Saying something that others won't be saying

I was sorry to hear on the lunchtime news that Lord Taylor is going down for 12 months following his expenses fraud. I think his barrister is right when he pointed out that this would destroy him. I mentioned my one and only meeting with him earlier this year. Lord Taylor - no ordinary Tory.

The crowning glory of resisting the flesh

The way ladies dress for church is causing concern for a Methodist Bishop in Ghana. The Ghanaian Methodist Bishops certainly don't hold back, only last June one was complaining of fornication and corruption.

This time it is the turn of  the Methodist Diocesan Bishop, Right Reverend Winfred Ametefe who is calling on all the ministers of the Gospel to work hard in order to put an end to the practice of copying the western fashion blindly.

This he claims causes problems in church with "nudity dressing" and creates problems for Ministers, especially when conducting Holy Communion.

Imagine I did it my way

Dave Faulkner a Methodist Minister  and blogger had a rare Sunday off yesterday, went to a church which he doesn't identify on a "no names, no pack drill" basis, and stumbled on one of the hobby horses I rarely mention here - the inappropriate choice of secular music for a religious services.

In Dave's case his eyebrows were raised by the organist's  choice of John Lenon's Imagine to play before the service. It's the one that contains the lines "Imagine there's no religion" with its implication that the world would be a better place without us sky pilots and G-d botherers.

Dave admits that when requested for funerals he blocks it and encourages another choice of Beatles music such as Twist and Shout.

My hobby horse is that awful song by Frank Sinatra I did it my way . I thought it was an urban myth in the 1990s that people actually chose it as a funeral hymn. In 2005 the Co-operative Funeral Services (who will be sorting me out when the time comes) published a survey showing it was the most popular of all secular tunes at funerals.

Even then I wasn't convinced that anyone could be so crass as to play it at a funeral until a few weeks ago when I passed the larger chapel at a crematorium , we were in the smaller chapel.

Methodism's got talent

I hear on the grapevine that one of this week's Britain's Got Talent contestants has a Methodist background. So watch out  forJean Martyn and remember to cast your vote. She reminds me a bit of Cherry Wainer of which only regular readers Ian S and Tony B are old enough to have any memory. I  met Cherry in the chip shop when she popped out from rehearsals with Cliff Richard. (That last sentence is entirely true by the way) Anyway, sorry I digress, watch out for Jean on Britain's Got Talent.

The "N word" in all its iterations

Today's Mail on Sunday carries a sad and nasty story from last week's BAFTA awards. A top fashion designer launched an offensive verbal attack on Black TV presenter Ben Douglas. It started with the use of the "N word" and then descended into a self justification that the designer was speaking "street" and that's how he should speak with a "brother" on first meeting.

The BAFTA awards are where all the luvies meet from the television industry. It is one of those audiences that we would not normally associate with racist abuse.

In recent weeks this blog has been the centre of some sharp discussions about what constitutes anti-Semitism. There seems to be an internal Methodist myth that racists and anti-Semites cannot possibly be amongst our ranks because we are all so incredibly nice.

Yet recent pronouncements on Israel and Palestine show that there are issues that need to be addressed, especially as British Methodism signs up to neo-anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile we have all these wonderful efforts to become a more diverse connexion whereas on the ground we are institutionally racist. I'm the treasurer of a mainly Black church in inner city Birmingham. The assessment and property maintenance programme make it almost impossible for such churches to continue. We bear the same burdens of assessment as the modern middle class churches and yet have far higher maintenance costs because our buildings are so old.

The reflex action of the District and Connexion is that struggling inner city churches should be closed. One example in Birmingham is that a few years back we sold Birmingham Central Hall for zillions of pounds. Where has that money gone? It certainly hasn't been made available to churches such as ours.

But it is the inner city churches that are most likely to attract Black, migrants, economically disadvantaged people, those with mental health issues and so on. Closing inner city work may seem to be the way forward for our colleagues in the shires and suburbs.  At the end of the day Methodism is saying that we no longer really wants to recruit people from certain racial and economic groups.

However we need to understand that the outcome is that these same people may as well be using the "N word" because that really reflects what they think.

A very upsetting comment thread

A few days ago I referred to the Catholic Herald article about the decision of the Vatican that the Methodist Conference could not use Liverpool Cathedral for an ordination service.

As of a few minutes ago the article had attracted 156 comments. It gives an interesting insight into how another faith tradition conducts its discussions and illuminates what some Catholics make of Methodism and other expressions of the Protestant tradition.

I really don't know how typical these comments are of Catholic thinking, anymore than anyone reading this blog would assume it represents Methodist thinking, but I did find many of the comments very offensive.

There may be lessons here as just occasionally people of other faiths and faith tradition come onto the Methodist blogsphere and may draw similar conclusions. One of the reasons why this blog discourages long rambling comment threads is that they often do become very personal and spiteful.

The Steventon Fire Brigade

A couple of weeks ago I published a picture of my great grandfather, Alexander Rowland Jones, with his engine The County of Pembroke. I found a cache of families photos during a sort out. Here's another photograph of  great grandfather Jones with his men in the Steventon volunteer fire brigade.He is top right in the peaked cap. I've been trying to date the photograph. Obviously we know that it was taken sometime between 1890 and the 1920s. My feeling is that had it been taken after the First World War there would be more service medals on display. It could be that the four medal holders had served in the Boer Wars placing it sometime between 1902 and 1914. If any readers know anything about the subject I'd love to hear from them.

Just one thing about Steventon: historically it was part of the Royal County of Berkshire. In fact my grandfather fought with the Royal Berks. There was great anger in that part of the family when Steventon was transferred into Oxfordshire as part of the reorganisation of local government in the 1970s.

Another letter the Methodist Recorder refuse to publish

It seems that the Methodist Recorder now refuse to publish anything sympathetic to Israel. Three weeks have passed since I wrote to them about an anti-Semitic "factcard" from an organisation called "Christians Aware". Just for the record, if not for the Recorder, this is what I wrote:

Dear Editor,

I am disappointed that the Recorder published in a prominent position, without question, a “factcard” purporting to represent the situation in the town of Hebron (May 5, 2011).

Just one sentence betrays the casual anti-Semitic bias of the “factcard” : ‘These (the security barriers) separate the Jewish settlers (sic) and the Palestinian residents, hampering freedom of movement for the Palestinians”

It is not rocket science to work out that the security barriers also hamper the freedom of movement of Hebron’s Jews.

Why are the Jews referred to as “settlers” and the Palestinians as “residents”?

There has been a Jewish community in Hebron for at least 800 years. Unfortunately in 1929 Arab militants attacked Jewish homes and 67 Jews were murdered and many women raped. It was the courage other local Arabs which prevented the death toll being higher.

In 1948 the Jews of Hebron were “ethically cleansed” following partition, as were many historic Jewish communities throughout the Middle East. Jews returned to Hebron in 1967 after an absence of just 19 years.

Sadly the security situation in the area of the Palestinian Authority is not good. The recent murder of the Fogel family (which won’t make a Christians Aware “factcard) showed that Jewish residents in the disputed territories still face many dangers.

It would be helpful if the Recorder would be balanced and informed in its editorial decisions when criticising Jews.

Yours,

The man who persuaded me that pacifism wasn't always right

Today I rejoice that  Ratko Mladic may soon face justice. His crimes in Sebronicia persuaded me that there were times when military force was necessary. My pacifism died with those he massacred.

A couple of years ago The Independent produced a damming report on the war crimes of the Serbian forces. I posted this in July 2009 and it provoked an interesting discussion:

'There aren't many people who can explain how and when they ceased to be a pacifist. I am one such person.

Today's moving and painful article in The Independent on Sunday reminded me of the course of events that changed my philosophy and even to a small extent how I expressed my faith.

I had been elected to the European Parliament in 1994. One issue I could not miss was that of the terrible things that had happened in Bosnia. I have mentioned before a terrible moment when I met the full force of the evil at work in Bosnia:

"I remember a Muslim woman from Tuzla, a Muslim community in the former Yugoslavia, visiting me in my office in Brussels way back in 1995. She told me something of the breakdown of civil society. For some reason I had to leave my office to meet a visiting delegation. When I returned I suggested we (myself and my research assistant, a young woman) prayed for her and her family.

When we finished praying her face was awash with tears. "No Christian has ever prayed for me", she sobbed.

Afterwards my research assistant explained that while I was out of the room the woman mentioned that she had been seriously sexually assaulted by Serbian soldiers who she knew to be Christians because they were wearing crucifixes"

"No Christian has ever prayed for me"

A few weeks later the town of Sebrenica was surrounded by the Serbs. There was a tiny force of ill equipped and out numbered Dutch soldiers, supposedly part of a European peace mission.

The Dutch did not have the stomach for a fight. Neither did the rest of Europe. I well remember the impassioned speech by a young Green MEP Alexander Langer. He pleaded with the Parliament to do something, anything to help the people of Sebrenica. He pointed to the sheer evil that was about to unfold. Some of us, breaking party lines, supported his motion calling for military intervention. It was probably the first time in my life I had supported the use of violence.

For Alexander, who had become the voice of Sebrenica, the stress was too much. The weekend after his resolution was defeated, he hung himself. A good man who still had much to give.

A few days later we saw the men and women of Sebrenica being seperated. The men were taken to their deaths, the women became homeless widows.

That is why I am no longer a pacifist, much as I respected good men like Donald Soper, I realised that there were times when the military option was the only option available.

Please read the Independent article. This happened about 600 miles from where I am sitting now. The problem is that I and thousands of others did just that, we sat.'

The world is our parish, so to is Linkedin

The recent stock market flotation of Linkedin is a significant moment in social media. Whilst much attention has been focused on Facebook and Twitter, users of Linkedin have been quietly building our profiles and networks. In recent weeks I have noticed a huge surge of new users, including many old contacts, coming on board and seeking to build up their networks. Linkedin is one channel of social media that is here to stay and develop.

My own experience with Linkedin has been very positive with several hot leads coming from headhunters. What  has really proved to be a big plus is that Linkedin contacts are portable. For example over the last eight years I have built up a conventional email list of about 400 contacts, at least that's what it looks like. Trouble is that as the contact moves the email address stays. Of that 400 I now get back about 150 undeliverable s  each time I send an update. With Linkedin I have a direct link with the individual, so the contact point remains the same wherever  and whenever they they move. That is an extremely powerful business resource.

One of the great opportunities of Linkedin are the groups. I've joined several and must admit that I have found them very patchy. Sometimes I feel that the group digests sent to my email box are little more than spam. Other times I find some really interesting discussions from which I can learn and to which I can contribute.

Last year I set up an open group (meaning anyone can join) called Methodists in Britain. Growth has been slow but steady and now has 16 members, about half of whom are full time employees or office holders in the Methodist Church.

In addition there are several of us in secular occupations. I am especially pleased to see that we have been joined by the corporate affairs director of a big housing association, several IT project people, and  very interesting recruits from academia.

The Vatican, The Drifters and if you are easily offended please stay away

Well our annual conference has already hit a snag with the refusal of the Vatican to allow Liverpool Cathedral to be an ordination venue. A Catholic Herald article makes sad reading: clearly bigotry isn't the sole preserve of Protestantism.

Meanwhile I've had a peep at the conference venue website Southport Theatre and Conference Centre. It is a sharp reminder of what the rest of the world does when they are not packing into our Methodist chapels.

At the moment they are featuring Abba and Elvis impersonators, Ken Dodd and various other great names from the past. Immediately before the Conference they are staging The Drifters. Perhaps we should ask the act to hang on for a few days and show us how to drift successfully?

Meanwhile after the conference comes someone called Roy Chubby Brown. Just a few days after Methodists have  prayed and sang worship songs to the Lord something very different will be happening in the very same hall.

As the theatre managers so eloquently put it: "Now is your fat chance to grab tickets for the lewd, crude comedian who sometimes shocks, often insults - but always entertains his audience. If easily offended please stay away." No room for Methodists then.

Another challenge from The Radical Methodist

The Radical Methodist and myself are currently on a circuit interfaith study course, to which I am applying Chatham House rules. However one of the texts which came up on Tuesday was Paul's assertion that "in Christ there will be neither Greek nor Jew". In a short, but succinct, post Robert looks at the invention of anti-Semitism by the early church. Not certain I agree with every word but I think Robert throws up some important insights which I believe we should take on board when Jews are suspicious of our lectures on issues such as Israel.

Open hearts, open minds, open doors and a Nazi past

We Methodists have a view of ourselves which excludes the possibility of our faith and practice being anything other than benign. We acknowledge that parts of the US movement were on the wrong side during the war to abolish slavery, but that is all in the past. After all, we say, weren't five of the six Tolpuddle Martyrs Methodists?

We see ourselves historically as a socially progressive movement always on the side of the poor and oppressed, and latterly always prepared to challenge conservative attitudes and theology. Our brothers and sisters in the US based United Methodist Church summarise  this faith in ourselves with the slogan "Open hearts, open minds, open doors". In Britain we proclaim that we are "open to God, open to life, open to the world, open to you".

So last year it came as an enormous shock when the actions of the British Methodist Church in supporting an anti-Israel document were described in some quarters as "discriminatory" and in others as "anti-Semitic". This blogger in particular faced a great deal of criticism for pointing out an obvious and uncomfortable truth. Discrimination and or anti-Semitism were mutually exclusive to the very being of Methodism.

What did surprise even me, were some of the comments from Jews on their blogs about the Methodist Church. There clearly was a history there of which I and others were unaware.

Every Brit should read this

I think this piece from the Irish Times is one of the nicest, most positive articles I have read for the last ten years.

An invasion of privacy

Somewhere in the North West of England today two children, one five and one eight, will be going to school. As they arrive other parents will look across at them and tut. Teachers will pretend nothing has happened. The five year old may pass the day without any comment of her classmates. The eight year old will find herself ignored or worse -the school bully will make some very unkind and well rehearsed insult. It will not be easy being the chldren of a footballer caught in the eye of a storm of scandal.

Shortly before I became a teenager practically every national newspaper carried my father's picture as he was led away from court to prison. Even though he hadn't lived in the family home for two years they printed our address. They also mentioned that he had three children, one of whom was David. My mother was described as an "attractive, blonde, 40 year old divorcee", in itself a description that invited inference.

We already had enough to cope with. Years of marital discord  and my father's activities had played havoc with the family finance. He refused to pay any maintenance and we existed on my mother's wage and some money my brother sent home from the army. However we always had a "clean" rent book and one of my jobs on a Saturday morning was to walk round to the town hall and hand the precious money across the counter.

Up until the day that story appeared we had always kept up a semblance of  respectability. My mother, God bless her,  ensured we were always clean and tidy, even if we had to make our clothes last. I led a sort of double life and didn't let on at school about the turmoil at home. I think our one lifeboat was the local Plymouth Brethren Sunday School where we were welcomed and loved.

All that changed the day that our privacy was invaded. At that point I really understood the Biblical warning that the sins of the father would be visited on their children. My father's imprisonment and the surrounding publicity had a profound and lasting impact.

Church to spend thousands on Medieval mumbo-jumbo case

The British Methodist Church, which is always claiming to be facing serious financial difficulties, is about to launch an expensive legal case, the sort that will cost someone in the region of £250,000 to prove that Methodist Ministers are "office holders" rather than employees.

Rather strangely they have issued a press release boasting about this legal extravagance.

It arises out of a case in Cornwall earlier this year when a judge ruled that "all the indications point one way" that a Minister is an emplyee and remitted the case to an employment tribunal.

The Methodist high command appear to be terrified of an employment tribunal (which they should be, because believe me, throw up all sorts of things) and are taking the case to the Court of Appeal. I gather that the "office holder/employee" in this case has the backing of Unite, her Union, and from my experience they can have very deep pockets. If the Church looses the case they may have to pay costs, which will be very expensive.

New Zionist Federation Film

Last year the Methodist Conference instructed our Faith and Order Committee to produce a report on "Christian Zionism". The group undertaking this work is meeting behind closed doors and requests for information from the Secretary of the Faith and Order Committee for further information. have had no response. Nor have the recent reports to Methodist Council from Stephen Hucklesby - well known for his antagonism to Israel - thrown any light on this process.

Methodists who are not bigoted anti-Semites may find it interesting to view the latest film about the work of the Zionist Federation in Britain.

Borders or lines?

Obama's speech on the Middle East, obviously following his reading of the British Methodist Conference report on Israel and Palestine, has already led to a battle over interpretation. Many media outlets, including the BBC, are suggesting Obama has called for a return to the 1967 "borders". In fact it appears that he meant something very different.

The US based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting have posted this helpful explanation:

The difference between the two terms — borders and lines — is extremely significant.

The Green Line, to which the president was referring, served as an armistice demarcation line between Israel and Jordan. The armistice line was established April 3, 1949 by Article III of the Israel-Jordan Armistice Agreement and was never the “border” between Israel and the West Bank.

On the contrary, the agreement specifically notes that the lines are not borders: "The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto."

Methodists attack £3bn up front nuc payment

The Methodist Church has denounced the Government’s decision yesterday to spend at least £3 billion on a nuclear weapons system. The Government has delayed a final vote on buying a replacement for the Trident weapons system until 2016, but yesterday Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced his approval for the initial £3 billion phase of production. Leaders from The Methodist Church, The Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church said the Government’s backing of a new nuclear weapons system was “unaffordable, immoral and strategically unwise”. 

Paul Morrison, policy adviser for The Methodist Church, said: “The Government’s decision means that we are committed to £3 billion of expenditure whether Parliament chooses to purchase the new Trident system in five years time or not. This comes at a time when communities are suffering from the impact of local government spending cuts. Youth services, SureStart Centres, Back-to-Work Clubs have all had their funding cut because we have been told that we can no longer afford to sustain them."

A couple of clips from Hamas TV

My friend Larry has alerted me to the Middle East Media Research Institute's TV Monitor Project. Just a couple of clips make interesting viewing, especially to any wandering Methodists who may have passed through Hebron in recent months....


And then in the midst of the uprising in Syria, a cleric clearly has other things on his mind. He certainly knows a thing or two about equality and diversity......*



PS - is he right about the earrings? One of my best friends has an earring
* Margaret, that's what we call an ironic comment.
I'm not certain that readers on facebook will get this, go to www.methodistpreacher.com

The Monty Python world of Methodism's equality and diversity officer

Only last week another blogger, a Methodist Minister, was writing of me "I know he makes an important contribution to his church and circuit. He could be a great asset to the Connexion."

Well I've just had a telephone conversation with the "Equality and Diversity Officer" of the Methodist Church.

A few months ago I volunteered to join the soon to be established "wealth and access forum" to assist the church in its equality work. There was no payment offered, nor would I expect any. I just wanted to quietly offer my expertise in an area where I know there is a shortage in modern Methodism, mainly because so few active Methodists are still in the world of work.

Reform of the House of Lords now!

Some of my best friends are members of the House of Lords. I respect them. But I don't respect a legislative chamber with 800 members none of whom have been elected by popular mandate. The US does with a Senate of just 100 members, all elected. Why can't we?

I am alarmed to find that there are unofficial quotas that no one talks about. So many from Wales, so many from Scotland, a few Catholics and two - yes two - Methodists. So that's me and Terry out of the loop until Katherine or Leslie turn up their toes.

How peers are nominated remains a closely guarded secret. Even my friends in the chamber are reluctant to give away too much. But there have been blatant cases of MPs giving up their safe seats in the Commons to make for a court favourite. If that sounds medieval, it is, because it is medieval.

On top on the nominated peers sit the bench of Bishops. How can we justify the Church of England having automatic representation in a Parliament that legislates for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? And then we have the nonsense of hereditary peers - admittedly less than there were - but still there by right of birth.

The whole place is a mess. It is no way to run a country. Our local authorities, the devolved assemblies, the European Parliament and the Parliaments in many other countries are uni-cameral.

Why not a House of Parliament with just one chamber? Let us turn the Palace of Westminster into museum, hotel and tourist attraction. My friends who work there tell me that it is not fit for purpose.

Let us find a nearby building that could house the new chamber with all the mod cons - it really is a revelation to visit the Welsh Assembly with their high tech facilities. In fact I know just the building across Parliament Square and the owners could negotiate a very good lease, whilst keeping it available on Sundays for other activities.

A new look at Ministerial appointments

When I first blogged a few years ago that some of the processes used to station Methodist Ministers were decidedly dodgy and the outcomes and candidates not in the best interests of the host churches, well, I got slammed in some quarters.

I know for example that  Dave Warnock and Richard Hall, in particular, found it difficult to appreciate that not every lay person in the Methodist Church coveted a holiday home up their Minister's backside.

My blogging even led to some low level persecution - a daft letter from the Faith and Order Committee saying that they didn't like the tone and content of this blog. Poor dears.

Robert at The Radical Methodist has blogged about Ministerial appointments. Unlike me he is far more experienced in the mechanisms of Methodism and makes some pertinent comments about both general and local issues. And he certainly take the discussion further than I have!

Why we must do G-d

The Fabians have devoted a whole edition of their quarterly magazine to the issue of faith  Why we must do G-d. It features contributions from Tony Blair, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, Muslim Women's Network Chair Baroness Afshar and many more.

James Green looks at some of the issues on Labour List.

Incidentally the phrase "do G-d" comes from a retort to a question from a journalist by a Downing Street press officer who said "we don't do G-d".

The Life and Death of Methodism

There was a fascinating programme on BBC Radio 4 last night which is available on i-player for the next seven days.

It told the story of Methodism in terms of our social history rather than the usual path of talking about the Wesleys. It expalined how Methodists were both set apart from, but integral to, the  social and political fabric of British society until very recently.

I was however sorry that the only contemporary Methodist featured at the end of the programme was one of our more eccentric bureaucrats and former presidents. There are others in today's Methodist Church who do have vision and enthusiasm. The programme could have included a positive take on the future.

The other thing that jumps out is the Methodism is not about bureaucracy and procedures and standing orders. It is about people being changed as they are steeped in prayer and scripture. We are at our best as a movement rather than an organisation.

The County of Pembroke

I was having a bit of a sort out yesterday when I came across this photograph of my great-grandfather, Alexander Rowland Jones (right), in front of his engine the County of Pembroke No 3839. The family then lived in Steventon which already had a special place in the annals of the Great Western Railway. His branch of the family had settled in Ironbridge Shropshire in the very early 1800s  having moved from North Wales, possibly Wrexham or Oswestry (which I know is in England - just). On their way they stayed in Wolverhampton, Aston, and Woolverton.

An appalling joke

In recent weeks there have been several blog posts about the behaviour of some people following the shooting of Osama Bin Laden. Ending a life  is no laughing matter. I hear there is a joke going round the Welsh Labour Party that we should roundly condemn. It is about the coalition partners: “if you are standing on a cliff with a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat in front of you, who do you push off first, the answer is the Conservative – it’s business before pleasure”. Appalling.

After 63 years it is time for Methodists to demand "Justice for Kashmir"

I don't think there can be many Methodists in Kashmir but nor are there many Jews As I pointed out on Saturday there has been continued conflict for 63 years  over Kashmir about which our annual conference has uttered not a single word. 

What a contrast with Israel and Palestine!

Here Methodism is overloaded with self appointed "experts" and "ecumenical accompaniers", none of whom would dare go into Kashmir  (or  I note into Gaza) where they would venture without the protection of the Isreali Defence Force.

British born Alex Stein is soon to leave Tel Aviv to travel to India. Here are his thoughts on his forthcoming visit to Kashmir and the events of the weekend. Hat tip Harry's Place.

In just over a month’s time I hope to be in Kashmir. Specifically, I’ll be in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. There’s also the Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. The Indian and Pakistani areas are divided by the Line of Control, which was the staging post for insurgents during the bitter conflict that flared up during the 1990s. If I try and cross the Line of Control, I am likely to be shot by Pakistani soldiers. If I bring a Kashmiri from south of the Line of Control, in order to help him go and see his ancestral home of Muzaffarabad, I am still likely to be shot by Pakistani soldiers. If I bring hundreds of people with me, my chances of being shot by Pakistani soldiers will increase exponentially. And if I were to do that, who do you think my mother would blame? A clue: it wouldn’t be the Pakistani soldiers.

Music legend Modanna becomes a Methodist

This is a story that has been kept very quiet! And hats off to the Methodist Recorder for its role in the conversion.

The Radical Methodist

Until this evening I hadn't realised that we had another blogger in our circuit. There are some who think I have an "unusual" slant on the Methodist Church, Robert at The Radical Methodist fills in some of the gaps. It makes me feel quite a conformist.

Resources on Israel and Palestine

Ray Gaston our District Interfaith something or other has just posted a selection of materials concerning the Israel Palestine debate. I've had a quick look through and some of the material is balanced.

Incidentally Ray is leading an interfaith course for our circuit at the moment. The first unit was on Tuesday and there are a further four more units during the next four weeks. Ray tells me that the units are self contained and that other members of the circuit are welcome to drop into one or more of the remaining units. The group meets on Tuesdays at 7.30 pm. If you don't know the venue, give me or Claire a call, our number is in the circuit directory and plan.

Our circuit pioneers "Lay Ministers"

Methodist Preacher with John Cowan

Our service this morning at City Road Methodist Church  was led by one of our circuit's pioneering "lay ministers" John Cowan. That's him and I together after the formalities.

He and Angela Allen, working with Paul our superintendent,  have fashioned the role from scratch. I gather no other circuit has tried a similar innovation.

There was an article in last Thursday's Methodist Recorder that is not available online. If I get the original I shall post it on the guest page. Meanwhile I've taken a j peg which I'm posting below in the hopes that once blown up it will be readable.

My one criticism of the Recorder article was the use of the question mark in the headline. John and Angela are doing a valuable job, are doing it well, and are with us till the the duration. There  is no question mark required!

At a a time when there seem to be so many people keen to do Methodism down it is great to be in a circuit where innovation and positive thinking are encouraged and valued.

Methodist Recorder 12  May  2011

Methodists withdraw "Holocaust Hymns" - Exclusive

The British Methodist church has withdrawn a page of "Holocaust Hymns" from our official church website following a complaint by the The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organisation based in Los Angeles.


The hymns, written by the Rev Andrew Pratt and Rev Gareth Hill, both Methodist Ministers, were scheduled to appear in a new Methodist hymn book, "Singing the Faith" to be published later this year. The church has explained that they were placed on the website in order to help boost sales of the book.

This is the second complaint  in less than a week about content offensive to Jews on the church website and follows the withdrawal of a paper by Elizabeth Harris. A third issue is now under investigation and a formal private complaint expected next week.

The Reverend Pratt wants churchgoers to mourn Bin Laden with music

A British clergyman is urging churchgoers to mourn the death of Osama Bin Laden by singing.

The Reverend Andrew Pratt, who lives in Northwich, Cheshire, and works in the Manchester Methodist Circuit at the Luther King Theological College, has  even written a hymn to help congregations commemorate Bib Laden's death.

He has chosen the well known tune Abingdon to accompany his words, and arranged for publishers Stainer and Bell to apply for copyright in order to collect royalties from churches using the hymn.

The Reverend Pratt tells readers on his blog " Written immediately following the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. For your use. Andrew". He claims to base the hymn on a verse from Proverbs "do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice". Proverbs 24:17

However in the first first verse Pratt asks congregations to do more than simply not gloat. He urges churchgoers to forget Bin Laden's crimes by  singing  " if that son has killed and maimed, it is the better least is said".

My comment:

"I was staggered to hear of this hymn. I'm amazed that a clergyman can be so insensitive. When we sing together in church we do so as  an expression of unity. A divisive hymn like this will prove an embarrassment. Neither Bin Laden's death, nor his life, are anything that a Christian congregation should be asked to celebrate in song. I shan't be using it under any circumstances."


The full text of the hymn reads:

Metal thefts

Being the property steward of a 106 year old church building brings its fair share of headaches. The latest worry is about the lead used to provide flashings on our buildings.

Here in the Midlands we are having a spate of metal thefts. Sometimes entire suburbs are blacked out or main rail signals fail because someone has stolen a few yards of copper wire.

Nothing is sacred and a recent report in a local paper points out that even remembrance gardens and wall memorials are not immune.

The Methodist Insurance company has written to all churches asking us to take appropriate precautions, mainly coating the metal with a traceable solution.

However I don't think anyone really understands how the metal recycling industry works.Metal stolen today is sold on the following day to the many recycling plants in Birmingham and the Black Country.

Contrary to what our greenpeace friends think, little metal is actually recycled in this country. As you go round the back streets of the grimier parts of the West Midlands you can see the metal - some collected legitimately, others, well - being placed, without any further processing, into giant containers. Within days that metal in on its way to China or India. The attempts by Methodist Insurance and churches like ours stand no chance against the industrialised nature of this international trade.

A few years back we were being told that re-cycling would become part of an expanding "green economy" creating jobs here in the West Midlands. Instead the industry is creating mayhem to our infrastructure and exporting work abroad.

It really is time that the collection of scrap metal was regulated with collectors and dealers registered and inspected. Anyone handling stolen goods - such as memorial plaques and lead flashings should be prosecuted and their license revoked.

Meanwhile, at a time of high unemployment, why are we exporting these "green" jobs? Why can't we recycle locally and lower the price of steel and other metals, much of it now imported?

This is an issue that will not go away.

They just don't get it, do they?

Whenever I raise the issue of contemporary Methodism's relationship with the Jewish community following the poisonous report to last year's conference I get the "are you calling us anti-Semitic" treatment. One Methodist Minister even launched an online petition  aimed  personally at me. 

Last week we saw the first sign that the Connexion is beginning to understand just how offensive some of its public comments can be. A scurrilous and divisive paper about the Holocaust has been removed from the official website following complaints from me and others. There will be more activity on this front in the next few days.

This morning's post brought an email from a Jewish reader of both this blog and the blog of a Methodist Minister. He sent me an extract from one of those long, often tedious, "witty" comments, that are a feature of some Methodist blogging. He asked of one comment made by a Minister on the blog: "How anti-Semitic can one get?" I will leave readers to judge for themselves:

"Get a passport, Earl, and take a long holiday abroad. Our prayers of exorcism don’t seem to be working. Maybe some exile will help. I mean, if it was good enough for Israel, it should be good enough for our Earl."

David Cairns

I am sorry to hear of the untimely death of David Cairns MP. I knew David through his excellent work with the Christian Socialist Movement. A real gentleman, he will be greatly missed.

A new Tory-Lib Dem obscenity for education

We Methodists value education. For many people in 18th and 19th century Britain the only classroom they ever entered was at their local Methodist chapel. Until comparatively recently the basic unit of Methodist organisation was the "class".

We welcomed the start of universal free education and have traditionally been firm supporters of progress on merit rather than social power.

The news that the present Conservative and Liberal Democrat government is now going to auction off places at top universities comes as a shock. Not even Thatcher thought of that.These new proposals are obscene.

It is something we should fight tooth and nail. There is already too much privilege in the education system. We should be leveling the playing field, not  making it harder for working class people to get into high education. 

Anti-Israel pair get drubbing at Methodist synod

I notice that many Jewish bloggers assume that the Methodist people in the UK are anti-Semitic. They get this impression from a tiny minority of extremists who- until recently - have managed to monopolise any internal discussion on the Isreal/Palestine issue.

Much of their nonsense appears unchallenged on our website, though the denomination made a notable step forward last week when a particularly unpleasant paper was withdrawn. There remains material on the website  that needs further attention in due course.

Word reaches me however that the internal campaign against Israel is not going well.

In April two leading lights of the denomination's anti-Israel lobby, Warren Bardsley (who, incidentally, excluded me from a meeting about relationships with local Jews) and Dick Jones, attended a meeting of the Nottingham and Derby Synod. They got a bit of a surprise.

The district newsletter delicately reports: "time was then given to further comments from the floor. It became apparent that not everyone shared the views expressed in the Conference report yet all spoke with passion and a concern for the situation."

  

New support service for homosexual farmers

A press release from the Methodist Church this morning highlights an extension of a telephone counselling service for men in the farming community who are struggling with their sexuality.

A website has been set up, though it isn't clear whether this is a national service or confined to Cheshire where it is based.

During my time on the agricultural committee of the European Parliament I became aware that rural life can be extremely isolating. Farming in the UK is a 24/7 occupation and most farms are family or single handed operations buying in contract labour as required.

On a number of occasions specialist health service providers, especially those concerned with preventing dangerous sexual practices, mentioned that men in rural communities hid their sexuality until feeling compelled to take enormous risks to solicit casual relationships.

Quite by accident I was allocated a seat next to a woman on a plane who ran an entirely legal commercial operation which targeted people with a confused sexuality.  She commented, without prompting when I told her my job, that farmers were some of her most challenging customers.

My experience of the farming community - a Minister of Agriculture "came out" during my mandate - is that publicly expressed attitudes can be far from compassionate. In the 1990s I was hearing "jokes" and comments that would have best been left in the 1950s when I first heard them. I would wholeheartedly endorse one statement in the press release which asserts "there is the assumption that gay farmers don’t exist.”

Just one point that may be worth bearing in mind. The website doesn't not make it clear that the helpline is being run by anyone with links to a Christian church, which possibly it should.

Exclusive: British Methodists withdraw anti-Semitic web rant

The British Methodist Church has withdrawn a seven year old, offensive, anti-Semitic rant from its official website.

This follows representations by myself and publication in the influential Huffington Post.

The paper was written by Elizabeth Harris, an "interfaith coordinator", who apparently left the employ of the Methodist Church four years ago. It was undated and doesn't appear to to have any relationship with any other document, for example, it was not labeled as being a report to a committee. Heaven only knows why such a vile piece of defamation was left on the website or even thought worthy of publication in our name.

What is disturbing is that there appears to be a concerted attempt in some parts of the Methodist Church to belittle the significance of the Holocaust. We really do have to confront this anti-Semitism which is now beginning to look institutionalised.

I am taking up another similar issue next week (though initially in private).

Last year we hosted a speaker - who was applauded when he dismissed the Holocaust as a "Zionist tool". We have a whole army of "interfaith enablers" who seem unable to grasp the significance of the Holocaust to Jewish people.Why do we employ these people when they continually get it so spectacularly wrong?

However we should thank senior officials at Church House who withdrew the document on Friday as soon as they became aware of its existence. Common sense at last.

Update: The coverage and comments at Harry's Place should humble every British Methodist.
Further update: Thanks to some fine toothcomb work by Jeremy on Harry's Place he reminds us that Elizabeth Harris was on the working party that produced the report adopted by Methodist Conference last year.  The case gets stronger by the minute!
Further, further update: Readers may be interested in comments on the (ironically named) Elders of Zion website.

A word of thanks to Ewart Johnson

Over the last few weeks I have spent a considerable amount of time working to ensure that Labour wins as many seats as possible in the local elections here in the Midlands. Today I shall be wearing out my shoe leather "knocking up" supporters and reminding them to vote. I have done this in virtually every election since 1959.

Ewart Johnson is our local conservative party candidate. He knows that he is unlikely to win. However he has allowed his name to go forward and is prepared to experience the exposure that standing for public office entails.

Today hundreds of Ewart Johnsons from every conceivable party will be putting their name on a ballot paper. By definition most will loose. However these individuals ensure that voters have a real choice.

The word "politician" is sometimes spoken as if it is wrong to be one- especially in the church - as many prefer to be "above politics", what an insulting phrase that is.

I've worked in situations where many councillors were "returned unopposed". It is an open invitation to corruption and disengagement from the electorate.

However year after year there are people like Ewart who keep the machine of democracy working by their selfless candidatures. Tomorrow I will congratulate the winner (in our case Steve Eling our excellent councillor here in Abbey) but I will also express my thanks for Ewart Johnson who contributes to our local democracy by standing, and losing.

Voting "Yes" will have a cost

Not many  bloggers have actually worked in a legislature largely chosen by varying forms of proportional representation. I am one of the handful of British people who have served in the European Parliament. I was elected on a "first past the post" basis. Most of my colleagues were elected on one of the alternatives.

It was interesting to see the very different culture which emerged. Generally speaking the parties were dominated by elites and jobs were dished out on the basis of horse trading. Constituencies were large, unmanageable and informal. My colleagues were surprised - and impressed - at the British members' attention to constituency detail. Their obsession was looking over their shoulders to get onto the party list.

The European Parliament resembled those few local authorities in England described on election night as "no overall control". The unelected officers run the show by playing party off against party. It suits the bureaucrats but not the taxpayer. It is impossible to innovate and when something goes wrong impossible to hold anyone to account.

My main experience of  dealing with absolute PR was as a member of the delegation to the Israeli Knesset. The extreme form of PR meant that governments and parties came and went. Tiny sects were able to exercise a disproportionate amount of power as governments scrambled to get their legislation through. Proportional representation will mean disproportionate power.

So tomorrow I will be voting "no". Not because I'm against change, but because I want change and know that any form of PR would prevent that. And with the greatest of respect to those who may disagree with me, on this occasion, I will vote on the basis of experience not theory.

Church issues bizarre Bin Laden statement

The Methodist Church in Britain has issued a bizarre  statement on the death of Osama Bin Laden in a raid on his compound by US Special Forces. It is fascinating to see that we are now quoting scripture, something of a first for a recent British Methodist Church press release.

But do we  have to make any corporate statement on this death? Is the world really waiting for the gems of wisdom from those who claim to speak on behalf of Britain's 150,000 Methodists? Somehow I doubt if this statement will get beyond the house journal. But why issue a statement on the death of Bin Laden?

We didn't, for example, release any statements about the death of the Fogel family, even though I know one was requested and our President and Vice President had been running round the West Bank just the week before repeating urban myths alleging   Jews were throwing urine over Arabs.. Double standards? The death of a mass murderer warrants a press statement but the killing of a "settler family" is ignored.

Today's statement makes a glancing reference to the rapid changes in the Middle East. Over recent weeks our church has remained surprisingly silent, despite its recent obsession with one county in the Middle East, about events in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere in the Arab world. Just check out the press releases to see what I mean.  

I'll reproduce the statement in full below so readers can make up their own mind but in future if Christine Elliot has a few spare moments to read Proverbs in more detail I suggest that she considers Proverbs 17v28 "Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." Sometimes silence is golden.

The statement says:

Christine Elliott, Secretary for External Relationships, said: “We cannot rejoice in the death of another, even if that person is regarded by many as a threat. Proverbs 24:17 says ‘Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble’.


"Osama Bin Laden favoured an ideology that was destructive over the principles of basic humanity and mainstream Islam. He took responsibility for and celebrated the 3,000 deaths of 9/11 as well as other atrocities, and his language of intolerance lives on. Some like to speak of a “War on Terror” but references to war are ultimately unhelpful.


"Across the Middle East we are experiencing momentous political change lead by ordinary people. A far-reaching tolerance of diverse cultures and a search for the peace and well-being of all must become the order of the day. It is imperative that we work for peace and justice.”

A note of thanks from the US

One of the great things about the internet is that you can meet all sorts of people. Over the last few months I've been in touch with Al in Florida who is doing some research on Francis Asbury.

I must admit I took the Royal Wedding on Friday for granted. However Al spontaneously contacted me with a note that I thought worth reprinting here without comment:

Hello David.  My family and I want to say thank you, for the blessing we received on Friday while watching the wedding of Prince William and Catherine.  My daughters and wife were captured by the beauty of the event, the Westminster Abbey, the music, and the history. 

 

For myself, I couldn't help but realize the significance of the religious portion of the ceremony.  I don't know this for sure, but at times the American press paints a picture of a Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, Italy and France, struggling with the influx of Islam.  

 

I have heard the speeches of Europe's leaders and their acknowledgment of the short-comings of multi-culturalism.  The religious aspect of the Royal wedding led me to pray for the United Kingdom, hoping that it will revive the Biblical foundation that has traditionally established a true sense of community.   Perhaps that trustworthy foundation has never left.  I apologize if I have assumed incorrectly.

Double standards

Having been in a party of about 150 people threatened by Bin Laden in 1999 (when I attended a three venue conference in Jordon, Palestine and Israel about peace in the Middle East) I suppose I should be excited that my potential assassin has now been eliminated. It isn't much fun being escorted by armoured cars, truckloads of soldiers and motor cycle outriders.

There has been some concern amongst other British Methodist bloggers at the rejoicing in Washington and New York. I don't remember similar concern when reports came through that there were celebrations in Gaza and parts of the West Bank after the Fogel family were butchered. But double standards are as easily applicable to British Methodist bloggers as they are to any other section of society.

My preferences would have been for Bin Laden to have been captured, faced trial and then sentenced to indefinite imprisonment. Sometimes death allows individuals to acquire a mythic and undeserved status. Rotting in a prison cell, visibly aging can remind a world that no one is above the law.

Alternatively Bin Laden should have risked his life on the battlefield in a regular army subject to international law and, if captured, the Geneva Convention. This was not his choice. He fought as an insurgent, was hunted as an insurgent and died the irregular death of an insurgent.

I may not be cheering, but I'm certainly not mourning. And I won't join the self righteous hand wringing of those with double standards when it comes to the death of an Israeli family.

A great service after a busy week

Hasn't this last week been odd? Two lots of four day bank holiday weekends have really disoriented things.

On top of that we have had one or two family and friend issues to deal with - some very good, some very sad and bad. I'm not able to blog about either.

So when I went to church this morning I was a little worried about there being a sense of anti climax. Last week we were packed into our reduced worship area, but that was Easter day. Our fear was that "Low Sunday" would be just that with a dramatic fall in attendance.

Well there were certainly less people than last week, about a third less, but attendance was well up on what it has been for the last few years.

The singing was hearty. The sermon was much better than I had planned. During the intercessory prayers there seemed to have been a movement of the Spirit. Afterwards we gathered for a cup of tea and there was a lovely chatter as we exchanged news.

It was the ideal prelude to an interesting meeting tomorrow when we will challenge ourselves (with the help of an architect) on the future use of our 107-year-old building. We may be about to take a pioneering step that could provide a template for other churches with old buildings and new hopes.

Oh, by the way, Happy May Day.