The man shook as he told us his story of persecution: we could see the scars on his head and his hands. Another man in the group flinched as someone he didn’t know came into the room. I promised him “You will always be safe here.”  A woman cried as she told me how, as an out and proud Christian lesbian, she had been told she could not become a member of the church that she had been attending for months. “I am so glad to be back here” she said. A charity that works with children hired a room in the building we use, to run an event for LGBT people interested in adoption – “Because we saw you at Pride and thought this would be a good space to hold our event.” These three things all happened in the past month at MCC Newcastle. They are part of what we do, week in, week out. We offer hope and light to our community and beyond. Often it is in small, unseen ways – small gestures of kindness and compassion, such as the regular donations of clothing that people give to the West End Refugee Service. Sometimes we are able to bring hope at big events like Pride and World AIDS Day. People who may never worship with us follow us online and through social media. We are observed at a distance by many individuals, who may turn to us when life changes for them and they need a safe place to be.

A good while ago Mikee preached on Micah 6:8: What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. He suggested that at MCC Newcastle we are good at walking humbly with God – our worship is excellent and we offer many ways to go deeper in our spiritual life. He challenged us to really step up and step out in acting justly and loving mercy. This message has stayed with me and has continued to challenge me ever since. How do we move out beyond our church walls and how do we make it easier for groups to see us as a resource to support them in what they do?

This year’s Annual Congregational Meeting marks a key moment in our response to the challenge to love mercy and to act justly. The Board is proposing only two aims, which will help us to put our faith into action. Firstly, we are now ready to start looking for our own building, choosing a venue that is better suited to our needs and that will give us the flexibility to develop our ministries more fully. Secondly, we are going to focus on developing activities that intentionally reach out and serve those beyond our church walls.  We are called to bring hope and light. This is our time.

God bless

Cecilia    

This month’s worship theme at MCC Newcastle is “Back to the Future”. We are considering how our history is helping to shape our future, especially when it comes to generosity. At Worship team meetings, it is a real process of discernment to come up with each new worship theme. There is often quite a lot of discussion to and fro, and often several different versions of the theme title and content, until all the team really feel as though we have the right idea. I was pretty unsure about “Back to the Future” and how it connected with such topics as harvest, ministry teams and Fellowship Sunday. Someone in the team explained “Well, think about harvest. Someone had to sow the seeds in the past, so that we can harvest the crop in the present and make use of it in the future – back to the future.” Fair enough – that was me on board.

Sowing seeds – that is what this month is all about really. Obviously there is harvest, the easiest one to make the connection with. All the ministry teams have started off as “an idea waiting to be born”. Some are still in seed form, others are still maturing, some are well established. Next week we celebrate Fellowship Sunday and take up an offering to fund the networks, groups of MCCs supporting and connecting with each other. The final Sunday is looking at us sowing the seeds for our future – what is God calling MCC Newcastle to do and to be in the months and years ahead?

In all of these Sunday themes, there is the underlying message about celebrating our generosity. The food we collected at the Harvest service went to the People’s Kitchen. It is through the generosity of people giving their time and talents in ministry that we have so much going on at church each week. The offering we give for Fellowship Sunday will really make a difference in keeping MCCs around the world in touch with each other.

And what about the future? Not long ago, the Board asked everyone in the church to consider increasing their giving, or to start to give via standing order or giving envelope. This was so we could cover the budget that was agreed at the Annual Congregational Meeting in April. It is also about something more. It is about sowing those seeds for our future. And guess what? Together we are doing it. Financial giving has increased and we will meet our budget. We can do the things we wanted to do, to help us build for the future. Every little helps and whatever you have been able to give has made a difference. Thank you for your continued generosity, in so many ways.

God bless

Cecilia

“Love is patient, love is kind.” This is one of the most well-known verses in scripture. It is the start of a section describing what real love looks like (1Corinthians 13: 4-7) and is frequently read at weddings. It is a beautiful piece of prose.

Many of you will have heard the Macklemore song “Same Love”, which unequivocally supports gay marriage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

The female singer on the track is Mary Lambert and the parts that she sings on “Same Love” are from her song “She Keeps Me Warm.” This is a beautifully melodic lesbian love song, describing the beginning of a relationship – “What’s your middle name? Do you hate your job? What’s your favourite word?” At the end of the song, there is the refrain

“I don’t cry on Sundays “and the backing singers sing “Love is patient, love is kind.” http://marylambertsings.com/video/

This gentle singing out of a scriptural truth is such a rebuttal to all those who loudly, aggressively and sometimes cruelly denounce same sex relationships, especially on scriptural grounds. For me, “She Keeps Me Warm” is a wonderful track, not just because I love the melody and am a hopeless romantic (the video is fab). I love it because it effortlessly combines my spirituality and my sexuality. It reflects who I am, in a fully integrated way.

There are many wonderful, moving hymns and worship songs in which I can lose myself. There are powerful love songs that describe my emotional state far better than I ever could. It is just such a delight to find a song that brings these two aspects of me together.

Our mission statement at MCC Newcastle is “Be yourself. Find Meaning. Know God.” We try and create a space where we all can enjoy being fully ourselves, before God and with each other: a sacred space where our sexuality and spirituality can be fully integrated and celebrated. It is a space where we can live out “Love is patient, love is kind.” May love keep you warm this week.

God bless

Cecilia

It is always good to know that people are praying for me. It does not insure me against harm or discomfort, however it always makes me feel “lifted up” – a sense of being able to access God’s strength and grace, should I need to. This week I definitely need your prayers. If you are reading this on Wednesday 2nd October, you are reading it in between two potentially life changing events for me.

On 1st October, I have my induction as a student in the Theology Department at Durham University. I am enrolled on the Graduate Diploma course in Theology and Religion. It is a two year, part-time course and the members of MCC Newcastle very generously voted to contribute towards my fees – thank you for that, and for your confidence in me.

On 3rd October, it is the official opening of the “Inspirational Women of the North East” exhibition at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle. I am one of 25 women, past and present who have their photograph in the exhibition, which runs until 21st December. You can find out more at www.iwne.org

Both these developments will provide me with opportunities to meet new people, to learn and to grow. They both also present challenges and risks. It is nerve-wracking walking into a group of people that you don’t know, having to come out all over again – as a lesbian, as a Christian, as a widow, as anything…… Most of my day to day life goes on in a “rainbow coloured bubble”. I work with, work for and mix overwhelmingly with LGBT people. I will be entering a world which most of you inhabit all the time and it will take me way out of my comfort zone.

When Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:22 – 31), he called Peter out of the boat. Peter got out and he too started to walk on the surface, until he focussed on himself, instead of his trust in Jesus. Then he started to sink.

From past experience, I know that I am prepared to get out of the boat, to risk leaving my comfort zone, then blessing, connection, learning and friendship follow. Your continued prayers will encourage when I, like Peter, feel that I am starting to sink.

God bless

Cecilia

Making time, making ends meet, making love, making every effort, making sense, making history, making music, make my day………..How many phrases can you think of that include “make” or “making”. In his book, “Leaders Make the Future”, Bob Johansen talks about the “maker instinct”. We are all able to be creative, to create, build and make things. Often though, this maker instinct gets stifled, or we don’t see ourselves as makers.

Whether it is baking a cake, growing a garden, writing a blog, creating a safe space where a friend can tell you their problems, we make things in a variety of different ways. Often people channel their maker instinct into hobbies or pastimes. Sometimes, if our job is difficult or tedious, these hobbies are where we release our creative talents and feel more fulfilled.

It is this maker instinct that can help us, and the groups or organisations that we belong to, to grow and flourish. Just think for a moment of all the makers who are at work within our faith community, people who pour out their maker instinct in a way that enriches our experience of the Divine and each other. This isn’t about being “arty”, it is about creating or growing a new thing – whatever that is. When we are makers in community, our creativity blends together, so that, like in an orchestra, all the different elements of our making weave into one another and create a fabulous and beautiful whole.

Our worship theme in October is “Back to the Future”. We will celebrate all that we have achieved together through being generous with our time, talents and finances. We will also be looking forward to the future and what God is calling us to be and to do in the years ahead. In November, our theme is “Dreams and Visions”, as we listen for God’s vision for MCC Newcastle. During this process, we need to use our maker instincts to describe and capture the different elements of the vision that God is offering us. We then need to work together to grow and build this new thing, on the faithful foundations of all that MCC Newcastle has developed so far.

All of us are needed in this listening process. No-one has all the answers. Everyone has the maker instinct and can contribute. Perhaps this week, we could all notice where we use our maker instinct and what we make.

God bless

Cecilia

Have you seen our new church sign? It hangs across the big yellow St James’s sign every Sunday and it reads MCC Newcastle – the church for our community. Underneath it has our mission statement “Be yourself. Find meaning. Know God.” What does it really mean to be “the church for our community”? Let me give you some examples. Being the church for our community means offering our building
for community groups to meet in – we housed the Tyne Trans group when it was first setting up and paid the rent on the church for Proud Northern Voices to get started. Now we host Rainbow Home once a month – our joint project with
MESMAC, to support LGBT folk who are seeking asylum in the UK.

Being the church for our community means that we are out and proud at key events in the life of our community – Pride, IDAHO, World AIDS day. Being the church for our community means that our community know that we are there for them and they can interact with us in a variety of ways. At Pride I chatted with someone. Later that week she contacted me through our Facebook page to say that she had listened to my sermon online and told me a bit about her own faith journey. 
 
Being the church for our community means leaving the comfort of what we want from church, and listening hard to what our community needs from us. Jesus didn’t just sit in a room and wait for folk to find him. He went out there, he looked and listened to the lives of the people around him. He didn’t change who he was in order to serve them. He was authentically who he was, and because of that, people turned to him.

We are at a tipping point in our journey. We can either shrink back or take a big step forward into the next stage of our journey together. Our treasurer Charlotte W has recently challenged us to add the cost of a cup of coffee per week to our monthly giving if we are able. I have already increased my monthly giving by the equivalent of two lattes per month in response to the report Charlotte gave to the Annual Congregational Meeting.  However, since Pride I have become so convinced that we are called to even greater things that I have just increased my monthly giving by another £20 per month.  10% of my income for today’s needs and a further 1% for our future. 

Our community needs us. Let us be their church.

 God bless,

Cecilia

The Church Size Summit is nearly upon us!
 
“What is that?” I hear you ask!

MCC Newcastle is hosting a two day training conference on 8th and 9th February. MCCers from many of our UK churches, as well as from Germany and even New Zealand will be attending. Many of you kindly completed the congregational survey which will give our Elder, Reverend Elder Darlene Garner, valuable information about your church experience.

The Board and I also completed several other surveys, based on our roles and different aspects of our church life together, such as stewardship (looking after all our resources wisely), leadership, our policies and other documents, the different activities and events that we offer.

The Church Size Summit will be an opportunity for us to learn about different sizes of churches and how they need to function, in order to best serve God and God’s people. During the two days, Darlene will give us specific feedback from the MCC Newcastle surveys we submitted and those of us attending the CSS will develop an action plan for MCC Newcastle, based on her recommendations. 
 
All of this process needs to be “bathed in prayer”. The two Elders leading the event, Darlene and Rev. Elder Dr. Mona West, are preparing their work for us. They will need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in discerning what to learn from the many surveys from the different churches that are gathering. Those of us who are attending need to arrive in good order and be willing to hear what we need to learn – even if it feels a bit uncomfortable or challenging. We also need to rejoice in the many positive things about our ministry that we will also hear and hopefully get a real sense of what God is calling us to do and be over the next year or more.

MCC Newcastle is hosting this event because of the excellent welcome, hospitality and technical support we offer. Prayers are needed for the many people who will
volunteer of their time and talents leading up to and during this weekend, to make it a great success for all the churches involved and for the Elders too. 

Please keep us all in prayer, as we lead up to the Church Size Summit.
 
Let’s make it fabulous and beautiful!

God bless,

Cecilia

This time of the year is  so dark. Many of us will be leaving for work or school in the dark and getting  home long after the winter sun has set. We have another two weeks of the nights  getting longer, until the winter solstice. After that, little by little, the  days get longer. At first we hardly notice, then all of a sudden it seems spring  is here and we are journeying towards summer and the longest day of the 
year.
 
Seasons are important.  They remind us of the rhythm of life. It doesn’t matter how cold or severe the  winter is, eventually
spring will come. I remember my mother sending flowers to  a family up the road who were going through a really terrible time. On the card  she wrote “If winter is here, can spring be far behind?” At the time, it struck  me as a bit cheesy, but it has stuck with me all these years and there is some  truth to it.
  
The tips of the spring  flowers are beginning to poke through the soil in the garden, new growth is  already happening below the surface as roots develop and reach out in search of  moisture and nutrients. 
 
In church too, we have  our seasons. They remind us of the different aspects of our faith journey. Some  traditions mark these seasons by liturgical colours (altar cloths, stoles and  other vestments) – for example, purple for Advent and Lent, to symbolise solemn  times of waiting and preparation; white and gold for celebrations such as  Christmas and Easter, red for Pentecost and Christ the King.  
 
At the moment, we are in  Advent. Each Sunday, we pierce the gloom of the winter’s night by lighting a  candle in the Advent wreath. It reminds us that even in the greatest darkness,  there is still light. 

In Advent, we wait for the greatest light of all to come.  Although we may have celebrated Christmas each year for many years, it is still  possible to ponder the miracle of God becoming human with fresh minds and open  hearts, just as we marvel at the new shoots making their way through the  soil. 
 
May you find lightness  in the darkness this Advent.
 
God  bless,

 Cecilia

On my desk sits a useful little book called “Vows and Partings” It was produced by the Methodist Church in response to the ups and downs of life. The prayers contained in this book recognise that relationships can be wonderful and also can end badly. There are prayers to recognise the changes that retirement brings and prayers to help both parents and children through different stages of life. Some of them read like modern day psalms, expressing human confusion and bewilderment.

For so many people who look at the church from the outside, it can seem irrelevant and outdated. It can appear that the pomp and preaching bears no relation to the everyday lives that most people are leading. This is why it is so important that MCC Newcastle gets out and about, in the
places where our people are. This year, as always we will have a strong presence at Northern Pride. We will also march in Sunderland Pride in September. We need to show our people that God is there for them and the church is rightfully theirs.

So what sort of rites and rituals might be more relevant to our community? How can we bring the sacred into the human – just as the prayers in the Methodist book do?

Naming ceremonies for babies are less formal than baptism and don’t require parents and godparents to say things that they don’t really believe. If a child decides to make a commitment to Christ later on, they can always be baptised then.

For people who are transitioning, having a blessing which celebrates their new name and embraces their gender is great way to support and affirm individuals.

How would it be to have a prayer or ritual for couples who are breaking up, especially those who have been together
a long time? Our community is so small, that learning to end relationships well helps us and our friends to live alongside each other without some of the hurt and bad feeling carrying on for years.

Where will you find the sacred in the human this week?

God bless,

 Cecilia

The Olympic Torch has been and gone from the North East. The interest and public response has, I think, taken the organisers by surprise. Certainly I was impressed by the number of people that turned out in Newcastle all along the
route and the huge crowds that were down at the Quayside to watch Bear Grylls zipwire from the Tyne Bridge.

So why are people waiting patiently at roadsides all round the country – often in grim weather, to see someone run or
walk past with this torch - an event that is often over in a matter of seconds?

We are gathering to be part of something bigger, to witness a historic event, perhaps even to personally support the torchbearer.  There are some things that simply mean more when we join together as a community. Just think of the powerful message of solidarity that came out from Wooten Bassett every time the body of a service man or woman was driven through that town. The silence and respect of that community said more than a thousand words.

As people of faith, it is important that we spend time alone with God, listening for God’s voice, even just trying to feel God’s presence. It is also part of the human condition to gather and have a shared experience. That is why being part of a faith community is a vital part of our spiritual journey. It is perfectly possible to be a Christian without being part of a community. However, it adds to our faith and enables us to gain more by having a shared experience of God through worship, serving each other and having fun. It also means that we are there for each other in the tough times too. The torch bearers do not run alone – they have a huge support crew alongside them.

This week I invite you to give thanks for all the different communities that you have been part of, which helped you to develop and grow as a person.

Thank you for being part of the faith community that I serve!

God bless,

Cecilia