Skip to main content

Street Church, Leeds

Visiting The Lighthouse Church in the Crypt of St. George's Church, Leeds just over a week after worshipping with the Street Church in Rio, provided a rich opportunity to reflect upon similarities and differences...

GOD'S LOVE at the heart of both.
SHARED MINISTRY - lay and ordained - underpinned both.
WELCOME - everyone (known 'regular' attenders and newcomers - like me) was shown warmth, friendship and compassion with open hearts in both.
EMMANUEL - remembering God's presence with us - even in our 'darkest' of times - and God's desire for us to live with hope and trust in the transformative power of the Holy Spirit was the key message in both.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC - live in Leeds ( we sang a Christian variant to the Beatles' "Let it be"!) and recorded in Rio  (but what a witness worshipping in public)  enriched the quality of worship, generating a tangible sense of corporate endeavour in both
LITURGICAL DRESS - a (retired) bishop in purple shirt, cassock alb and stole in Rio and two casually dressed clergy in clerical collars in Leeds but, in both, a physical demonstration of clerical leadership and presence.
TEAMS - clergy and lay working together in common witness and service evident in both.
SERVICE  - food common to both, clothes and medication in Rio (offered or 'signposted' during the week in Leeds) and lots of interpersonal "TLC" very freely expressed in both
MEN - far more men attending than women in both
CHRIST'S SPIRIT - spoken of, celebrated and evident in both - thank the Lord!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Insufficient words....

... that's what I felt like when, having moved on to the (equally beautiful and 'touristy') town of El Calafate, I ventured to see one of its main 'draws' - the Perito Moreno Glacier.... Some fifty photographs (from the water facing it and from the organised viewpoints above it)  cannot capture its magnitude, all shades of white and blue shimmering in the sunshine... It is as large as the whole surface area of Buenos Aires and is "in equilibrium" (ie the amount of ice breaking off at its end - and I witnessed that several times - is equal to the amount of snow replenishing it day by day.) It travels some 2 meters every day and, as often happens, has "cut off" one side of the vast Lago Argentina lake so that the water level one side is some 3 meters higher than the other. In time the natural forces will find a way to redress this inbalance and the sheer force of water will eventually cause the glacier to "rupture" - with great force a...
1 comment
Read more

Beginnings...

A journey begins with one step and (with some trepidation) I start my sabbatical. The hope? To rest, have time out to reflect on calling,  ministry and what it might look like in the future - personally and within the context of Ruthin.... So, a prayer: Loving God , in my journeying and my resting, in my listening and or reflecting please guide me and lead me afresh to the light of your truth, Jesus. For I ask in His name... AMEN .
2 comments
Read more

Pain, suffering, healing and hope....

I wonder how you would describe the mystery we celebrate when we participate in the Eucharist? Having made contact with Revd Mark Simpson, another fine anglican priest sponsored by CMS, I was invited to join him at the Saturday night Street Church based in Rio's (notorious) city centre... For me, it was a moving expression of what I understand to be a priestly role and a humble living out of what I understand 'Liberation Theology' to be about... This theological thinking, expounded by Gustavo Guiterrez ( amongst others) sees the Gospel as an expression of God's love for all, but with a particular emphasis on God's siding with the poor, the downtrodden and oppressed - all those (like the street dwellers of Rio) who may feel they are outside society's (and God's) love... Such a theology is not only to be expressed in the Gospel but also in the way we, as Christian's, share God's love, care and concern in practical ways.... All this was to be witne...
1 comment
Read more