Make it Jesus' business

In 1970 the economist Milton Friedman suggested that there are no ethical obligations on companies other than to obey the law and to meet shareholders demands.

But in 1991 Pope John Paul II criticised Friedman and said that being in business is not just about making profit. Businesses are part of society as a whole and need to recognise they exist to serve all in society. Or to put it in modern terminology, businesses need to recognise that society as a whole is a stakeholder in the business and has an interest in the business. Which means businesses need to be mindful of all in society and their interests.

I’ve recently been awarded a Degree in Applied Theology. When I mentioned this to some people at church I got blank looks. So what is applied theology?

Put simply theology is talking and thinking about God. Applied theology could be described as talking and thinking about God in an everyday setting or in everyday situations. Including in business.

As part of my degree I looked at whether it is possible for businesses to operate ethically and to operate using Christian principles. I came to the conclusion that it is possible to operate businesses ethically using Christian principles – though whether many businesses choose to do so is another matter.

One organisation that many business people belong to actively encourages its members to behave ethically. And that organisation is Rotary.

In Swindon the Old Town Rotary club is best known for organising the Duck Race that takes place at the Bank Holiday in May. This event raises thousands of pounds for local charities each year.

Although Rotary is not a Christian organisation, I recognise within Rotary principles that are Christian. For example Rotary’s motto is “Service above self” which I interpret as putting others first before self interests.

Whilst Christians believe that to be a follower of Jesus is not just about doing good works, serving other people and loving our neighbours is still an important part of our faith. As Jesus frequently demonstrated through his healing the sick and caring for the poor.

I believe Christian values and principles can bring something important to businesses. Because Christian values ensure that the needs of all stakeholders connected to a business are recognised and valued through tried and tested moral principles.

Service above self - truly echoing Jesus’ teachings.

Solstice at Stonehenge

Wearing my Volunteer Police Chaplain’s hat I attended the Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge a couple of weeks back. (Actually, I don’t have a hat – though I have a very nice yellow fluorescent jacket with Police Chaplain on the back!) It was an interesting experience.

I spent most of the night being driven around the area in a police car. So I did not get up close to the stones themselves. We did drive past the site very closely (along the road that leads to the Stonehenge car park.) And we were close by at dawn on 21^st June – though by this time I had fallen asleep!

For many of the people their being at Stonehenge was nothing more than a bit of a party. Many were stopping at Stonehenge on their way to Glastonbury for the Festival. But for others marking the Solstice at Stonehenge is a religious experience (my words not theirs). These are of course the assorted druids, pagans and witches who believe that the sunrise on the longest day has some religious meaning.

I found on the Daily Mail website an interview with Gina Pratt, a 43-year-old housewife and a self-described witch. She said being inside the circle as the sun came up gave her 'a kind of a grounding feeling (of) being in touch with the earth again, and the air we breathe.' She added 'It makes you feel small and insignificant ... but it makes you feel like you're here for a reason,' she said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1288546/2010-summer-solstice-revellers-Stonehenge-mark-longest-day.html

In an odd sort of way I know what Gina Pratt means. Because I find that there some places I’ve visited that feel ‘special’. It’s hard to put your finger on what it is. But there is something about them. For me Avebury is one such place. On another occasion standing at the base of a giant redwood tree in Yosemite National Park in California.

So what is ‘it’? I think that what makes both of these places special for me is that at both of them I felt very close to God. Celtic Christianity described such places as “Thin places”. In other words places were the gap between God and people, between heaven and earth is so narrow that it is possible to have an encounter with God. "Thin Places" are the places in our lives where the divine and the natural worlds come so close together that we can catch a glimpse of God. For the Celtic Christians these places were very real - places within creation where we could physically go.

Or the Thin Places in our own lives are those moments where the space between us & the Kingdom of God is thin, when we are introduced to a greater glimpse of Who He is through our experiences and through the stories of others.

Maybe you have a “thin place”? A special place where you go to encounter God? Perhaps you’ve just never thought of it in those terms.

God of thin places, we are grateful that you invite us to come very near. We give you thanks for your choosing to come close to us in the whispering wind of the Holy Spirit, who passes gently through our days and emboldens us for courageous faith, and in the person of Jesus Christ in whom we catch a vision of your faith. We see you as creator of all that surrounds us and praise you for the beauty of special places, where we find our hearts at rest in you. We are grateful that you welcome us into your love and desire that we be your children seeking compassion and mercy for those in special need. When we fail, you pick us up and hold us close and teach us to walk again. Teach us to walk through these dangerous days as ambassadors of your peace in our communities and in this world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (C) Rev Dr Agnes Northfleet.

Dustbin priorities

Today the ConDem govt announced that it is to stop local councils implementing forn ightly refuse collections and insist that bins are emptied weekly.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23846371-eric-pickles-blocks-bid-to-drop-weekly-bin-collections.do

Our bins are emptied weekly here in Swindon and we have weekly recycling collections. That said we in this part of town don't have a wheely bin we have bags. So I suppose we do need a weekly collection. But if we had a wheely bin I don't see that a fortnightly collection of rubbish would be a problem.

Presumably fortnightly collections save money? So why implement weekly ones? Ah, of course it is because the ConDems always do what the Daily Heil sorry Daily Mail says http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-409070/Councils-fortnightly-bin-collection-stealth.html

Better weekly rubbish collections than spending the money saved by fortnightly ones on children in care say or home helps or libraries.

West Cumbria Shootings

This is the text of a Thought for the Day I gave on BBC Wiltshire on Sunday 6th June.

Following the talk I spoke about how the police must feel in situations like this and also spoke to the Bishop of Carlisle who was being interviewed "down the line".

The day after the shootings in West Cumbria the church leaders issued a statement in which they said that

All the churches from across a very wide area have been, and will continue to be, involved in supporting those affected by yesterday’s tragedy. In addition to ministering to people in our communities, clergy will be available to support the hospital and emergency services chaplains as required. The church will continue to play a longer term role in providing support and sanctuary to those who need it, and we strongly encourage all churches in the area to make their buildings and people available for people to come and pray, light candles and have someone to talk to.

And in an interview he gave last week the Right Rev James Newcombe, the Bishop of Carlisle said:

The Church is there for everyone, giving support long after the funeral flowers have wilted.

Emotional wounds of this kind are not quickly healed and we will all continue to pray and listen in the months ahead.

Faith can give me, and others in Cumbria, hope that we are not alone.

Only with faith can we begin to grapple with something as awful and difficult to understand as this.

Despite living in a time when many people no longer attend church, it’s still a common instinct among what is rudely called the “unchurched” to stumble into church at times of national bereavement and violent tragedy. We associate Princess Diana’s death with the masses of flowers left outside Buckingham Place and many other places. Yet I remember how people came to churches at that time to light candles, to say prayers and to write in books of remembrance.

On 9/11 small crowds of dazed bankers found sanctuary in London’s City churches, as they did in Manhattan, as they heard of what had happened to friends, colleagues and strangers in the Twin Towers in New York. On 7^th July 2005, some of those same City of London churches offered spiritual solace and practical refreshment for the emergency services that descended selflessly into the Underground hell of the bombing at Aldgate.

And it is quite possible that today, this morning, people in West Cumbria, in Whitehaven and Egremont, Frizington and Lamplugh, Wilton and Gosforth, Seascale and Boot, all places where Derrick Bird shot his victims, it is quite possible that some people who normally do not attend church will be there this morning.

They will be going to find some peace in their troubled minds. They will be going to try and find answers. They will be going to be alongside others in the community who have suffered the same sorts of trauma and shock. And maybe some of them will be going because they want to get angry at God for allowing this to happen.

All those are good and valid reasons for being at church today.

At times such as these the Church is recognised as being a place all in a community can turn to whether they are people of faith or none.

I imagine that for the families of those killed by Derrick Bird, and indeed Derrick Bird’s own family, the major question must be Why? Why did he do it? Why did he shoot my wife, my husband, my son, my daughter? We’ve all heard the theories about the disputed will and his worries about unpaid tax. But those theories still do not explain why he shot as many people as he did. And chances are no one will ever know Why.

That is what will make this dreadful event all the more awful to come to terms with. There will be lots of questions and perhaps very few answers. And I hope and pray that for the people in West Cumbria most closely affected by the events of 2^nd June, they will at least be able to find some comfort and support from their Christian neighbours even if there are no answers.

I’d like to conclude by reading the prayer that has been written by the Church Leaders of West Cumbria in response to the shootings on 2^nd June.

O God, Creator of us all,
in your Son, Jesus you have walked the way of darkness and death,
you send your Spirit of healing and truth to all in need

We pray for those injured or bereaved by inexplicable violence
May your gracious compassion surround and uphold them

We pray for all individuals and communities whose lives have been changed by this tragedy
May your sustaining love be present in all expressions of support offered and help received

We give thanks for the commitment and dedication of the emergency services
And pray that they may be given the strength they need to serve others

We give thanks for the resilience and courage of West Cumbrians
And pray that the bonds of community care and concern may hold fast at this time

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
And let our cry come unto you

Amen.

He bids us build each other up

On 22^nd May (the day before Pentecost and two days before the anniversary of John Wesley’s conversion) the Great Western Federation came into being. In case you’ve missed it, the GWF is a partnership between the Swindon & Marlborough, Upper Thames and Chippenham circuits. Through working closer together we aim to co-operate in mission across North Wiltshire.

The launch, held at St Josephs College in Swindon, was well attended with nearly all churches in the three circuits represented. I was pleased to see people from the three churches I look after there, as well as some from Butterworth Street (who I will be looking after from September.)

We started with a service and then the signing of the declaration by the great and good of each circuit and then each church was presented with a candle to mark the occasion. As well as the formal signing, everyone present was also invited to sign up to the agreement in a book. Over the next few months this book will be passed across the circuits between churches and at each stop everyone will be invited to sign. The book will be accompanied by a small gift from the previous church to the recipient. It is hoped that this passing of the book will enable strong links to be built up across the Federation.

But what does being part of a Federation mean? Well, as I’ve said, the Federation’s main aim is to provide ways of the three circuits working together for the mission of the Kingdom. To give you some of the ideas already being looked at. In each of the three circuits there are one or two people wanting to train as local preachers. Now I remember from my own time training as a local preacher the training is far more rewarding in a larger group than if there is just one or two of you. So one thing we can do as Federation is run the local preacher training jointly for the benefit of all.

Similarly we are starting to look at ways of providing training for Sunday School teachers and youth club leaders. Through the Federation we can put on a good amount of training hopefully.

Inevitably talk of the Federation makes us think about “Super Circuits”. And who knows, if that is where the Holy Spirit leads that may happen. But for now that is not the aim. The aim is I feel summed up neatly in a the second verse of a Charles Wesley hymn (HP 753) All Praise to our redeeming Lord

He bids us build each other up;
And, gathered into one,
To our high calling’s glorious hope,
We hand in hand go on.

In other words by working together we will build each other up and support one another in proclaiming Christ Jesus as Saviour.

I shed a tear

I attended a prayer breakfast for clergy in Swindon today. It was led (excellently) by two members of Swindon Youth for Christ.

The SYFC team explained how in the various schools they attend the young people were amazed to think that people would pray for them. So SYFC had brought along some requests for prayer that children (all at secondary school I think) had requested. I was given this:

"I prey to see all my brothers and sisters again and no that they are safe with there carers"

(I've typed it exactly as written.)

This broke my heart. And I was almost unable to read it out in the small group I was with.

I think it was partly because Mrs Not a normal vicar works in social services and shares with me so many of the tragic tales she encounters of children in care. This prayer was almost as if I knew the child making the request.

I hope and pray that God hears this prayer and answers it as the child wishes - even if in the long term the child may be better off in care (which is sometimes the case after all.)

Keep an eye on them!

So we've elected our MPs. But at the time of publishing this we still don't have a government. No doubt one way or the other that will be resolved in the next 48 hours.

And once Parliament is up and running then what?

I preached at the end of April on the importance of Christians voting and of course trying to vote for the political party that seems to most closely reflect Christian values. The essence of what I was saying is that legitimate, just governments are part of God’s plan to establish his Kingdom. Therefore, it is our duty as Christians to elect such Governments.

Driving home in the car after that service the Vicar's wife said “It was a good sermon but you missed out something. You should have said that as Christians we also have a duty to hold MPs accountable and watch what they are doing.”She was right. I should have made that point and in fact I am going to make that point now.

I am sure you are familiar with the story of Jesus being given a Roman coin by the Jewish authorities and asked him whether it was lawful to pay taxes to the Romans. They were attempting to impale him on the horns of a dilemma. Jesus said the tribute should not be paid then the Jews would have reported Jesus to the Roman authorities for treasonable talk. On the other hand if he said pay the Roman tax he would alienate a lot of his own supporters.

Jesus’ answer was that if you use Roman currency then you accept Rome’s right to raise taxes and should pay Roman taxes – using that currency. But equally Jesus said it was important to recognise that Roman authority only goes so far. God’s domain encompasses everything.

The point for us today is that if we use the services provided by Government, we must pay taxes to the Government and also accept that the Government is legitimate. If we enjoy the state and all its privileges then we cannot divorce ourselves from the state.

As Christians we have a duty to be conscientious citizens, honest citizens, accepting what the Government says. And therefore as conscientious citizens I believe it is important that we take part in how the country is run. For some that will mean wanting to enter politics. But for most of us it means making sure our views are heard and that MPs are acting in accordance with the values we hold dear. The values of people who are already citizens of God’s Kingdom.

So once the dust has settled and we know who the Prime Minister is and who our MP is, I think it is important that we as Christians monitor our MPs but also pray for them and maybe even send words of encouragement to them.

Father, You guide and govern everything with order and love.
Look upon the assembly of our national leaders
and fill them with the spirit of Your wisdom.
May they always act in accordance with Your will
and their decisions be for the peace and well-being of all. Amen.