READERSHIP REFLECTIONS

A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 

In St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he had a great deal to say about the church, its worship, ministry and the nature and characteristics of the Christian faith and I am in the process of completing my first assignment on this very subject. Through reading, I have come across some very specific and interesting things which I would like to share with you; not from the premise of Theology because I am not ready for that – just yet - but from the historical angle of the man himself, the construction of his letter and the characteristics of the City of Corinth, which has been instrumental in laying the foundation for me to understand, a little deeper, and put into context the very essence of ‘The Letter’ and its compelling instructions and what we might indeed learn from it.

 

The city of Corinth in the times of St. Paul, was two sides of the same coin – one of greatness and one of wickedness. It was considered the ‘Piccadilly Circus’ of the Mediterranean and if glancing at a map one will see that its position made it inevitable that it was one of affluence as a trading and commercial centre of the ancient world. Traffic from Athens and the North of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese was routed through Corinth and traffic from the east to west of the Mediterranean passed through from choice, to save having to round the dangerous Cape Malea (now Cape Matapan). William Barclay tells us that the Greeks had two sayings, ‘Let him who sails round Malea forget his home..’ and ‘Let him who sails round Malea first make his will.' Corinth and surrounding towns were visited by nations of the civilised world who enjoyed the many objects of luxury found in the markets. Corinth was also the city which hosted the Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympics. However, Corinth was also a hotbed of vice, drunkenness, debauchery, thieving, and prostitution. Furthermore, the ‘Church’ was very divided and the extent of the diverse backgrounds of the Corinthian Christians became apparent when Paul identified four groups, who claimed to have spiritual allegiance to either (1) Paul himself, the libertines; (2) Apollos, – mentioned in Acts 18: (24-28) a man well versed in the scriptures, the philosophers; (3) Cephas (Peter) the legalists and (4) Christ the mystics. With each of these groups working and spreading their own ideas there seemed little chance of uniting the Christian Church. There was wealth and prosperity on the one hand and total chaos, divisions within the church and little social direction on the other. Looking round at our world today, I put the question – is it not in the main, still two sides of the same coin? 

Paul would have constructed his letter in the style of the day. Different from a letter of today it would begin with the name of the writer then the name of the person to receive it and a single word greeting would follow. A reference to the health of the person receiving the letter would precede the main text. Paul would divide his main text into two, doctrinal teaching and advice on Christian lifestyle. Closure would be personal news, a blessing and final farewell. This in itself is pretty straight forward. However, it has been suggested that the Corinthian correspondence we have, may not be in the correct order. It was not until around AD90 that Paul’s letters were collected and may have only existed on scraps of papyrus with some not being discovered at all. There appears to be a letter which preceded 1 Corinthians. Some scholars believe this has been lost while other think it may well be contained in 2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 7:1 Barclays tells us that the chapters were not divided up until the 13th Century and the verses not until the 16th Century which, would make the arranging of the collection more difficult. However, the letter to Corinth show us Paul “the shepherd of his flock, bearing the sorrows and the problems of his people in his heart   ” (James Stalker of the United Church Collection in Aberdeen) and that is what stands the test of time and is really important.

Finally, what of the complex, persecutor of Christians and often considered arrogant, Paul himself? His persecution of the Church, way beyond the Holy Land itself, suggests to us that Saul (as he was known at that time in his life) was not just a Jew, but a Pharisee and maybe a Shammaite Pharisee and one of the strictest of the strict. In today’s thinking Saul would be considered a militant right-winger. This strictness he observed relating to the interpretations of the law was both political and theological with aims and objectives for Israel, its people, land and Temple. Yet, this defiant proud man was bought to his knees on the road to Damascus. It was not a simple question of Saul a non believer converting, he had a belief. Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham puts it this way – “The one true God had done for Jesus of Nazareth, in the middle of time, what Saul thought he was going to do for Israel at the end of time...” Saul felt an overlapping of time of which he was caught in the middle. The resurrection of Jesus had demonstrated that his followers were right and he was the true Messiah and would redeem the world. “The Age to Come” was here now and had already begun; therefore this was the time to bring the Gentiles in. His vision on the road to Damascus and his period of blindness had given him a new perspective yet allowed for his roots to remain firm within his previous theology as Israel‘s destiny had been achieved through Jesus. He would become an agent to bring the truth to the whole world.   Saul became Paul.

 

Now to the lesson of…………..…..1 Corinthians

Bibliography....

Wright T (1997)               What Paul Really Said          

Barclay W (20020            The Letters to the Corinthians– 3rd ed

Drane J (1999)                  Introducing the New Testament–                                                                         Revised edition

 

  “We are so busy, Lord, we do not listen.

The world is noisy, Lord, we do not hear,

We do not hear what Your Spirit is saying to each one of us.

We have been afraid of silence.

Lord, teach us to use the gift of silence.

Teach us, Lord” 

………………………………..and He opened my eyes, and the lesson began - how? - in a very simple and meaningful way. Let me explain…….

On Ascension Day this year, I found myself in Durham Cathedral. I had enjoyed the pure simplicity of the Chorister School Ascension Day Service and soaked up the spiritual atmosphere of the Cathedral environment when I found myself attending Evensong. There were not very many of us, so we were invited to sit in some of the choir stalls, next to the Durham Cathedral Singers. Wonderful and I do not need to tell you that the singing was just awesome. Then, we had the first reading. At the end of this, there was a silence for at least one minute, yet it seemed to last for ever. Everyone seemed quite comfortable with this, but me, I thought something had happened in the adjoining choir stall which was not visible, and I was quite expecting a statement or request for us to leave the Cathedral, but no, that was not the case, because, after the second reading the minute's silence was repeated. 

It dawned on me………..of course, the silence was intended, a time for reflection on what had just been read; a time to really hear and take in the message. That got me thinking.   How often do we have the First Reading, say the response and then go straight into the Second Reading and from this into the Sermon without even time to digest what has just been read to us? Why are we so afraid of silences? Is it its power seemingly demanding and authoritarian? Could that be when we are not at peace within ourselves? Yet, I feel the gentleness and stillness of silence can be so spiritual and guiding; I have learnt a very valuable lesson.

“How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given...........

Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in”   (Hymn 40 – O little town of Bethlehem, from verse 3)

(Opening prayer was written for Women’s World Day by women of New Zealand)

 

Carolyn

St Michael and All Angels, Millbrook

 

          I have now had my first tutorial with my personal tutor, who will be helping me through the theoretical part of my Readership training. From this meeting I have been able to plan the theory work required for what is called ‘The Introductory Programme’ which, is designed to give the student an introduction of the Old and New Testament, Church History, Liturgy and Doctrine. Sitting along side this theory element are practical applications and reflections and I am meeting up with Michael (my pastoral supervisor) to organise how I might best achieve these. The carrot at the end of the stick is that, on completion, I hope I will receive five credits – I need fourteen credits to complete my training.

          I am really excited about meeting people. Oh no, not in the “come and have a cup of coffee and a chat” way – although, I do believe there are lots of opportunities to meet up with those doing the training, which gives a wide and valuable support group, and I do intend to take the advantage. No, I am talking about all the colourful and complex characters I will be reading and learning about, taking my “school day Bible lessons” on to a deeper and more meaningful plane. Through celebrating their achievements and feeling some of the pain of their ‘stumbles’ along their roads, meeting them and reflecting, their historical and spiritual legacy should provide a valuable learning opportunity for me. But where to begin? With so many wonderful books and opportunities around it can be quite daunting settling down to plan the best route forward. Then I remembered a story I had read in “How to Pray” by John Pritchard…………..

          “A village woman in Tanzania always walked around with a bulky Bible. She would never be parted from it. The villagers often teased her.  ‘Why always the Bible?’ they said. ‘There are so many other books you could read!’ But the women simply smiled and carried on with her Bible. Finally, one day when they were teasing her again, she knelt down in the midst of them all and, holding the Bible above her head, she said with a big smile, ‘Yes, of course there are many books which I could read. But there’s only one book which reads me!…. so that’s the book we can trust’", and it is where I shall begin…….."

          With that decision firmly made and my first essay title unforgettably engraved on my mind, it is to 1 Corinthians I turn, to meet up with a very special gentleman, St Paul and listen to what he has to say to me………….and to what I might like to have said to him?

 

“Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, help us so to hear them, to read, mark and inwardly digest them, that through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given to us in our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Collect for the last Sunday after Trinity)

Carolyn

St Michael and All Angels, Millbrook

 January 2008, and I have been given the “green light” to begin my journey.

Like all journeys there is an air of excitement, expectation with a clear destination in mind. Like most journeys, the road will be clear at times and I should be able to travel along moving ever closer to my planned destination but, sometimes there may be hold ups which will slow my travels down. However, unlike most journeys I may well change direction, because this is a spiritual journey on the road to Readership holding many challenges, opening different doors. It is a journey with many learning curves along the way which could alter the final destination. A little like a country walk – you start off, enjoying the wonderful scenery and then you come to a cross road and you have to make a decision, left or right? You rely on your innate feelings of which way would be best – in this spiritual journey God will be making the decisions – He will be “in charge” 

                        When did this all begin? Probably the seed was sown at Easter 2004 following “an experience” I had within Millbrook Church when I felt this “tug” at the very core of my belief, but I was not sure what this all meant. As the months went by this “tug” remained and in fact seemed to get stronger, so in January 2006 with wonderful support from both Michael, our Rector, and David, our Rural Dean, I ventured to explore the possibility of becoming a Reader – yet I still procrastinated. I probably was not quite ready to take on all that this learning would involve and there were personal issues in my life that I wanted to address. So it was another twelve months, February 2007, half way through “The Growing Together in Christ” course and with still more wonderful support from other ministerial people within the Diocese before I applied again to be considered for this Licensed Lay Role within the Church.

                        The formal preparation for my journey began when in October 2007 I attended a “Consultation Morning about Ministry.” This was a very informative morning with regards to learning what Reader Ministry is all about. It gave me the chance to meet others who were thinking along the same lines as me and we were encouraged fully to participate in the session. Hector came along with me. I had asked if this was possible, because I felt it to be so important that he too had an understanding of what Readership was all about and I wanted this to be a family commitment. There are many memories from that day but I think one of the most profound was all of us present on the morning singing the hymn The Summons to the tune of Kelvingrove. I do not remember hearing this hymn before, but I certainly will not forget it now.

                        The next step taken was The Selection Conference day itself, which was held on 17th November 2007. This was quite an experience and involved us doing some preparation work for the day and on the day. However, it was a truly spiritual day and structured to give us as much support as possible to shine and show our intent to take on the responsibilities associated with the learning and commitment required to become a Reader.

                        I received my letter of invitation to train for Readership Ministry from the Bishop of Hertford just before Christmas and what a fantastic Christmas gift. With the final requirements completed, such as, approval from Millbrook PCC and official recording of support from Michael, our Rector, I now find myself on the threshold of a great journey.

                        I invite you the reader, to join me on this journey each month as I progress along the road and share with you my “experiences and learnings”,

All my hope on God is founded;

He doth still my trust renew.

Me through change and chance he guideth,

only good and only true.

God unknown, He alone

Calls my heart to be his own.

(Hymn 336 “God our Hope”)

Carolyn

A Moment of Inner Peace…………………………………

 

As the world seems to struggle with the comprehension, let alone the achievement of peace, we continually pray for its coming. I think it would be fair to say that the ideas surrounding this universal peace are similar for us all in consistency, hopes and lasting. Yet, what about the other kind of peace, the individual, inner peace, which hopefully we all feel at different times in our lives to help us appreciate the wonderful world we have been given? This peace will mean different things to different people and it may not take on such a consistent role as it changes with the many circumstances relating to our lives and is therefore very subjective to the individual.

Last September I went to Canada and was fortunate enough to stay for ten glorious days at “The Cottage” situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, Prince Edward Island. Rejuvenating, inspiring, restful and totally beautiful in its quiet simplicity yet awesome in its magnificence, I was able to fully appreciate and “feel” the power of an inner peace, which I would like to share with you.

 

 “Peace is the softened mist gliding across The Reach at the start of the day the gentle whisper of the lofty poplars, calling in musical rhythmic voice.

Peace is the little yacht gliding gracefully over the blue, catching in breath the frothy whitecaps, the reflection of time captured by the artist in shades of greens and blues.

Peace is the bubbly laughter of children sharing the enjoyment of busy play, growing in youthful confidence, the timeless passion of family gathering.

Peace is the swirling of the curled autumnal leaf as she dances with certainty across the lawn, reclaimed by mother earth as seasonal hue changes to golds, reds and browns.

Peace is the sound of water lapping with energy the comforting lakeside shore, the clicking of busy crickets and the seagulls' plaintive cries.

Peace is the burnt orange shadowing of the sun, ebbing the horizon at the dusk of the day, taking with it the timed mysteries and memories along its passing way.

Peace is the naturalness of a world devoid of demands and material acquaintances – a far off distant shore where, momentarily, the world stops spinning – The Cottage.”

 (Carolyn Chappell Sept. 07 – copyright)

 

Maybe in time the inner peace of man will stir up enough to bring about a greater universal peace – one that stands the test of time and one that has been born out of love – certainly one little individual poem, alone, capturing a moment of time will not do it, but this would…………….

“In simple trust like theirs who heard, beside the Syrian sea,

The gracious calling of the Lord,

Let us like them, without a word –

Rise up and follow thee”

(Hymn 115 v.2)

Carolyn. St Michaels and All Angels, Millbrook.