Hymn singing, but not as we know it…

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At Greenbelt Festival, there is a new tradition of hymn singing in the big beer tent.

I stayed away this year, as it becomes very crowded- and the volume of the singing has to be heard to be believed. On one occasion I was about a mile away over the other side of the festival fields, and you could hear the singing clearly above the sounds coming from the mega-amplified main stage.

Here is a clip that gives a flavour of the event. What you see is a hymn choosing process, then a few thousand folk singing ‘Lord the light of your love is shining’.

The beers and hymns event has been criticised by some. As you can see, for some, the beer is central to proceedings- and perhaps the idea of beer-fueled worship, cast alongside the instructions for ‘orderly worship’ by St Paul is a step too far.

But then, if you speak to people who were there, with tears in their eyes as they worshiped…

How this transfers to your town or congregation- who knows!

My talented neice @ the fringe…

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I am very proud of my niece, who is part of Nottingham youth dance company. She is just about to start proper ballet school, so all the very best Elizabeth- my very favourite niece… ( I had to have a think then to make sure that she is my only niece!)

Lily and her company were dancing @ the Edinburgh Festival this year, and I have just been looking at some photos of them performing in the street.

I am no dancer. I am six and a half feet tall and almost as wide. People who can dance have a gift that is beyond my understanding, but through watching these talented young people, I am learning to appreciate the power of bodies moving to music- the ability to convey emotion, beauty, even truth.

The Bible too is full of references to dancing. Dancing as worship, dancing as celebration, dancing as a kind of childlike innocence, and dancing to ensnare and entrap.

Dance on then Lily. It will always be a joy to come and watch…

Angels

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So what do we think about Angels then?

We have just embarked on a plan to set up a worship space on Dunoon pier using the premise of Michaelmas- the festival of Michael and all Angels ( 27th of September… 12 noon till 8. You would be welcome!)

This idea was floated by Kimberley, minister at our local Episcopal church, and fellow blogger, and we had a lovely creative round-table planning meeting a couple of evenings ago. For some reason Michaela had sprinkled the table with glitter to bring a little angel-dust sparkle to the proceedings- and as ever with glitter, it is now everywhere, and on everything…

For me, the creation of these happenings is where the real worship of God can happen- a small community who seek to place God at the centre of everything, and celebrate this together.

But, as a confession, I struggled with the idea a little at first. To set up worship spaces like the one seems to demand a theme that allows creative, even playful, engagement- and I struggled with Angels as a theme…

Angels- Christmas cards, and New Age nonsense… this was my starting point.

But, I soon found that a little persistence can be very fruitful.

Kimberley had a whole set of words and ideas about Angels, and I soon discovered that Angel literally means ‘gods messenger’. Other folks had paintings, and ideas about how we could use the space, and what ‘stations’ we could prepare, and we were off and running.

One of the ideas was to use postcards to encourage people to send their own messages. I used wordle to generate an image from Kimberley’s words, and ordered some postcards.

Here is the image;

The wonderful gift of empty days…

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Today is Saturday.

And we have nothing planned.

No visitors are coming to stay (although I love having visitors.)

We have no major tasks at hand (although there is great fulfillment in a job well done.)

I am not on duty (and work can just go hang for a while…)

I do not have to worry about planning church stuff for tomorrow- after years and years of weekend church business, I now can enjoy the occasional sabbath…

Sure there are many things that I could/should be doing- gardening, cleaning, decorating, sorting out, planning for the upcoming Aoradh event. But I feel no pressure to do any of these things.

I may just so nothing…

And days like this, they are like sonnets. And they turn me all poetic.

Slow Saturday

Saturday morning
You and me
Stacked like school chairs
Racked together like delicious dishes in the dishwasher
Quilted by the wonderful possibility
Of an empty day

Me holding you
You wearing me
Like a film star in a fur coat

You told me that I had fallen back to sleep
And that you liked the sound of my snoring
And I curled closer

And the chatter of a blackbird outside our bedroom window
And the sound of slow diesel engines out on the estuary
The creak of boards as Will heads for an appointment with a pokemon
All these sounds of the approaching day
Are beautiful

Like you

So open up day
Like an Alpine picture window

I’ll put on the coffee

13.09.08

On being a stranger in a familiar place…

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59133505.24thPad.jpg (JPEG Image, 800×530 pixels)

This morning I drove over to Colintraive and took the wee ferry onto the Isle of Bute, as I had a couple of meetings in Rothesay.

Bute is a lovely Island, and I have become quite familiar with it over the last few years, as I am responsible for some of the Mental Health services there. Today the son shone on the swans in the castle moat, and I shared a nice lunch with some colleagues in the Green Tree Cafe in the moat centre- highly recommended by the way, and recently visited by Prince Charles and Camilla (the local talk is of how the council painted only the sides of the building that could be seen by them as they arrived- but this being Bute, it may well just be a story…)

But I will always be a kind of visitor- a partial outsider to these communities that I live and work amongst. In Bute, this seems to be made worse by my arrival as a manager, with all the power and control issues that are associated with this. There is, however, a process of growing together- grafting…

It seems to come with shared stories, insider knowledge that sometimes tips over into gossip- particularly, it seems, in small Island communities, like Rothesay. Much of this seems negative at times- although only insiders can really be openly critical.

I hope that my role is to look for good things, and encourage them further…

Rothesay Castle

Rothesay Castle
Stormed at last by scaffolding
By men of mortar in yellow vests
Encircled by the advancing town
The old lady lies broken toothed
But well pointed.

Whilst within
In the shadow
Behind the big black bolts
The castle kitchens lie cold
Hygienic
And where once was roasted suckling pig
There is a man in tartan uniform
Eating his sandwiches
But with due reverence
He leaves no crumbs.

Meanwhile, out in the sunlight
A brilliant white swan circles in the moat
Beneath ornamental trees
Like me, both are aliens
Imports.

So I start to let this place become familiar
To finger into foreign soil
To paddle across defensive ditches
To borrow history and make it mine
And take my place in this
Permanent impermance

© Chris Goan
2.3.05

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Choose life…

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Today I attended the choose life conference @ Stonefield Castle near Tarbet.

Choose life are an organisation whose purpose is to support initiatives that seek to help reduce the suicide rate in Scotland.

Scotland has one of the highest suicide rates in Western Europe, particularly in men. Suicide is the largest single cause of death in males under 35.

Suicide rates are almost always higher in areas of deprivation- in urban areas. However, when you control for deprivation, the next highest risk group are older men in rural areas. Strangely enough, living in rural areas seems to be a protective factor for women, but the opposite for men.

Speculation about the causal factors behind these figures might include the availability of instruments of greater violence in rural situations- farmers and forestry workers who have access to fire arms, and the isolation and poor support networks for people living and working in such situations.

Perhaps above all things however, people are at most risk when they become unable to think positively about the future- when they have lost hope.

Choose life run courses that help people think about the issue of suicide, and how we might help one another to spot those who are at risk, and access the help that might be needed.

Today there was also someone there from Breathing Space, a telephone/online helpline which attracts thousands and thousands of calls, and was originally aimed towards young men. Give it a try- here.

Christians deal in hope. It is this that Jesus gave us above all things. Hope of a world blessed by grace and beauty, and the possibility of healing and renewal. The New Kingdom- promised and possible- here right now.

And because of this, wherever we might be able to see increase of the things of the Kingdom- wherever we might be able to fan the flames of hope- there we should be, I reckon.

Big bang

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Given the events in Switzerland today, (see here) I reckon that another poem is called for…

In the universe
Who decides
Which way is up
And which is down
Or is it just
Perspective?
And who lit the fuse
For the big bang
Or was all happenchance
Unconnected?

And who holds the stars
As they spin on strings
And turns the worlds
On poles?
Who fired the comets
Out of view
And opened up
Black holes?

You might see these
As loaded questions
Meant to mould you in my image
But I have no simple certainties
Just a pilgrim’s search
For knowledge

Chris Goan 26.3.06

Scottish ‘Greenbelt’ festival?

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Gayle Findlay (Check out Gail and Stephen’s site here) asked us to give this a push.

Gayle has been involved in the worship events @ Greenbelt festival and this year there was some discussion concerning whether there was enough interest to set up a Scottish festival.

Here is the info-

Greenbelt Scotland
You might have missed the informal session at the Festival but we’re investigating the possibility of a Scottish version of Greenbelt. Many Scots don’t come to the Festival because there is no August Bank Holiday and they don’t want to take their children out of school. There are no definite plans, but there was enough enthusiasm from the session to want to take a further look with anyone who might be interested in getting involved in supporting, planning, volunteering or even just attending a Greenbelt Scotland*.  You don’t need to be Scottish — some at the initial meeting came from the north of England, it might also appeal to the Irish to come across the water. If you are interested and would like to be kept informed of any plans, send an email to
greenbeltscotland@greenbelt.org.uk
So that we can keep in touch. Another meeting is planned in the Autumn somewhere in middle Scotland–we’ll keep you posted.

Watch this space!