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

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

We have started our new worship theme “Honest to God”, which takes us on a journey through the Psalms. How easy is it for us to be “honest to God?” Sometimes, I forget that God knows me through and through, knows my resting and my rising. I try and hide a bit of myself or only give half the story in my prayer time. Of course, I end up laughing at myself and assume that God is laughing too.  I remember that I can’t hide anything from the Divine, and just trying to show my best bits is an exercise in futility. God knows me through and through and loves me anyway. 
 
Being honest with myself is perhaps what I need to work harder on. I turned 50 on my last birthday and this has been a significant event for me. Life still has all sorts of adventures to offer and yet I can only reach out and enjoy these if I am
realistic about what I can and cannot do. (If I choose to train for the Great North run, I can do, but I doubt that I will come in first!)  I also need to really decide what I really want to do. (probably not train for the Great North Run!)

What does it mean to be fully honest with ourselves and with God? Acknowledging all our good points, strengths, gifts and talents. Loving our bodies – we are each only given one. Acknowledging all our weaknesses, frailties, patterns of unhealthy behaviour. Once we have named and acknowledged all of these things, we can ask God what we are to do with them. How are we to use our gifts and our strengths to live well in God? How are we to be kind to ourselves in our weaknesses and avoid the situations that activate our own harmful behaviour?

Recently I have been rediscovering things that I used to love and had forgotten about. All through my childhood, I spent time on the Derbyshire moors. A couple of weekends
ago I drove up to Edinburgh through the Northumbrian countryside and rediscovered the beauty of that wild type of landscape.  Now I plan to spend some time walking in those hills, recapturing that love of being in nature.

This week, let us try being honest to God and honest with ourselves – we are held in Divine Love, so we have nothing to lose.

 God bless,

Cecilia

Today is a day that the world changed. Just now we do not know whether this will be a change for the better. Just now, all the newsrooms around the world will be scrambling to get as much information as they can on this man, suddenly thrown into the spotlight.

Pope Francis, an Argentinean, has been elected to serve the Catholics of the world. He is the first Pope from outside Europe in over 1000 years. That alone is a huge shift. South America is the home of liberation theology - the view that
Jesus was on the side of the poor. Many Catholic priests were actively engaged in politics in South American countries, helping the poor and oppressed, often campaigning against brutal regimes.  One of the most famous quotes from this time is from Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil: 

Like most of you, at the time of writing, I know very little about Pope Francis and his background. However, I think this powerful theological and social movement must have influenced the new Pope at some level. When one is looking at the world through the lens of a Saviour who came to free oppressed people, then it is harder to uphold structures and systems that oppress some people and not
others.

I doubt that there will be any great shifts on issues such as gay marriage or women priests. What we might start to hear more about, is the heart of the Christian message:

In local parishes around the world, from whatever Christian tradition, faithful people work to transform their local community and beyond. It is my hope for them, and for us, that Pope Francis will able to remind the wider world of all
the good that the followers of Christ do each day to bring heaven closer to earth.

God bless,

 Cecilia
 

This weekend I went to visit my aunt’s grave. Auntie Veronica (or Auntie Barometer as she was affectionately known) was a Catholic nun – Order of the Poor Child
Jesus. This Order was founded to look after poor children – teaching, running orphanages etc. In her time, my aunt was a teacher and also ran the children’s home in Sheffield, the town where I grew up. She also held different positions within the Order over the many years that she served.

When Veronica died, one of the sisters in the convent asked if I would like Veronica’s Daily Office book – the prayer book that she would have used several times a day for over fifty years. When I had a chance to look at this book in detail, I discovered that Veronica had tucked different items into the cover. One piece of paper was a photocopy of a photograph of an uncle of hers who was a monk, with some details of his life typed underneath. She had also placed in there a photograph of her and her parents on the day of her Solemn Profession – the day when she formally became a nun.

It moved me very much to find these items and to realise that my calling to ordained ministry is part of a thread that runs through my family. One day, I will place a photo of me on my ordination day in with the other photos and hopefully pass on the prayer book to someone else in the family is also called to set their life apart in some way for God.

Many of us at MCC Newcastle do not have children of our own and may wonder what our legacy will be in the world.  One of the things that I love about being part of MCC worldwide is feeling as though I am part of history. Our founder, Reverend Troy Perry, is still alive and well and active in ministry. I still am able to draw on the wisdom and support of many more experienced colleagues. At the same
time, I have now been in MCC for over 24 years and have seen other people grow and develop in their faith journey. Hopefully, I have helped and encouraged some of them in this.

Who is part of your faith family tree? Who has supported, encouraged and challengedyou?  Who are you nurturing and supporting in your turn? This week, perhaps you
would like to thank God for these people and even send them a card or a little message. It is good to be part of a faith family.

God bless,

Cecilia
 

Welcome to Advent – a  time of waiting and preparation. It is hard to focus on the still, small voice  inside ourselves, when there is so much rushing around and general busyness  going on around us.

This week I have been trying to buy a nativity set  for the church. As I have left this mission rather late, the choice available  has been somewhat limited. The sets that I have seen have been too small for our  needs, or aimed at children – all a bit too cutesy, or all a bit white. It is  curious that although our society has become more and more
diverse, Mary,  Joseph, Jesus and even the shepherds are still mainly portrayed as Caucasian  Europeans!

When I was a child, I used to go to a Saturday art class at  the local art gallery. One exhibition was a set of Japanese
prints, some of  which had a religious theme. To my complete shock, in these pictures Jesus and  his disciples were all clearly Japanese. As the girl chosen to play Mary because  of my long blonde hair and blue eyes, this was all just plain wrong. Jesus  looked English, didn’t everybody know that?

I once saw a life size  sculpture portraying Mary, Joseph and Jesus as they fled from Bethlehem to Egypt  (Matthew 2:13-14). The statue is full of interesting detail – the donkey  carrying Mary is chewing the corner of Joseph’s cloak, as he is leading the  donkey along. Jesus is sitting in his mother’s arms. Mary and Joseph have olive  skin and dark hair. Jesus’ face however is made a completely reflective  material. The sculptor wanted to show that Jesus belongs to every country and  race – Jesus is like all of us and is also unique.If we are made in the  image of God, then that is what we see when we look into this particular face of  Jesus. We see ourselves reflected back.

So many of the depictions we  will see of the birth of Jesus over the next few weeks will be stylised and  airbrushed. It is hard to really get a sense of the earthiness of the birth  pains, the baby’s first cry, and then the amazing visit of the
shepherds and  their story. Try and find an image that speaks to you, that helps you to focus  in on the true miracle of Christmas – Immanuel ,“God with us”.


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