’ rather than a ‘post’ – we’ll see.
Lesslie Newbigin was a Presbyterian minister and missionary who – considering that background, and not really approving of church hierarchies – rather surprisingly became a Bishop of the united Church of South India at it’s formation in 1947. In fact not once, but twice – first in the Madurai-Ramnad diocese, then later as bishop of Madras, as Chennai was then known. In between, he was in Geneva with the World Council of Churches. On ‘retiring’ from Madras in 1974, Lesslie & Helen Newbigin made their way back to Britain overland using local buses, carrying just a couple of suitcases and a rucksack – I love that; sort of reverse hippy, on so many levels!
Lesslie & Helen Newbigin, Cecil & Eleanor Cutting, Wilfred & Mary Hulbert in India, 1937
This photograph shows The Troika, or the Three Graces, as the three ‘girls’ were sometimes Continue reading ‘Lesslie Newbigin – Bishop of Hope’
The Leaps of Christ - credit thriol
The ‘Leaps of Christ’ was part of the theme taken by Bishop John Hind at the Chichester Diocesan Synod recently. I had heard of this Old English poem, but on being re-introduced to it, it led me to explore some of the wonderful Advent and Christmas within it.
The section on the Leaps of Christ comes within the part known as Christ II, or sometimes Christ B, within the Exeter Book. The first book deals primarily with Advent, book two with the Ascension, and the third Continue reading ‘Leaps of Christ’
‘After The Fire’, aka ATF or 80-F, were THE megastars of the 70s/80s British Christian music scene. Though I’m not sure they liked the idea of being called that – though not afraid of their Christian influence, they wanted to be known as musicians, not just Christian musicians.
ATF - credit Richard Dickens
I took a couple of photos at the Burgess Hill gig – but they weren’t nearly as good as Richard Dickens‘ ones.
I did bootleg a couple of tracks, which aren’t of any quality to threaten ATF sales, but might give a wee flavour of the live sound. You can get proper quality ATF music either from their store (and it’s almost Christmas…) or off the iTunes store.
Continue reading ‘80-F’
Our local clergy chapter were meeting this week, and I was ‘hosting’. Usually, part of hosting involves preparing some prayers and worship. As we were also ‘Remembering‘ St Martin of Tours, I had a few things up my sleeve, including a fine shell remembering the pilgrims that stopped at St Martin’s shrine in Tours on the Way of St James.
New Zealand Paua - credit ReedWade
Actually the shell was in my pocket, rather than up my sleeve; and paua were not really the sorts of shells that pilgrims on the way to Compostela normally wore (they were usually scallops… But these paua are exquisite. We have brought back dozens from NZ over the years.
Back to prayers and blessings. I have dabbled a bit in Celtic Spirituality over the years, and recently acquired a copy of a couple of John O’Donohue’s books. Continue reading ‘Priests’ Blessing’
Chichester Cathedral is the ‘mother church’ of the diocese, and as a Sussex priest, I find myself there from time to time. I love wandering through the cathedral when I get a chance. It has so many superb features about it; but one of my favourites is ‘The Arundel Tomb’.
The Arundel Tomb - credit Tom Oates
It is a fourteenth century table tomb on which lie the effigies of Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel, and his second wife Eleanor. One of the most charming features is the way that they are both holding hands, Richard’s hand having been removed from the gauntlet still held in his left hand.
Arundel Tomb hands - credit bmeabroad
Continue reading ‘The Arundel Tomb’
Cross-posted from my entry on the General Synod blog on The Vatican offer of special Anglican ordinariates – what in Anglican terms may be called something similar to a Third Province, or the Church of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s ‘tikangas‘.
The General Synod blog
Well, there was a surprise! Yesterday’s unexpected hurriedly put together press conference in London, responding to the Vatican’s scheme for special Anglican ordinariates appears to have put cats amongst pigeons.
I am seriously struggling to understand what all this is about, where it is going, and I await the ‘details’ with interest.
It feels a little like we are being told: ‘You know where the door is to come in, but here is a window you can climb in through, too’. Except I’m not one that feels I am standing outside, needing to come in. Continue reading ‘Rome says “Welcome…”’
The initial flurry of comments, as the 44th US President, Barack Obama, is nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, seem to be mainly an incredulous “really? so soon?” Well that’s pretty good after 9 months in office.
However, I want to approach this less cynically than some. It maybe that ‘premature’ is one word that may be applied to the news; but ‘hopeful’ is perhaps a more appropriate one.
Not hope as in “I hope it won’t rain tomorrow”; but hope of something substantial, more eternal. This week, for the first time for a long time, Northern Ireland paramilitaries appeared with guns at a funeral. My children had not seen anything like it in living memory, though the Good Friday Agreement does not seem that long ago to me. How quickly we have become used to peace in Northern Ireland. Can we dare hope of that that sort of peace elsewhere amongst the world’s troubled spots too?
The Bible speaks of Hope as something of certainty, that we can depend upon. Perhaps the Nobel nomination committee have that sense of hope for the future of world peace, and Obama’s potential in furthering it. I hope so.
Watching the William Wilberforce/John Newton film Amazing Grace at a home group around the day the church remembers William Wilberforce encouraged the vicar Michael Berry to use some of the themes in the Sunday sermon at church at St Heliers on Sunday.
It prompted me to look back at some ‘John Newton’ photos I took a while back.
Robin Meredith Jones, actor & friend, has for many years been doing a show base on John Newton, also (inevitably) called ‘Amazing Grace’. On the 200 anniversary of John Newton’s ‘promotion to glory’ on 21 December 1807, Robin and his wife Christine Way did a version of the show in the London City church of St Mary’s Woolnoth, where John Newton was vicar for 28 years.
Robin Meredith Jones as John Newton, in his original pulpit
Most people know that Newton was involved in the slave trade – though not all are aware that Newton was himself a white slave briefly early on, after an altercation with a the captain of a slave ship he was crewing on.
What is well documented is John Newton’s conversion to the Christian faith, and his penning of the famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.
Continue reading ‘Amazing Persistence, Liberating Grace’
Sorry to have missed out on the third tranch of OneAndOther ballot selections, even though I was glad not to have had to give up a place had I been selected for August. Preferrring to be in NZ!
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In 1969 I had been at a boarding school in South India for some 6 months. A rather terrifying Australian dorm matron, Audrey Bateman, did have a very helpful habit. If there was anything significant on the BBC World Service, she made all of us in Middle Dorm sit and listen to the large wireless in her room.
Footprint on the Moon
That’s where I heard of the first moon landings, the crackly voice of Neil Armstrong, the apparently un-planned: “One small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind”. Powerful words then, iconic now.
What I hadn’t picked up until today was Ruth Gledhill’s Times posting of Bosco Peter’s article on the first lunar reception of the bread and wine of Holy Communion. There is something bizarrely wonderful about that.
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