Fun fun fun technology

Well the network has been playing up! So I haven't blogged for a while. Plus its been busy!

Maundy Thursday was different- we didn't have a service as such but were hosting our night for the night shelter. So as I found myself reflecting on not having Communion as I have done previously on Maundy Thursday, I realised that although we didn't have Communion- we were living out the story of the last supper. As we gathered around the table with the night shelter guests and served them. We were offering hospitality which of course is central to the foot washing we see in the narrative of Maundy Thursday.

On Good Friday we had a walk of witness around Kings Cross. This involved the Methodist, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Salvation Army and the Lutherans. It was a good occasion- at times quite noisy as we stood outside one of the Anglican Churches on the main road opposite Euston Station. It struck me how muck like the first Good Friday this would have been. The way of the cross takes place with the world getting on with life. Not with silence and everyone paying attention- although as people did on Friday I am sure they would glance and watch. Then it was time for hot cross buns and tea- in abundance!

Then in the afternoon there was a three hour service at Hinde St based on 7 words from the cross. It was a powerful service and didn't seem 3 hours at all. There were different reflections from different people. One of the powerful ones for me was one done by a colleague looking the phrase "I am thirsty". Looking at what these words would have meant to Jesus being crucified in Kings Cross. With the longest champagne bar around, with the types of things that go on here. It really made me think. One of the things that struck me about the service was how little it actually dwelt on sin- unlike some services I've previously been at on Good Friday. It made me think about the wider message of the cross. When I am able to access on my laptop I will post some further comments.

I spent Easter Sunday morning in the hospital- having spent Holy Saturday in Cambridge. It was snowy on the journey back. Everything covered in snow and it struck me how that first Easter morning would have been completely covered in the sense of loss from Good Friday.
So I got back to London and headed for the hospital. It was a real privilege to be able to share in the service- it was the first time a Holy Communion had been shared in the Chaplaincy together with Anglicans and Methodists together. It was special to share reflections of Easter with people who I have got to know over recent weeks.

Me and my colleague Mark then shared together as we renewed with the congregation our Baptism vows. At the end we shared "this is the faith of the Church" and of course as we said these words we were expressing the sense of Church in the broadest sense. We were expressing our common unity. My colleague Mark then sprinkled me with Holy Water and I did him, then we both sprinkled the congregation. It really struck home the acknowledgement of "one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins". It was a Special Easter morning. After the service we then did some visits- which again was special but challenging. How do we express the Easter Joy to people who are struggling with pain, suffering and are as my colleague put it, living out the suffering of Good Friday. The following summarises my very short sermon:

One of the things I find so comforting about Holy Week is that God encompasses in Jesus all the human emotions we experience- the heights and depths of humanity. God walked the road in Jesus and God walks the road again with us in our journeys. Therefore although we may not be at the point of the joy of Easter day we can identify with part of the story of the passion and Easter story. Knowing that God shares in this with us can give us joy, hope and peace.

So Easter was very different this year! I remember last year preaching out in the Country- being surrounded by lambs! This year in the capital surrounded by buildings and lots of traffic! in the evening I went to Hinde Street for a Communion Service- that was good and reflective with meditations.
So a very different Easter to last year!

So now I am 1 and a 1/2 days away from finishing work for holidays! I am feeling ready for a break- there has been so much going on. So I head off on Thursday to Cambridge- Friday to Lancaster- where I shall go out for Lunch with Steve, then Friday night I am staying with the Charmans and we shall head off to Iona very early on Saturday morning. I am then back the following Friday to Lancaster and off to Skeggy with Emma, Sarah and Kieron for Spring Harvest on the Saturday! So I shall be without Internet access for 2 weeks! So won't update for a while! Lots of packing to do before I head off! But I am very excited and looking very much to the break!

Its quite scary how little time I have left in London once I am back - my final day in the West London Mission Circuit is Sunday 29th June!

So long, farewell!