Rector's Summer 2024 letter
Dear Church Member,
My trip to Tanzania reminded me that the church is the hope of the world. According to Jesus, who said He came to establish the church, it was intended to be something so filled with energy that not even hell itself could withstand its onslaught.
The idea is that Christ followers are called to be the light of the world. As our collective light is brought together through the church, it should gain intensity the way focused light becomes a laser beam.
So what’s wrong? Most churches are anything but energy filled. Hell seems to not only be standing its ground, but also gaining territory. Not the case at BPC nor in Tanzania but certainly across most of the CofE!
Let’s put to one side all the things churches are doing wrong today. Let’s put aside the scandals, the splits and the outdated strategies. Let’s not worry for a moment about any disappointments you may have with leadership.
Let’s talk instead about what any individual person can do to help their church reach its full redemptive potential. Isn’t that what all of us will answer for at the end of our lives anyway? Not what others did, but rather what we did?
Here is a baker’s dozen of ideas:
1. Embody the idea that it’s not about you, but instead about the person who isn’t even attending our church yet. Then be a willing participant in whatever it might take to reach those who are unchurched, even if it means you are inconvenienced.
2. Be generous with your financial resources. Help your church do all that it can by giving generously.
3. Invite your unchurched friends. Really, the only way our church can grow through getting the unchurched to come!
4. Step up and serve. Don’t wait to be asked, just volunteer. If it looks like everything is covered, trust me, it’s not.
5. Connect Group Leaders are desperately needed. Please let me know if this is a gift in your mix and that you, as a more mature follower of Christ, are willing to serve in this pivotal role.
6. Give the BPC team (and me and Jo in particular) an umbrella of grace for all that we aren’t and pray for us on a regular basis. We can’t walk on water, but we can drown. Be a buoyancy aid to us!
7. Realize that those on the BPC staff team do not get a thousand emails a day giving them encouragement. Send them a word to feast on to keep them going. They are human and get as discouraged as anyone.
8. Talk about your church like gossip over the garden fence, but in a good way—like a great film you saw, or a good restaurant. Unleash positive public relations in our town.
9. Work hard on having a positive attitude of a cup half full instead of a cup half empty. You’ll be surprised how contagious it is.
10. Handle friction and disagreement in a way that honours God, which means handle it biblically (Matthew 18:15). In general, just practice the habit of “agreeing to disagree agreeably.” And remember Augustine’s rejoinder: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” And much more falls into the “non-essential” camp than we often admit.
11. Welcome those who come into our church with messed-up lives, failing marriages, piercings, tattoos, addictions, divorce, homosexual orientation, children out of wedlock, roommates who aren’t their spouse… in other words, welcome everyone’s differences and scandals with the greater scandal of grace. Not affirmation, necessarily, but always acceptance so that they can experience that grace for themselves. It’s the Jesus way.
12. Pray, pray, pray. In the 14th-century there were holy women who placed themselves in little rooms at the base of our churches and devoted themselves to prayer. They prayed for the church and its members and the growth of the Kingdom of God. These women were called by the quaint but telling name of “anchoress,” for they were spiritual anchors who held the church amid the storms of that century. Be that anchor.
13. Finally, if you are not already signed up, please, please join us on our weekend away 27-29th September at Kents Hill.
All to say, if each of us is called to be the light of the world, and that light is meant to be brought together in and through the church, then perhaps we need to bring an old song back into circulation:
“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”
As I write Holiday Club and Youth Nights are in full swing. What an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with a huge number of kids and youth (116 and 35 respectively). BPC is fielding an amazing team with Abi Graham leading Holiday Club and Sam leading Youth Nights.
My trip to Tanzania has really impacted me but getting back to work has been like a lorry leaving the road into one of those escape lanes that is full of gravel to rapidly slow the lorry to a stop! I keep having to remind myself what God accomplished by his power out there. So the burning question for me has been so what? What difference is this going to make at BPC? In short we need to gird our loins for mission both here and abroad. I am hoping to run a short mission in the town with students from the Oxford Centre for Apologetics like we did a few years ago. I also want to lead a BPC mission trip to Africa with our mission partners SOMA. As a part of our preparation for this I am planning a sermon series on some core discipleship training – all the things Jesus would have covered with his disciples before he ascended into heaven. We’re going to do it at all three services week by week and I am excited!
General Synod. A depressing General Synod was one thing that brought me crashing back to earth after Tanzania and I have written a digest below should you be interested in my take on where we are.
Focus. Six families went to the Focus church festival at the start of the holidays and it was a great success – so much so that I am hoping to take a bigger team next year. For those who don’t like camping the other option is Spring Harvest at Easter where Rick Warren is the keynote speaker. If you are interested in going speak to Flo Thornton.
Staff News. Divya has settled into her role as Operations Manager extremely well and she and Lara (and their team of helpers) are doing a great job in the office. Andrew Pegg our new ministry assistant will be starting his 2-year MA at LST next term and is already being a massive help. We’ve said goodbye to Ali and welcome in his place Phil Cawley to lead worship at the 11am and 6pm on a part-time basis.
Holidays now beckon and on return we will be finalising the weekend away logistics. I will then be awaiting the arrival of my first grandchild!
Parish Weekend Away 27th – 29th September. What is my biggest prayer request right now? It is that a further 66 adults sign up for the weekend away. If you haven’t yet signed-up then please be that answer to my prayer! You can pay what you can afford towards the ticket price. You can book here.
I hope that the summer holidays will be a time of spiritual refreshment for you all,
with every blessing,
Will
WHAT HAPPENED AT GENERAL SYNOD?
A number of significant issues were discussed at General Synod, but all eyes were fixed on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) debate in particular on the Monday afternoon. Bishop Martyn Snow's proposals, endorsed by the House of Bishops, for the next phase for the Living in Love and Faith process were brought to Synod and narrowly approved.
WHAT WAS VOTED/AGREED?
Standalone services of blessings for same sex couples were approved
A timetable towards clergy same sex marriage was agreed
A blank cheque replacement of ‘Issues of human sexuality’** was endorsed (**This is a 1991 House of Bishops document which (amongst other things) ensures that clergy and those accepted for ordination training are living in accordance with the C of E doctrine of sexual ethics).
Delegated arrangements were endorsed - limited provision for those who uphold the existing Church of England doctrine of sex and marriage.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The approval of the motion at Synod marks a significant milestone in the LLF process as the liberalisation of the Church of England continues apace. It was deeply disappointing that despite hearing repeatedly in speeches of the need to build trust by avoiding bad process, and the Church of England Evangelical Council’s (CEEC’s) continued advocacy of the insufficiency of delegated arrangements, the motion was carried narrowly by a vote by Houses (Bishops 22 for, 12 against 5 abstentions; Clergy 99 for, 88 against, 2 abstentions; and Laity 95 for, 91 against, 2 abstentions).
The General Synod heard from a range of speakers standing for orthodoxy. Unfortunately, the leaders of the Church of England seem intent on leading the church away from the biblical teaching and doctrine passed down through the centuries and shared by millions of Christians in the Anglican Communion today.
We (the orthodox evangelicals and anglo catholics on GS) will continue to pursue structural reorganisation as the only provision that will guarantee orthodoxy going forward. We are not causing schism, it is the revisionists.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
General Synod’s decision triggered the launch of a de facto parallel province (within the C of E), as outlined by the recent Alliance letter to the archbishops and bishops and CEEC will work with The Alliance to make this a reality.
WHAT BPC IS DOING
BPC is paying its ‘Parish Share’ into the Oxford Good Stewards Trust. We are paying 100% of our Share and currently 100% is passed on to the Diocese. This Diocese is rich so withholding Share would have a limited effect however if many churches decided to redirect some of their Share (perhaps towards fellow orthodox churches who are struggling) it would have not just a symbolic effect but a practical one too.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The decisions taking place in General Synod can feel quite removed from those of us serving in local churches across the country but these changes already are making mission and evangelism more challenging. You can express your concerns by writing to the Bishop of Oxford Steven Croft We are told that the House of Bishops is of the opinion that concern is felt only by a small minority in the Church of England. Please make your concerns known by writing him. You can also sign-up as a supporter of The Alliance at www.alliancecofe.org.