A rose by any other name would smell as sweet January 21, 2011

This saying, now part of English folklore, comes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – from a speech in which Juliet bewails the fact that Romeo’s name condemns him to be an enemy of her family for ever.  (quick quiz: which way round is it – which of Romeo and Juliet is a Capulet, and which a Montague? – answer at the end of this post). The point is that Romeo is the same person, whatever his name is, and that the scent of a rose would be just as lovely if it were called a sputnik.

This thought was provoked by a discussion we have been having in various fora of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain lately about our Lay Ministers. There is little doubt about the valuable role that these able and dedicated servants play in the church: but the problem is in the name. When LCiGB first started to discuss the setting up of a recognised lay ministry within our congregations, the Synod had a loooong discussion about the name to be used. There were various sugggestions – Deacon, Evangelist, Reader, Lector, Lay Assistant, Pastoral Assistant and so on. Each of those has its own associations and connotations: so, for instance, Readers have a particular role, meaning and training within the Church of England, and it doesn’t exactly correspond to what we had in mind. So to avoid confusion we abandoned that idea. Deacon is a particularly thorny term, as there are as many definitions of deacons as there are churches – some are ordained, some are lay; in some places church elders are deacons, in others the diaconate is a step on the way to ordination and so on. So, in a spirit of compromise, we opted then for Lay Minister.

But it turns out now, almost 8 years on,that the term has raised various forms of confusion. Just to explain for those who aren’t aware – although English is the main language of LCiGB, we have communities from the four corners of the globe worshipping among us, and for many of our people there is no equivalent in their native languages to the English word ‘Minister’. So in our Chinese congregation, where both Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken, the term ‘Lay Minister’ sounds like a complete contradiction in terms – there is only one word for ministers, and that is pastor, which always implies ordination. The same is true in Polish, for instance. So, while in English it is easy enough to grasp the idea of a lay person who has a licensed role in the ministry of the church, it is much more difficult for people from some of our other language groups.

This has prompted something of a reassessment of what we should call these members of our churches, who perform such a valuable role in maintaining the worship life and pastoral care of our congregations: because it looks as though a change of name might well enable the role to be better understood. In this case, the rose by its present name probably doesn’t smell quite as sweet as it ought to!

In thinking about this, though, I began to notice how many other aspects of our church life have different terminology in different languages. Take the word Congregation, for instance – the local expression of the church. In English the word congregation implies a group that is coming together, congregating – in secular terms, you would normally congregate for some particular purpose or occasion, but it implies no sense of becoming a community or of a shared purpose, except that of coming together for worship.

In German the word is Gemeinde, which has a completely different origin and meaning. It means a commune, or community; and is related to words like gemeinsam, which means to have something in common, and Gemeinschaft, which has meanings of community and togetherness. Gemein was a word that Martin Luther often used to emphasise the way in which Christians share each others lives, burdens and joys, for instance.

In Swahili usharika comes from shiriki – to join, to participate or to share; and in Latvian, the word for congregation is draudze, which is related to friendship.

What we call a thing, though, is not neutral: and the shades of meaning that these words have must also influence the way we see this body, this assembly, community, sharing or friendship; giving a body a name also confers something of that meaning on the body.

Just one more example. The word for the person who is the ordained clergy of a church also varies enormously from one language and culture to another. Pastor (mchungaji in Swahili) implies care, guidance, nourishment and safekeeping; mācītājs in Latvian actually means teacher; but in Polish ksiądz is derived from words like knaz and Konung, implying high status and lordship.

So does that mean also that what we call our pastors/priests/teachers/lords affects how we view them, and what we

expect from their ministry among us?

There is probably more thinking to do around this whole area, to ensure that when we refer even to the most basic elements of church life in a beautifully diverse church like ours, we have a shared understanding of what we are talking about.

Meanwhile – here is a picture of some of the pastors and lay ministers of LCiGB, congregating for a shared, communal retreat last October!

Answer to quick quiz: Juliet Capulet is in love with Romeo Montague.

The New Year starts with a bang and a whirl of activity January 15, 2011

The Christmas and New Year holidays here in the UK tend to extend to a couple of weeks these days. For many people in and around London, very little work was done between about Friday 17 December and Tuesday 4 January – and even that week was really very quiet in and around the City. But the actual work that needs to be done then tends to just pile up, like water behind a dam; so the first week back at work tends to be a bit frantic, with emails to be answered, problems arising, meetings held over for a couple of weeks and now urgently needing to happen, letters to be answered, office plants to be watered….

So the first weeks back at work have included some key meetings, as well as a marvellous annual event – the Eritrean Congregation’s Christmas service.

On Saturday 8 January the Treasurer of LCiGB, Linda Bruch, and I met with Pastor Robert Wojtowicz and representatives of some of the Polish congregations in the South of England to talk about the issues that face so many churches and charities these days – how to deal with the demands on us to comply with governance and administration requirements. Sometimes these demands can seem terribly onerous and scary, especially for smaller bodies. The meeting was conducted in a very positive spirit, though, and it seems possible that we will be able to overcome some hurdles, and allow the congregations to move on and do what they really want to do – pray, worship and care for one another.

And then, starting with the beginning of this past week, Sunday 9 January was Christmas according to the Eritrean calendar. For once, London Transport was being fairly co-operative, and there were no major transport issues to stop us all arriving at St Andrew’s URC church in Frognal.

The congregation gathering - in the end there were well over a hundred people present

The service was led by Lay Minister Aklilu Tesfai – our normal practice is that the Bible lections are read in both Tigrinya and English, with prayers and hymns in Tigrinya, and the sermon preached in English if I am there. On this occasion we also had Holy Communion, conducted in English, but with liturgical hymns in tigrinya.

Lay Minister Aklilu at the lectern

The choir also sang, as usual – and the children read Bible passages for the Christmas theme, with two songs also by the Youth Group. A new feature this time was a song in another of the languages of the region, Tigre.

The choir, looking suitably festive

Once the service was over, we all moved to the hall to enjoy a marvellous traditional Eritrean meal (injeera and various spicy sauces – absolutely marvellous). Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this a really memorable day.

On Monday 9 January a new initiative within LCiGB began. We have several people working within chaplaincy roles within our church, which is a good thing, and a way in which we can offer pastoral care to Lutherans and others outside the congregational setting. For some time, though, the Council has been aware that this work needs a little more thought and co-ordination; so a Chaplaincy Committee has now been established which will also enable our chaplains to meet specifically to talk about their own issues. We met for the first time, hosted by the Gatehouse in Leicester, where the University of Leicester Chaplaincy is housed. Lay Minister Marlies Adam is the Lutheran member of the team there. The meeting (attended also by Rev’d John Evenson, Chaplain in Birmingham University and Rev’d Tuulia Matikainen-Castledine, International Lutheran Student Centre Chaplain) was deemed a success (and Marlies’ goose soup a defintely positive addition). We also had a chance to meet with Rev’d Steven Foster, the Co-ordinating Chaplain in Leicester.

Then on Tuesday the Trustees of the Lutheran Council met at the ILSC for a very important reason: Very Rev’d Tom Bruch, Dean of our church, has also been the General Secretary of the Lutheran Council for over 10 years, and has just retired from that post. He will be a hard act to follow, having developed the work of the Council in many and diverse ways over the years, and having worked hard and effectively to raise the profile of Lutheranism in the ecumenical world in the UK.

Very Rev'd Tom Bruch

So we met to continue the process of finding Tom’s replacement, discussing applications and next steps.

(from left) Torbjorn Holt, Chair of Lutheran Council, Else Hviid, Colin Menzies and Eliza Zikmane

Please pray for the Council as we go through this crucial time and prepare for new times and a new face at the helm.

On Wednesday it was back to the ILSC for a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Anglican Lutheran Society. The ALS has several important events coming up, including our AGM on 5 March, at which we will hear about the situation of Christians in Jerusalem. With fears growing for the future of Christians in the Holy Land, and frequent distressing news about Christian persecution throughout the Near and Middle East, this topic could not be more timely.

Bishop Rupert Hoare, Anglican Co-Moderator, together with Tom Bruch at the ALS meeting

We also talked about the next ALS International Conference in Salisbury (September 2011) – for more details of what promises to be an interesting opportunity to expand our knowledge of the Bible, its historic translations and their legacy in Church and Society, please click here. We were joined for lunch and a part of the meeting by a colleague from Hungary, Prof Tibor Fabinyi.

Prof Fabinyi with Rev'd Dr Roy Long

Roy Long, Jochen Dallas, Helen Harding, Dick Lewis, Guy Smith and John Arnold around the discussion table

So to Thursday, and two more meetings. In the afternoon I had been invited to attend a meeting of Faith in Europe, The Churches’ European Relations Network, to talk about the part-time work I do for Churches Together in England as a (very) (very) part-time Europe Desk secretary. The main speaker, though, was Doris Petsche, General Secretary of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME), who told us, with great expertise and knowledge of the legal and practical implications, about the issues that migrations raises for us in Europe.

Doris Petsche

Then in the evening Tom, David Lin (Chair of LCiGB) and I met with the pastor and some  Council members of another congregation to talk about matters of shared concern, and to discuss ways of working towards the future.

Here is something I just discovered my new camera can do – this is a picture of one of the windows in the library of Archbishop’s House in Southwark, where the Faith in Europe meeting was held.

Looking back, looking forward January 2, 2011

Christmas has passed, the New Year has arrived; and the Christian world now looks forward to Epiphany, Twelfth Night, on 6 January, when we celebrate the revelation of Christ to the world in the visit of the wise men from the East.

Herod and the Wise Men at the Eritrean Nativity in 2009

This last Advent and Christmas have been unusual for me personally: after a bout of flu early in the season, bronchitis has intervened, coupled with unusually severe weather and extensive transport disruption, and there has been no choice but to hibernate at home for much of December. For self-confessed workaholics like me that is a terribly hard way to spend a few weeks, but undoubtedly good for my soul. As pastors we always tell people that Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas, a time of fasting, maybe – rather like Lent – and definitely a time to wait, to think and meditate, to pray and prepare for the coming Lord. Often, though, we ourselves are the last ones to observe that: there is just too much to do. Sermon preparation, carol services, orders of service, Christmas visits – all this added into our own celebrations with family and friends means that time is at a premium.

So this year, with days spent at home,albeit unwillingly, I have had time to read and to pray; and eventually that began to feel like a real blessing in disguise. One of the books I have been re-reading is ‘Tend my flock’  – Sustaining Good Pastoral Care by Kate Litchfield, described as a ‘companion and guide to susatining good practice in pastoral care’, aimed at ‘ordained and lay ministers who are seeking to live their pastoral ministry well amid all the complexities and pressures of contemporary society’.

One of the chapters dealswith the whole package of issues involved in ‘Living Well in Ministry’ – in other words, how ministers should take care of themselves – their own bodies, psyches and souls  – because we, too, are vulnerable to stress, burn out and exhaustion. Partly this is a question of stewardship – ministers are part of the resources of the church, and need to be looked after and conserved, just as the finances and the property do: but much more importantly we also absolutely need to recognise that we, too, are children of God, loved and cared for by our gracious Father, and therefore we are precious and need to look after ourselves, and each other.

The other thing that this month has reminded me of is that we are all also vulnerable and weak, and yet time and the ministry wait for no man. In other words – it’s no use waiting until we feel 100%, on top of our game, strong, healthy and energetic, to carry out whatever mission God has for us. Sometimes it will be in times of weakness and vulnerability that God can most use us. After all, we can pray even when we are ill, and sofa-bound: and the message that a strong faith proclaims will not necessarily be diluted by being framed in a fallible body. Years ago I visited a parishioner with a destructive, wasting neurological disease: she progressively lost her ability to function, but at each visit I came away praising God for the bright fire of her faith. In fact, as her body faded, the light shone ever more clearly.

So here’s to a New Year of continued service, mission and ministry – but also a year in which we take care of each other, and a year in which we all spend enough time resting, reading and praying, as well as in frantic activity.

Wherever God sends us in 2011, and whatever joys or sorrows await each one of us, may God’s light shine through us.

Epiphany star image from Sundays and Seasons