Distinct Reflections

God loves women and men

I’ve been involved in a couple of conversations about women in church leadership recently, which has reminded me not everyone agrees with things I take as basic. So I’ve set some of these basic points out in the hope others will find them useful.

1. Men and women are together made in God’s image (Genesis 1v27). Male is not more like God than female. The creation mandate which follows is to both women and men.

2. Difference between male and female does not presume hierarchy. When we read about God helping us in Psalm 121 we don’t think hierarchy, so why do we read it into Genesis 2?

3. God intended positive dynamic relationships between women and men, between humanity and God, and between both and wider creation; summed up in the description of the garden of Eden.

4. The fall ruptures relationships. The relationship between humanity and creation becomes more difficult, between humanity and God is dislocated and the relationship between men and women becomes patriarchal.

5. God gives Israel the law in order to limit some of the effects of sin and show his people how to live in the light of God’s grace. This includes laws of marriage and treatment of women (eg: Deuteronomy ch 21-25). In addition God uses women in the Old Testament as examples of faithfulness, courage and piety in contrast to the general patriarchy of the time.

6. Jesus models God’s value of women as well as men in the way he includes women in parables, in his teaching (encouraging them to learn as well as addressing their situation) and in choosing to appear first to women at the tomb (at a time when many would not accept the testimony of a woman).

7. Jesus came to bring good news to the oppressed and marginalised; in his death he came alongside them bringing release, justice and restoration. His being tempted in every way includes the negative impact of patriarchy.

8. Jesus comes as one who serves, suggesting that those who want to be great should be servants. Jesus comes to bring full, abundant and flourishing life. Through his death and resurrection, God is actively reconciling the whole world to himself. Gender stereotypes, hierarchy or distinct roles receive no mention.

9. In Christ (and therefore in the church) there is no longer male and female, all are one. We are all baptised by the Spirit into one body and the spirit is poured out on all flesh. Our temperament, gender, ethnicity etc are not relevant to our becoming heirs with Christ.

10.  As Christians our primary identity is in Christ, we are citizens of heaven who seek to be faithful disciples. Yet we are also examples of how God loves diversity and desires a church made of many peoples, languages and customs. Gender is part of who we are, but it is only one part. God desires both women and men to grow into the people he calls them to be; the church needs to pay attention to the place gender has in our human make up but also needs to remember that it is only one part of who we are.

There is of course much more to be said on the topic so there may well be a part 2 in a couple of weeks.

Beyond 400 book

I've been involved for the last few months with the Beyond400 website, giving an opportunity for a spread of British Baptists to imagine what the future might look like.

The web posts plus some of the comments have now been published as a book. Click here to buy a copy.

Not only does the book give a snapshot of contemporary hopes and dreams for the future but it also captures the breadth of thinking. A number of the entries could easily be used as discussion starters in home groups, church meetings or in sermon preparation.

It was never designed to be part of the 'official' BUGB futures conversation, but if all this baptist stuff seems remote, dull and irrelevant here is an accessible way to join the conversation and own a piece of baptist history.

Baptist Assembly responses

Following my blog on Monday about Baptist Assembly I’ve now read a number of other blogs; so to add to the conversation here is my take on some of the issues raised (the issues surround the Futures process BMS/BUGB I will return to in a future post).

1. Quality of the Bookshop should be easy to sort out – Essential Christian are part of Memralife the group who own Spring Harvest and ICC – all it needs is a conversation.
2. Outside Speakers – I’ve argued in previous years that we need to grow Baptists; not just for the sake of Assembly but because giving more opportunity for Baptist Preachers to grow is also a contribution to wider UK church life. Nevertheless we also need to hear global voices and to receive input from wider church.
3. Worship Leaders – I’ve blogged at length in previous years about the need for excellence and variety. But we also need to decide who Assembly aimed at. The last 2 years have included Sunday communion with a different worship style, to positive comments. However, the style would be utterly incomprehensible to many people in our local churches.
4. Cost of Assembly in London. Having done the expenses and compared accommodation / food / travel costs with previous two years.  This year cost us less than the two previous ones (Plymouth 2010 most expensive, Blackpool 2011 was cheap because we live in the North West). Even if we had paid for an extra night’s accommodation it would have been similar to Blackpool.
5. Doing different. One reason for a London Assembly is the opportunity it gives for a different feel; allowing more London area Baptist Churches, who often feel excluded from Union life, to be more involved. If this was the objective I think it failed but it was worth a try.

Overall it did feel that some of the progress made in recent years has been lost. But right now there are bigger issues for the Union and if we need to accept a less than perfect Assembly in order to devote attention to them, so be it.

Baptist Assembly: a glimpse of the future

Baptist Assembly is packed away for another year, the participants have returned home and the activity of the weekend is fast becoming a fading memory; another example of how our denomination manages to be less than the sum of its parts. Or alternatively???

What if Assembly were to be the moment we look back on and say:
- We acknowledged the scale of the challenges we face as a denomination
- We didn’t get it right but were prepared to give it a go
- We understood that God has a future for us together.

This weekend I have seen glimpses of both.

For me having the Assembly in London, structured around day conferences, doesn’t really work. But I’m pleased we gave it ago. I’m not sure the futures conversation worked well, but it is vital we find ways of engaging and deliberating as Assembly. I wasn’t at every session, so may have missed something, but whilst there were good things about all the sessions I attended there were also things which seemed to fall flat.

Yet I also heard voices calling us to live out what we claim to value (being inclusive, sacrificial, worshipful, missional, prophetic) and challenging us over our lack of progress in these areas.

So I’m left thinking this year’s gathering is a defining moment, a year we look back on and say, ‘it was a turning point’. Whether, a turning point that sees us taking the first steps to a new future or a turning point because we realised the cost of change was more than we were prepared to pay I’m still not sure. I guess it depends on what people do with what they heard.

 

Baptist Assembly and social media

So Baptist Assembly (BUGB / BMS) has begun with an afternoon of seminars and opening evening Celebration during which Chris Duffett started his year as BUGB president.

I’ve blown hot and cold about the idea of a president over the years but one advantage is it helps us listen to people whose insights can get squeezed out by the denominational machine. It is a sort of permission giver to enable someone to speak into our corporate life and over recent years we have had some good women and men in the role. I’ve got to know Chris recently, though the Beyond400 website, but his opening address set the tone for much of what his presidency will bring. His relaxed way of reminding people of God’s big hearted grace, passion for encouraging the church to reach out to the world and unique turn of phrase (claiming that churches are like sex shops is not every preachers style).

This opening day of Assembly has also been a new experience for me as I’ve been following it from home, my participation has been by twitter and facebook Some of my own contributions were retweeted by others and I even know that people responded for prayer for gift of evangelism, suggesting that for some the evening will be of personal significance (Lord, make me an evangelist). I’m there in person for the rest of Assembly but it is great to see how involved you can be from a distance.

PS: Photo belongs to Baptist Assembly

Baptist Assembly 2012

Today sees Baptists gathering for their annual assembly (well the BUGB / BMS one anyway). But things will be a bit different this year:

-    We are gathering in London. This means it is commuting distance for a larger number of people but also that fewer people will attend the whole event.
-    The Saturday events follow a different format being ‘day conferences’ in their own right. Personally I’m not convinced about this but maybe it is a ‘marmite’ moment because I’ve heard several people say ‘great idea’ as well as plenty of grumbles. Marks to the organisers though for being willing to do something different.
-    2012 will be a defining moment. Having realised that the good ship BUGB is taking on water and that we can’t afford a large enough bilge pump to keep pumping the water out we are having to ask ourselves some searching questions.

Lots of people have put in hours of work in preparation, to say nothing of the finanical costs, so I hope it will be worth the effort. Certainly there are reasons for optimism.

1. Mission is vital. In inducting Chris Duffet as president for the year (Chris blogs here) we have choosen someone with evangelistic zeal and I would like to believe it's because we recognise the importance of mission to our future.
2. Hopeful welcome. The range of speakers and leaders reflects the diversity of our London churches. If Assembly can embody a spirit of unity in diversity where all parts of our union feel valued we will be taking an important step forward.
3. Forward Movement. Assembly struggles to be deliberative, it also struggles to cope with anything off message or contentious, but the issues facing us pose stark questions. If we can grapple with them so the wider Baptist Union is engaged with them and we discern God together, good will emerge from this.

You never know; beyond the headlines of celebrating together, inspiring speaker saying something to encourage and motivate, and Baptists gathering to prayerfully discern the futures process, God might be up to something.

BUGB futures a quick guide

I’ve been meaning to write more about the Futures process for some weeks. But since Baptist Assembly meets this weekend I wondered if a short summary might be more helpful:

What’s the issue?

1. Why are we talking about it? Because we (BUGB and Associations) are spending more money each year than we are getting from Home Mission, if we don’t change this year we will run out of money.

2. Is it all about money then? No. The real question is what sort of Union should we be? Should we have a central resource based in Didcot? Should we have Associations with paid staff? Should all Home Mission money be used for grants to churches?

3. Does my view matter? Yes. As Baptists we believe in the local church but also in churches sharing together. The needs and views of local Baptist churches should come first.

Surely it's more complex really?

There are three bigger questions which I’ve tried to label below.

1.Flogging a dead horse? Some would say the whole model of our Union belongs to a previous era. The days of Home Mission as a form of church tax, Associations and Didcot as resource providers and a national ‘grants’ system are over.

2. The grand national? Some believe that we need a central resource which can provide a national voice, provide ministerial accreditation and professional advice, others argue we could do all we need to by local associations working together.

3. Runners or Riders? Some argue that we need to be much more mission minded, taking risks and trying new things. Others point out our strength comes from developing educated, competent ministry and working through the local church. Mission or Ministry?

Overall I remain confident this uncertain time for the Union is an opportunity filled with possibilities.

HB2U Paul Fiddes

Today is the Rev Professor Paul Fiddes 65th Birthday and I, like many Baptist bloggers around the globe, want to pay tribute to his contribution to systematic theology as well as Baptist thought.

Others have blogged with lists of Paul’s publications (for a flavour see Wikipedia ). For me, one of his most significant contributions has been the breadth of his work. There can be few areas of contemporary Baptist thought which have not received his incisive attention. Sadly, his name may not be well known to many members of a typical Baptist Church but we are richer for his work.

Happy Birthday Paul.

Iquitos flooding

It’s now four weeks since I was in Iquitos, during which time the flooding has got worse.

The Red Cross now estimate that in the region 200, 000 people have been affected, 43,000 homes flooded; a number that is still rising as the water levels increase meaning that perhaps 1 in 3 people are flooded in the area.

There are some attempts at help. The local authorities have created some evacuation centres, the Red Cross is helping about 800 families. But these solutions aren’t great. In a Report the Red Cross (Report) says of the centres in Iquitos,

“These families are currently sheltered in 64 collective centres, of which 10 are located in the Belen district, 19 in Iquitos, 14 in Punchana and 21 in San Juan. Unfortunately, assessments indicate that the collective centres do not fulfil minimal standards of privacy, security and hygiene due to overcrowding. Some families are living in 8m2 areas, separated by plastic sheets of 1.70 metres high. As the situation is expected to deteriorate in the following weeks if the rivers continue to rise, activities need to be performed in order to improve living conditions of affected families sheltered in collective centres.”

Other organisations, such as ShelterBox (web link) are assessing what they can do.

Hopefully the water levels will stabilise in the next week or so but it will be several months before the flooding is over. During which time disease remains a significant hazard. This is on top of the hazards of electrocution (there are reports of people dying) and animals (I was told of one family who found an alligator in their house).

Of course this is just one of a number of situations around the globe which do not receive media attention.

As to what we can do, once I've found out I'll post it here. My link has been with the Baptist Churches of Iquitos (who don't really have the capacity to do much) and with BMS:world mission and their supported people.

Update:

Sunday 22nd: Do pray for the church in Punchana in particular and for the pastor there. As the land is declared uninhabitable and people are moved they need wisdom to know what to do, and the resources to do it.

An unusual Easter

My normal Easter routine has gone a bit awry this year. Spending two weeks in Iquitos, Peru and then returning for Holy Week has meant that most of the week I’ve been suffering jet lag. Nevertheless, the usual run of services has come to a great conclusion with an Easter Sunday baptism.

Yet half the time my mind has been on Iquitos, the things I saw, the seminars and workshops I could have done better and thoughts about what I could contribute to life in Iquitos. Most of this is post travel processing and, like my previous trip, it will soon be a memory. But…….

The thing I’m starting to realise is that involvement in church life overseas changes your perspective. I’m a rich westerner with more resources than the local church pastors will ever have. I have views developed by interaction with others across the world and through time. They have a determination, trust in God and persistence which I have much to learn from.

The temptation is to believe that the Kingdom of God is best served by my going and sharing what I have with them. Practicalities not withstanding, perhaps I should resign my ministry here and move to Iquitos? But is it presumption to believe that I have something to give, to share, to teach that will be of benefit to them – a sort of 21st Century theological and cultural imperialism? Is it naivety which makes life there seem attractive and life here complex?

At the same time I have been struck this year by Luke’s account of Jesus life; from the moment he resolutely sets out for Jerusalem, through his final days, to the cross. Jesus is not deflected from his call, having put his hand to the plough he does not turn back. Jesus is not unaware of the inner turmoil and challenges he is facing, but yet continues to commit himself to his heavenly Father.

As it is, I believe God called me to a ministry here, which is not yet complete, so I’m not on the phone to BMS asking if they will take me!  But perhaps the resurrection appearances of Jesus remind us that the bewilderment and puzzlement of discipleship doesn’t vanish immediately but rather in response to the words and revelation of God and as we fulfil the call to witness to him.

Meanwhile the flood water in Iquitos is early and high this year, these pics give some idea.

Happy Easter