This month’s worship theme ‘It’s Queer Up North’ has been fascinating and thought provoking. I really encourage you to listen to the sermons online on the ‘catch up’ tab at www.mccnewcastle.org.uk. One of the interesting questions we have been asking is whether there are LGBT stories in scripture. Sometimes there is a question mark over the translation of a particular word or phrase, which lends itself to a queer interpretation of a story, as in the story of the centurion asking for healing for his servant. In other stories, the individual has been acting in ways that went against the social norms of the time, such as Deborah or the male water carrier in Luke’s gospel. As in all reading of scripture passages, we can learn the facts of the passage – who it was written by, who it was written for, the context etc. We also read scripture for what it teaches us, or shows us on an emotional or spiritual level. The passages that we have been studying this month are no different.

The other theme that has been occupying a surprising amount of my time this month has been the Winter Olympics. Like many people, I was opposed to Russia holding this event, because of the state sponsored homophobia and violence that is evident there. The sports presenter Clare Balding was under pressure not to go to Russia. She issued a statement saying that she thought her presence as an out lesbian would be a stronger message than staying away. She also encouraged viewers to look out for protests from athletes and spectators alike. As I watched endless hours of snowboarding, skiing and anything else, I started to notice things. Gloves with different coloured fingers, a man at the top of the ski slope wearing rainbow earmuffs and so on. Maybe these were just random coincidences. Maybe the rainbow fingered gloves were just seen as pretty by the person wearing them. Or maybe, just like the passages in scripture that we have been studying, they were little glimmers of queerness in a world of heterosexual control.

Not so long ago, few voices would have been raised against the homophobia that is so evident in Russia. This month Google, Channel 4 and other companies have incorporated the rainbow flag into their own logo or in coverage of these Olympics in support of LGBT rights. Not long ago, most Christians would have said the Bible condemned homosexuality. Now, more and more Christians recognise that scripture does not condemn same sex relationships. The Bible hasn’t changed, our understanding has.

God bless

Cecilia

At the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night, the actress Helen Mirren was honoured with the Fellowship award to mark her long and distinguished career. In her acceptance speech, the first person she thanked was the schoolteacher who recognised and encouraged her love of words and her desire to live in the world of the imagination. Helen Mirren then asked the audience to raise their hands if they had been inspired by a teacher to follow their dreams. Many people responded and these unsung heroes were given a round of applause by the famous and the celebrated.

There used be a TV programme called “This is Your Life” and it was family viewing when I was a child. The format was very simple: a famous person would be “ambushed” wherever they were and were taken to the television studio, where their life story would be read out from the ‘big red book’, complete with embarrassing photos and punctuated with people turning up to tell little anecdotes. One time the surprised celebrity was the footballer, Kevin Keegan. What impressed me greatly at the time was that the person who spotted he had footballing talent, was a nun who had taught him at primary school. Even though he struggled in other aspects of schooling, she encouraged him in what he was good at and made sure other people noticed his talent.

I learned recently that the term ‘mentor’ comes from Greek mythology. Odysseus was away fighting wars and travelling across the seas and his son Telemachus was missing him terribly. In Odysseus’ household, there was a man called Mentor. He did not try and replace the boy’s father. Instead, he encouraged and supported Telemachus as he grew up, offering guidance and advice. A great mentor does not try to get us to be more like them. They encourage us to be more like us. The nun who taught Kevin Keegan may or may not have been gifted with a football. What was important was that she could spot talent and nurture it. Mentors recognise our talents and help us deal with our weaknesses. We all need people in our lives like this. Perhaps you can remember a teacher or another adult who believed in you when you were a child. Even as adults, we sometimes need someone that can encourage and guide us, to give us confidence in our own abilities. However, we also have the opportunity to mentor others, to encourage, support and inspire confidence. Who are you going to encourage and support this week?

God bless

Cecilia

On Sunday afternoon, I treated myself to a bit of telly viewing. I was flicking between two channels – Six Nations rugby (France vs Italy) on one side, and male figure skating at the Winter Olympics on the other. It was a fascinating exercise in “compare and contrast”. The massive physical strength and stamina of the rugby players, as they battered into or skilfully ran past each other, caked in mud and sometimes blood. The grace and elegance of the ice skaters as they interpreted the music in their movements, seeming to defy gravity as they jumped and twirled. All these sportsmen are at the top of their chosen field, prepared to train for many hours and to endure much pain and sacrifice, in order to achieve results.

It is always a source of profound inspiration to me to see how individuals will conquer all sorts of difficulties and give so much of themselves when they are focussed in on a personal goal. I spoke recently to someone who had gained a degree through the Open University. At the time, he had three children under 11 and was working on the night shift as a printer. He would come home at the end of his shift and start doing his studies. When I feel a moan coming on about my own studies, I remember that inspirational story. In our congregation, we have people who have trained for sporting events, started new careers, started a family or transitioned their gender. All of these things took time, thought and a great deal of effort. The stories are all different, just as rugby and ice-skating take different strengths skills and talents, but the key ingredients of purpose, focus and determination are the same.

There is a brilliant quote from the German poet, Goethe, which concludes with the following: Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. The Spiritual Exercises developed by Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, include an examination of our deepest desires, to notice “the interior movements of our hearts, and discern where they are leading us”. This is part of discernment – uncovering what God is doing in our lives now, and in the future. Few of us will ever become Olympic athletes or world class rugby players. However, every single one of us was loved into creation by God, with just as much potential. When our deepest desires match with God’s hopes for us, then all manner of things become possible. This week, notice the things that give you the deepest joy and also what causes stress, or dis-ease. What does that tell you about your deepest desires? And what are you going to do about it?

God bless

Cecilia

This Saturday, a group of us will be looking at the all the work that we have done so far on listening to God for God’s vision for our future at MCC Newcastle. There will be the boards that were up at the back of church for four weeks, so that people could share ideas, images, words from songs and poems. We will also be looking at the graffiti wall and other art work from our Creativity Day. In these, and in our discussions, we will be looking and listening for the key themes that keep emerging.

Activities like this require us to dream a little, to take a risk, to examine all possibilities. Jesus brought the gospel, the ‘good news’, a radical new message about a different way of having a relationship with God and each other. People took a risk in listening to him and then choosing to follow him. Many of the Christian denominations that exist today came about because one individual, or a group, who wanted to do things differently from how they had been done before. Metropolitan Community Church started because Troy Perry believed that God was calling him to reach out in a new and radical way to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, and beyond.

One of the key questions we need to ask ourselves in a process like this is “Is this authentically from God?”, or is just our own agenda that we are promoting? In the best circumstances, it will be a combination of both. Our passions, gifts and skills will be in line with what God is calling us to do. God may challenge us, may take us beyond our comfort zone, but ultimately, we will find that we grow into what God sets before us. Similarly, there are things that happen that are not of God, and so we turn to God for strength, grace and patience to get us through the tough times in life.

In his book, “Care of the Soul”, Thomas Moore says the soul is linked with the imagination, rather than the intellect. He reminds us that we use the words “soul” or “soulful” to describe music, writing or even food that has a deep and profound quality to it. We might not be able to fully grasp or articulate what that quality is, however it resonates with us and others. That is what we will be looking and listening for on Saturday. The ideas and dreams that speak most fully to our soul, as individuals and as a faith community. Please keep us and God’s vision for MCC Newcastle in your prayers this week.

God bless

Cecilia