‘I became human for you, will you become God with me?’

‘What overwhelms us?’ … in the grounds of the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

‘What overwhelms us?’

‘What can we do about being overwhelmed?’

These questions were put to us this morning by Bishop Margaret Vertue of the Diocese of False Bay in South Africa. She was speaking at the USPG conference in High Leigh.

Bishop Margaret, who is the second woman to become a bishop in Africa, was leading this morning’s Bible study (Matthew 11: 20-24).

She challenged us to think of whether we respond in love and not in judgment. And, drawing on the wisdom of the Carthusian monks of Grand Chartreuse, she asked: ‘I became human for you, will you become God with me?’

To illustrate how we might respond in love and not in judgment, she shared ‘The Story of a Sign’ by Alonso Alvarez Barreda, with music by Giles Lamb. This short film from Purplefeather illustrates the power of words to radically change our message and our effect upon the world:

Today is Mandela Day, when everyone in South Africa is encouraged to donate time to charity and charitable work.

Describing the situation in her diocese in the Western Cape, she said apartheid had a pauper’s burial, so South Africa is still an angry nation and very volatile.

In the Anglican Communion, this is a ‘Season of Intentional Discipleship, and in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, this is the ‘Year of the Young.’

One-third of the population of the Western Cape live in the area of the Diocese of False Bay, where there are over 6 million people, and 40 per cent of these people live in the grips of poverty, only 24 per cent of learners ever finish school, and for many there is no opportunity to be educated beyond grade 12.

She spoke of the prevalence of gender-based violence, human trafficking, which is a modern-day slavery.

But she asked us to consider our own contexts and to discuss: ‘What overwhelms us? What can we do about being overwhelmed?’

And she asked, in the words of the wisdom of the Carthusian monks of Grand Chartreuse: ‘I became human for you, will you become God with me?’

Later in the morning, the Revd Dr Carlton Turner, from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in the Church in the Province of the West Indies, spoke on ‘Growing the Church.’

God’s pattern for growing the Church is about entering chaos and bringing about something creative, something new.

He discussed the threats to life in the Caribbean, the legacy of slavery and colonialism, the natural disasters, including hurricanes, tropical storms and volcanoes, and the social and political and economic chaos. ‘When the US sneezes, we catch a cold.’

But it is also a region of amazing creativity, with carnivals and festivals, and a rich variety of languages and cultures, such as reggae and calypso.

Referring to the move from Chaos to Creativity of Pentecost, he spoke of recent violent incidents in Manchester and Finsbury Park as examples of situations where chaos can lead to creativity.

Referring to next Sunday’s Gospel reading, he suggested that good and bad co-exists together, but we are at risk if we try to weed them out. Growth means diversity. Diversity is key to growing the Church, as it flows outward.

‘God grows God’s Church,’ he said. We do not do what we do alone.

Given the complex and chaotic world in which we live, he asked, how can we work together to bring about something new, creative for the world to share in?

God is creative and unpredictable and the Spirit continues to move over the chaos of our world to bring about the new Creation. How does this challenge our mission and management frameworks and practices?

In the grounds of the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Too much ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and not enough ‘Sense and Sensibility’

Summer colours in Hall Court, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

From Crete to Cambridge in less than a week.

Last Tuesday [11 July 2017], I spent the morning in the Monastery of Arkadi in the mountains above Rethymnon in Crete.

Yesterday [17 July 2017], on my way from Stansted Airport to the USPG conference in High Leigh, I decided to spend the morning in Cambridge. After breakfast near Christ’s College, I spent a few hours browsing in the bookshops, calling into Sidney Sussex College, and taking photographs at some of my favourite places, despite the throng of tourists.

This year, for the first time in many years, the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies is not organising a summer school in Sidney Sussex College, and I am going to miss a week of teaching, friendship and fun. But I still needed to call in on the place, and to enjoy this corner of Cambridge in the summer sun.

I was corrected on Facebook later in the day and told by a colleague that what I always thought was wisteria growing in the courts in Sidney Sussex is in fact solanum. But the name solanum is applied to a wide variety of crops and plants that include potatoes, tomatoes and aubergine. In other words, I have lot more to learn each time I return to Cambridge.

G David … one of my favourite bookshops anywhere (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

In Saint Edward’s Passage, a side alley close to King’s College, the Guildhall and the Market, I found myself rummaging once again through the collections outside G David, one of my favourite second-hand bookshops in any part of the world.

Nearby, in Guildhall Street, close to the Cambridge University Catholic Chaplaincy, I was brought back from Cambridge to Crete with a jolt. In all these years, I had paid little attention to Michael Ayrton’s sculpture of Talos opposite the Guildhall. But, perhaps because I am just back from Crete, I noticed both the statue and the inscription, which says:

Talos, Legendary man of bronze,
was guardian of Minoan Crete
the first civilisation
of Europe
Sculptor: Michael Ayrton

According to the stories in Greek mythology, Zeus abducted Europa and took her to Crete, where Talos, a bronze giant, guarded her from pirates by circling shores of Crete three times a day. Talos was made by Zeus, Daedalus or Hephaistos. A single vein of molten metal gave life to Talos, and this ‘blood’ was kept inside the giant’s body by a bronze peg in his ankle. Talos attacked Jason and the Argonauts when they landed on Crete, Talos attacked them. Medea charmed Talos into removing the bronze peg, all his ichor flowed into the sand, and he died.

Talos was sculpted in 1950 by Michael Ayton (1921-1975). Like the mythical Talos, Ayrton’s Talos is also made of bronze. But he has no arms, no face, and his torso is a bulging box shape. By leaving Talos without his arms, Ayton illustrates the anger and bewilderment of many post-war British sculptors.

Michael Ayton’s Talos illustrates the anger and bewilderment of many post-war British sculptors (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

I found myself wondering who is going to portray the anger and bewilderment of post-Brexit Britain.

Today [18 July 2017] marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen on 18 July 1817. The bookshop of the Cambridge University Press is displaying special editions of her novels and biographies of her in a window facing the Senate House.

I wonder how many are going to break away from the throngs of tourists to call in today and to mark this bicentenary.

But I could not escape noticing the carefully sculpted juxtaposition of two of her best-known books: Sense and Sensibility to the left and Pride and Prejudice to the right.

Perhaps it is a summary of the anger and bewilderment of many in Britain a year after the Brexit referendum. After all, the vote appears to have been 48 per cent Sense and Sensibility and 52 per cent Pride and Prejudice.

If only there had been a little more Persuasion from people who should have known better.

Marking the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death in Cambridge this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Philippine bishop languishes in jail for over two months

Bishop Carlo Morales has been in jail for over two months

Patrick Comerford

During today’s sessions of the annual conference of USPG, Rachel Parry told the harrowing story of Bishop Carlo Morales who is being detained illegally in the Philippines for almost two months now.

Bishop Carlo Morales is the Bishop of Ozamis in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), also known as the Aglipayan Church and the Philippine Independent Church, and is in communion with the Anglican Communion.

The conference of USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is taking place at the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in rural Hertfordshire.

On 11 May, he was illegally arrested and detained and now faces fabricated charges.

Bishop Carlo is a peace advocate and a member of Pilgrims for Peace, the Philippine Peace Platforms and the Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum, which have been steadfast in their demands for the Philippine government and the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) to resume peace talks that began in 1994.

Support for the peace talks is part of the Church’s prophetic peace-building ministry. Bishop Carlo was travelling with his wife, Maria Teofilina, and their driver, Isadome Dalid, to Ozamiz, on 11 May 2017, when they were flagged down by Rommel Salinas, a consultant for the NDFP, who asked for a lift. As a consultant involved in the peace process, Salinas carries a card that guarantees legal safety, including unhindered passage and immunity from search, arrest and detention.

However, as the bishop’s car approached Gango in Ozamiz City, they were stopped at a military checkpoint. Salinas was arrested, despite the guarantees of immunity. Bishop Carlo, his wife and the driver were told they were free to go, but Bishop Carlo decided to stay with Salinas.

When they arrived at a police station, all three were handcuffed and told they were accomplices to a high-value target and that they were harbouring a criminal. Their bags were confiscated, and the police claimed they had found a weapon in one bag.

The police refused to allow the bishop to have a private conversation with his lawyer, and he was told that he was going to be charged with the illegal possession of explosives that had been found in his car. Since then, the legal process has been delayed and prolonged.

The IFI has been subject to political persecution and threats ever since it was founded in 1902. Its origins are similar to the Old Catholic churches in Europe and the Reformed Episcopal Churches in Spain and Portugal.

The Obispo Maximo (Archbishop or Primate) of the IFI, Alberto Ramento, was brutally killed on 3 October 2006. The church believes he was murdered in order to silence him for his life-long stand for justice in the Philippines. His killers have never been charged or tried. But today, the IFI has 6 to 8 million members and is the second largest church in the Philippines.

Canon Grace Kaiso, General Secretary if the Council of Anglican Churches in Africa, spoke at the conference this evening of his work with the 40 million Anglicans in Africa, and the variety of this work.

He spoke of how some Anglican provinces in Africa cover only one country, while others cover several countries, including the Provinces in West Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa.

He asked us to consider whether there are ways in which our partnerships with communities may have contributed to unsustaintable livelihoods, and asked how the ‘midwife’ approach can be of mutual benefit to USPG and its partners.

After the Morning Eucharist celebrated by Canon Joabe Cavalcanti, a USPG trustee, the conference continues tomorrow with Bibles studies, workshops and a meeting of the council of USPG.

Initiatives for the 21st century from a centuries-old mission agency

The High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire … the venue for the USPG conference this year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

The USPG annual conference, which opened in the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, this afternoon, is looking at ‘Serving Churches, Strengthening Communities.’

USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies, founded in 1701, but this afternoon we heard of exciting new initiatives working with the church to meet the challenges presented in the 21st century.

Welcoming us to the conference, the Revd Chris Chivers, chair of trustees, spoke of reconnecting with the ‘DNA’ of USPG.

In our first session this afternoon, Janette O’Neill, USPG General Secretary, invited us to look at USPG’s work with the Church and Communities through the experiences of USPG staff members.

‘We are inspired by the Gospel to be the hands and feet of Christ,’ she said. ‘We are faithful, we are radical, we stand in solidarity, and we respect context.’

She explained how this is worked out through the way USPG promotes collaborative and mutually accountable leadership, takes part in dynamic alliances, and pursues justice through locally defined and sustainable initiatives.

Enthusiastic staff members who shared their experiences in the past year included Rebecca Woollgarr, Volunteering Manager; Emma Bridger, Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Manager; Rachel Parry, Director of Global Relations; Rebecca Boardman, Programme Co-ordinator, Advocacy and Mission, Global Relations; Naomi Herbert, Director of International Programmes; Edgard Ruddock, general adviser, Global Relations; Habib Nader, Programme Manager, Global Relations; Richard Bartlett, Director for Mission Engagement; Evie Vernon, Programme Adviser, Theological Education; Fran Mate, Programme Manager, International Programmes; and Davidson Solani, Programme Manager, International Programmes.

They were filled with infectious commitment as they spoke of USPG’s work in Greece, the Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, the Anglican churches in the Indian Ocean, and in areas including climate justice, refugees, people trafficking, gender justice and health education.

Rebecca spoke of Father Malcolm Bradshaw and the work of Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Athens with refugees in Greece, in partnership with the other churches in Greece.

Richard Bartlett also spoke of the work with refugees and migrants in Greece. He spoke too of USPG’s presence at Greenbelt and USPG’s fringe event at the General Synod of the Church of England in York, and discussed USPG’s work at theological college and with ordinands, including the ‘Re-thinking Mission’ conference.

Emphasising the value of ‘people meeting people,’ Rachel spoke of mutual dependence and responsibility in the Body of Christ.

Habib spoke of how USPG is changing mindsets, making a difference and unlocking potentials.

But it is hard to get it all into an hour, and the annual report tells a more detailed story and provides a fuller picture.

Later this evening, Canon Grace Kaiso, general secretary of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CANA), speaks about ‘Enabling Livelihoods.’

The speakers and attendance at the conference includes people from dioceses in the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Europe, the Church in Wales, South Africa, Bangladesh, the Philippines, the West Indies and Myanmar (Burma).

Throughout the conference, our worship is being led by Father Herbert F Fadriquela Jr, chaplain to the Filipino Community in the Diocese of Leicester.