Parish Church As Community Temple.

1

2

Parish Church As Community Temple1 1994

Flynn, Shawn W. ‘ “A House of Prayer for All Peoples”: The Unique Place of the Foreigner in the Temple Theology of Trito-Isaiah.’ Theoforum. 2006. 37(1), 5-25. The OT must be viewed as having varying degrees of exclusivism and of inclusivism. To demonstrate Trito-Isaiah's (TI) inclusive perspective (Isa 56-66) is to compare TI to texts that deal with similar themes regarding the pressures of the exile, such as the role of the foreigner in the community. Demonstrates that TI is a pivotal text for the development of inclusion in the OT since it stands in sharp contrast to the general consensus of texts within the context. Compares TI to a wide range of late pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic texts that discuss similar pressures regarding the role of the foreigner in the community and that often reflect on the role of the Temple. Refines the question: when studying the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra / Nehemiah, Second- and Trito-Isaiah, which texts' theologies of sacred space welcome the foreigner into Temple / worship and which do not? TI is an important text regarding inclusion; it is remarkably inclusive in contrast to texts that deal with similar pressures but respond by promoting exclusion and limited levels of inclusion. 1

3

4

New Edition

Parish Church As Community Temple 2007 Second Edition Revised.

5

With updated, post Thatcher and post-9/11 notes and references

6

7

Biographical Outline Dr. Catchpole trained for the Anglican ministry at St.John’s College, Nottingham in England and was ordained in 1974, working mainly in U.K., inner city parishes. On gaining his Masters degree in Theology and Ministry from the Urban Theology Unit at Sheffield Hallam University, spent time in the Franciscan friary in Dorset, England.

His faith was sorely

challenged and radically transformed by this two-year pilgrimage with Jesus among the Franciscans. Since his conversion in 1966, his understanding of Jesus, who has been faithful to him even in the midst of his errors, has been honed and refined by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Having been awarded a doctorate in Theological Studies by the Eckhart Seminary in 2006, he is currently engaged in empirical theological research into Christian Ministry at the University of Wales, and teaches Theological reflection for the diocese of Salisbury. An independent publisher, he is the author of many books on Christian discipleship. He has lectured on Ethics, New Testament, and Mythology at Southampton University’s School of Cultural Studies in Winchester, and on World Religions for the Workers’ Educational Association, and on Contemporary Christianity for St.John’s Theological College

(Trent University), in Nottingham.

Writing academic abstracts for the Universities of California and West Georgia, S.P.C.K.’s ‘Theology’ Journal, and for the Keston Institute, he regularly contributes to the academic community’s, ‘Religious and Theological Abstracts’ database resource.

8

9

SUMMARY

Parish Church As Community Temple

10

The situation and the main problem Saint Wilfrid’s Church, Calverton, a rural Anglican church used to having been the centre of the community was now losing power and struggling to find a new role in a changing settlement.

The Specific Change Goals Attempted Sensitising the congregation2 of St. Wilfrid’s to the different traditions within its own life, to recognise both positive and negative aspects of these differences, and to become sensitive / responsive to the multi-faceted nature of the parish. The Research and resource Areas McDaniel, Charlotte. ‘Reflection Seminars as Loci for Critical Thinking.’ Theological Education. 2005. 40(), 63-73. Explores critical thinking as foundational for theological education. Courses comprising practice of ministry have the potential to serve as the means of instilling critical reflection. Engages in a meta-analysis serving as a critical analysis of the Reflection Seminars that are core components of ministerial preparation, particularly in practice programs. Inherent is the irony that while practice of ministry courses may receive less emphasis or have less value in theological education, they hold the potential for development of active learning groups foundational to teaching skills in critical thinking. Critical thinking is essential to professional competency and the ability to instil pastoral imagination. The question is whether ministerial practice courses will develop these skills, especially when theology students may demonstrate other learning preferences. Considers whether and how such Reflection Seminars can enhance sensitivity to congregational practices in faculty and/or the curriculum at large. 2

11

A range of theological, historical, pastoral and liturgical works was consulted, as well as local histories, development plans and surveys. Handson experts in the fields of management, psychology, theology, politics, service-provision, client management, temperament, were also consulted. Other sites in the British Isles where similar work was being done were visited / consulted. Local knowledge and perception was a major resource.

The Results of the Project The church has revised its image in the community as ‘like the temple, a place where God’s glory dwells’. It has revised its self-image through a thought-out strategy of getting alongside nonchurch people in secular situations. It has gained new confidence by establishing itself as a provider of a major local resource. Its religious ethos is to demonstrate its faith by good provision as well as by proclamation of the Word. Outstanding Conclusions

The Priest-as-scribe was a new and important idea arising from the project. A realisation of the danger 12

of ascribing to the church building a spiritual presence it did not possess above and beyond what individuals might possess was also achieved. The idea of the settlement as ‘Jerusalem’ – a local secular conviction sometimes stated but more often covertly believed – was transformed and given some theological credibility. The idea of the parish church as a community temple has provided a theological and pastoral groundwork, which will credibly support the spiritual inclination of Christians to become and remain involved in ‘community work’ as an acceptable offering of spiritual service to God.

13

14

Parish Church As Community Temple 2nd Edition

Roy Catchpole

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF MINISTRY AND THEOLOGY. URBAN THEOLOGY UNIT UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD June 1994 15

16

MASTER OF MINISTRY AND THEOLOGY

Who Is My Village? “ Faith keeps watch every day… and daily fear that for which she daily hopes.” Tertullian. De Anima (ad fin).

1994 To the people of Calverton with gratitude to the people of Broxtowe and Hyson Green and all those who, in both statutory and voluntary capacities have honed their faith in the living Lord through the sacrifice of love for others, whether hidden secretly in the heart, like the prayer of the just, or shouted from the hilltop like the light on a mountain in the name of Him who died and was raised for the redemption of the world, Jesus, the Man for others. URBAN THEOLOGY UNIT. SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY.

Rev’d. Roy catchpole The Vicarage

17

Calverton. Notts

18

19

Contents Chapter One Anatomy of a village The Minister The Situation Calverton’s amenities. Sept. 1992 Commuting Rurality Farming Housing Education Politics Community Groups Public Houses The Parish Church Personally… The Future Greater Nottingham training/Enterprise Council. Chapter Two Conservation and Hope Site Team Members The Site Team process Phase One Phase Two Phase Three Phase Four The Problem Stated Chapter Three Strategies for Discovery. Change Goals, Competencies, Evaluations, Resources, Timing, and Strategy Development.

20

Chapter Four Temple and Settlement SECTION ONE A parish church wrestling with identity. The temple and Social Conflict Resolution of Social Conflict The Temple in the ‘Plan of God’ The Temple as ‘Incarnation’ SECTION TWO Managing the Temple The Priest as Scribe SECTION THREE The Church as Temple Today The Church as Temple: a live issue Future of Church as temple? Chapter Five Culture and Community Change Goal One The Farming / Village Community The Commuter Community The Pit Community First Address: Farming. Second Address: Commuting Third Address: The Pit Candidate’s reflections Role of Parish Church (Expectations) Site Team Reflections The Farming Culture The Mining Culture The Commuting Culture Concluding Change Goal One Display (Photographs) Change Goal Two New Elements Which Emerged 21

Social Group Diversity Church Member Commitment Physical Oppression and the Human Spirit Ministerial Competency Community Groups / Member Commitment Universalism and Inclusivity Chapter Six Images and Witnesses Change Goal One Change Goal two Ministerial Competencies Personal Witness Education, Christian Discipleship Teaching Facilitating Through Listening A changed Situation Image in the Community Self-Image New Confidence The Church: A Major Resource Religious Ethos

and

Life-

Chapter Seven Some Messages For the Churches For the Secular Powers For Ministry and Mission For the Nature of Christianity. Main Contribution of this work to the Church APPENDICES: A Commuter World B Church as Temple C St. Wilfrid’s Church Ground Plan 22

D E F G

Community Groups in Calverton Parish Church Groups Church Crèche Plans Trinity Sunday Service

23

24

The Rev’d Dr. Roy Catchpole. Priest

25

26

Chapter One Anatomy of a Village

The Minister I took the incumbency of Calverton in May 1986. I wanted to look at hidden rural poverty, to follow-up a dream I had for the development of a smallholding in Calverton, and to find relief from intense urban ministry for my family and myself. I had been committed to community action ministry liasing with any locally impinging agency that would cooperate.

I came to Calverton as a priest

converted in prison, a product of the post-war underclass for whom James Dean had been an adolescent role model.

My recent philosophical

background had an element of disillusionment with the

Church’s

reticence

for

radical

political 27

engagement with the causes of poverty. The Faith In The City Report3 had been mainly developmental and collaborative in character and insufficiently radical in setting forth the empowerment of the poor,

offering

them

consultation,

information,

education and placatory moralism stopping short of self-determination. But a start had been made by the church and more work would flow from it for urban poor as the Report gained in respectability among the churches. I wanted to see how my kind of ministry, giving rise to pressure and direct action groups would work in a rural setting where the cry of poverty was less strident and dressed in better clothes. I saw myself as among the pioneers to the rural underclass in my new job. I did not expect to find any different problems in the rural setting than I had found in urban ministries – just greater difficulty in unearthing them because they would be more hidden. I would find greater difficulty in solving the problems because they would not occur in such Faith In The City. The report of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. 1985. CHP 3

28

numerical quantity as to make their occurrence as sufficiently tasty to the palates of politicians or social agencies. My ministry would be a low-profile one, which would be a novelty for me. In the first two years of this rural ministry I had worked

with

a

Nottingham

homeless

trust,

managing to house upwards of twenty homeless people in the smallholding buildings on the edge of Calverton parish, personally supporting the Director and regularly visiting the site to help with problems in consultation with the management committee. During the tail end of that time I had also gained control of the church hall and re-ordered it, and in the third year I identified, and worked closely alongside a local volunteer, to whom I gave the title ‘Co-ordinator’.

Her task was to establish local

groups on the principle that they would set their own agendas and use the hall as a pump-priming venue with a policy to move to alternative premises as soon as they had become financially viable, leaving space for new group developments in the building.

The parameters of the trust document 29

supplied limitations on the types of developments that were permitted in the building.

These were

that they should be educational or recreational in character.

I chose, with the agreement of the

Diocesan Solicitor, to interpret this broadly. I had already become focussed, under the general head of ‘poverty’, on two symptoms of underclass disadvantage. dependency/misuse.

Homelessness The

first

and was

drug a

cash

deprivation and the second an emotional one. Taken together, these two reflected my perception of ‘whole ministry’ – to the body and soul. In collaboration with the Director of the Macedon trust – a group characterised and vilified by some for its direct action approach – and a small group of friends I began to investigate the possibility of focussing the use of the smallholding (purchased by the Trust four years earlier with a large cash gift from Paul Getty, K.G.) to the poverty of drug/alcohol misuse.

As a homeless unit the buildings had

become dilapidated through lack of funding.

30

The smallholding would become a rural haven for urban drug and alcohol dependants who were motivated to become free of their addictions.

It

would be a kind of ‘Arbour’ (Pilgrim’s Progress) in the progress of our residents on their way to achieving freedom. The following year, in concert with a national Christian housing association, ‘Adullam Homes’4 I and the rest of the management committee steered the unit to its present role as a drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation facility. We named the smallholding, ‘Manna farm’ in order to recollect the miraculous provision of God to a stateless community in desperate need and our hope for that same source of provision. The project has been operating for two years and my role is Chaplain. The Situation Adullam is the name of a large cave outside the royal city of the same name to the S.W of Jerusalem in which David found refuge and a ‘resting place’ in his flight from Saul (I Sam.22: 1), and to which all who were distressed, in debt and discontented came to him for solace and who (incidentally) found empowerment. 4

31

Calverton is a settlement of 6,677 (1991 census) people lying eight miles north of Nottingham between the A614 to the west (the M 1 Motorway lies fifteen miles west of that), and the A612 to the east, twenty miles beyond which lies the A1 trunk road. Its people think of Calverton as a rural community under threat of having its identity swallowed by the Nottingham city conurbation.

The remains of

Sherwood Forest lie scattered everywhere in a locality whose major lands are owned by the Forestry

Commission,

British

Coal,

the

County

Council and a few private landowners. The parish itself lies on the silted Dover Beck, forming p-art of its northern and eastern boundaries and flowing into the major waters of the River Trent. At one time this beck provided the land link for the major industry of Calverton, salt-commerce, which activity set the course for Calverton to develop into the present day Key Village of the locality. Calverton is one bead of a necklace of settlements lying parallel to the M1 motorway, convenient for 32

commuting south to London and north to Sheffield and Leeds.

Birmingham is obtainable through

Nottingham city and west for an hour. The nearest seaside resort of Skegness, seventy miles east. The nearest large urban development is a finger of the conurbation reaching up from Nottingham through Arnold (itself a village in living memory now swallowed up), two miles south of Calverton, to Dorket Head on the perimeter of the settlement.

33

Urbanities include

some

miles

Mansfield

City,

distant

from

twelve

Calverton

miles

north,

Grantham town, twenty miles to the east, and twenty miles to the west the city of Derby. All of these latter are sufficiently distant to argue in favour of Calverton’s claim to be rural. The main industries are education, a Wrangler clothes factory and a cable-making factory (this began by serving the pit, but diversified and became an international company some years ago). The Calverton pit closed in December 1993. Nottinghamshire Calverton,

but

Police although

Headquarters this

may

is

The in

superficially

present as a major local employer, in fact it employs only twenty-one females and five males who are resident

in

the

settlement.

includes

Calverton

and

its

The

sub-division

satellite

villages,

comprising five constable beat officers for a total population of around 10,000.

Two nursing homes

provide about a hundred-and-twenty part time posts for females resident in Calverton. The various shop[s and offices will not be employing more than 34

a hundred people, and Manna Farm employs nine. Nottinghamshire

County

Council

unemployment

figures showed a rise in the number of unemployed in Calverton from 148 in 1990 to 225 in 1991, an unemployment figure of 7.1% of the resident population.

At 17th December 1992 there were

about 1,500 people employed in full or part-time work in the parish (not including outworkers or informal cleaning jobs etc for which no figures exist), of whom about a third were resident in Calverton. Of these about seventy were part-time workers. Gender representation among this group was about fifty/fifty.

These figures do not include

those who commute out of the settlement to work, but traffic flow figures from the Department of Transport record a total of 680 vehicles leaving Calverton on three of the five routes from Calverton between

7.00am

and

9.00am

weekdaily.

A

reasonable guess of employment on these figures is that one-third of the 6,667 populstion is in part or full-time employment, which squares with the 1991 Census figures of 69.6% of those between 16 and 35

pensionable age employed/self/-employed. It must be borne in mind however that the Calverton Pit has closed since these figures were collected (local people had been convinced this would occur since Mr. Heseltine’s speech in October 1992) and no longer employs the 200+ men that it did then.

I

would have expected this to have doubled the unemployment

figures

in

the

settlement

to

around425 people in march 1994, but the actual figures for the three months, November 1993, December 1993 and January 19945 were 246 (Nov), 279 (Dec), and 306 January 1994.

The impact on

associated industry employment has been greater than I had guessed it would be (81 people). Of this figure (306 in January 1994) all but one of these people were male. Calverton’s Amenities September 1992 Golf Courses (2) Arts centre/Restauran t British

Sewerage Works Restaurant Public House

Coal Post Office

Ms Val Moulder. Employment Services. Training Services. Feb.1994. 5

Butcher Geriatric Home Dental surgery (2) For Calverton Employment

36

Landfill British

Coal Video Rental

Pithead Warden-aided

Estate Agent

Forestry Commission Land

General Store

Public Lavatory TV & Electrical Shop Preparatory School Private Farm Buildings

Betting Shop Cemetery Chemist Stables

Grocery Shop British Gas Substation Garage, Petrol, Sales, repairs Pet Supplies retailer

Cooperative Food Store Methodist Church 6-Practice G.P. Chartered Baptist Chapel & Hall

Kennels Library Footwear Shop Hairdresser (1) Catholic Church Post Boxes (4) Optician

Accountant Wrangler

Cobbler & general Store

Flower Shop

Police Station Building Society

Schools (Junior & Comp) Community Centre Canine Coiffure

Public

Public Lavatory

Bakery Shops (2) Dress Shop Anglican Church Clinic

Home Public Houses (6) Drug Rehab Unit Petrol Station Ironmongers Shop Craft Shop Village Hall Private Museum Wool shops (2) Taxi Rank

Seconds Leisure Centre

Telephones (5) Chip Shop

Chinese Takeaway Pentecostal Church

Newsagent

Ten months later (July 1993) the following changes had happened: 37

Two hairdressers New

No pentecostal congregation Catholic Baptist Chapel redundant

Church Craft Shop Closed

One bakery shop TV Shop Closed

Canine Coiffure Shop Closed Geriatric Homes Baptists take Pentecostal Church’s (2) building Optician Closed One Dental Surgery Closed

Commuting: a Special Characteristic of Calverton The fact that local employers engage a significantly large in-commuting workforce, and also that an equally significant number of the settlement’s residents commute out of Calverton each workday goes some way towards explaining why residents cling to their village identity, making it an important issue for me as the settlement’s vicar to be sensitive to this feeling in my daily work. Of the 930 employees of British Coal at Calverton Pit in 1991, only 207 actually lived in Calverton. The remaining three-quarters of the workforce travelled from other mining areas where seven Nottinghamshire pits had

38

recently closed and the remaining twenty-four had undergone reductions in their workforces. With the closure of three more of these pits in 1993, including Calverton, no-one now both lives and works in the mining industry in the settlement. About three-quarters of the Education Authority’s teachers in Calverton’s schools commute to the settlement every weekday, although associated support staff such as cleaners, dinner servers and traffic directors (lollipop people) live locally.

The

five schools employ 187 full-time staff. Wrangler LTD runs a daily bussing-in service for their workers. The Police headquarters is a place to which workers, both uniformed and civilian commute from various parts of Nottinghamshire. A ‘Rural’ settlement? Alternative labels than ‘rural settlement’ might be applied to Calverton, such as ‘dormitory’ or ‘ghetto’, but if I did this in my funding literature, seeking to gain financial support for the parish church from 39

Calverton’s residents, the church would be bankrupt within a year. As it is, the use of the terms, ‘village’ or

‘rural

community’

is

eliciting

a

monthly

increasing financial input from local people.

I

respond very warmly to the insight of the ACORA document,6 “

By

its

nature,

the

history

and

development of a village and its parish church is specific…the history of no two villages

is

the

acknowledgement

same. of

this

Some history

is

important, partly because so much of the current life of the rural church can only be explained by reference to the past,

and

partly

because

a

major

element in the decline in rural culture and community…lies in the decline of an awareness of a common past…” Their recommendation is, “ That research be undertaken into the scale and speed of development which Archbishop’s Commission on Rural Areas. Faith in the Countryside. 1990. CHP 7. 129f. 6

40

small

communities

can

assimilate

without detriment…” My feeling is that sensitivity towards the past must be demonstrated by those who shape perceptions, and that there needs to be a conscious effort to educate perception-shapers. It is clear that the pitculture never became assimilated in its thirty years in Calverton. The pit culture is also an insular one. It is of men working together in the dark and in danger,

with

a

well

defined

and

understood

hierarchical structure, employing an alien technical language whilst working and having a large earning capacity between the ages of twenty-seven and mind-forties,

whose

public

culture

is

mostly

confined to the homes and pubs and clubs in Calverton and Majorca. Farming: the setting for the gem of Calverton. Although Calverton is surrounded by farmland, these farms are mainly high-tech operations which employ few people.

Or, land is turned over to

recreational uses, producing associated eclectic 41

clubs and associations. It must be said that modern farming is an isolating and lonely occupation. There is nom more sitting around on the haywain on a hot summer afternoon eating ‘doorstep sandwiches’ with the seasonal laboyurers, their wives and children sharing stories of myth and legend till the pleasant afternoon labour begins.

Because it is a

lonely operation requiring almost constant presence on the farm by the operators, social opportunities are few and precious.

The actual work demands

come by diktat of Brussels. It is Europe and the Common Agricultural Policy that provides much of the identity, self-perception and work goals of the local farmer. Blue fields of linseed are not grown to make

the

countryside

look

pretty

for

visiting

holidaymakers. The stalks are almost impossible to dispose of even by – illegal- burning.

There is a

quota requirement from Europe and a subsidy that goes along with it. Since 1992 a vast car boot sale operation

in

Calverton

has

grown

to

attract

hundreds of weekend peddlers and their customers to four large fields at the northern end of the parish. 42

People commute from miles away and turn the sleepy weekend village’s main street into a major road

every

Sunday.

Most

of

the

so-named

‘Calverton Brass Band’ and Orchestra commute from other town and villages for local performances. High-tech farms, the recreational use of land, local employment provision, informal commerce, these too

are

based

principally

on

a

commuting

requirement. Finally, the settlement’s Key Village status means that most folk from the surrounding villages (there are twenty-one in the deanery, a third of which look to Calverton for major medical/social provision) depend upon these services and need to commute to Calverton for them. Part of the local pathology therefore is an element of ongoing social trauma. Residents therefore grasp any thread that will support the local perception of ‘village-ness’: The Parish Church tracing its antecedents back to 665 AD forms a major thread in this identity. Calverton Museum is another thread, harking back 43

as it does to the past, and being owned by the Calverton

Preservation

Society,

and

a

book,

‘Stockings For A Queen’7, setting out the story of the locally born Rev’d William Lee, the inventor of the stocking frame, and rumoured (incorrectly) to have been the Vicar of Calverton parish. There is no documentary evidence of this.. These hark back and reaffirm Calverton as a village. There is also a possibly Saxon but probably Roman unexcavated earthworks and a silted well, reputed at one time to have been used for healing optical ailments by the 12thCentury Cistercian monks – further threads in the village identity link. Further enhancing this feel of ageless rurality, art and craft centres abound. One of these in particular (the Patchings Farm Centre) consciously and very convincingly sets out to make itself into a rural idyll, giving rooms to innumerable local groups and educational interests who are artists and craft-producers of various gift and persuasion. The presence of a sizeable riding school in the centre of the built-up area and the 7

Stockings For A Queen. Milton & Anna grass. 1967. Heinemann. 44

stables of the Mounted Constabulary just beyond the settlement’s boundary ensure the presence of horses and riders in the streets throughout the year. It is as common to see a constable on a horse as to see one in a police vehicle. All of which affirms a reality in romantic historical terms which conflicts with the real demands of contemporary daily life in the settlement. It is what I call a ‘schizoid social pathology’.

A fascinating

commentary on this can be made by noting the 1992 erection of the parish Christmas Tree by the Calverton Parish Council – the tree being a mere seven feet tall. The parish Clerk sent invitation to all the local bigwigs, including the clergy, to the switching-on of the Christmas tree lights. The Chair of the Council pronounced that the tree lights were to be switched on, and they were – to much cheering and applause. identity had been made.

A statement of unity and The village illusion had

been officially confirmed as a reality. The ‘villagers’ had been appeased. In the same settlement at the same season the schools – and even the parish 45

church,

and

doubtless

all

other

homes

and

institutions and workplaces had trees of their own – some twice the height and with more and better lights. But there had been no opening ceremonies and no bigwigs. In these cases there were no felt needs to appease the village. There was merely the administrative

necessity

that

because

it

was

Christmas, Christmas trees were on the buying-in agenda. Housing in Calverton. Housing

is

detached.

almost

entirely

post-1946

semi

The small amount of pre-1919 housing

that remains is two-to-three-hundred years old, much prized and sympathetically maintained. This is situated mainly along Main Street, part of which was the original main track through the hamlet of those times. There are also a few farm buildings of a similar age scattered around the parish. Housing groups occur in eight main patches in the parish.

The centre, comprising two preservation

areas and part of Main Street, Paddock Close estate, 46

Top estate, Bottom estate (the designations ‘Top’ and ‘Bottom’ are indigenous colloquialisms which name two areas not otherwise distinguished by special

grouping

names),

Cloverfields

(1992),

Longue Jumelles estate, Church Close estate and Broadfields. The Centre may be characterised as containing the bulk of the buildings on which Preservation Orders impinge. The parish church is here, as is the Baptist church.

Paddock Close consists mainly of self-

contained bungalows housing elderly people.

The

Top estate comprises semi-detached former p[it owned and some council housing, semi detached. There is a small number of flats. Bottom estate is mostly semi detached former council housing. Leicestershire Housing Association owns much of this property and most of the rest is owneroccupied, as is some of the Top estate.

The

Methodist church, Comprehensive school campus and Roman Catholic Church are geographically situated between these two estates sharing the same field.

Cloverfields (named after the Dover 47

Beck by the Parish Council but misheard by a clerk at Gedling Borough Council Planning Department over the telephone) comprises modern mortgaged detached and semi detached dwellings, some of which were built for first-time buyers, and there are a few bungalows.

Until 1993, Cloverfields had a

complex house numbering system, no street names and an incomprehensible street layout. Steps have now been taken to rectify this.

Longue Jumelles

estate was so named after Calverton’s French twin village.

The

estate

is

privately

owned

and

mortgaged. Church Close, named for its proximity to the parish church, is physically like Longue Jumelles

estate

and

mortgaged

but

is

more

secluded, more expensive, and fewer in number. Education in Calverton. There are five schools on three campuses. They are manor Park Infants’ School, Salterford Independent Preparatory, Sir John Sherbrooke Junior, Saint Wilfrid junior and Colonel Frank Seely Comprehensive.

48

The Sherbrooke, manor Park and Frank Seely schools occupy a single vast campus at the geographical centre of the settlement (see below). The Preparatory school is situated in a secluded woodland

west

of

the

population

centre

and

St.Wilfrid’s Church Controlled school is on the south side of Main Street bordering on farmland to the south and the preservation area to the north. Together the schools employ 187 full-time staff and cater for upwards of 4,000 daily pupils.

Sherbrooke, manor Park and Frank Seely schools Politics in Calverton.

49

The

Parish

Council

is

solidly

a

of

councillors.

Its main preoccupations are planning upkeep

of

and

with

smattering applications,

Independent

Labour

public

Conservative open

spaces,

recreational areas, public lavatories and cemeteries, street lighting and allotments.

Although it runs a

resource centre (like the parish church), it is sensitive to the ‘village’ identity and I would say is rarely politically adventurous or controversial.

My

view is that it has difficulty in dealing with local activists, preferring to stay calm and maintain the status quo in a current Gedling Borough Local Plan (1990), and its dealings with the new Calverton Community Centre proposals, which do not occur in the 1990 Plan. collaborating

It has now been roped-in to

with

the

Training

and

Enterprise

Council in the wake of the pit closure. The locus of power and esteem between the Parish and Borough Councils in signified in the palatial buildings of the borough headquarters and the run-down hall of the Parish Council.

The largest public controversy in

Calverton in 1992 was over the propose3d removal 50

of an abattoir from a neighbouring town to the green Belt in Calverton. The most vociferous local activism came from people who were not Parish Council members.

Subsequent to a large public

meeting, organised by local activists, attracting over 300 people, mostly dissenters, Gedling Borough Council gave the go-ahead for the abattoir plans, and the parish council voted against it in line with local feeling.

The process was halted by the

Department of the Environment Public Hearing. Local feeling had been that the plans would go through, but in the event, in July 1993 the Secretary of State refused to grant planning permission. One of

the

Inspector’s

reasons

for

refusing

the

application was that, “ I do not consider that the proposal could be said to be appropriate to a rural area, having regard to the overall use of the site, the size and bulk of the building, the facilities to be provided…abattoirs are mostly found in urban areas …” 51

In this particular case it needs to be noted that when thinking of the choice of rural/urban identity of

the

settlement,

however,

the

Inspector’s

comment regarding this particular development refers specifically to its Green Belt siting viz: “My

conclusion

is

that

the

proposal

is

inappropriate in the Green Belt.” The point is, this does not mean that the Inspector is referring to Calverton itself as being a village, or as it being itself a rural settlement but rather that it is quite possible for residents to see themselves as either living in a rural or in an urban area. Community Groups in Calverton. The settlement is rich in community groupings. At September 1992 there were known to be over sixty local

community

special

interest,

guilds

and

associations of differing sizes of membership. Some of these came and went in the space of a year. Others are longstanding of many years.

Largest

and most influential among them must be the Scout and

Guide

Association,

the

Toy

Library,

the 52

Preservation Society, the Royal British Legion, the Calverton Forum, the Golf Clubs and the Saint John Ambulance

Association.

The

Cricket

Team,

Women’s Institute and Drama Group (‘Calverton Players’) are smaller in numbers but have an influential and well-educated following.

On a

smaller scale there are numerous interest groups, occasionally supported and/or initiated by the churches, such as the Retireds Group, Youth Club, After School Clubs, Flower Design Group, Welfare Rights Advice Team, Nearly New Clothing facility, Woodcarving Group, Toddlers’ Clubs and so on. There was a Calverton Band until 1993, and there is a Calverton Orchestra. A major social amenity, the Miners’ Welfare Club was lost to the settlement in September 1991 when the whole vast complex was burned down. However local people said that the building had rarely been available to them, being almost exclusively used as a cheap watering hole for miners and their families, the alcohol being subsidised by British Coal.

It is said that the

amenity could have been better managed to cater 53

for the whole population, and it is true that the ‘Geordie Club’ in Calverton is well managed by local people. One wonders whether the hidden agenda of the miners’ employers was to keep the workers happy

with

their

lot

by

anaesthetizing

their

sensitivities with cheap firewater! Calverton’s Public Houses. At present there are six licensed premises – one for each thousand residents The white Lion caters for young people from many local villages as well as Calverton.

It is Managed, and many of its users

leave between 8.00pm and 9.00pm by taxi or second-hand vehicles for the night-life of the cities of Nottingham or Mansfield. The Cherry Tree serves mainly the ‘Top Estate’ and is currently Tenanted, its management swapping from Managed to Tenanted.

The local constables

report that there is a higher incidence of violence and brawling here than at any of the other public houses, although paradoxically, there is a great friendliness also. 54

The tenanted Admiral Rodney – a designation recalling the military preoccupations of former years – Lord Sherbrooke and Colonel Frank Seeley, predictably caters for older people, couples, and the tamer end of the drinking fraternity.

These come

mainly from the Western end of the settlement, and have a strong sense of the village identity. The

‘Geordie

population.

Club’

for

the

general

Drinks are cheap and there is a

children’s’ room. retired

caters

people,

The Club is very popular with especially

ex-miners,

and

has

provided a retreat for many of the former Miners’ Welfare Club refugees. It is well managed by a local committee. The

Gleaners

is

at

the

eastern

boundary

of

Calverton on Main Street. It is a well-behaved pub with customers from all aspects of the settlement’s life and traditions. The name, ‘Gleaners’ recalls one of the agricultural tasks of former years and the class

of

people

who

used

to

frequent

this

establishment. It is tenanted.

55

Finally, the ‘Top Club’ – actually a social club on British Coal land adjoining the pithead. This caters exclusively to the dominant culture where it is situated. There is a children’s room, and the Club is locally managed. The Parish Church in This Situation. Saint Wilfrid’s ecclesiastical parish is one of twentyone that make up the rural deanery of Southwell (below). Eight fulltime salaried clergy, three-and-ahalf fulltime unpaid, and nine retired clergy serve these parishes.

Among these parishes, Bilsthorpe

(pop.3, 105) is the only one with a working pit, Calverton having been closed in late 1992.

The

figures for 1993 were as follows:Village/Town/Settle ment Bilsthorpe Bleasby Calverton Eakring Edingly

Population

Priest

3105 715 6,677

H.Wilcox A.DeBerry R.Catchpo

430 285

le H.Wilcox D.Leaning 56

Epperstone Farnsfield Gonalston Halam Halloughton Hockerton Hoveringham Kirklington Maplebeck Fiskerton-cum-

350 2,570 65 285 90 120 345 295 115 715

M.J.Brock D.Bartlett M.J.Brock D.Leaning A.DeBerry D.Bartlett A.DeBerry D.Bartlett H.Wilcox A.Tucker

Morton Oxton Rolleston Southwell Southwell Minster Thurgaton Upton Winckburn

550 185 1,800 ( ) 410 380 95

M.J.Brock A.Tucker Vacant Vacant A.DeBerry A.Tucker H.Wilcox

The Southwell Deanery is in the Archdeaconry of Nottingham and Diocese of Southwell. There is in Calverton One Anglican Church, a church hall and a Controlled Church of England School. The Church is used almost exclusively for worship, although there are occasional slide shows and orchestral concerts – there has not been a flower festival for many years. The church hall is the locus of two umbrella groups,

57

the Oasis Community Facility and the Calverton Forum.

The former hosts a number of local

community groups, and runs a number of other groups itself. Its management employs one salaried person full-time and four sessional workers.

Its

current funds come mainly from the Council of Churches for Britain and Northern Ireland, a central government disbursement of social security funds. The latter umbrella group is an information-sharing forum open to representatives of agencies and local residents and has a current minutes-list of over seventy

agencies

and

individuals.

Its

stated

purpose is, first, to share information so that there is direct communication about news and views on matters of concern to local people, and secondly to discuss these matters, and thirdly to take action jointly to improve the situation and support one another through the process. Saint Wilfrid’s Church Sunday School is also based at the Hall. Ecumenically, there is an informal tradition of interchurch worship in Lent and an occasional joint service of worship in the public square. In 1993, the 58

churches agreed to hold a quarterly service of worship in one another’s’ building extra to the traditional Lenten arrangement. A new Roman Catholic Church was built in 1994 through a land-selling arrangement with a local builder – a member of the St.Wilfrid’s congregation – who built the church and a block of dwellings on the remaining land. The Catholic congregation had been worshipping in a wooden building on the site for twelve years and had lost most of their number, who were now starting to return. At June 1993, there were a total of about 400 regular

church

distributed

attenders

among

the

more-or-less

existing

four

evenly Christian

churches. The parish church membership and attendance contains very few people between eleven and thirty years old.

There has been until recently a large

Sunday school with fifty children on the roll.

The

average attendance at the three Sunday services is eighty. Three-quarters of the regular attenders are middle working-class and the remainder working59

class in origin. There are no people of any ethnic origin other than white, and none of mixed race. This

is

not

surprising

since

the

total

white

population in Calverton is 99.7%, and I do not encourage

an

in-commuting

worshipping

attendance, preferring to encourage and create an indigenous congregation. Voluntary lay involvement with the parish church is high in view of the size of the membership.

The

Oasis Community Facility – the community work arm of the parish church – claims to have fifty volunteers engaged in various local community activities.

Sunday

school

has

five

voluntary

teachers and the church committee infrastructures engage sixteen volunteers distributed among five committees including the Parochial Church Council (PCC).

The remaining four sub-committees deal

with the areas of Social Activities and Catering, Mission and Outreach, Music and Worship, and Finance, Fabric and Funding.

(S&C, M&O, M&W,

and F.F&F).

60

The parish church’s income is poor. Having paid all other bills a shortfall of £7.150pa remained at the end of 1992 on the £10,000 bill charges on the church by the diocese for its Diocesan Share.

A

major funding campaign began in April 1993 in response to this in the hope of alleviating this debt and I am personally engaged in following-up new contacts for the remaining three years of the life of the current Campaign. I am aiming (and managing) to increase the church’s annual income by this means by around £1,500pa.

See below the

published material sent to all the potential New Financial Givers. Note especially the little reference to

the

rural

and

historical

content

of

this

information. This was done in order to encourage people to think of the church as a contemporary and urban reality, with a parish church looking to an urban future rather than only as a custodian of a rural past: “ The church was in a sorry state, so the vicar took a wealthy friend to look at the damage. It

61

so happened that a stone fell from the porch and hit the friend on the head. “ I see what you mean,” said the friend, “ Here’s a cheque for £500.00”. “ Lord!” said the vicar, “Hit him again! ” In this Funding Campaign we are not hitting anybody! All we want is to tap people on the shoulder, to tell them that “God loves you, and wants the best for you.” “ But in order for this church’s ministry to be done properly without falling to pieces, it needs – like any other organisation – to be kept in good order. O it is up to all of us - God’s people – to maintain the work he has given us to do.” “ Our church serves the community, old and young alike, in many ways. Much of our work is done by Volunteers who give their time. We are very grateful to them for their commitment to St.Wilfrid’s.”

62

“

Calverton

is

traditionally

both

a

community and a centre for education.

pit It is

renowned throughout Nottinghamshire for its excellence in both areas of work. The pit has an outstanding record of achieving its quotas, and Calverton’s schools draw pupils from all over the surrounding villages.

For many,

Calverton is a respected focus for the life of our area. ” “ We are blessed with many centres for Christian worship. Thee is not only the ancient and very beautiful church of St.Wilfrid’s, but Methodists, Baptists, Roman Catholics and Pentecostals are also represented in Calverton. At the parish church of St. Wilfrid we are making our own contribution, with the, to the active Christian life of this community.” “ BUT we need your help NOW! May God continue to bless you richly. ” Vicar’s signature………………. Personally. 63

On a personal level, I find Chapter, friends and spouse supportive in my having to engage in the formulation of radical shifts in perspectives of pastoral ministry, coming from an urban Chapter to a rural Chapter setting, and from an inner-city ministry to a country one. I am chairman of the local Church school governors and of Calverton Forum; an active founder-member of

the

management

committee

of

the

Drug

Rehabilitation Unit as well as its Chaplain; a member

and

occasional

chair

of

the

multi-

disciplinary Nottinghamshire sex Workers’ Forum in association

with

Trent

University’s

Sociology

department; an occasional contributor for both Trent and Nottingham Radio; a twice-published author, and I have an unkempt half-acre of vicarage garden – a victim of the above – and an excellent vicarage to live in. I expect to be celebrating my Silver Wedding in 1994. The move from urban to rural ministry has been a shattering one, which has been recorded in

64

my book. ‘Grown Men Do Cry’ SPCK 1990. But the rose window of my being is now renovated. I see the issue the church might profitably address as being something like: “ What might be the shape of my ministry in Calverton for the next decade?” The excellent committee structure at St.Wilfrid’s now sets most of its own agendas. My own priority is to understand better what rural-urban-shadow ministry

can

best

be.

Since

the

Church

Commissioners’ Annual report of 1993, announcing the dissipation of over £8 million – over one-fifth of the Church of England’s financial assets through property speculation during the heady eighties, throwing the financial burden for the upkeep of the ministry heavily upon church attenders, much of my preoccupation

during

that

ten

years

will

be

concerned with fundraising. My perception of how my theological understanding of the nature of Christian faith and ministry has changed over the years is that there are more questions than before.

The right questions rather 65

than knee-jerk answers have become my priority. The wind of the spirit constantly blowing against the granite of my former Conservative Fundamentalism has weathered my theology, revealing cracks and weak points in which have grown lichens and mosses

of

liberalism,

Pentecostalism

and

a

catholicism,

ecumenism,

charismata

that

have

broadened but not flattened my perceptions.

The

actual granite itself has gained a patina of political radicalism essential

and

non-conformity

character

of

the

which

material

was

the

from

the

beginning. I am fulfilled by seeing a plan formulated in collaboration with those of Christian faith and no Christian faith take shape. I am frustrated by the conflict

between

preaching.

administration

and

street-

I have a good rapport with the

underclass, marginalized and poor, and am good in one-to-one support situations.

The foregoing, I

think, demonstrates this. What’s Ahead? 66

There remains space for further engagement in similar projects as those outlined above. On the immediate horizon is an informal request from a committee member of a local group ‘Parents Aid for Handicapped Children’ (P.A.C.H.) (sic), which for the past ten years has laboured to show practical love and care for a number of local people who suffer particular disadvantage through physical and/or mental disablements.

The request is for

myself and my wife to become engaged with them on the management committee specifically to help them lobby the statutory agencies for regular and substantial financial input into the group for its ongoing work, and to strengthen links with other similar groups in other parts of the British Isles, starting with a group in Southern Ireland – members of which are currently worshipping at the parish church on placement from their Irish base.

There

has been little responsibility taken by the politicians or by the statutory agencies such as Health or Social Security or indeed the church, and the financing and management of this facility has fallen 67

upon the shoulders of the parents of these people, and they have kept their heads above water by borrowing and begging what little they have been able.

The sub-agenda in terms of other than

financial support will probably be to encourage and help to sustain those Calverton parents who are already engaged in this work locally, for they are becoming older, and starting to wonder what will become of their offspring when they no longer have the health and strength to be able to support them. In the coming decade my hope is to further rouse Calverton’s consciousness with regard to finding signs of God’s Kingdom in its midst. This is more than an intention. In pursuit of this aim I have recently taught a diocesan Theology series on ‘Signs Of The kingdom’ under the management of Canon Michael Austin, the Diocesan Director of Training, and in cooperation with two other local clergy as tutors for the course, to a group of about fifteen interested mature laypeople from around the deanery.

Over half these people were from St.

Wilfrid’s congregation. This has been the first of an 68

ongoing series which I intend to continue to teach. At a local level, it will educate and encourage Saint Wilfrid’s to be looking for signs of God’s Kingdom in their midst.

Some of these will have input to the

teachers of the ‘Christian Basics Course’ (see below). I have also identified a group of Calverton Christians whom I have enlisted in teaching and/or assisting me in teaching a series on ‘Christian Basics’ in the parish to new church contacts locally.

There has

already been fruit from this in terms of a number of new regular attenders at the parish church, and the creation of a well-attended new weekly study House Group in the parish. Again, I intend to continue this series, using new contacts, to do the teaching and for previous teachers to act in supportive roles to them whilst having access to some of the ‘Signs Of The Kingdom’ students. This has been agreed with those concerned (the PCC and the teachers), and the second series began in September 1993, leading-up to Christmas and its culmination in the Christmas 69

festivities.

The last of the Series – as the series

before – was entitled “A Christian Christmas?” I have recently detected signs of a desire among some church attending parents of young children to have their offspring taught in more detail and with deeper reverence for the Gospel about the Christian Faith in some of the local schools, and in particular in the Church School. I will closely monitor this, and offer encouragement and input to parents, head teachers and teachers as the assigns are affirmed. This needs to be done sensitively, bearing in mind that the Church School is a ‘Controlled’ and not an ‘Aided’ school. This means that the church does not have the final say regarding religious content of the curriculum, nor about the Admissions Procedures, and needs to negotiate carefully and professionally any desire for a Christian / Confirmation / Church Attendance school entry requirement. Against this will have to be balanced the demands of the lobbying parents.

In expectation of this desire

being expressed, I have already offered the Church school

curriculum

committee

a

comprehensive 70

Junior Religious Programme to replace the limited and often last minute material, which is currently being offered to the children.

One of the local

schools has an ‘Aided’ school and is currently using this package and its parents are impressed with it. The cost of the programme material will be c£1,500.00 out of the school budget. A Sign of God’s Kingdom in this case might be that the Church Junior School decides to purchase the material, and that other local junior schools agree to having me teach some of its R.E. classes or for them to request educational / consciousness-raising visits to the Parish Church (Community Temple). Greater Nottingham T.E.C. At December 1993, greater Nottingham training and Enterprise Council, with a budget of around £2 million came into the settlement in the wake of the pit closure to help the unemployed learn new skills and return to the workforce. Their strategy was

71

1.

To provide unemployed people with placements

at

local

employers

with

the

aim

of

gaining

recognised qualifications leading to ‘real jobs’. 2.

To allow unemployed people to use their skills

to do works in the settlement such as landscaping and environmental works and, 3.

To assist local people to start their own

businesses

by

offering

training,

advice,

and

financial support. The opinion of the T.E.C.Chief Executive, Mr. Jim Potts, was that the Scheme would, “ Improve services and create jobs.” My opinion was that for a government who had behaved so badly towards a major industry and its dependants in the face of oppositions from moral agencies such as the churches to have done nothing in response to the imp[act of its behaviour would have clearly revealed the moral and social bankruptcy of that government, and that the application of sticking-plasters such as T.E.C’s over such deep wounds still failed to hide that revelation from the more discerning. 72

Nevertheless as the vicar of the parish, lacking any alternative, I accepted the invitation to join the Steering

Committee

with

control

of

the

Environmental Budget.

73

“…their bruised arms hung up for monuments.”

74

Chapter Two Focussing On Key Issues

The Site Team Members Linda McGarry. A member of the Cursillo Movement, began regular church attendance about five years ago, was instrumental

in

setting-up

and

running

the

Calverton Toy Library, runs the Church Bookstall, makes

and

maintains

a

variety

of

friendship

contacts within Calverton mostly but not exclusively with young mothers of about her own age, relating such contacts explicitly and directly to her own Christian faith. She is a lone parent with one child, has a powerful strength of character, presents as low

key

but

has

a

fundamentally

outgoing

personality. 75

Doris Wild. The parish church’s Covenant Recorder, has always had a church commitment of varying degrees over the years. Since the Candidate’s time in Calverton this commitment has increased and it can be said that she is a key person in the church. A widow now retired, she had been a civil servant working for Customs and Excise. Again although she presents as low profile, she has strength of character belied by her often-mischievous approach. vibrant,

and a source

She is witty,

of encouragement

and

support to many in the congregation. Helen catchpole J.P. She is the Candidate’s wife and a magistrate on the Nottingham City Bench. She is the parish church’s Administrator, a manager of the Nottinghamshire Probation Service and of the Manna Farm Addiction Rehabilitation Project, of which she is also a founder member. She is perceived by most as a dominant personality. There are those who do and those who do not have a problem with that. She has been a

76

Christian all her life and her emphasis is on Justice, fairness and equity. Christine Peet. Retired from full-time education, she has been a missionary in Africa and has always expressed her Christian commitment in terms of pastoral ministry to the disadvantaged and poor. She has a breadth and depth of understanding of the human situation that surpasses that of many who operate in professional caring capacities.

Her input into the

Site Team has been mostly in terms of one-to-one support and encouragement. Bill Peet. The husband of Christine is a regular Methodist church attender. He is a Storyteller. Like his wife, his faith has found expression in a lifetime of care and pastoral support to the disadvantaged both abroad and in Britain as a Special Educational Needs Teacher. Philip O’Brien and Val O’Brien. Are charismatic Conservative Evangelicals and are founder members of the Manna farm Project. They 77

do not attend the parish church and are therefore not perceived as being members of the parish church community, although they do take part in Christian worship at the Farm, being resident at the site as carers, Phil as care Manager and Val as Housekeeper. In this sense, their ministry from the Candidate’s point of view takes place in a newlyplanted church within the parish and in which they are involved in an oversight capacity.

Both had

been

dedicated

heroin

addicts,

and

have

themselves to the care and support of those similarly challenged. Eileen Cupitt. President of the Calverton Preservation Society. She and her family are acknowledged locally to be among the better educated in the settlement. She attends the parish church occasionally and has been active as a local councillor in local politics. She is also a local political activist. During the latter few meetings of the Site Team an issue arose about the siting of an abattoir in Calverton.

She was

perceived as the natural leader of the protest and 78

has been actively and energetically engaged in guiding this through the Public inquiry. familiar

with

a

ghostly

apparition,

She is a

which

she

describes as a welcome resident in her home, and she occasionally addresses groups on the subject. Ian and Margaret McLiesh. Keenly supportive of the work of the parish church. They have a long involvement with the Preservation Society of which Ian has been Chair. He is a senior librarian in Mansfield Woodhouse, and Margaret a dental receptionist in Arnold. Neither has been able to attend many Site Team meetings because of their commuting lifestyle.

The team felt that this

truly did reflect the situation of most commuters in Calverton, and that insofar as the Team felt their absence, so the settlement is partly shaped by the commuter

absence

from

its

own

life.

The

Preservation Society with Ian as chair was a major voice in placing a stained glass window in the parish church in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of William Lee.

79

Of the Site Team Members, two were in fulltime paid, one in part-time paid, and two in fulltime Christian voluntary work. The age-range was from 40 to 70 and the range of life-experience ran from ex-convicts (2) to the magistracy, casual labouring, and parlour maid to managerial and professional. In terms of the social makeup of the settlement there was also a good representations although there were gaps regarding farming and commerce. were supportive of the Candidate’s ministry.

All The

gender makeup of the team reflected the gender makeup of the congregation, as did the age-range. The Site Team Process Phase One In October 1990 I convened a meeting with an existing parochial group whose agenda centered on sharpening-up the parish church’s contemporary ethical

edge

through

the

study

of

consumer

television programmes in the light of the group’s present theological understanding.

This consisted

of eight people who had looked in depth at issues 80

ranging from euthanasia to AIDS, child sex abuse to armed imperial intervention in subject nations, from demon possession to the deity of Christ.

The

starting-point of the group’s ruminations was this material. Five of the group agreed to give me personal support in my studies for the Master of Ministry and Theology. On 22 October 1991, I held an introductory meeting at which others whom I had identified were present, some were regular, others irregular and others non church-attenders.

I explained that what I was

interested in doing was discovering local peoples’ perceptions of their own situations in the face of the statistical actualities. What was of interest was how the people of Calverton actually operated in their daily lives irrespective of whether the bases on which they functioned were statistically ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. By 12 December 1991 I had received positive responses from thirteen local individuals.

81

By November 1992, after the Team had been operating for a year, two members had failed to attend any team Meetings, one found himself fully committed

elsewhere

in

his

own

(Methodist)

congregation, and another found her whole time taken up with visiting and caring for a sick relative in Wells, Norfolk. The early Team Meetings wrestled with issues of general

and

particular

Christian

community

involvement. The question whether Christ calls His people to give themselves in the service of others was not asked. It was axiomatic that He does. It was also taken for granted that if Christ calls, He also empowers.

This calling might be to a

generalist or particular service.

Examples of this

were cited as the (generalist) Church Community Facility, aiming to offer a range of services across a broad spectrum and taking its agenda from its consumers,

and

the

(particularistic)

Addiction

Rehabilitation Project, focussing specifically upon one particular social, emotional and spiritual issue. It was felt that the Holy Spirit almost invariably co82

coordinated His human resources across a broad spectrum, utilising the insights of many people – not only Christians – to achieve His goals. These common insights of the Site Team process in their particular analysis of the situation arose as findings from the particular and general experience of Christian service each of them had been engaged in as Christians, but were also confirmed by their finding so much in their situation that they felt able, or at least inspired to consider responding to. People who are lost may be found.

Situations of

loneliness can be alleviated. Faith can be shared. Broken bridges can be repaired or replaced, and rivers where there were never any crossings can be crossed. Things, which are hidden, can be brought to light. There was a feeling of enthusiasm in the Team, and of a willingness to see the Holy Spirit at work in our situation. Very early on in the process it was clear that the Team felt that not only certain social but also otherthan-human forces were ranged against Christian service, expressing itself in the forms of prejudice, 83

and lawlessness, and also in a strong sense by one member of the Team and immediately confirmed by the rest that Calverton suffered from ‘an undefined spiritual malady’ of some kind. None could identify it,

but

its

achievement

nature was

was

to

malevolent

make

Christian

and

its

mission,

difficult at the best of times, even more so. The ‘Ghosts’ of Calverton. Further investigation of this feeling led the team into a discussion of the history of the settlement,

revealing

a

local

feeling

that

Calverton people had always been shunted into a siding, their riches plundered and their genius un-applauded.

Many examples of this

were cited in these historical discussions and many contemporary examples. It saw itself as innocently suffering the crimes of others.

Its

own crimes were abandonment of women to lone

parenthood

and

of

violence

against

women (even its ‘ghosts’ were female), and various forms of prejudice, a divided and 84

divisive social organisation and the rejection of ethnic cultures. Calverton was felt to be a community in a time warp. It had elements of a glorious past, but it was one

whose

glories

offered

little

concrete

contribution to the present and it had a future threatened by the closure of the pit. Whilst at this time

not

describable

as

a

poverty-stricken

community, its commercial industries were under threat and its major occupation, being education, offered no immediate or local financial profit. This was restricted by the fact that such a large proportion of its residents commuted from the settlement to work, and such a large proportion of its daytime population were commuters into the settlement. This concluded the First Phase of the Site Team meetings, gathering information and reflecting upon it.

85

‘The Commuter World’ A painting by S. Withers depicting how it feels to be a Commuter living in Calverton. The picture was not commissioned for this purpose but accurately reflects the feelings of

rootlessness

commuters

in

and relation

otherworldly to

how

exclusion

they

view

expressed

their

by

home-base

Calverton. Living by day in one world and by night in another. What is the Gospel to this situation in which the world is distant and unattainable, lush vegetation springs from no roots and in which the individual is cut off from influencing the home base?

Phase Two

86

The Second Phase addressed itself to reflecting theologically on the gathered material.

The aim

was to discover Biblical themes – images and stories relevant to our situation in Calverton. The process

of

gathering

new

material

continued

throughout the whole Site Team process, however. Resulting from these meetings were the themes of ‘Hidden-ness’ and ‘Invasions’, and the images of ‘Bridges’, ‘Windows/openings’ and ‘roots’.

Biblical

stories that highlighted the need for ‘ Heartknowledge

for

Salvation’

and

the

spiritually

stultifying effect of ‘head-knowledge only’ were selected

as

Calverton.

being

of

particular

relevance

to

The Biblical material could be used in

two ways: by ‘head-knowledge’ to support extremes of prejudice and division, and by ‘heart-knowledge’ to be opened up to the situations of others and work towards reconciliation. Holy

Spirit

Christians

as to

be

a

It was felt that the

diagnostic humble,

agent

patient,

empowers trustworthy,

longsuffering and loving, and that members of the

87

congregation needed to access this resource as much as did the Vicar. The parables of the ‘Seed Growing Secretly’ and the ‘Mustard Seed’ Mark 4:26-34, provided insights into the way in which the Hole Spirit was able to operate in a secretive and undeclaring community.

He

operates like a seed: quietly, unobtrusively, in the hearts and minds of the recipients of Christian service and testimony, which is the farmer putting the seed into the ground. It is good seed – it works, and is fruitful – something not always made certain by the farmer before s/he plants it.

This causes

things, which are hidden to rise to the surface, presenting them as offerings for Christian ministry. The minister is the Christian who returns as the farmer to put in the sickle. It was felt that the most effective spiritual service the church could offer would be an imitation of the Spirit’s own mode of operation, which would require it to be equally quietly unobtrusive, sensitive to where the Spirit was operative and picking-up on that fruit as it presented itself. The Mustard Seed offered a cause 88

for hope in the face of the apparent insignificance of such a small church in such a large settlement. Phase Three Ministerial Competency. This is discussed in Chapter Three, the Project Proposal. Phase Four In June of 1992, the Team began the Fourth Phase, which was to focus in on the situation and express the problem in an agreed form of words. We had already thought of Bridges, Links and Hidden-ness, and we decided to test this by looking at the Southwell deanery Report based on the discussion paper for deanery Synods, ‘Developing Ministry’, January 1993, as a source of wellresearched expert perception, and the responding church

membership

to

that

Report

which

summarised the role of the Anglican Parish Priest as one who was required to manage human resources and to engage the community as its leader, teacher 89

and enabler.

This was a counsel of perfection,

particularly in the face of the actual fact that a large part of the role of the Anglican Vicar is fundraising. The team felt, however, that the raising of friends was the key to the problem, and that this was a difficult concept, although not impossible to fit into the

managerial-speak,

‘managing

human

resources’. Another key issue was forced upon our attention with

rumours

in

the

press

that

the

Church

Commissioners had ‘lost £800 million’ in property speculation.

We produced a questionnaire asking

local people for their responses to the possibility of Calverton losing its parish church presence. Their feeling was that it would be a disaster of root proportions; that they regarded the church building as a ‘sign of the survival of the settlement’, that is, themselves, their families, and their way of life. In February 1994 the official announcement to stipendiary clergy came in their salary slips in the form of a leaflet explaining that the Church Commissioners, whose assets, it said, during the 90

boom of 1989 stood at £3 billion, stood in July 1992 at £2.2 billion.

(The Lambeth report.

July 1993).

An apology was also enclosed. Decision on Mission Issues and the Problem. What became clear in the Situation Analysis was that

there

were

characteristics Three,

and

clearly

within

possibly

the four

definable

resident broad

social

population.

characteristics

emerged, which we classified as follows: • The Pit and pit-related characteristics. • The Commuter characteristic. • The Poly-Generational Calvertonian Characteristic. …and probably, • The

Farming/Landowning/Tenanting

Characteristic. I say ‘probably’ because Farming was an elusive area to get to grips with, since it would not fall within clear geographical, social, economic or task groups.

It

was

clear

however

that

absent

landowners exercise powers that impinge on the settlement against expressed local opposition. The 91

abattoir controversy was a prime example of this. The high cost of the leases of the local shops in St.Wilfrid’s Square was another. Clearly emerging from the map classifying types and ages of housing was the preponderance of post-1945

housing.

In

percentage

terms

it

represents above 90% of all dwelling units. Owneroccupancy – the 1981 census gave 1,604 of all housing in Calverton as owner-occupied. A result of 1980s housing policies and the selling-off of pit housing by British Coal in the subsequent decade resulted in the present situation of an owneroccupancy rate of 80.4%, or 1,996.

What was

surprising to some was the high percentage of incomers in relation to current perceptions of the area as a rural, enclosed, mainly working-class, renting settlement with a vital and living rural history.

In statistical fact Calverton is an urban,

post-1946 new town, fifteen percent lover middle class, home owning, 1960s planners’ Key Village. Many people came to Calverton for a rural life, but with ease of access to services and work. Incomers 92

want to believe the rural myth, even though they may know the reality. Rearguard actions are being fought by the Preservation Society over the openlydeclared move by the County or Parish or Borough Councils to snatch public open spaces, but the experience of these people is that ultimately they find themselves powerless because they are a divided community in self-contained social and interest groups. What also emerged from the Analysis was the actual employment situation. Running almost equal first in terms of numbers of people employed, with the pit running marginally first, were the pit and the schools.

But the schools employ marginally more

Calverton-based residents than the pit, and the numbers employed at the pit had been steadily decreasing during the past decade, and continued to decline rapidly.

Added to that, the pit was

discovered to be a major employer of an incommuting workforce – 700 of the 900 employees commuted to work each day.

So what was

generally perceived by politicians and others as a 93

‘Pit Village’ was in fact equally if not more than equally an ‘Educational Settlement’. There was probably also an issue here about guilt. The representation in all the churches from those engaged in the educational institutions was far greater than that from the pit community. Mining is experienced as polluting and antisocial. It takes place in the darkness, and its workers are presented in the media as dirty, uneducated men with too much money who beat their wives and get drunk. When it is convenient, they are also presented as working-class heroes actually are. necessary evil.

– neither of

which

they

Coal mining is thought of as a Certainly in my experience of

ministry people generally stay away from church when they feel guilty.

The psychology is, that

individuals take flight from judgement and criticism and that a special framework needs to be put in place to enable victims of guilt not to take flight. This begins to explain why such a settlement prefers the Christianity of philosophy (education and learning) to that of felt sin – the ‘polluting pit’. 94

The broad socio-historical characteristics of the settlement also emerged as an issue in arriving at a definition of the problem, as did housing types and employment.

These set much of the agenda for

how residents perceived themselves in relation to their neighbours both within and outside Calverton. From this, we decided to survey local groups to see how the groups saw themselves fitting-in, making a contribution, reflecting the concerns and interests of the settlement. One powerful message coming across from the survey

was

that

Calverton

is

a

rural

idyll.

Innumerable painting and craft shops, based on a long

history

of

creativity

ion

the

settlement

produced endless landscapes and rural havens; some recreate ancient farming implements such as scythes, mattocks and Celtic spades. The Tapestry Group have a fond commitment to producing tapestries

of

pre-existing

dwelling-houses,

the

church, and textiles factors down the ages.

The

Calverton Museum houses a wealth of local history, including the wooden models of the parish church in 95

successive eras, researched and made by the previous incumbent and gifted to the Museum. Also numerous local people have stories.

One of the

craft centres has reproduced a life sized Monet Garden,

expressing

a

European

another rural idyll in another land. superficially

reinforced

by

empathy

for

The fancy is

recent

farming

legislation, which encourages farmers to diversify land use for recreational and leisure purposes, and they have created golf courses, giving local people the opportunity to live their rural dream for an occasional weekend. The

Scout

International

and

Guide

Camping

Association

Centre

in

an

has

an

area

of

outstanding natural beauty offering adventure, a healthy lifestyle to a clean, compliant youth culture. Sewing

groups,

woodwork

and

carving

and

numerous keep fit classes for women are all here, and the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) regularly produces lectures on history, the arts, and theology.

The presence of all these things in the

96

settlement testifies to powerful aspirations, which are under threat on many fronts. The Downside Very much in the minority are groups making provision for local disadvantaged people such as unclubbable and non-compliant youth, lone parents, mentally and physically disabled people or groups seeking relief from oppression such as battered women, drug taking or poverty. This failure is a result of attitudes formed from perceptions based upon inaccurate data. What, for example is the significance of the fact that in a settlement of 6,677 people, whose housing is semidetached and at the lower end of the market there is a non-white British ethnic population of only 0.3%. There are no Caribbean, African, Pakistani or Bangladeshi people.

Local people tell the tragic

story of a family of ‘boat people’ who tried to settle in Calverton a few years ago, but who were hounded out of the village, and of two deaf and learning-challenged people whose life was made so unbearable they also had to leave. It is not without 97

significance

that

only

two

local

business

establishments have steel shutters over their shop windows:

The Health Centre – to prevent drugs

being stolen, and a General Store owned by an Indian family. The Team States The Problem At this stage the Team’s task was to move towards a statement of the whole problem confronting the parish church and its ministry. It would need to be a statement that was true to the whole situation, including both the church as a sign of the Kingdom of God and the parish as a whole, complex

community

–

what

a

Calverton

Churchwarden of thirty years standing, and an Old Calvertonian, calls ‘The Calverton Metropolis.’ From the Biblical Reflection the Team agreed that the problem it was seeking to state lay in the area of ‘Barriers’ and ‘Bridges’. Barriers were perceived as negative and bridges as positive, but we very soon agreed that barriers could be protective and bridges could carry negative traffic. 98

Biblical antecedents were found in the Exodus, the Exile, and Settlement, the Early Church Diaspora, in a number of Specific tales of individuals and also in theological reflections on the New Testament, especially those of the evangelists John and Paul.

There was a

wealth of material throughout the Biblical literature, which the Team found was empathetic to its struggle in clarifying the problem and which offered insights into deeper understanding. We began looking for ‘hidden links’ and arrived at the following parable, which pointed the way for a possible role for the Parish Church: “The Team sees the potential role of the Church

in

broad

socio-religious

terms,

specifically in participating in the creation of a society with the Christian Gospel as the pebble at various centres. The ripples (links) will both disturb

latent

altruisms

and

pray

direct

spiritual gifts into service of the people who live here.

The looked-for response from the

population will be the worship of God and the 99

building-up of the church. This response is to be expected in both church and non-church people. The specific new role of St.Wilfrid’s is seen as being one of these ‘pebble-throwers’ whereas in the past it has tended to be a respondent

to

altruisms

and

a

victim

of

emotional diktat.” My own style of ministry has never been that of ‘victim’, and attendance figures since my taking up the incumbency are as follows: 1985

Holy

Communion

over

9

weeks

total

same

9

weeks

total

attendance = 263 1991

Communion

over

attendance = 718 A 300% increase in attendances. I take this as an example supporting the Site Team’s

research

and

intuition

that

a

‘victim

congregation’ is a congregation that does not initiate, and a need for ‘pebble-throwers’ to bring a community to life. 100

The Problem Stated We agreed that the Problem could be stated thus: “A

traditional

rural

Anglican

Church

accustomed to having been the centre of the community

is

now

losing

power

and

struggling to find a new role in a changing community.” The decision of the Site Team was to proceed with the Problem thus stated from within the heart of the attending congregation.

The object would be to

seek with the agreement of attenders a resolution of the new role for the parish church. The question of ‘power’ occurring in the stated Problem was to be addressed in the following way: The

‘power’

χαρ ι τ α σ

requires

was

best

described

as

, ‘Grace’, for which the church would

need to pray, and the hoped-for grace would be expressed in influence and credibility for the Gospel in the hearts, homes, and institutions of the settlement of Calverton.

101

The

question

of

finance

briefly

referred

to

previously was an ongoing and unavoidable Key Issue of survival, but will be raised in more detail at a later stage of this document. Suffice to say that at this stage I had agreed with the Team to include this within any structure or plan for the Project. Resourcing the Human Components of The Team On 05.05.93 I invited seven more people – added to the congregation during the past year – to become involved with the Site Team in the upcoming Project Proposal,

and

to

consider

becoming

actively

involved with us in formulating and implementing action on the preceding material.

102

“…community temple symbols.”

103

Chapter Three Strategies for Discovery

Plan of Action in Response to The Problem

SAINT WILFRID’S, CALVERTON, A TRADITIONAL RURAL ANGLICAN CHURCH ACCUSTOMED TO HAVING BEEN THE CENTRE OF THE COMMUNITY IS NOW LOSING POWER AND IS STRUGGLING TO FIND A NEW ROLE IN A CHANGING SETTLEMENT In response the church congregation will seek to develop awareness of how barriers within the church and the settlement facilitate or impede its worship and witness.

104

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Saint Wilfrid Calverton, a traditional rural Anglican Church accustomed to having been the centre of the community is now losing power and is struggling to find a new role in a changing settlement

Having defined the Problem, the following was our Response Statement, and this is how we went about realising it.

105

First, we agreed the following:

CHANGE GOAL ONE To sensitise the congregation of St. Wilfrid’s to the different spiritual traditions and resources within its life, and to recognise both positive and negative aspects of these differences.

106

This would be administered by the following instruments: -

ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL ONE By

bringing

into

dialogue

representatives of the three major spiritual energies at St. Wilfrid’s Church to investigate what roles they want the parish church to fulfil.

ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL TWO By devising a format for addressing the requirements of the three sections with regard to the parish church.

107

We then agreed the following Strategies for helping us to accomplish Administrative Goal One: -

Advertise an historical presentation

Invite attenders to bring a friend

Provide warm & comfortable venue

Choose culturally neutral venue

Fit into Church Calendar

Community worker to publicise the event

108

…and the following Strategies- for a accomplishing Administrative Goal Two - not that all of these are directed towards a single meeting.

Use same meeting as for Admin Goal One

Identify 3 people who will be representatives

Farmer. Pit Worker. Commuter

Agree timescale with reps for preparation

Visit reps and persuade them to speak

109

Since Change Goal One is a consciousness-changing goal, its aim being to sensitise a group of people – the Church Congregation, success would be claimed by there being a detectable alteration in the backhome setting.

We agreed this could be

measured in various ways. The Project Proposal recognised that there would be barriers within the situation.

The extent to which

the Project would be successful would depend upon being able to gains the support of necessary allies. We felt that it would be reasonable to hope that at least the beginnings of change might be expected in the form of study-groups, recommendations in the minutes of the Parochial Church Council’s meetings and sub-group meeting minutes, and an observable rise in enthusiasm among the general attending church membership. We might also hope to be able to witness a growing membership from all three of the identified social categories.

The best outcome, we thought would

be for the team to have at least one ‘Trophy’ in 110

terms

of

barriers

overcome

with

supporting

documentary and personal testimony. If it be true that things change only slowly in the countryside, that itself might be, we felt, a barrier that might need addressing.

Our determination was that the

Project would show what change it could in the time available,

and

that

we

would

seek

to

make

projections from the foundation of these infant structures. In order to establish a common ground between all participants we felt that the material from the Situation Analysis should be up for consideration and challenge, since some may present a different perspective that the one already offered.

Those

present at the meeting would need to be given the opportunity to speak and be heard in a nonthreatening atmosphere, having been reassured of their security and status. There would need to be opportunity

both

to

listen

and

learn

and

to

contribute and teach. Speakers would need time to prepare presentations and in order to gain as wide a contribution as possible there would need to be 111

opportunity for anonymous contributions.

The

stories would need to be heard. We recognised that there would no doubt be direct conflicts which would not be amenable to resolution, and that it may therefore be the role of the Candidate to occasionally adopt a mediatory rather than a propagandistic role. We recognised that there were certain necessary conditions in existence, which would facilitate the achievement of Change Goal One.

There was for

example an interest in local history among church members

and

others.

A

general

feeling

of

dissatisfaction about the way things worked in the area, and a specific dissatisfaction about the parish church’s current role in the area among church members and a readiness to confess that the parish church’s

role

is

unfulfilled

and

un-realised.

Recognised areas of conflict and a feeling among Site Team Members that there were other areas of conflict which had not yet surfaced. All of these, we thought, provided a medium in which change promised to be achievable. 112

We

felt

threatened

also goal

that

conditions

achievement.

existed

which

One

other

or

interest-group may threaten to hijack the goal agenda and divert it into a ghetto interest whereas the agenda needed to be kept open and available to all.

Or, the agenda itself might provide divisions,

splitting-off, partial interests – e.g., farmers verses villagers on the Abattoir issue.

The danger of

Anglican imperialism was also considered, in which the role of other churches would be undervalued – a danger of parochial narrow-mindedness. There may be a personality conflict between the Candidate and others, and we felt that there was a danger of the Candidate’s own increased parochial responsibilities threatening to limit time and commitment available for the achievement of Goals. All of these, we felt provided areas of potential conflict against goalachievement. Participant themselves would need to be enlisted in the effort to achieve the goals. They would need to be people who had an interest and investment in the goals being achieved, and would be encouraged to enlist by personal invitation, as a 113

result of the Candidate and Site Team Members discussing the Goals and Processes with them, and by

their

being

given

a

timescale

and

clear,

achievable objectives which coincided with their own interests, enthusiasms and perspectives and offer a payoff in terms of satisfaction.

The

Candidate agreed to encourage enlistment through personal contacts. This completed our Plan for the realisation of Change Goal One. We then formulated a Second Change Goal.

114

CHANGE GOAL TWO To sensitise the congregation of St. Wilfrid’s to the multi-faceted nature of the parish in order to prepare itself for a new role.

ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL ONE By

providing

occasion

for

local

people to express their mindTWO about ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL the pros and cons of barriers. By engaging in a study of barriers, which

impede

or

enable

open

identification with or commitment to the church.

115

ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL THREE By establishing a programme for ADMINISTRATIVE GOAL FOUR exploring the plusses and minuses of barriers. By providing an occasion for the celebration of barriers within the parish.

116

We then agreed the following Strategies for helping us to achieve the four Administrative Goals: Strategies for achieving Administrative Goal One: -

Ask people

Invite anonymous contributions

Questionnaire

Tick-list in local library Strategies for achieving Administrative Goal Two: 117

In-church service with discussion

Contemporaneous notes & discussion

Topic for Lent Course

Series of sermons & discussion

Provide database with input from vicar & people

118

Strategies for achieving Administrative Goal Three: Reflection by Project Group on consultation

Provide venue

Feedback by group into project

Strategies for achieving Administrative Goal Four: -

Provide safe environment to confront prejudice

Identify consultant

119

Enlist consultant

Brief consultant

Make contemporaneous notes

It was clear to us that a sizeable number of people who were feeling that barriers exist would need to be involved in this process.

The feeling was that

because people did not generally define themselves as spiritual beings or their problems as spiritual problems,

without

deep

reflection

of

spiritual

direction, it would be necessary to start with the physical – economic, social, cultural barriers and only on that basis to proceed to an investigation that may lead to an understanding of their spiritual dimension. Our hunch was that once the spiritual nature of the physical barriers was perceived, a more effective challenge could be made against 120

them.

It was possible that the battleground for

change would be shifted from selfish sectional interests in removing certain obstacles for personal and private gain to a more profound consideration of

the

relationship

of

the

individual

to

the

community, and how these barriers have the possibility of dividing or uniting people. We felt that there might be a low level of interest in the process among non-churchgoers.

While the

political controversy attending the siting of an abattoir attracts people in dozens to a public meeting, it was not realistic to expect a similar interest in the meetings proposed in these Change Goals.

If one’s housing value is under threat

because of the rumour of a slaughterhouse being sited nearby, one might fight. The issue is obvious to all. But if one’s soul is in mortal danger because one’s commitment to bricks and mortar is greater than one’s commitment to Christ, one may not even know! In other words is the Secretary of State for the Environment one’s ultimate arbiter, or Christ?

121

Part of the Change Goals’ aim was to bring some balance to this state of affairs. Both

Change

Goals

were,

‘consciousness-changing’ goals.

we

agreed,

The aim of the

Second Change Goal was to develop awareness in the

community.

Again,

any

change

in

the

backhome setting would be a measure of the achievement of this Goal’s aim.

Because the two

Change

closely

Goals

were

so

related

(consciousness-raising) the necessary conditions for their achievement would coincide almost exactly, as would the conditions, which may work against their achievement. We felt that what may be added to the conditions for the achievement of Change Goal Two would be a willingness on the part of the congregation to look beyond its worshipping life and friends within the fellowship to the parish outside. There would need to be a willingness to adapt to different ways, adopt alien forms and make room for new demands both on themselves as Christians in the wider parish and

122

on their traditional provisions within the church building. Conditions, which would impede the achievement of this goal, were, first, on the level of non-church cultures beginning to come in to the building for worship, the very traditions and habits of the church themselves, the version of the Bible commonly in use, the use of the Prayer Book, the kind of hymns being sung, the instruments being played, the internal décor and the forms of liturgy. Secondly, the inclination and ability of the congregation to relate their faith in the terms of the host cultures. If success were achieved at these levels, we felt that Change Goal Two would have measurably achieved its aim. Achievement would be measurable by the same means as for Change Goal One. We were sure that in pursuing all of the preceding Goals there would be demands not only on the Team and others, but particularly on the Candidate. We therefore entered into an agreed contract to assess

the

Competencies

of

both

Team

and

Candidate. 123

The Ministerial Competency Assessment: Stage One. The first stage of this process was for the Candidate to keep a detailed contemporaneous record of tasks and time devoted to them over a period of two weeks The following was the result: Record of work-tasks by Candidate taken at 15minute intervals during a period of two consecutive weeks. FIRST WEEK

SECOND WEEK

DATE

HOURS

DATE

HOURS

07/04/92

WORKED 11 hrs 30

14/04/9

WORKED 14 hrs

08

mins

2

10 hrs 30 mins

09

12 hrs 30

15

14 hrs 10 mins

10

mins

16

9 hrs 30 mins

11

15 hrs 45

17

13 hrs 15 mins

12

mins

18

10 hrs

124

13

11 hrs 45

19

mins

20

10 hrs 45 mins

12 hrs 12 hrs 45 mins 2 hrs Average daily work time 11 hrs 30 mins. One day off in two weeks including 2 hrs work

125

Administration Travel Study In-Phones Out-Phones Gardening In-Visits Out-Visits Meetings Worship Magazine Maintenance Training Consultation Wedding Preparation

19 hrs. 30 mins. 3 hrs. 15 mins. 16 hrs. 55 mins. 3 hrs 50 mins. 2 hrs 10 mins. 3 hrs 30 mins 2 hrs 55 mins. 4 hrs 11 hrs 15 mins 7 hrs 15 mins 20 hrs 15 mins 1 hr 15 mins. 1 hr 45 mins. 2 hrs 30 mins. 1 hr

Ecumenical Manna Farm Meetings Sunday services Funerals Magazine Community Project Counselling M.Min. Schools/socialising Vicar’s Surgery Baptism Preparation Wedding Preparation

Whilst proceeding with this record I classified the tasks I was doing under what turned out to be fifteen broad headings as follows: Some interesting comparisons of actual and expected time-use were as follows: CANDIDATE’S TASKS

TIME EXPENDED

S.T. Expectation

SITE TEAM’S

Actual hours

Meetings 50 Hours 11.30 Magazine 16 Hours 20.15 Hours Worked 134 Hours 160 Because Team members and Candidate developed the categories separately, many of the work-tasks do not appear in the Team’s categories. What this 126

shows

is

the

disparity

between

the

Team’s

perception of the Candidate’s occupations and his actual work.

There are other areas in which the

actual tasks are hidden in the Team’s categories, such as ‘counselling’ (S.T.) is in the Candidate’s OUT / IN VISITS and WEDDING PREP (Candidate does not see this as ‘counselling’, which is something else, done by trained people).

‘Schools’ (S.T.) is in

Candidate’s OUT/IN VISITS & MEETING/TRAINING. There were no specific ‘Socialising’ work-occasions in the two weeks under analysis.

Site Team’s

estimate of actual working hours a week was short 13 hours, and its estimate of ‘Meeting’ hours overestimated by twenty hours a week, estimating that this work occupied three times longer a week than in actual fact. An average meeting-time per week is about 12 hours according to the Candidate’s annual diary estimate.

127

Competency Assessment Stage Two. The Second Stage

of the contract to assess

ministerial Competency had two parts concurring simultaneously. One was the Candidate’s own selfassessment (a), and the other the Site Team’s (b). This was followed by a further part (c), a process of consultation between the Candidate and Site Team using various assessment tools, with the objective of arriving at an agreed Ministerial Competency Assessment.. So: The Candidate’s Agreed Tasks and Character Traits were listed and scored from ‘A’ [little or no room for development] to ‘F’ [so poor as to be not worth trying to develop]. Key: 2 = Discrepancy of two categories 3 = Discrepancy of three categories 4 = Discrepancy of four categories 5 = Discrepancy of five categories 128

A = Excellent B = Very Good C = Good D = AVERAGE E = Below Average F = Poor Column ‘A’ has One (1) to Fifty-six (56) Task Categories. Column ‘B’ has One (1) to Forty-two (42) Character Trait Categories. For cross reference for example if a discrepancy occurred in the category, ‘fabric’ the reference would be ‘23A’.

If the discrepancy were of, say,

three categories, the reference would be ‘23A3’.

129

The results of parts (A) and (B) are as follows: THINGS TO DO 1 Funerals 2

C T C T

CHARACTER TRAITS

B

C

C

D

1 Clarity in speaking

(follow-up/prep E

D

D

C

2

writing

classes)

C

C

B

D

3

3 Weddings

E

D

A

B

limitations

(follow-up/prep C

C

A

C

4 Honesty

4

Awareness

classes)

C

D

B

D

5 Sense of humour

5 Baptisms

D --

A

D

6 Openness

(follow-up/prep D D

B

E

7 Fairness

6

classes)

C

B

B

B

8 Ability to learn

7 Confirmations

C

E

B

D

9

(follow-up/prep D D

C

C

10

forgive think

8

love

classes)

D D

B

C

11

9 Sunday Services

C

D

E

D

12

10 Mid-week Services

C

D

C

D

communicate

Visiting: B

C

A

C

13

Bereavement

D D

E

C

mind

12

Home

D D

C

B

14 Musical awareness

13

Sick

E

F

C

?

15 Physical fitness

Council E

E

D

F

16

E

D

F

F

favouritism

Meetings C

C

F

D

17

(attend/facilitate)

D C

C

A

manipulated

16 Council of Churches

D D

A

A

18 Impartial

11

14

Church

Meetings 15

17

of

change

Not

showing

Not

Ecumenical A

B

D

D

19 Even tempered

Services

C

B

B

D

20 Not paranoid

18 House Groups

B

D

D

D

21 Firm

19 Bible Studies

D D

D

B

22 Compassionate

20 Lent Courses

D D

E

E

23 Hard worker

easily

130

21 Sunday School

B

A

B

C

24 Cheerfulness

events B

A

F

E

25 Get on with people

(church/com)

B

A

D

F

26

23 Fabric (buildings)

B

D

F

E

people

Community D E

C

F

27 Caring for own family

22Social

24 Projects

25Networking

Caring

for

own

C

D

F

F

28 Able to relax

(Oasis, F

D

E

E

29 Able to socialise

D D

D

C

30

Forum)

Clear

relationship

26 Finger on village C

A

B

D

with God

pulse

E

E

C

D

31 Not to show boredom

Involve

by F

F

B

B

32 Give clear messages

encouragement

F

D

B

D

33 Good memory

28 Preaching

C

D

A

C

34 Diplomacy

29 Up to date: Church F

D

D

D

35

affairs

B

D

assertively

Local C

C

36 Thick skin

B

C

37 Humility

World B

E

38 ‘Know thyself’

affairs

C

C

39 Intimacy with God

32 Be reflective

F

F

40

33 Suitably clothed

C

F

messages

34 Teaching

A

B

41 ‘Divine madness’

35 Praying

B

D

42 Imperfections

36 School

B

D

37 Delegation

D F

38 Administration

D D

39 Finance

B

C

Liaison B

B

27

30 affairs 31

40

Lead

Receive

village

clear

Churchwardens 41 Deanery 42 Diocese 43 Workers/Villagers 44 Available

131

45 Hospitality 46 To Listen 47 Say ‘Thank You’ (4 church) 48 Organise Retreats 49 Mediate 50

Communicate

by

Magazine 51 Management 52 Prayer for Healing 53

Discipleship

Training 54 Discerning Church’s Gifts 55

Developing

Team

Ministry 56

Identifying

and

Supporting the Poor

132

As

a

result

of

this

exercise

the

following

Discrepancies were found: Candidate

Team

Discrepa

Score

Score

ncy

5b Sense of humour A

C

6b Openness

2 B

D

2

7b Fairness

A

D

3*

8b Ability to learn

B

E

3*

10a Midweek services

C

E

2

10b Ability to forgive

B

D

2

15b Physical fitness

A

C

2

16b Favouritism

E

C

2

21b Firmness

F

D

2

25b Get on with people

B

D

2

26a What’s on in village

B

D

2

27b Care for church family D

B

2

31b Showing boredom

D

F

2

33b Good memory

C

F

3*

35a Praying

F

D

2

37a Delegation

C

A

2

38b ‘Know Thyself’

B

D

2

40a Churchwarden liaison F

D

2

40b Receive clear messages

B

D

2

41b ‘Divine madness’

A

C

2

42a Diocese

F

D

2

43a Workers/village

B

D

2

133

46a To listen

B

53a Discipleship training

E D

3* F

2

134

The Site Team wanted to record some specific comments on the above Competency scoring: On 1a and 10a the Candidate gives himself totally to all services. On 11a and 13a these refer to life crisis situations when he is really needed and is very good. On 14a, he tends to get very frustrated at Church Council Meetings. 22a, social events, he joins in and helps in a variety of ways. 24a examples of his excellence in this area are OASIS Community Project and the Manna Farm Addiction Rehabilitation Unit, both of which he manages. On 25a, networking, he has many contacts. On 33a, one occasion at which he dresses suitably is at the Women’s Fellowship. On 37a to 39a he delegates almost everything in these areas. On 41a and 42a he actively participates in deanery and diocese. 46a He tends to be preoccupied and therefore forgetful. 56a he is good at this, for example OASIS & Manna Farm, and the Jane Pepper Charity. 23b An area of excellence. ‘A’ and ‘B’ scoring areas were 4b, 24a, 29a, 30a, 50a – all were areas of Communication and Community Involvement, whish was where his major interests lay. There were plenty of agreed areas where his performance was ‘average’ and which could be hones, smoothed, developed, and some which he ought to avoid in which his performance was so weak that it would be unrealistic to look for development – these were areas where both Candidate and Site Team scored ‘F’.

135

In terms of personal idiosyncrasies which inhibited competency, he had a tendency to paranoia, an inability to relax, a lack of overt relationship with God, a failure to give clear messages, a lack of diplomacy and of assertiveness in leading the village. Arising from this, we agreed the Areas for Competency Development to be included in the Project. These would be: 1. The Candidate’s Personal Witness in the Community. Hints for development were to bear in mind the phrase, ‘Let your light shine…’ which is derived from Matthew’s Gospel 5:14-16. Concluding with the command from Jesus regarding personal witness in the community… “ Let your light so shine (among the people) that they may see your good work and give glory to your father in heaven.” This raised question of the danger of personal style and false humility in alienating people.

It may be that dress and how it

attracts would be something for Candidate to consider, particularly as the settlement had the expectation of its Vicar having a ‘BBC accent’, being well-educated and well-groomed a shepherd of the people

who

develops

and

sustains

personal

and

collective

relationships in an assertive leadership of their parish. The second area for development to be included in the Project would be in the area of: 2. Education and Christian Discipleship/Life Teaching. Hints for development in this area were to note that at the moment there was none of this on a formal level, and no way therefore of

136

assessing the Candidate’s current ability. What did occur of this was of a diffuse and implicatory nature and so, difficult to comment upon.

What was required was some kind of programme and

particularly with regard to frustrated young people, many of whose futures appeared to hold little hope. A third area of development to be included in the Project would be to tackle the discipline of 3.

Listening. In particular, effectively facilitating people through listening to them.

Hints for development were sampling peoples’ views and

counselling, keeping accurate records of providing clear messages as a result of hearing issues clearly. Measurable Criteria for Indicating Growth in Personal Witness were: Increasing numbers of personal and professional relationships., greater effectiveness in village affairs, street evangelism, feedback on positive and affirming local gossip. Instruments to Indicate Growth would be: Diary

data,

interviews,

group

session

summations,

self-

assessment, establishing a youth work, being politically involved for youth and possibly also a questionnaire. Measurable Criteria for Indicating Growth in Education / Life-Teaching would be: The initiation of a house groups / Bible study groups and local and diocesan study groups. Instruments to Indicate Growth would be: -

137

A trained observer, objective commentator, a record of education teaching

materials used,

and attendances

recorded over a period of time. A report from the Mission and Outreach Committee would also provide an objective growth-indicating instrument. Measurable

Criteria

for

Indicating

Growth

in

Listening would be: Currently uninvolved individuals to become involved in the life and work of the parish church as a result of having been heard, and for those already involved to achieve a greater commitment. Instruments

for

Indicating

Growth

in

Effective

Listening would be: The

assessment

of

a

trained

listener

and

a

contemporaneous record in listening situations including feedback from parishioners (bereaved families after the funeral oration?).

In considering how this whole Project

might be evaluated, Site Team and Candidate devised the following plan: The achievement of Change Goal One would be evaluated

first

by

recording

what

the

participants

themselves said about how the Goal has modified the life and base settings.

This would be a concrete indicator

showing actual change. Secondly, the participants would be sounded-out as to what ideas they had gained about 138

the

role

of

the

church

and

congregation

through

participation in the Goal. This would indicate changes in attitude, a sensing of achievement and any desire to move further forward.

Thirdly, participants would be asked to

indicate the ways in which they have been personally challenged. This may be done in one or two cases by the keeping of a personal journal. The Candidate agreed that he would keep one himself.

This would provide insights

into group and personal growth. Goal achievement would be sensed by the Site Team concretely in terms of the following signs becoming perceptible among the congregation and in the church’s agenda: 1. The parish church seriously considering the multifaceted cultural issue and the question of modifying its approach and role; 2. Altering structures and procedures to accommodate new insights. 3. Addressing the possibility that there were other reasons

than,

say,

atheism

or

apathy

why

parishioners stay away from church. 4. Coming to realise that non-church-attendance does not necessarily imply a lack of interest in the church and its role.

139

5. Congregation deepening in awareness of itself as not only a religious but also an important socio-cultural institution, figuring in the pagan as well as the Christian part of the tapestry of Calverton life. 6. Emergence of new ideas, especially coming from new and non-members, increased enthusiasm between the Site Team. 7. A renewed interest in Biblical material. 8. Multi-faceted local cultural issues becoming part of the worshipping life in the church building. 9. The

instruments

information,

of

minutes

personal of

witness,

meetings,

statistical

records

of

educational material and financial and numerical growth and any change in sales of the Church Bookstall and Magazine indicating a shift of interest would be employed in assessing the measure of achievement of Change Goal One. The execution of Administrative Goal One would be a simple matter of recording whether the representatives of the three spiritual energies met in dialogue, and providing a contemporaneous written record of what they said and how they perceived the role of the parish church.

The

presentation of a format for assessing the requirements of these energies with regard to the parish church would demonstrate achievement of Administrative Goal Two. 140

How well the programme plans were executed, would in both cases be judged by witnesses to its operation. The achievement of Change Goal Two. …would

be

evaluated

first

by

recording

what

the

participants will have said about barriers they feel they have encountered in the process, and what testimony they will have offered about the quality and nature of those barriers. We would expect to hear for example were they barriers that were insurmountable, requiring the useless dissipation of energies in attempting to remove or breach them, or were they merely stumbling-blocks or accidental barriers, easy to remove or negotiate?

It would be

necessary for the Site Team to say whether this produced hope for change, or despair and powerlessness in the face of insurmountable difficulties.

They would need to be

clear about where the barriers were – in the church or in the settlement? Secondly, participants would say how this reflective

activity

had

altered

their

lives.

Specific

examples would need top be provided. Thirdly we would hope to see specific instances of growth in one or two of the Site Team members who would have implemented their own plans for confronting issues of barriers on a personal level, and of group growth in achieving a common mind regarding some of the barriers, and 141

reaching consensus on their character. With regard to the congregation,

we

would

expect

to

see

what

the

participants have learned being reflected in the minutes of Church Council meetings and would hope to see strategies being developed in the sub-groups to address these issues and the implementation of activities based on the insights of the participants. The execution of Administrative Goal One would take place

first

at

the

public

meeting

of

the

three

representatives. A contemporaneous written record would be kept.

Second, Site Team members would make

personal enquiries in their communities of friends, and thirdly a local survey would be made. The Site Team would achieve Administrative Goal Two by reflecting Biblically on what they had perceived regarding barriers, and a record would be produced. An attempt would be made to draw-out general Biblical principles on the issues of commitment and identification. Administrative Goal Three would be achieved under Administrative Goal Two at the same meeting(s), and also by attempting an experimental removal or negotiation of a specific agreed barrier in church or settlement. Administrative

Goal

Four

would

be

achieved

by

providing a barbecue in the vicarage garden, part of which would be to present, discuss and get feedback in the form 142

of

personal

memorial

to

testimony celebrate

and the

possibly positive

some

concrete

and

affirming

differences barriers sometimes signify. In the concrete, the achievement of this Change Goal would mean that the parish church would revise its selfimage from Custodian, Curator, traditionalist Culture Representative, and begin to see itself as one specific and locally unique social culture among many in a complex settlement: that it would see itself as needed by the settlement in new ways: that it would be clearer regarding specific and measurable barriers confronting its mission and worship in the parish, and that not all of these barriers were of a doctrinal, religious or spiritual nature, but were sometimes cultural and challenge-able: that other local cultures would have become aware that the church is interested in them and willing to give them a hearing, and finally that the Site Team and other participants and the church Council would have a new sense of purpose, direction, and empowerment. Concrete sensing of achievement among the Site Team would be new ideas for tackling the barriers; enthusiasm to work on the new information; a feeling of empowerment based in new objectives, and expressed in new plans for mission, renewed interest in Biblical material and a desire to share these discoveries with others. 143

Resources. Having formulated Change and Administrative Goals and strategies to achieve them, we looked for resource-points that we felt would be necessary in the pursuit and completion of the project. In all, there were twenty-two books containing specifically theological input to our thinking that we felt we would need to consider, among various socio-theological, A.N.E, historical and social history works, works on specific aspects of politics, including the publications of various national and local pressure groups, local history and contemporary planning proposals, liturgy, psychology, management, reports and minutes of meetings and various fringe works in theology, apologetics that we knew about or were directed to consider.

We were of course

aware that in implementing our thinking we would no doubt be confronted with more. A comprehensive list of texts referred to in the whole project is found in the Bibliography. There were plans for the Candidate to visit other projects in the British Isles where work of a similar kind was being processed such as in Wednesbury, Smethwick, Beeston in Nottingham, and in Northampton.

There were also

expectations of accurate and detailed consultation and 144

reporting from other locations, in particular from Sheffield, Leeds, Doncaster, Blackburn, Bellshill in Scotland and from a church in Mirfield.

All of these were locations where

work was being contemporaneously undertaken through the good offices of the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield. Calverton parish church was also one of these. Other experts and consultants whom we felt would have a contribution to make in relation to our concerns would be Rev’d Canon M. R. Austin, the Director of Ministerial training in the diocese of Southwell, a church Community Worker in Lenton, Nottingham, Ms. Ruth Shelton the Director of the Southwell Board for Social Responsibility – especially with regard to the situation concerning pit closures and related poverty and political issues. Having only recently concluded a ten-year close involvement with the Nottingham Homeless Trust, the Macedon Trust, as one of its managers, the Candidate felt that he could resource on many levels from that point, not least through personal input from management and clientele and also from the current Director, Ms. Christine Russell.

There

would also be a number of middle and senior management individuals from the various agencies who would be pleased to have some input, especially Mr. Howard Lockwood, Chief Probation Officer for North East London, whom we felt would have some input on modifying 145

structures to facilitate client service input. There would also be Ms. Carol frost, Senior Probation Officer in Nottingham who would input on the issues of empathetic service delivery from a client and professional point of view, and Mr. Rod Beadles, Managing Director of the Potter’s House, a long-standing and successful Christian Coffee Bar in Nottingham City Centre would have valuable input on holding different cultures together in a single provision of plant and resources, also Ms. Pat Pennington, formerly a practising clinical psychologist and currently Area Manager of Adullam Homes, a Christian housing association,

would

have

inoput

on

a

number

of

professional and consultative levels, Mr. Bob Andrews, formerly working with a youth project in Liverpool, currently Manager of Manna farm, a drug rehabilitation project in the parish, for contributions towards the youth aspects of the project.

Again, there would no doubt be

others who would arise in the course of the project. We were aware that the Archbishop’s Rural Officer, Jeremy Martineau

and

the

National

Agricultural

Centre

at

Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire were a major resource that we might use. Timing and Strategy Development.

146

It was clear to the Candidate and to the Site team that in St.Wilfrid’s church there were different spiritual traditions and that there was a tendency either for them to be compartmentalised from one another of for them to become conflictual. We felt that this was undesirable and that to help the situation we would seek to provide opportunity for sharing across the divides, in the hope of enabling understanding and sensitivity to different ways. One of the barriers that we had detected was that the three major spiritual energies tended to find themselves apart in both their secular and religious existences. Work needed to be done if they were to be gathered together onto a single platform to express how they saw the parish church, and to say what their own expectations of the church were.

We felt that all strategies for achieving

Administrative Goals One and Two under Change Goal One needed directing at that one single objective. We agreed the following group of strategies for getting three representatives of different traditions on the same platform: We would advertise an historical presentation event. People would be invited personally and asked to bring a friend. A culturally open venue would be provided. The event would be fitted into the normal Church Social calendar. The Community Worker would advertise it. This 147

we felt should work because it was presented as a normal part of the Church’s calendar included among other social events. The next group of strategies were directed at getting three representatives from three different religious and cultural groups to make representations at the event, which we decided would be a public meeting in the church building. W felt that the church was the most appropriate place, since no local venues are culturally neutral and the speakers would be addressing the issue of the role of the parish church and their expectations of it. We did briefly think of inviting people to an out-of-settlement location, but this would inhibit those who, for whatever reason could not travel. The

groups

we

had

identified

were

farmers/Old

Calvertonians, Pit Workers, and Commuters. Under ‘farmers’ we included ‘Old Calvertonians’ believing that they had a natural investment in the history and preservation of the character of the settlement, which was likely to be generally absent from the other two groups (even though it had not been unknown for farmers to sell fields for housing, or rent fields out for car boot sales). There was only one Farmer who used the church regularly, the Pit-Worker element was almost invisible in all churches including the parish church (except for using the building 148

for weddings and funerals (see pie & bar charts giving details of marriages in the parish church by socioeconomic

status

and

geographical

location),

and

Commuters by the very nature of their lifestyle, being absent from the settlement most of the time would be difficult to enlist. We agreed to combine strategies from both Administrative Goals to be subsumed under the single public meeting, identifying three individuals who would see themselves as representatives of their culture and be able to speak with authority.

The Candidate

agreed to seek advice about whom to approach and then to visit members of the groups until he had enlisted the three and persuaded them to speak for fifteen minutes each at the meeting.

He agreed to do this before

arranging the time and date of the event. There were Four Administrative Goals under Change Goal Two, the object of which was to sensitise the congregation in preparation for a new role having heard the content of the public meeting addresses. The Team believed that not all the congregation, if any, would be present at the public meeting and so we agreed to feed in to the meeting itself, having

previously

canvassed

the

views

of

the

congregation, to produce a study-course to look at Barriers, to provide a forum to reflect on the public meeting material and to arrange a celebratory event to 149

affirm barriers. All of this was in order to disseminate the content of what was said at the public meeting. Further input to the meeting would be sought by personal contact, anonymous input, a questionnaire and a tick-list in the local library. The Study Course in Administrative Goal Two would take-up feed from the public meeting and the subsequent discussion. It was hoped that a formal and/or ongoing debate between vicar and people would result. Administrative

Goal

Three

would

be

addressed

by

reflection by the Project Group who would feed back into the project, and Administrative Goal Four would be pursued through a process of consultation through an identified

consultant

confrontation

in

and

a

safe

dealing

environment with

for

prejudices.

Contemporaneous notes would be kept which would provide a basis of material that the church could work with in formulating its new role.

Marriages in the Parish Church: 1975 – 1992 All parties living in the parish

72.8% Top and Bottom estates. 27.2% All other parts of the parish. 150

Marriages in the Parish Church: 1975 – 1992 A

45.6% Both parties resident in the parish 54.4% All other marriages in the parish church.

Marriages in the Parish Church: 1975 – 1992 B

33.2%. Both parties resident on top/bottom Estate 66.8% All other marriages in parish church

151

Marriages in the Parish Church: 1975 – 1992 C

33.2%. Both parties resident in parish elsewhere than top/bottom Estates 87.6% Both parties resident on top/bottom estates

152

Note the high numbers of professional people who asked for baptism for their children and the low numbers of pit workers and labourers who asked for Marriage. 153

This indicates that whereas marriage is a key event in the lives of pit workers and labourers, it is less so in professional families, but that on the other hand the pit workers and labourers do not count baptism for their children as such a key event, professional families do. These charts relate to the cultural significance of marriage or baptism as the most key ecclesiastical event in the life of the family. Why is marriage the key event for professionals? May it be that marriage is seen as the beginning of something by pit workers and labourers, and that marriage is not so much the starting point for professionals, whereas the birth of a child into the family is, for them such a beginning?

154

Composition of Church Membership January 1993

155

156

Community Temple monuments

157

Chapter Four Temple and Section One Temple and Settlement We have a cosmopolitan community of sectarian groups, one village thrown together by various circumstances but with specific, separate and clearly-defined social mores, each having its own agenda and rules of procedure, relating to other groups only incidentally or in cases of absolute necessity. The

insights

particularly

of in

R. his

Frankenberg8 category

of

are

useful

communities

here, as

cosmopolitan or local. Calverton is like his ‘Banbury’. (I substitute ‘Calverton’ for Banbury in the following): Calverton peoples’ lives are, “On the one hand Calverton-centred. also

look

for

reference-groups

and

On the other they foci

of

interest

elsewhere” and, 8

Ronald Frankenberg. Communities In Britain. Pelican, p.154ff

158

“ The social life of anyone in the community may approximate to one or other of these or lie between them. Like most towns in Britain, Calverton is the meeting-point of more than two cultures – local and national and that, “ This distinction cuts across that of in-mover and Calvertonian.” He concludes: “Insofar as Calverton has in the past and continues to generate its own style of life it is a community. Insofar as it provides merely a residence for those whose interests are derived from other systems, it is not.” But there are also those, and they are a significant number in Calverton, whose work-life is firmly in one system and whose social and home life is largely in another. That is, in Calverton. One-third of the total population commute out of the settlement to work every weekday.

There is, in

other words a functional division in the life of a significant number of Calverton’s people.

This is not recognised in

Frankenberg’s analysis and subsequent application of the term, ‘community’ to Banbury because this phenomenon was not the case in Banbury. Also in Calverton there is a category whom Watson describes as ‘Blocked Spirallists’

9

who have reached the

limit of social and geographical mobility they are likely to 9

Watson.W. ‘Social Mobility and Social Class in Industrial Communities.’ In ‘closed Systems and Open Minds’. Oliver & Boyd. Edinburgh. 1964.

159

attain and who hence find themselves deposited in a certain place.

It is from this category that many formal

leaders, Watson and Frankenberg agree are selected. This is also the case in Calverton. But there are significant exceptions.

‘Blocked spirallist’

leadership is not the case exclusively, either in or outside the church. There is a large minority of leaders who fall into three particular categories. First, there are a number of

females

who,

having

raised

their

children

to

comprehensive school age and whose husbands are ‘blocked spirallists’ are moving on in their own further education.

Second,, females who are estranged or

divorced from their husbands and are now receiving higher education with specific career goals in mind, and third, with the modern penchant among employers to engage workers in fixed-term contracts, some of these employees, male and female, have also become local leaders and will remain so until the expiry of their work contracts and they leave the settlement. Ronald Frankenberg10 opts for Merton’s terms, ‘local’ for Calverton-centered individuals, institutions and groups, and ‘cosmopolitan’ for the rest.

I do not choose the

description, ‘community’ for Calverton, but

‘settlement’.

This is because of a number of equally powerful and 10

Op cit p.154-173

160

separate cultural factors including that Calverton has such a strong historical base, resulting in a contemporary culture which reflects this in its institutions and social organisation so powerfully that it is impossible to live here for long without coming under the influence of its history. And that this can also be said of the imported alternative but now component Geordie culture.

The complexity of

overlapping ties between them (required in M. Stacey’s definition of ‘community’

11

) argues against applying the

term ‘community’ to Calverton.

Even in Frankenberg’s

definition of ‘community’, although there are common economic interests which are complementary amongst the people of Calverton they also have economic interests which are conflictual, and idealised perceptions of the settlement

which

also

conflict,

and

although

the

population may be said to work, pray and play together, this only occurs to a limited extent. Second, I accept the observations regarding blocked spirallists with the above reservation.

Third,

whilst

the

terms

‘local’

and

‘cosmopolitan’ are useful, their use is limited in Calverton because, I believe, for very few people is Calverton merely a ‘place of residence’.

It is, for a third of the daytime

population ‘merely a workplace’, but this is discussed elsewhere. 11

op cit p. 154-173.

161

A Parish Church Wrestling with Identity. Whereas a black church or an underclass congregation in an

English

Urban

Priority

Area

may

justifiably

and

profitably perceive itself as in exile in Babylon or as being on the move out of Egypt to a promised land, drawing creative parallels from that situation to their own, this cannot be the case for a church such as St.Wilfrid’s. We have tried to do it, and it doesn’t work. It does not work because St.Wilfrid’s church has been here since Saxon times. The parish church in Calverton is neither in Babylon nor on a journey towards its own land.

To many who live here,

Calverton is the Land of Promise. This alternative imaginative identification results in the congregation seeing their community as a contemporary Jerusalem, and the parish church as their present Temple. The Temple thus becomes on the one hand the depository or museum of the village’s history – a living museum because it is the locus of the emblems, which divide and define the cultures and histories, thus acting as a palliative, disarming what might otherwise show itself in 162

the settlement as a ‘tension’ - and on the other hand it is the only place where ungoverned (that is, outside the restraint of the group) experimentation is to be found. That is, a place where the histories and cultures meet and mix because whilst in the building their own histories and cultures are placed secondary to the pre-eminent histories and cultures of the parish church. Disparate ‘Gentile’ groups come to this Jerusalem to hang their memorials on the temple walls and affirm the fundamentals of their lives. They draw power and comfort from its presence. If the parish church, then, is the Temple, how does it reveal itself in its life and structures? The ordinary secular population bring their banners and memorials to festoon the walls of this holy place. Nor do they need necessarily to be here themselves; it is enough for most colliers to know that the National Union of Mineworkers’ marching banner is on the south wall: for the Scout and Guide Association that the Scout and Guide Association Banner is on the South wall: enough for the Longue

Jumelles

Twinning

Association

visitors

and

members group to know that the Twinning Association Plaque is embedded in its cement in the South wall – even though the Association as a body has ot in the past eight 163

years worshipped as a body in the building. The list could go on, and the same would be true of most memorials and most blessings and most re-dedications. Thankful in the provision of a regular and growing congregation, this could not be said of all who come to make sacrifices, for some who come to remember remain to become members. This building is the natural place to identify as the Temple. After all, this piece of land has been holy since before records began to be made. This site and the building upon it are consecrated not only by the bishops and appointed legal officials, who do have their place in the scheme of things, but by the historical process itself.

Things may

change – cultures may invade or be blotted out; building may be burned down or bulldozed into the ground, and other might take their place. The Miners’ Welfare may be here yesterday and gone today, and expensive housing erected in its place, but the one thing that is most resistant to change is boundaries, and still today, along with the lines of field-scarring strip farming that can be seen from the hill or the air, it is the boundary of this holy place, from before records began. What the Temple cannot do is move its people into tents – tearing the heart out of the building in order to diffuse it elsewhere. For an inalienable characteristic of its essential being is that it is where it is. 164

Members may feel, and some do, that the heart of this place is the Memorial of Communion. Other members feel that the heart os the public reading of Scripture or simply the meeting together of a body of Christians.

But in

village terms our role could not be more clear: we are to sustain the function of this place; this place of peace (communal health and wholeness in a soul sense); this place into which even the gentiles come, from all of Calverton’s classes, traditions, cultures and occupations. We have to make a response, or a number of responses to this situation. For example, we may flee from them – we may reject these Gentile groups – or we may become a ‘light to the Gentiles’. The result of a questionnaire asking, ‘What is the role of the vicar in Calverton?’ was overwhelmingly, ‘The vicar is the custodian of our heritage…’ … the curator of a museum which is the locus of a tradition. A result of the same questionnaire regarding the prospect of the loss of the parish church was again overwhelmingly, ‘A feeling of devastation and rootlessness.’ The

same

questionnaire

produced

a

strongly

felt

conviction regarding the role of the vicar in the settlement as, 165

‘The leader of the village.’ The role of the vicar then is to sustain the Temple’s function. Insights into what form this can take are available from a study of the role of the medieval parish church. The tower - a place of refuge and warning.

The bells - a call to

worship and a warning. The nave – a community centre. The chancel – a city of refuge from the secular power and the part of the building owned and maintained by the laity and not the ecclesiastical authority – a symbol of independence. Occasionally the parish church fictions as a temple and sometimes not. It constantly faces this dilemma. It is a parable of its own ambiguity. Contrast the exclusivist attitude of Nehemiah and Ezekiel to the Gentiles with that of Isaiah, who sees the Servant of the Lord as the light to the nations. Calverton church has this same problem. It has alienated the British legion because the Legion’s theology was not reformed in one respect, namely that it wanted the vicar to pray for the ‘rest’ of the souls of the dead. But this was a reformed theological response to a Gentile ‘feeling’, which was not mainly theological but socio-religious. The

166

parish church has responded rejectionally - if they are not for us, they are against us. Contrast this with the way the parish church has welcomed the Preservation Society with its stained glass window and socio-religion; its uncritical affirmation of industrialisation and the genius of human invention. affirmed, but upon what terms?

These have been

On the terms that the

Society are a friendly bunch who don’t overtly work against the interests of the parish church.

We have

responded with acceptance on the terms that, if they are not against us, they are for us. With regard to its ambiguity, sometimes the temple is exclusive, other times inclusive.

But in every case,

because it is the parish church with the cure of souls in the whole parish – the boundaries again – it is central to the life of the whole community. Until now the parish church has functioned as a temple in these kinds of ways but been unconscious of how or why. It had not stressed the socio-theological nature of its role as a rural parish church. This was why the Site Team felt that the congregation – including themselves – needed, ‘Sensitising to the different spiritual traditions and resources within its life, and to recognise both positive and negative aspects of these differences.” (Change Goal One). 167

This has a great deal to say regarding the place of the Old Calvertonians, for the ancestors of these were those who helped set some of the boundaries and their descendants are those who maintained the temple and its institutions and employed the priests.

They set the agenda for the

worship and formulated the decision-making processes since before memory up until very recently, when newly centralised ecclesiastical laws and a new vicar altered the committee structures. The idea of ‘change’ is never very far from the idea of ‘threat’.

This is especially the case regarding long

established groups.

One immediate response is to flee

from change. Honour is due to the Old Calvertonians as the matriarchs and patriarchs.

But was not change also

needed from them insofar as they had missed the coming of the Messiah in the way the temple was organised? In other words, a willingness to re-shape and renew in order to include

the gentile groups – the incomers,

the

commuters, the secular, in a new dispensation of grace in which Gentiles are included in the saving plan of God and in which the new commandment of universal love is propagated by the Messiah in summing-up the law of the old dispensation? There may be a desire to flee from this, and it may be said in reply to this that the temple was already organised to facilitate the dispensation of grace. It 168

has a communion table surrounded by a fence to form a sanctuary to keep God at a distance, a lecturn containing the Old and New Testaments placed in a high position, a pulpit, raised six feet from the floor from which the Gospel of grace may be expounded, and a baptismal font, significantly imposing at the entrance to the building. But is, ‘Bringing together into dialogue three representatives of the three major spiritual energies at St. Wilfrid’s Church to investigate what role(s) they want the parish church to fulfil.’ (C.G.1, Admin Goal 1)… … we discovered that the reading of Scripture and so forth were not the main issues that concerned people with regard to their reasons for using or not using the building. Though these were respected as having meaning in signifying what some people believed, they had little impact on daily living. Many peoples’ urgent reasons for coming to church were centered not on wanting to hear the Bible expounded or on a felt need to make a public profession of their Christian faith in the promises of the Baptism liturgy, but on making an offering. This was done in three ways: First, by making a gift to God. 169

This took the form of a straight transaction of thanksgiving or memorial to be made within the building. The might be a gift of money, a newly born child, a plaque, a banner, plate or vessel. Second, wanting to enter into communion with God. This took the form of expressing a preparedness to submit to God’s demands and to formulate an intention to alter their ways, or ask for a transformation, again, within the building. Third, as wanting to release life. This took the form of a humble petition for life to be released into themselves or into their favoured individuals or communities or projects.

This latter was achieved

through saying prayers, again within the walls of the building. These things done at home were not the same as them being done in the parish church. In these cases the building itself was being perceived as having a temple function – the location where God is to be found, the ‘House of God’, as having itself a priestly function. Interestingly, although all this activity must take place within the building, it was not always thought necessary to visit regularly. What was of key importance was that the building was there, not that one should always be within its walls or even often within its confined. 170

It was sufficient, in other words, to be a resident of Jerusalem – the land of promise – to be within the claimed and gifted area of historical tradition and clerical mandate for the cure of souls. We have to look to the book of revelation and the vision of the difficult and reflective spirit of John to find a New Jerusalem is which there is no temple!

(Rev.22: 21).

Some feel that it is quite novel to find, in a document that follows the traditional images and leitmotifs so closely, the idea of a Jerusalem with no temple. It has been taken to mean that in John’s thought the whole city of the temple. But that is not what John says. He says that God and the Lamb is the temple. In a progression of stages leading to a dénouement, he says first that the temple in heaven is opened and laid bare for human eyes to see (11: 19), and then he says (21: 3) that the divine dwelling may be none other than God Himself. Finally he states that the temple is none other than God and the Lamb.

One after another the barriers and

boundaries separating God from humanity are removed until there is nothing remaining to hide God from His people.

‘His servants shall see His face’ (22: 3.

Isaiah 25: 6ff).

cf

Thus John projects Paul’s earthly temple

into the heavenly realm, and it is a process of overcoming

171

or breaking down barriers.12 It seems to me most unlikely that a people with no Biblical learning and little instruction in the Judeo-Christian tradition could arrive at a vision of a temple-free Jerusalem such as that of John without a means or a route other than Old and New testaments and Christian tradition. done.

This is precisely what they have not

What they have done is arrive at a transitional

understanding of their parish church simply through being members of the local community. But the church (temple) remains in their thinking the place where God is to be found and with the need for a temple staff (priests). They are not capable of achieving Ezekiel’s vision,13 but need a place, a system, and a priest/mediator. In the Second Administrative Goal we had determined to formulate a shape for addressing the requirements of the three major spiritual groups with regard to the parish church (C.G.1, Admin G 2). The formulation we arrived at was a Public Meeting in a culturally neutral place to which all would be invited.

The subject would be an historical

12

J.R.Mackelvy. Bible Dictionary. IVP p.1522-1532 Walther Eichrodt. ‘Ezekiel’. SCM1970 p.563. Ezekiel 44: 4-31 ‘To Ezekiel, the temple which he is shown is a miraculous creation of Yahweh’s, done without the cooperation of human hand, and thus a manifestation of a new aeon. It is quite out of the question for the old features of Solomon’s temple to be transferred to it. The picture shown to him earlier in Chs 34-37 presented a people inwardly and outwardly transformed. For them, the ideas of reverently keeping their distance under external restraint from a holy God now dwelling among them no longer apply, since the God of their salvation has become a reality to them through a fellowship no longer disturbed by any guilt… (but) only a retrogression from this to a cultic community can render intelligible the juridical system presented in the passages which follow… Instead of the sight of the divine miracle which is still continuing in Chs.40-43, the temple vision becomes the means of re-instituting a constitution in which the priestly ideals of purity and holiness are reflected in every detail.’ 13

172

presentation. One of the things that was of interest from this event was precisely this conflict.

Namely, that

although there was a parish church one did not need to attend it, for God could be found in a garden and prayers could be said in a bathroom.

Yet there was a deep

conviction that one did need to attend the church regularly because it was ‘the house of God’ even though the exact nature of God’s presence was not determined in a similar way that the exact nature of God’s presence in the temple was shrouded by the veil. That the parish church, in other words, was felt intuitively to be a transition or staging-post between the New Jerusalem where there was no temple and earth where the parish church was the temple. It was at this same public meeting (as agreed in Admin Goal 2, Strategy 1 of Change Goal 2,) that the multifaceted nature of the parish was first addressed with the aim of sensitising the congregation to the social mix of its parochial constituency and that this process be started by inviting a Farmer / Old Calvertonian, a Commuter, and a Pit Worker to address the meeting for fifteen minutes each on ‘The Role of the Parish Church’, followed by questions from the floor. The issue of ‘barriers’ and ‘bridges’ was never far from the surface in these three addresses, although neither the speakers not questioners made a connection between 173

barriers/bridges and the barriers and bridges clearly defined in the physical layout of Solomon’s Temple, designed to facilitate a safe approach to Almighty God. This was an understanding that was to come much later. Barriers are not merely negative.

They also have a

positive function. The very design of Solomon’s Temple is aimed at achieving the effective erection of barriers between women and men, Jews and Gentiles, priest and people, the people and God, and even between the High Priest and God. There are many reasons for the barriers to be in place, some religious and others socio-political. Their ideal achievement is to provide an earthly place in which the people can worship God safely and credibly. Nor are bridges only positive constructions.

They may carry

destructive as well as constructive traffic. As bridges into the presence of God the High Priests were also ultimately only fallible human beings, as the ministry of Jesus clearly demonstrated to His contemporaries. We wanted to challenge the popular idea that the church ought not to be involved in politics.

The temple was

always a political as well as a religious centre. Solomon’s Temple was not only an expression of a monotheistic faith. It was a way of consolidating a

nation in the wake of

David’s military conquests, for is not war politics by another means?

It was a means of providing a national 174

focus of loyalty and commitment as well as a means of glorifying God. Herod’s Temple was weighted towards a political motivation, attempting to reconcile the Jews (19BC) to their Idumaean king.

Can it not be said that

although when cleansing the temple Jesus did not hope to reform it politically, nevertheless the fact that He was rejecting it as a place of importance in His postresurrection ministry meant that He was laying down a foundation for a rejection of the temple and its politics as well as that He was expressing respect for it as the House of God?

His rejection and death more-or-less coincided

with the destruction of the temple in 70AD. Indeed, it was this

very prophecy

that led

directly

to

His

death.

Ironically, it is said that he was not involving Himself in politics! declared

In other words, if a prominent religious leader Westminster

redundant

in

the

life

of

the

established church and many people followed, it would have

political

implications

that

would

be

in

direct

proportion to the number of people he or she took with them. The ramifications of tjhis were probably not clear to the infant church, except perhaps to the Essene Covenanters, and in Acts we find the Apostles continuing to worship in the temple of Jerusalem (which says much for the temple’s cultural flexibility).

The first martyr, Stephen was killed 175

because his speech was a tangential attack on the temple, that belief in Jesus meant the abrogation of the order symbolised by the Jerusalem Temple (Acts 6: 11ff). It is not clear whether Stephen’s defence, which was seen as an attack on the temple, foresaw the new temple made without hands.

It is clear in the Qumran texts that the

Covenanters of Qumran did have a concept of a spiritual temple, from which it may not be too fanciful to say that the writers of the Epistles may have gained some clues. All of this no doubt provides danger signs to any contemporary clergy wishing to pull their parish church down and set up house groups in its place. Indeed, very few do, and those who do, do so out of necessity.

The

building is where the parish clergy are found with, and that is what they must manage if and until the predictions of the Historic Churches Trust (that when Parish Church Councils have to find the stipend of their own vicar they will, almost without exception have virtually no money to maintain their church buildings) come true.14 Sometimes, as in Calverton the parish church is the local temple in the earthly land of promise, with all its psychological, sociological and anthropological elements. This cannot really be escaped from.

This may seem a

14

Capt. Roger Hepinstall. Secretary HCPT, ‘Letter to Supporters’. 1993. The average repair bill faced by a parish in 1993 was £55,517, and the average deficit was £16,006. The average grant made by the Trust was £2,674, leaving a shortfall of £13,332. The stipend of a full-time vicar in 1993 is £13.000 p.a.

176

barrier to some forms of ministry, but there is no reason why it should not provide an opportunity in contemporary society, as the temple in Jerusalem did in its day, for the divine worship of God, whether or not other aspects of the church’s mission find themselves based elsewhere than in the parish church, and whether or not much of what takes place in the temple is of necessity far removed from worshipping God. As I have already flagged-up, the motives underlying the desire to make a sacrifice are complex, but three are easily discernable although it is not always easy to decide which is uppermost in the mind of the worshipper. Sacrifices are made either publicly on behalf of the community or privately on behalf of the individual.

The

three main motivations as I have said are first, as a gift to God, second as a means of entering into communion with God and thirdly as a means of releasing life, whether for the benefit of God Himself, or of the worshipper. In the case of the third motive, it must be remembered that in the Old Testament sacrifice was never made of a dead animal, but to release the potent life of a living creature. This ‘life’ was concieved to be resident in the blood, which was dashed against the altar (Lev.1: 5. 17: 11. see also Exodus 12: 7).

177

It is a short leap to make the parallel between then and now. Although living animals are no longer offered in the (church) temple, what is offered is objects or declarations of confession or plea, which carry more significance than merely their face value.

They inevitably carry meaning

with them, and it is this meaning, which is offered at the altar. In other words, the ‘life’. This

has

theological

sacramental

ramifications

understanding.

regarding

Reformed

our

theology

instinctively reacts against any intrusion of actual sacrifice at the Eucharist. It would appear from this that there is an equally strong reaction against it in the secular religion, untutored in the hair-splitting metaphysics of mainstream sacramental theology.

In other words, the settlement

arrives at the same understanding of sacrifice as the reformed theology of the parish church but by a different, secular route.

But this understanding is equally a

‘mystery’ as is the nature of the consecration of the elements.

It also arrives at the same understanding (or

intuition) as for example Daniel (6: 10), who prays towards Jerusalem where the temple is, in the same way that the people of Calverton see the parish church as the centre of the settlement.15

15

Norman Porteous. ‘Old Testament Library’ SCM. P.90.

178

One may look to anthropologists to explain why all of this is the case, and in the current climate this means looking to the insights of Cultural Materialism as expounded by such as Marvin Harris.

He has criticised Mary Douglas’s

structural-symbolic ‘idealised’ account16 of why the pig was prohibited in Israel, for example, saying that it was not because unlike other cloven-hooved animals the pig alone did not eat grass and therefore did not fit into an idealised structural universe, but simply because the pig ate grain, which was not easy to grow in ancient Israel, and this made it a competitor with humans for a scarce resource. On this understanding, why is it that the people of Calverton revere the parish church as a temple (a place of sacrifice)? I can only guess, but it may be that in a society in which few are secure and many feel themselves to be at the mercy of whimsical political, economic and moral forces there is a felt need for appeasement of, or atonement

with these

physical powers.

forces, which transcends the

It is a society in which to get

employment is to deprive someone else of employment, or to grin a grant for some good work in one community is to deprive another community, or to eat a meal is to d so in the face of the starvation of millions. A response, in other words for moral and spiritual as well as physical survival. 16

Mary Douglas ‘Purity and Danger’. 1967. Discussed in the Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation. Ed.Coggin & Houlden. P.26-7. SCM.

179

On the other hand, the idealised account of Douglas, in which the pig simply doesn’t fit the categories and is therefore rejected may more easily sit with a community whose need for a temple is an expression of its felt schizoid situation. Here we have a psychological and not an economic analysis. In considering the two examples given above, the latter seems to parallel with the reality as I experience it in the streets of this Jerusalem. This is not to reject the insights of Cultural Materialism, since the recent closure of Calverton Colliery in a settlement with little other industry does increase the likelihood of competition for scarce resources. The Temple and Social Conflict. It was clear fro the Statement Of The Problem worked out by the Site team that St. Wilfrid’s Church was aware of a disparity between its current role and a sought-for more appropriate role in its contemporary situation. There was a need for change which would reflect the changing face of the host community, There was, in other words, a social conflict between how it saw itself currently and how it might see itself in a different role.

180

In his study of social conflict, Lewis Coser17 observed the following: One of the first meetings (1907) of the newly organised American Sociological Society had social conflict as its main topic of discussion. The central paper was read by the Social Darwinist Thomas N Carver. He said, “ There may be many cases where there is complete harmony of interests, but these give rise to no problems and therefore we do not need to concern ourselves with them.” Carver felt that only where disharmony and antagonism prevailed could one speak at all of a moral and of a scientific problem. It is significant that in the discussion which followed in which most leading sociologists of the time – Giddings, Ross, ward, Hayes, among others – participated, almost no-one questioned the importance Carver had assigned to the study of social conflict. The only objections concerned his rigid economic interpretation. At the twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Society in 1930, Social Conflict was again the main topic of discussion. stated

in

his

presidential

By then, Howard W. Odum address,

quoting

another

sociologist, 17

Lewis Coser. ‘The Functions of Social Conflict’ Macmillan 1964. Preface.

181

“ Social conflict is sociologically an unexplored field… the sociology of conflict has yet to be written.” However, the proceedings that followed did little to fill the gap, and the proceedings gave the impression that the members of the Society no longer considered the study of social conflict a central concern. Coser goes on to show that the study of social conflict continued

to

be

similarly

disregarded

in

his

own

generation. In an attempt to encourage further study of the subject he produced his book with a specific concern to encourage research into the positive aspects of conflict. He offered the working definition: “ Social conflict… is a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralise, injure, or eliminate their rivals.” His chapter heads and sub-heads are a library of propositions, which throw light on the further study of the subject, and these are particularly interesting in respect of our investigation of St. Wilfrid’s Parish Church as the temple, i.e. in its role as a focus/manager of conflict. It was clear in the Statement Of The Problem worked out by the Site Team that St. Wilfrid’s Church was aware of a disparity between its current role and a sought-for more appropriate role in its contemporary situation. It was also 182

aware of a need for change in line with the changing face of the host community.

There was in other words a

tension between how it perceives itself now and how it might see itself in a different role. If the church as temple provides a new perception of the centrality of the parish church, in what temple-consistent ways are tensions manageable now and in the future? It seemed to us that the first step must be Change Goal One, “ Sensitising the congregation to the different spiritual traditions within its life, and recognising positive and negative aspects of these differences.” The

Biblical

material

abounds

in

examples

of

the

management of social conflict and cooing with different spiritual resources and traditions by the use of a central locus mechanism18 - from its beginnings around the sanctuaries, sacred waters, trees and heights, then around the ‘high places’.

These were largely resolved in the

temple. Although its archaic language abounds in angels, visitations of divine beings and theophanies, it also speaks of covenants made and broken, judgements being passed down and separations being established; of adultery, theft, manslaughter

and

perjury;

it

speaks

of

purity

and

refinement and the processes of refinement, of justice to the workers, 18

support

to

the estranged female

and

Op cit footnote 6 above.

183

destitute stranger, release of the slave and compassionate service to the alien. All

of

these

were

issues

whose

management

was

addressed in the temple then and were needing to be addressed in Calverton parish church now. Resolution Of Social Conflict By The Temple. Ethnic Conflict. Solomon hired foreigners in the provision of goods for the building. He entered into a contract with Hiram, King of Tyre, for the timbers to be brought from Lebanon (I. Kings 5: 15-28), and although the labourers were Israelites (I. Kings 5: 20), the skilled workmen were Phoenician (I. Kings 5: 20, 32). Hiram, who cast the two pillars and the other bronzes in the Jordan Valley, was also a Phoenician although his mother was an Israelite (I. Kings 7: 13-47). Architectural Conflict. The inner part of the temple was divided into two sections, the Hekal and the Debir, the Debir standing higher than the Hekal.

This reflected the usage of the Egyptian

temples, whose design was the same.

Again, the two

bronze pillars standing before the vestibule were not supports for the vestibule lintel; on the contrary, they 184

stood in front of it, on each side of the entrance.

It is

thought that they were traditional steeles of Masseboth, which had always had their place in the old Canaanite sanctuaries. There is no lack of Phoenician analogies and one may compare also the two pillars of Heoliopolis mentioned by Herodotus ii 44, and the two pillars which decorate a relief from the neighbourhood of Tyre; for a period nearer to that of Solomon’s Temple, one can point to a model, in baked clay, of a sanctuary (from Idalion in Cyprus),

and

to

two

others

recently

discovered

Transjordan and at Tell el-Farah near Nablus.

in The

threefold division into Ulam, Hekal and Debir, found in Solomon’s Temple is very common.19 Political / State Conflict. The positioning of the temple walls were in common with other Semitic sanctuaries. The temple stood in the middle of a courtyard called the Inner Court (I. Kings 6: 36), by contrast with the Great Court (I. Kings 7: 12), the northern wall of which was common to the inner court of the temple. One passed straight from the King’s domain into the domain of God, and this close proximity, which in one set of circumstances expressed the special relationship

19

R.DeVaux. ‘Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions’ Ch.3. DLT, 1973.

185

between the King dna Yahweh, which was good, in another situation around the indignation of Ezekiel, for example: “ The house of Israel, they and their kings, shall no longer defile my sanctuary by building a wall common to them and to me, says the Lord.” Ezek. 43: 7-8. Like the parish church, Solomon’s temple provided the location into which these traditions and resources could be brought into conflict and dealt with, reflected upon and added to the canon of received practice. Indeed, this was the vision of David whose desire to house the Ark in his Capital (II Sam. 7: 1-7) was eventually given realisation by his son Solomon.

David was a military leader whose

profession was dealing with the conflicts of was and it is reasonable to say that he had seen the importance of establishing a religious centre of Israel which would deal equally well with the internal conflicts of a settled nation, although according to the Chronicler David did not build the temple because he was a man of war and had shed blood, whereas his son was predestined for this task by his name, which means ‘peaceful king’ (I Chron. 22: 8-10 & 28: 3).

He was however responsible for the plan of the

temple and the inventory of furnishings; he collected the materials for the building and the gold ingots for the sacred objects; he assembled teams of workmen, and 186

fixed the classes and functions of the clergy (I Chron. 22: 8). David first thought of building a temple although it was Solomon who actually built it. It is impossible to make a reconstruction of the temple. Despite there being a contemporary description I Kings 67) of which 2 Chronicles 4-4 is a summary, it is very hard to interpret.

This may be evidence that the texts

themselves witness to the small theological importance placed upon the overall architecture, or it may simply reflect the fact that the editor had the interests of an historian and not an architect or archaeologist in mind, and has omitted details that would be of any use for the temple’s reconstruction. The text is full of technical terms, and has been disfigured by scribes who understood it no better that we do, and it has been loaded with glosses meant to enhance the splendour of the building. But this is inevitably what occurs when stories are retold. But with what we have been given, it is easy to detect these points of conflict and to perceive an underlying process of conflict management by temple staff, and sometimes sparked off by prophets. The Temple in the ‘Plan of God’ The Chronicler presents David as the great founder of the temple and its worship (I Chron. 22 – 29). While Solomon 187

builds it, David passes on the plan and encourages all the people to make contributions (I Chron. 28: 11. 29: 1-9). This is strongly reminiscent of the Priestly writer’s account of Moses’s part in the construction of the tabernacle. Moses also received a plan from God (Ex. 25: 9), and encouraged the people to offer gifts for its building (Ex. 36: 3). The Chronicler appears to be suggesting that David was a ‘second Moses’, and that the temple era which he inaugurated was like a new exodus stage in God’s dealings with His people, much as the author of Isaiah 50-55 saw the return from exile as a second exodus eclipsing the first in splendour (e.g. Isaiah 43: 16-21). What I am saying is, that this suggests that the parish church as the ‘temple’ in Calverton also represents an ongoing

purpose

of

God

for

his

people,

and

the

contemporary era is one of the ‘New temple’ eclipsing the first in the efficacy of its sacrifice.

It is the result of a

‘plan’ from God and of the contributions of all the people. Other parallels can be drawn. For an example an accurate reconstruction of St. Wilfrid’s Church through the years is impossible,

although

approximations

have

been

constructed (in model form), as it is with the temple. Although there has been a Christian site where the present building stands since 665 AD, it is not known how many 188

churches have stood here or in what form they were constructed.20 It is clear that both church and temple were there for worship and that they were essential to that activity. The building both signified and facilitated something. signified

the

worship

of

God

and

facilitated

It the

management of social conflict – both of which are inner and intra-conflictual processes, in which the concept of barriers is fundamental. What happens when the working definition of social conflict given by Coser is applied to the temple in Jerusalem? … “A struggle over values and claims to scarce resources, power and status in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralise, injure or eliminate their rivals.” …

and

how

does

that

then

work

through

into

a

contemporary rural parish church in Calverton? There is an ontological barrier between Yahweh and Israel. This is an ideally creative conflict.

When it become

divisive is when Israel seeks to change the ontological power-relationship. Yahweh

produced

In order for that not to happen, two

alternative

group-binding

mechanisms – theophanies and the prophets. Often Israel 20

See Plate: St.Wilfrid’s Church Construction. Revd. Thomas o. Hoyle

189

forgets and prophets are attacked. Nevertheless Yahweh’s historical project for Israel is fulfilled.

In a creatively

functioning relationship the conflict is group-binding, group-preserving,

and

productive.

Safety

institutions such as the temple are created.

valve

It is not

surprising that Israel and their God were so often in conflict

since,

according

to

Coser,

the

closer

the

relationship the more intense the conflict. But the mere fact that the relationship spans so many years and generations is a testimony to its internal cohesion. Wars with neighbours served to increase that cohesion, and confirm Israel’s self image as a special and distinct people, and the internal conflict with other groups within Israel served to define the structures of the groups and to provide greater understanding of how to manage internal conflict. The anointing of David as king was the result of such a group conflict, and his reign was an example of consequent conflict management. The temple, as I have said was David’s attempt to provide for the continuing cohesion of the nation after his death – an instrument that would not depend – as his own administration had, upon the vagaries of charismatic leadership.

190

Implicit in this administrative structure, and this lay behind the objection to kingship in Israel, was the need for scribes and administrators in place of theophanies and prophets. The Temple as Incarnation I am now wanting to say that formulating structures for the church to fulfil its temple role is of equal historical importance as one-to-one pastoral work. In other words, grasping the fact that jesus is ‘God and Lord of all’ is of prior

pastoral

and

theological

importance

that

any

subsequent exercise of faith (which is the moment in which we recognise that we are already God’s children and respond with gratitude and joy), or than any subsequent baptism (which is the sacramental act in which, on behalf of

particular

individuals,

the

church

celebrates

and

acknowledges a prior adoption by God, and incorporates them into the community of faith). It is important to say this strongly because administration is not usually seen by clergy or laity as being a ‘spiritual’ task or ‘remarkable gift’. It is a Cinderella job, which has been a burden rather than a joy to generations of clergy. It is also important to be able to present the case for the perception of the church building and what it signifies and facilitates as a Sign that

191

God’s Kingdom is being sought in the life of this settlement, since this is how it is perceived locally. The key to this perception may lie in the incarnation. More specifically: First, By entering the human race in Jesus of Nazareth, God became kith and kin to every human soul, past present and future.

The incarnation means that every human

being is from the first moment of his or her existence a child of God and brother or sister of His Son. Is this one explanation of why St. Wilfrid’s church is full to overflowing at

Christmas?

Because

many

people

sense

this

relationship they bear to God’s Son although do not (yet?) understand why.

One can minimise this and call it

sentimentality

assign

or

it

a

profound

social

and

theological significance. Second, The incarnation shows that if even God can hide His essential self in human form, then this implies that human moral character, goodness and spirituality is capable of vast possibilities. But are these not confined only to those who have exercised Christian faith? This also implies that if God was truly Himself within the limitations of human personality then the heart of what communicates to human beings about God is not such things as immortality, 192

omnipotence and omnipresence or cosmic power. It must be something that human beings can share; and that has to be love; the love which surrenders self, and accepts limitation and suffering for the good of others. This shifts the interpretation of ‘do-gooding’ into an entirely different realm, and points the way to an as yet uncharted ‘Theology of Goodness’. Third, The particular historical circumstances of the Incarnation show that God’s concern is not with some limited realm of anthropology called ‘Religion’, but with the whole life of the world. “ God was in Christ reconciling the world…” That was why God prepared a nation that had nothing corresponding to a church – that is, a saved community separated from the nation, i.e., by ‘faith’. Israel believed that God’s law was for every aspect of human living and that community sprang from living all life in covenant with Him. It is interesting to reflect upon the City of St. John’s revelation in which there is no temple or church but only a life lived in covenant with God. SECTION TWO Managing The Temple

193

Whilst it was all very well to say that with regard to the church-as-temple from an anthropological perspective there were issues of power that could be resolved by informed management, this could not be the whole story when considering issues of power from an eschatological or ecclesiological perspective. For one thing, the church is composed of volunteers; they have no job description except what they intimately take on board from their private conversations with God, and even then they do not necessarily understand or, if they do, obey. They are not salaried and so questions of ecclesiastical discipline and are quite different issues than they would be in a professional

management

structure

in

a

secular

organisation. The same has to be said of the temple as the building. It relies on voluntary contributions.

All of this is good,

because it demonstrates that the power and presence of God, whether it be expressed in the building or the people, is not ultimately manageable. This was a lesson taught as far back as Ezekiel who combated the idea that the presence of God could be experienced only in the temple by recounting his experience of the glory of God in Babylon(!). God had removed with His people. This is of contemporary relevance, because a similar controversy is taking place today with regard to home194

based worship movements.

Whatever the particular

shades of belief regarding the presence of God however, there was then and there is now a general agreement that wherever God’s dwelling might be, He could be found on earth and living among humanity.

In terms of the

management of the temple we agreed ours was in the style of ‘encouraging’. In Acts 17: 23-24 Paul is recorded as having said to some of the people in Athens, “ I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.

For as I walked through your city and

looked at the places where you worship I found an altar on which is written ‘To An Unknown God’. That which you worship then, thought you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is lord of heaven and earth and does not live in man-made temples.” R.

Dale

has

defined

empathetic.21 Member

stress

this

Production and

kind is

of

management

secondary

congregational

to

conflict

as

relating. will

be

resolved. The evaluation bears this out. The Priest as Scribe It is true that in St. Wilfrid’s church, both as a parish church and as part of a larger denomination largely 21

Robert D. Dale. ‘Pastoral Leadership’

195

centrally driven, most of the local leaders and vicar’s time is spent in what F.D.Bruner22 uncontroversially calls ‘Nonremarkable Gifts’ such as administration, networking etc, rather than in what he terms the ‘Remarkable Gifts’ which Ecke23 summarises as ‘messages from God in the mother tongue’ (prophecy) and ‘messages from God in

foreign

tongue’ (glossolalia), these being seen by many as the domain of the Pentecostals in Calverton. Closer investigation by Brunner shows that what is in fact occurring

is

only

messages

in

Tongues

and

their

interpretation, as Gee24 notes in his complaint with regard to Pentecostal churches generally. The arguments of such as Brumkack and Gee that “The gifts may reverently be called God’s method of divine advertising.”25

The same

argument can be made for the existence of the parish church and for the existence of the temple!

The only

difference being that the latter find their source within the art, culture and reflective creative genius of human beings rather than in some metaphysical realm which defies precise definition.

An attempt at a definition of what

Tongues achieves by Mr. Bob Andrews, a professional manager and a member of St.Wilfrid’s congregation is interesting, considering that what it does is to draw a 22

F.D.Bruner. ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’ p.139 Hodder 1970 K.Ecke. Der Derchbruch des Urchristentums infolge Luthers Reformation (quoted by F.D.Bruner. ‘Theology of the Holy Spirit’ p.139. 24 Donald Gee. ‘Spiritual Gifts in the Work of Ministry Today’. 25 Op cit p.13 23

196

parallel between the function of the church as temple and the exercise of Tongues: “

Speaking

in

tongues

is

a

way

of

bridging

the

communication gap between man and God.” Precisely what the church-as-temple seeks to do. Priest as Temple-based Community Worker There are two forms of community work. Social Planning and Community Action. These represent on the one hand the agenda of the establishment of the church and on the other the agenda of the users of the church (including the community in which it is placed). These may be broadly said to reflect the different interests of (1) the Temple Staff and King, and (2) the aspirations of the various users of the temple, or in other words the prophetic voice. When the parish church abandons the pursuit of local aspirations on a social planning philosophy there is no base of strength from which the users can negotiate for more than the purse-holders want to give, and control of the process is lost. A diminution of power results, such as is noted in the Statement Of The problem.

The cry of

Ezekiel (43: 7 – 8 quoted above) may re-echo as a contemporary plea for disestablishment. A community worker priest as a representative of the establishment is unlikely to be allowed to develop 197

mechanisms which fundamentally change the distribution of power or the structural – or even functional – relationships between the policy-makers on the one hand and the community they relate to on the other. So it is with the vicar of a parish who does not find a way to sit loose to the establishment function and release the opportunity for prophecy. If temple-users want to alter the distribution of resources or

structural

relationships

between

fund

holders

/policymakers and themselves, the role of the vicar who acts in accordance with a Social Action philosophy will be to support ad hoc groups, encouraging them to formulate their own structures, hold their own purse and determine their own aims and aspirations. This will conflict with the needs of the diocese occasionally and the establishment will need to be sufficiently confident that local practice will lead in the long term to support of both local and establishment aspirations.

The priest-as-

temple-community-worker needs the confidence and trust of the establishment in order to fulfil what is essentially a prophetic role.

The bridge with the establishment,

symbolised by the episcopal communion is part of the structure of the Anglican Church.

It is also enshrined in

law.26 26

G.H.Newsome, QC., ‘Faculty Jurisdiction Of The C of E’ 1988. The author is Chancellor of London, Bath and Wells and St Albans dioceses. Consecration as a church or churchyard brings lands, buildings and

198

SECTION THREE The Church As Temple Today Whatever else it may be the church-as-temple is an eschatological community and it needs to be addressed as such. Jesus lived in the First century and shared First Century thinking. He lived as a member of an oppressed minority nation and culture. It is not unreasonable to suppose that he shared that culture’s frustrations and hopes. Certainly it is less unreasonable than to suppose he shared the frustrations and hopes of the 20th Century American Dream. He proclaimed the coming of a kingdom to which His own career was closely linked, and that its fulfilment was imminent, and that it would come in power. 1. Facilitating Worship. Today in our own local ε κ κ λ ε σ ι α

, the focus of this

concept is ‘power’. And it lies in the human beings who make up the the church in the context of their human and heavenly

society

which

compose

the

temple-as-the-

redeemed-people-of-God, the eschatological community, the ε κ κ λ ε σ ι α

.

chattels within the faculty jurisdiction of the consistory courts of one of the forty-three dioceses of England and Wales.

199

This ‘power’ is shared with God and exercised in the new covenant community. Its source is acknowledged among us as God’s Spirit and first among the contexts in which it finds itself being refuelled is diving worship, although this also occurs in the Study Groups and in Private Prayer and Bible Study and occasionally whilst exercising some pastoral gift in ministry.

The effect of this power is

twofold: First, the gaining or refuelling of inner conviction or faith. Second, the feeling of unity and the power of the congregation as a group to change things. It may be said, first that although it is impossible to know how this transference of power occurs in divine service, it does, and second that it occurs purposively; The results of the operation of this power are that individuals understanding themselves to be temples of the Holy Spirit experience within the,selves, as a process of worship in the church, similar phenomena as the Old Testament describes as occurring within the temple of Solomon, and for the express spiritual purpose that the temple was built… The Shekinah of God: They say that they experience God’s empowering presence in awe-inspiring glory and that the purpose and result of this is to empower them for the service of God in their daily lives. II Chronicles 7: 2. 200

The Ark of the Covenant: They say that the Communion vessels and their contents convey God’s empowering presence in he New Covenant and that the purpose and result of this is to assure them of God’s forgiveness. This is inevitably an intimate and personal experience.

II

Chronicles 5: 2-14, 6:10-11. Fire From Heaven: They say that they experience an empowering enthusiasm through the liturgy, hymns, Bible readings, sermon etc, the purpose and achievement of which is to elicit from them an equivalent and mutual response. II Chron. 7: 1, 3. The most common response to the question, “ What is the purpose of divine worship in church?” was, “ To build up the body of Christ.”27 This is significant because common to all six or seven Biblical temples is the belief that the immanent presence of the transcendent God was immediately available to them in such a way as it was not available elsewhere. And also that this availability was not exclusive of any class or culture, race, gender or rank of person, but to all who presented themselves within the locus of the building. Taken alone this verges on idolatry, since it would preclude the discovery of these phenomena in individuals 27

This is material gathered from worshippers during and immediately after divine worship in the parish church during the course of this study.

201

(for example the prophets) and especially in Jesus of Nazareth. This may be something parish churches need to learn,

for

there

congregations,

is

and

a in

strong the

element

in

Anglican

organisation

of

Anglican

structures, which covertly encourages people to see the church building and what occurs within it as the only source of spiritual empowerment and means of meeting with God. earth meet.

The temple is the place where heaven and This same experience is witnessed to with

regard to the parish church. It is a fact that of the Biblical temples only three were actual buildings with a physical locus. The remaining three or four being in one expression or another the redeemed people of God. All of the temples serve the purpose of strengthening, building up the worshippers. The buildings, sited in Jerusalem, were Solomon’s Temple, the Second temple (post-Exilic, 516BC), and Herod’s temple ( the place where the post-resurrection Christian believers in the Acts of the Apostles worshipped).

The

other three or four are Ezekiel’s Envisioned Temple, Paul’s Image of the Redeemed as a Temple, the writer to the Hebrews’ Image of the Church Triumphant as the Temple of which the earthly sanctuary is a shadow, copy or pattern, and the book of Revelation’s Dual (co-existent) Temple –one in heaven and one on earth, corresponding to 202

the Churches Militant and Triumphant.

The Temple in

heaven is not a temple insofar as God and the Lamb is the temple, and the earthly temple is more specifically the Sanctuary. Common to them all, as I have said, is the belief that the immediate presence of God is available in the temple(s) in a way that is not possible elsewhere. The

temples

which

were

buildings,

including

the

envisioned temple of Ezekiel (which was intended to be a building), were architectural constructs of stone, wood, and other materials. But the temples of Hebrews, Paul and John are made of people who have hope placed in God. This includes pre-Christian Semites especially of the Intertestamental period, when the hope of the temple in Jerusalem becoming the metropolis of the world faded during the political exigencies of the time, and also as early as Ezekiel. The Temple Parallels. a. The building of stone and The human construct. b. The function of the stone building, and The function of the human construct. This advanced understanding informing these concepts of particular humanity forming a temple was drawn from many sources, often conflicting culturally, theologically, 203

sociologically

and

psychologically.

The

architectural

constructs had forms and patterns, which were in turn informed by the interaction of Yahweh and His people through the prophets and by contemporary non-Hebrew conventions.

Many of the ‘holy places’ had Canaanite

origins and Phoenician workers constructed much of Solomon’s Temple on Egyptian and Canaanite patterns. It might be said that Ezekiel’s vision was a reactionary one, and that the non-material temples of the other Biblical writers all proceeded from particular perceptions and interpretations of God’s people in the pattern of God’s purposes at particular times.

In the same way, passing

fashion, price and availability of workers and materials and local artistic and current theological and churchmanship preferences inform Calverton’s temple.

It also comes

under the same order of criticism from contemporary commentators for having a juridical, regulatory priestly system as do most of the Biblical temples28, and from contemporary prophets29 for tending towards worship of the building rather than towards encouraging a profound interior attitude among worshippers.30 28

W. Eichrodt. Op cit. G.Gutierrez. ‘A Theology of Liberation’. SCM p.191ff. 30 Op cit. “ To this effect, in proclaiming the New Covenant, Yahweh says, ‘I will take the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit into you and make you conform to my statute, keep my laws and live by them’ (Ezekiel 36: 26-27. cf Jer, 1: 33). God will be present in the very heart of every person. In this, the temple itself, with all its systems, is envisioned as becoming transformed into an organic, interior, spiritual aspect of the human person’s being. 29

204

Whilst it is useful and valid for a congregation of a parish church to make these and other parallels between its church building and its human components and the Biblical temple constructs, based upon the experience and belief of a particular presence of God, it is essential for that congregation to make the parallels between itself and the human constructs or images – the parish church congregation as the temple of God – the presence of God in the individual and the group. Much of this has already been done by the New testament writers, and the fruit of their work can be found in the material itself in the commentaries upon their work. But the ongoing work that needs to be done is in the daily lives, witness and worship of the congregation itself. The Church As Temple: A Live Issue In December 1993, a long way into the course of the Master of Ministry studies, a commentary on the Sunday Readings

from

the

A.S.B31

for

the

Anglican

Holy

Communion service appeared in the Church Times.32 The readings were Isaiah 60: 106 & Revelation 21: 22-22:5, and Matthew 2:1-12 & 18-23. The significance of this commentary is its intended audience. Clergy and laypeople of the reformed Churches 31 32

Alternative Services Book 1980 Christmas 2 Joy Tetley. Church Times. December 31st 1993

205

in the British Isles and others. It is centred on a concept of the Temple as the empowering presence of God. It speaks of a sovereign power, a renewed Jerusalem, the focus of God’s presence, the drawing-in of the nations, the excitement

of

worship,

the

dispelling

freedom, security and access,

of

darkness,

all leading

up to a

dénouement of a God who dwells with us – the immanence of the transcendent God. These are many of the issues this study has addressed, and to find them published for a general and ordinary readership

audience

in

the

ordinary

lectionary has been quite exciting.

course

of

the

It demonstrates that

reflection upon the local congregation as the temple of God in a spiritual sense is a live issue among the church leadership today, and also that the nub of the issue lies in a search for empowerment (the presence of God) of Christians, which has been the starting-point of our own search in our own project. Tetley’s article continues: “ The readings are concerned with the nature and expression of sovereign power … Isaiah … the promise of a renewed Jerusalem. After Babylon it will become the focus of God’s presence. Nations shall be drawn to the light of God’s glory … the New Jerusalem of Revelation … the domain of God … (in which) the servants of God reign eternally.

This 206

sovereignty dispels darkness. It excites worship and allegiance from all earth’s people and leaders. brings

freedom

and

security

of

access.

It The

acknowledgement of God’s superior authority over earthly rulers is demonstrated as a future hope in Matthew … it is those who search who find the star of God’s presence. The star is perceived by the Magi – practitioners of esoteric wisdom – neither the people of God nor the earthly rulers – mysterious in their identity.

Their

perception,

perseverance

and

devotion put rulers to shame … they lead to a God prepared to dwell with us in humble obscurity. With such a God lies power, power that can save the world.” What Future is There for Church As Temple in Calverton? As for the future of the church as temple in Calverton, the use of temple imagery to describe the local parish church is consistent with the Old Testament’s and Paul’s use of the image to describe the terrestrial church, which is complementary to that of the author of Revelation who projects it into the heavenly realm and the world to come. It is going to be a fruitful and productive process, but it will have limitations. 207

Powerful forces are at work in the world of trade, politics and economics, which were not at work on such a scale in the past.

These have already begun to impinge on

Calverton and its church.

In 1993 the local pit closed

down, just before Christmas, and in early 1994, a Training and Enterprise initiative began, funded by the Home Office and using European money to ‘offset the effects of the pit closure’. This has vast implications for the put culture in Calverton. We do not yet know what the impact will be on families in terms of unemployment, the impact upon local dependant and servicing industries and amenities and their families, of on the whole social structure of the settlement as a result of this sudden, crushing blow. Nor do we know how this will affect the workers or the rest of the population psychologically, socially or in terms of their perceptional alterations with regard to the parish church. To date there have been two things that I have picked up on this level. First, ex-miners have said to me that they are appreciative of the way the church supported their cries of anguish at the prospect of the closure.

Second, no miner or

representative

offered

group

has

yet

a

plaque

or

commemorative plate for the wall of the church. Similarly

vast

implications

also

Calvertonian / Farmer cultures.

apply

to

the

Old

The Rural Development 208

Commission (the government organisation charged with sustaining the economic and social structure of the English countryside) recently announced the results of its first 10year Review. Its predictions included that Gatt, CAP reforms and rising productivity among farmers will cut another 100,000 jobs among farmers this decade from a national workforce that is already down to 450,000.

The Rural Development

Commission response to this has been to encourage local crafts.

But the success of this kind of entrepreneurism

depends largely upon the prettiness of the village setting. But much of our landscape is managed. What will happen if farmers – who do the managing – go out of business? In France, the movement has been towards the cities and out of the countryside. But in England it has been the other way round.

Populations such as Calverton have a high

proportion of elderly – in Calverton 17% and rising – who need a daily bus service nd whose medical needs represent half of the 8,000 annual calls on the local GP practice. Already one-third of the population commute to work and there is little industry in the settlement offering jobs for the young or those made redundant by the closure, whatever the T.E.C may achieve in attracting jobs to Calverton. 209

The future of the church as temple in the settlement, looking at all of this, may be a growing desire and encouragement to ‘rustic-ise’ the building. It may be that the Human Temple will need to learn more of Calverton’s folk-religion origins and to find ways of interpreting the Faith in those terms to the people who live here.

210

Chapter Five Culture and Community Change Goal One “ To sensitise the congregation of St.Wilfrid’s church to the different spiritual resources and traditions within its life, and to recognise both positive and negative aspects of these differences.” To achieve this goal the team agreed two administrative goals.

The first of these was to bring into dialogue

representatives of the three major spiritual energies of the parish church as we had perceived them to investigate what role(s) they wanted the parish church to fulfil. This was achieved by the use of a public meeting advertised in key places around the parish, avoiding any other major meetings in the settlement that night.

211

The notice stated that the meeting would take place at the parish church, and the subject of the evening would be, “ What should the parish church be like in Calverton?” The following local issues were current at the time were flagged-up as sub-headings: The Parish Church. The Pit Closure. The New Abattoir. Farming. The Commuters. New Housing. A New Community Centre. Unemployed Youth. The Old Village. The names of the three speakers were displayed on the notice in large lettering, underlined. They were: Mrs. Audrey Stocks, a Farmer. Mr. Ian MacLiesh, a Commuter. Mr. Jim Tatters, an ex-Miner. The date of the meeting was Wednesday 10th February 1993. Copies of the notice were also handed to attendees of the parish church services during January 1993, and various individuals were invited by Site team Members. 212

How the public meeting came about. On 25th January I combed the church membership list for three individuals, each to speak for fifteen minutes to the question, “ What role does my community want the parish church to fulfil?” The following list emerged. Farming / Village Community. Three membership couples came under this classification. A family of agricultural importers; a family who own and run a farm in the settlement; a family known to the church through a recent baptism who run a private kennels in the settlement.

All of these families live and work in the

settlement. Commuter Community. Thirteen

individuals/

classification.

Two

families teachers,

came four

under

this

secretarial

/

administrative workers, a personal assistant to a managing director,

a

prison

warder,

a

production

manager,

policeman, dental receptionist, driving instructor, and a senior librarian. The Pit Community. One man only,33 and he retired from the pit ten years before. 33

Brian Jenner. ‘Coal Strike’. New City. Ch.3.p27ff for a further explanation of this opting out from church

213

The

first

individual

I

approached

from

the

faming

community was pleased to speak at the public meeting and I looked no further. Finding someone from the pit community to speak was a saga which, although lengthy in re-telling, is necessary to include because it reveals so much about the Pit Culture in Calverton,

and

has

important

implications

for

understanding the settlement. The

one

individual

we

had

found

in

the

church

membership list was unwilling to speak himself, but suggested another whom he felt would be pleased to do it and would do it better. He mentioned that there had been many from this culture who had fallen out with me over the Remembrance Service, but that although the man he suggested

(Dennis)

had

officiated

at

the

1992

Remembrance Service in the Geordie Club (since he was a good speaker), he was sure he would consider my request ‘civilly’. This meant that I would have to go outside the church membership to find a speaker for this slot. I telephoned Dennis, who was very friendly, but too busy working against the Council on the Poll Tax issue.

He

recommended his brother Jack. Jack was surprised when I phoned, since his brother was a far better speaker – the only speaker in the family in fact, 214

and because he himself had never before spoken in public, except once, and that was about the Calverton Brass Band.

He was a Methodist, very friendly, but unable to

recommend another. At a loss where else to look, on the following day (28.01.93)I had a funeral in church and mentioned my difficulties to the organist, Ken Godfrey, a Baptist who had recently retired from the pit.

He knew of a man whose

name he could not remember who might fill the spot. This man still worked at the pit.

On First February I phoned

Ken, who still couldn’t recall the name. I went back to my original non-church contact Dennis, who gave me the name of a man he thought Ken might be referring to. I checked with Ken, but this was not the man. “ Definitely not!” he said, “He used to be on the Parish Council!” I had had some disagreements with the Parish Council and local people felt that the Council and the Church didn’t get on well together. By this time however Ken had obtained the name he had been searching for from a neighbour. I telephoned the man – Tom. His wife answered. She was, again, very friendly, and invited me to the house. I was unable to go because of a heavy cold. She said Tom would ring me back.

He didn’t, so I phoned the following

evening. He produced the following list of non-sequiturs: 215

“ The problem is, I work seven days a week. I got home today at 4.00 and have to be back at work at 12.00 midnight until 6.00am, and the same again tomorrow. I’m a grandfather and have a wife.

She

goes to church every Sunday, plus church meetings; so do the grandchildren. I go too, when I can. I have already given my talk twice – once to the television. I reckon Heseltine should go.

Businessmen and

churchmen agree. The Tories will never get in again, although I can’t tell people where to put their cross. I was in the Argyle And Sutherland Highlanders until November 7th 1951, and came to work at Calverton Pit, where I have worked ever since. manage on the dole.

I couldn’t

Everything the Tories touch,

they destroy. I think churchmen, businessmen and politicians should get together and form a coalition government. The present government are a load of Muppets.

Edwina Curry made a mess of eggs.

Gillian Sheppard is the same, and the Prime Minister – they’re all wrong.

It doesn’t matter what unions

you’ve got, the government has its own way. I tell you this; Calverton Pit won’t close while I’ve got breath in my body.

It made ten million profit last

year.”

216

Tom then apologised for not being able to speak at the meeting, but offered to write something down.

He also

offered his wife to attend, and suggested the name of another, recently pin-injured local man who might do it, but by this time I had realised it was a futile exercise trying to get a local individual from this culture who had the will and confidence to speak and could tell it like it was. I telephoned a man whom I knew had worked at the pit for thirty years and whose wife delivered the Church magazine. He had been a surface worker, and felt that he couldn’t

speak

for

the

underground

workers.

He

suggested Jim Tatters who had worked at the face for many years, was now retired and was a magistrate.

I

telephoned him and he agreed. Reflections on the pit speaker saga: What on earth was this all about? There was no doubt that there was an element of reaction as a result of my conflict with the Royal British Legion Calverton Branch, but there were other, more important elements. The fact that the mining community in a population of 6,700 only had one member of the parish church.

Was

this a reflection of the way in which miners locally see the church as being of a different culture than themselves, with different interests and issues? The language of Tom, a list of unconnected phrases covering Calverton and ‘the 217

world’, but expressing a sympathy for the church and business and for politicians but a rejection of ‘the government’.

His willingness to offer his wife as an

attendee at the meeting, and his self-justifying attitude towards his own rare church attendance.

Overall, there

was a reluctance to engage in the exercise and a reluctance to speak ‘on behalf’ of other pit workers, suggesting an invisible hierarchy among the men with regard t their functions at the pit. Pit culture alienation from the church is a well-documented phenomenon but so also is their feeling that the church is ‘on their side’ in opposition to diktats from central government.

Even the Methodists, who have been

instrumental in bringing about the union movement (which local pit workers are well aware of), have this problem. It may well be that in seeking help and understanding miners fall back upon the unions for their support. They certainly do not see the churches as having either the interest, commitment or resources to come to their aid in any work-related way. One might say that perhaps more interest should be shown.

But on first coming to Calverton I lobbied pit

deputies and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, and British Coal to show me down the pit, but was met with the same attitude of reluctance, and never managed to obtain 218

an actual visit to the pit, even though various people in all three areas had given permission. What ‘resources’ could the church offer?

It needed the

miners themselves to set the agenda, but if miners were not represented in the church membership how could they? The only alternative would have been for the church to set the agenda, which is not the way I work. Perhaps there is an issue here for an industrial chaplaincy with a specific brief to relate with mining in the whole diocesan area. On 27th January I had asked Ian MacLiesh, a member of the Site Team ti speak at the public meeting from the Commuter point of view. He agreed, but needed 24 hours to think about it before making a commitment.

The

following day he phoned and agreed. On 28th January 1993, I delivered an invitation containing the following printed information on posh card to all eighteen members of the Church Electoral Roll who had never attended the parish church: “ Dear (Church Electoral Roll Member) Name, A public meeting will take place in St. Wilfrid’s Church on Wed.10th February at 8.00pm to address the issue: -

219

‘The Parish Church: What Should Be Its Role In Calverton?’ Three Speakers will address the issue from the following standpoints: Local Farmer. Calverton Commuter. Pit Worker. Each speaker will have fifteen minutes to address the question. proceedings

The Vicar will open and close the and

there

will

be

opportunity

for

questions from the floor. You are cordially invited to attend. Yours sincerely, Rev’d Roy catchpole. Vicar.” Copies of the same invitation were given to all 40 Members who attended divine service on 31st January, leaving 14 to be delivered. The posters were made up and displayed in the Library, Church Porch, Church Community facility, Comprehensive School, Notice Board, Leisure Centre and Vicarage Notice Boards. In line with the agreed strategies, likely individuals were personally asked to bring a friend, the church made comfortable and the heating put on ‘full’ the day before.

220

The interior was made visually stimulating with posters, a display of banners, and a special Banner proclaiming, “ The Role of the Parish Church?” was made and displayed above the lectern at which the three Speakers would stand. The church was chosen as a sufficiently multi-cultural venue, as the strategy required, since no culturally neutral place could be found. It was felt that at least in its aims and ideals the church was eclectic. In a live church with many meetings normally taking place this meeting clashed inevitably with some, particularly the ‘Signs of the Kingdom’ Course, which would prevent only six members of the Roll from attending.

The church’s

community facility Co-ordinator agreed to publish the event by personal recommendation to local people. The Public Meeting 10th February 1993

The First Address: The Farming Community. Audrey Stocks. My husband is a farmer / agricultural contractor. father-in-law started the business.

My

I myself am from a

farming family in Kent. I can’t say how my faith affects my life. I know that I work hectically from day to day. But there is a sense in which farming is closer, not ‘to God’ – I know some Hindus who are equally religious – closer to ‘faith’ because of what it is. 221

I am reminded of the Parable of the Sower. It’s relevant and like it is.

We sow the seed, but we also have to

nurture the land, which is a complex procedure.

For

example, there are only eight days in the year when it is suitable for spraying, and a bad harvest is the result, not of some ‘god’ but of bad planning, bad practice. The faith of the farming community is very basic – fatalistic, in a way. A Norfolk farmer recently tried to set up a scheme whereby each farmer would donate a ton of corn to Africa. What the farming community thought he was trying to do was polish his halo! Modern Methods: Since I’ve had my family I’ve become more aware of having double standards in relation to animals and human beings, for example embryo research and transplantation, testing for disability and determining gender.

It feels different for human beings than for

animals. My father is a Christian farmer and he says of the 90% success rate in determining gender in animals he would be the one who got the 10% failures. On the other hand BST was manmade because of individuals’ greed. But AIDS?

I don’t know.

I sometimes wonder whether

there is such a thing as homosexuality in the animal community.

We once had a boar we had to get rid of

because he wouldn’t go near any sow. There remains an

222

area of wonder in indeterminability, which is perhaps where God is. Sunday Working:

I am a regular church attender (sic)

and my husband attends occasionally. I don’t think that even a thunderbolt would get hi to go regularly.

He is

much more interested in getting on with the work than services in church. My mother in law is worried when we work on Sundays, but I say “Better the day, better the work.” For example, the stock had to be fed and cared for. I have a basic faith and concern, but don’t know how to express those feelings. Life is full of miracles. We’re not just ‘chance’ but something else. I have Methodist farmer friends who don’t work on Sunday. Sunday work could be a source of the conflict, but I think this kind of guilt is stronger on the free-church spirit than on Anglicans, although I know some Anglicans who rest on Sundays. The Role of the Church: The church is a place to come and say ‘Thank You’. It is somewhere for the children to come should they need it in their lives in the future. I’ve had times of need and have come to the parish church. I experience ecstasy at Holy Communion. This is important to me.

It is something physical.

Sharing with Christ.

Knowing that Christ offers you something that you have done. I feel that I have actually produced the bread that is being offered in this mutual sharing experience. A general 223

discussion followed on subsidies for oil seed rape and linseed oil, and the administrative complexities of claiming subsidies.

The Second Address: The Commuting Community. Ian MacLiesh. A Commuter is anyone who works away from the place he lives.

It usually implies a lengthy absence (eg a whole

working

day).

commuters.

The

majority

of

Calvertonians

are

I have been a commuter in this village for

twenty years.

It’s an odd life.

Life is away from the

village. Home is where you sleep. I know the day-place better than I know the night-place, and so it is terrifyingly easy to become excluded and without anyone being to blame.

One

is

in

constant

danger

of

becoming

marginalized, of surviving on fifth-hand information and opting out.

It takes a real effort to become involved in

things and an even greater effort to play a part in them. And the time you can give is restricted – usually seasonally restricted.

All ‘daily life living’ has to be done at the

weekends, gardening and so on. The Role of the Church: This applies to anyone, anywhere, not specifically to me or to Calverton parish church: - the church provides a place of reassurance. When I need it, it’s there for my family and 224

me on demand.

On the other hand, when I need it it’s

there for my family and me on demand. It’s a source of stability; a fixed point of reference.

On the other hand

when I do need it, I’m not there, because I am somewhere else. I am a commuter. The church provides the role of laying down the rules of living.

It demonstrated and

teaches awareness of the needs of others. It is a carer, both demanding and giving care. With this, networks are made available – it enables us to form our own networks and it works because the ethical/moral framework was laid down from long ago. Its keynote is reciprocity. What can I give to the church? Money is easy. But time and commitment are hard to give.

What is needed is a

change of circumstances or habit, which is not often possible.

Priorities. If my situation changes, so will my

priorities to the church.

The church is capable of being

infinitely flexible, variable and responsive.

But peoples’

perceptions of the church must also change – instead of it being a largely ‘religious’ perception which contains elements of eternal judgement and so on, a more informal organisation is required – perhaps a laid-back ‘helping hand’ image will prove to be the answer.

The Third Address: The Pit Community. Jim Tatters. 225

I was christened in Durham. At school the Catholics and Protestants were sworn enemies and often fought in the playground. If you can imagine the pit pre-nationalisation and children of fourteen years old who thought they were now men. You would have thought there was no God. But in those days the first half hour of every school day was religious education and we all went to Sunday School until we were fourteen years old.

Then we became working

men, but we knew church was there all the time if we needed it.

In January 1939, a coal mine was a terrible

place to be. I was a magistrate for twenty-one years and had a year to go.

But I left the bench frustrated at the way law and

order and discipline have gone. Youngsters leering at you from the dock knowing you can’t do anything with them and that you are powerless. There are lots of churches in Calverton. I remember the Whit Sunday March in 1953. It used to happen every year. village.

Marvellous.

It united the

At that time the village was in the process of

filling-up from everywhere; Scots, Australians, people from South Wales and Durham.

We had to learn how to live

together. We had never met people from other tribes at school, and the villagers all thought we were savages. They even built our houses away from the village!

The

new sewage system that’s now going in – the reason for 226

this is, they’re planning to make the village even bigger. Personally, I wouldn’t like to see any more development unless it was to the east. The houses. By moving all the miners at the same time, they were all about the same age, between twenty and thirty-five years old. But now, we’ve aged and live in houses too big for us to live in. Young families need them. Four bedrooms and large gardens. But we can’t sell them. We’d need to get enough to buy a small bungalow, but we’re trapped. Like the hundreds of other ex-miners. If the pit closed it would have no effect whatsoever on Calverton.

The

workers

come

in

cars

from

West

Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire etc etc. If you drive up the M1 from here to the edge of the county you’ll see multitudes of 1950’s and 1960’s miners communities left behind and rotting. In 1956, I paid £15.00 to have an N.U.M. Banner I’d designed and painted made-up by a local firm.

We

brought it to the parish church for a Service of Dedication. It was to be a big occasion; I organised the Calverton band and invited all the local top brass from the council to come. But I think the vicar, the Reverend Womack, was frightened of me because that Sunday he got someone else to do the service for him… then in 1960 some of the lads marched around the village with the Banner, but it 227

rained in a deluge.

They left the banner and ran for

shelter. After the rain, he rolled it up and left it in the pithead baths. It was virtually ruined; never the same again. The new banner, made in 1978, cost £1,300. Once again, the dedication was another occasion when the parish church was full of miners. One shocking thing is youngsters who haven’t been christened. I used to think it was compulsory! I remember the Reverend Hoyle who usedto visit the Cherry Tree pub. The Calverton Mine arrived like the Flying Scotsman, flew through the station of Calverton and rushed past.

What

we see now is the last few carriages passing out of sight. One thing I am grateful for is the way the church leaders are fighting for indigenous fuel and not ridding it for ever. Candidate’s Comments and Reflections ion the Public Meeting and Three Addresses. Seven people attended the meeting, including the three speakers

and

the

Candidate.

The

effect

of

the

personalised invitations, poster publicity and personal contacts achieved a response of only three interested individuals.

One of these was the President of the

Preservation Society, another was the spouse of a speaker and the remaining one was a local representative of the 228

Southwell Diocesan Social Responsibility Group.

My

feeling was that although few attended the speakers did prepare a script and were able to speak for fifteen minutes each to the subject in hand. The question of the role of the parish church in Calverton was, in other words, a live issue.

The above is a contemporaneous record.

This

constitutes the core of authoritative, new, indigenous information not previously recorded. What is particularly exciting is the account of the farmer, who found the church to be a locus of ‘personal ecstasy’ in an otherwise humdrum and demanding life. It is doubly exciting. First, for her, and secondly because it is not the kind of expectation one might have of a well administered, ordinary, busy establishment church. The realisation the ecstasy can occur – the last thing I expected – within the building, and regularly does for at least one individual must be a sign of hope – and of the Kingdom of God. Again, in terms of establishing links and bridges between people and agencies with the intention of resourcing the settlement from personal through communal levels, it was exciting to hear from the commuter – who above all need links because they lack them more than anything else in the settlement – that the parish church provides such links and networks. These cost nothing to establish

229

and are therefore achievable even by a poor congregation if the will is there. It was not surprising to be told that the church provides a focus for social events within the settlement. But it was interesting to hear how the church is itself a social event. It is one of the re-creative activities available in Calverton.

Also that the building and staff

perform the function of focussing significant events in the lives of groups of people who live here.

Its function at

these times seems to be to place a ‘seal’ upon an activity or to solemnify an act of commitment and solidarity which is not directly Christian – seeming to effect in the religious realm what in another circumstance the swearing of an oath might effect in the legal realm. It had occurred to me when organising the three speakers to give the Pit speaker a

specific

agenda

in

view

of

the

difficulty

I

had

experienced in eliciting a response from this group – such as a condensed history of the Miners’ Strike (March8th 1994 – March 3rd 1995), but I decided against it since it would have been an act of vandalism by the parish church against the expression of local perception.

In the event

the Strike wasn’t even mentioned. I felt that this reflected the

‘back-to-work’

movement

(July

1994)

in

the

Nottinghamshire coalfields led by Mr. Chris Butcher (the ‘Silver Birch’), whose own village, Ollerton, (only ten miles from Calverton), became the scene of some of the most 230

violent clashes between pickets and police, and the feeling locally that the whole event is best forgotten. The Second Administrative Goal under Change Goal One was To devise a format for addressing the requirements of the three cultures with regard to the parish church. It was agreed by the Site Team that the strategy would be to use the public meeting to achieve this. As a result of preparing for this meeting in consultation with the three speakers and on the basis of the Situation Analysis material a questionnaire was devised and tailored to the three identified culture-groups. Four copies of this were given to the Farming and Mining speakers.

None

were given to the Commuter speaker because by the nature of their experience, alienation from others within the home community was the major factor. In the event, only one questionnaire was returned, and so was rejected as a source of information. The strategy was then altered to achieve a similar end by Candidate and Site Team seeking personal responses, and conducting informal interviews with friends / contacts. The Site Team met subsequently and produced. The following comments on the Public Meeting in relation to

231

Change Goal One and made use of these insights to seek personal responses and conduct informal interviews: The Expectations of the Role of the Parish Church are That it Should Be: 1.

A venue for thanking God

2.

A place of refuge for parents to direct children in need

3.

A locus of ecstatic / mystical communion

4.

A source / guardian of moral / ethical rules

5.

W well of reassurance

6.

A refuge of socio-cultural security

7.

A centre for giving and receiving caring

8.

A root of an altruistic network

9.

A provider of religious education for children

10. A point of parish unity 11. A locus of dedication (of making holy) 12. A valid representation of concerns of the settlement. Unspoken Assumptions About What the Church Is, Were: 1.

A place

2.

People, not actively including myself

3.

The Church has resources to fulfil the expectations

4.

The Church will always be available

5.

The Vicar is the leader of the Church bandwagon 232

Armed with this material the Site Team informally questioned and discussed it with friends and neighbours in the community before meeting again two months later to pool their findings and reflections, producing the following result: The Farming Culture There was an unavoidably pantheistic element to their religion. For example, the land was ‘like the mind of God’ in the sense that the land is a given out of which things proceed, such as a flower, tree, an animal.

What the

farmer produces therefore is a kind of ‘incarnation’, and the

processes

of

production

are

the

processes

of

incarnating. In that sense the farmer is a co-worker with the land, and the land demands sensitivity, caring, giving worth (worship). The ultimate achievement of this process is the life and wealth of the rest of the community. Sharing in the finished product is sharing in the life and spirit of the land. In the case of the speaker, coming from this physical environment, this pantheistic element was enlightened and informed by Judeo-Christian monotheism through the teaching of the parish church. teaching,

it

was

felt,

would

confirm

The lack of

farmers

in

a

pantheistic environment in which there was no means of 233

addressing the need for salvation from moral guilt or redemption from slavery to sin. For the speaker this took place in the mysterious ecstatic experience of Holy Communion. “ I offer what my hands have made, and God returns it to me transformed.” Absence from church by the farming community denies them access to a major resource of Christian teaching. Advances in genetic science and experimentation among the animal population in animal husbandry increasingly confirm farmers as sovereign over nature, but there is not an equivalent input to enable them to make a real distinction between plants, animals and human beings, which results in a ‘disgust’ for humanity, resulting in questions such as, “Why should humans have any prior rights to existence than, say, cows?”

Intellect, manual

dexterity and a powerful will to survive and multiply are the driving forces, but they lack a moral aspect. The moral aspect is one of the elements the Parish Church is expected to supply, but takers are few, and whilst there is every reason for the church to take the view that the farmer’s work is itself an offering of praise to God, the lack of Christian educational input and commentary upon the farmer’s

work

remains

a

barrier

to

her

/

his

full

participation in the life and worship of the parish church. 234

The Mining Culture. There was a somewhat romantic view of miners as Nietzsche-type supermen, disciplined and perfected in physical and mental strength, pursuing survival at the pitface. But there was a weakening aspect of moral scruple and conscience, which deprived them of this high ideal. They found themselves in the company of others like themselves in the workplace, but had become politically individualised so that co-workers were both brothers and rivals.

The values of humility, kindness and weakness

derived from Christianity were practically abolished or ignored, since they weaken otherwise strong men, and these men need to be strong.

God is in this sense not

found at the coal-face. The irony is Faustian. The pursuit of

material

well-being

through

physical

and

mental

strength deprives the miner of life itself since he does not have time to enjoy it. A further irony is how this reality conflicts with any sentimental perception of miners by the media that ‘heaven’ is found in the pit, for it is underground – among the blood, sweat and tears – that loyalty, living and dying together in a common cause, community-based

interdependence

and

so

forth

are

located. Some miners fall for this sentimentality, and how

235

much of it spills over into the their marching-with-banners and their other parades has not been addressed. Miners are perceived by most, including the churches, as an embattled group of heroes fighting bravely against cynical and unstoppable forces of materialism whereas they are in fact often victim collaborators in the process.34 The Commuter Culture35 Hallmarks of this culture are insecurity, dic-location, planning and anxiety.

Prolonged absence from an

indigenous community and family often leads to neurosis. The experience is of living in one community during the day – one whose demands are work-oriented - and another at night – whose demands are family and locality oriented; living in one place during the day and sleeping in another at night, spending the intervening time travelling in the (dis-locating) private environment of a motor vehicle, and of having two families – one biological at home and another non-biological at work. The kind of fundamental question being addressed by the Commuter culture is,

“What is a family?”

Is it work

colleagues and customers, clients, or is it children, parents, spouse? Clearly it is not only biological. “What is a friend?” Is it someone selected by the Personnel 34 35

See contemporary newspaper articles on the Calverton Pit closure procedure. See ‘The Commuter World’ Appendix A.

236

Manager, or someone chosen by me? Clearly within the limited time available for formulating choice-friendships, many friends are by accident of job description, person specification, qualification and aptitude for the tasks of work colleagues. These decisions are made by people who employ commuters, and not by commuters themselves. These are fundamental questions about roots, anchorages, choice and emotional belonging, and it is felt that the parish church can supply these needs, especially since it propounds a concept of ‘choice’ which is founded in repentance. For many commuters, whether they attend or not, the church building is a symbol of an ‘anchorage’ in a turbulent sea. Many believe that they would ‘tie up’ at the church if their lives were differently circumstanced.

The

feeling of ‘emotional belonging’ is that they belong to the settlement, but the daily reality is that they belong to the workplace36 There was unanimous agreement in the Team that the Public

Meeting

Document

and

subsequent

reflection

accurately described the life-situations of the three groups with the exception that commuters were not necessarily neurotic.

This exercise in its entirety fulfilled the

requirements of Change Goal One. 36

See Illustration. Appendix 1.

237

Please note that the Administrative Goals a) & b) satisfied also the requirement of Administrative Goal c). Further to this exercise, material from the situational analysis had been presented on numerous occasions in the following forms throughout the whole process of the M.Min, since the material began to be collected in early 1992; 1.

Sermons and Addresses.

2.

Small groups such as Bible Studies, sub-groups of the Church Council and the Church in Full Council etc.

3.

Specifically at the Southwell Deanery Congress (February 1994) as part of the 1993/4 Episcopal visitation. This was to groups of delegates from the 21 parishes in the Southwell deanery and to the Bishop and his staff.37 This was followed a week later by the same display in the parish church, which remained on public show for two weeks.

4.

In the Calverton Community Forum – specifically at a presentation in May 1993 to a mixed group of Calverton churchgoers of various denominations and a group of agency

workers and service

providers with briefs to work in the Calverton area

37

See photographs

238

such as police, teachers, social workers, medical staff, nursing managers etc.

5.

By presentation on the Year One Chart, maps and photographs in the form of a display in church and church Hall.38

The opportunity for comment, question, challenge and other input has been offered throughout the process, and there are on file various responses that have come in. Most notably I have been given an academic thesis completed twenty-five years ago by a local miner which fascinatingly struggles towards similar questions regarding the settlement that the present analysis is addressing although there are naturally differences in historical perspective and there is no attempt at a theological understanding of the author’s situation.39

Change Goal Two By the nature of the case there was bound to be a significant amount of overlap between the aims of Change 38

See photographs. K. Godfrey ‘Stockings For A Queen: Black Diamonds for Her Subjects’ 1968. (unpublished). See Appendix A for a summary of the thesis’ view of Old Calvertonians and their history, the (then new) Pit culture, a personal view of the village churches and a comment from the Candidate from a contemporary standpoint reflecting upon all of this. 39

239

Goals One and Two. The emphasis of the two is different however, in that whereas Change Goal One sought to sensitise

the

congregation

to

the

different

spiritual

traditions within the church’s life, that or Change Goal Two seeks to sensitise the same group to the multi-faceted nature of the parish preparatory to formulating a new role for the church: “ To sensitise the congregation of St. Wilfrid’s to the multifaceted nature of the parish in order to prepare itself for a new role.” A level of achievement of this Goal can be detected in the following areas: In the Site Team. The close cooperative proximity of the Site Team to the working practises of the Candidate. As a result of this sharing activity members have become much more aware of the possibilities and constraints in which the Candidate conducts his business. This has been a mutual experience however, and the Candidate has become more aware of the freedoms and constraints on the Team. An example of constraint on the Site Team has been that the two commuters did not have time to give to the parish.

This has been a real constraint upon the

practicality of the vision of forming a ‘family feeling’ among them in the church.

Simply, if people are not 240

there, how can they be worked with? And yet they have a deep desire to belong.

These work against one another

and present a real issue which the church must address if it is to pursue its vision of an inclusive family. In the Church Council and Sub-Groups. The church has addressed some thorny issues in recent years. The version of the Bible used in church has been changed from the King James to the New International Version (100 of which have been placed in the pews). Hymns are now taken from a modern hymn book, ‘Mission Praise’ instead of from ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’, and the Book of Common prayer has been retained for one weekly service whilst the Alternative Services Book is used on most other occasions. The pipe organ is regularly used, but guitars and occasionally tambourines and other percussion instruments and a digital keyboard have also been introduced. There has also been an increasing takeup of occasional services tailored to sectional interest groups such as the schools, bringing-in the cultures of those who would not normally enter the building.

As a

result of a growing sensitivity towards the histories and backgrounds of the parishioners the candidate now acts as secretary and recorder – scribe as well as pastor – to bereaved families by interviewing families in their own home regarding the life and times of the deceased person, 241

and then repeating this information as a funeral oration at the funeral service.40 This has been greatly appreciated and families express their gratitude warmly both at the service and in the ‘announcements of deaths’ columns of the local papers. On one occasion the Candidate conducted a Marriage Ceremony in the parish church in which the bridegroom was Sicilian and knew no English. The candidate knew no Italian. The problem was solved by the owner of an Italian restaurant who transliterated the Marriage Vows into phonetic Italian for the Candidate to read at the ceremony. The half-Sicilian congregation greeted this with a round of applause. The deeper significance of this was that at an important moment in the life of the family the church was reaching out (like a clown perhaps) in an inclusive act. Also, in order to make young families welcome in the building the church has set in motion the implementation of plans to build a crèche in the tower with glass doors, soundproofing and a one-way speaker system so that those with the care of children can participate in divine service without the distraction of small, noisy, bored breast-hungry

children.41

A

childminder

has

been

appointed to supervise children whose carers wish to remain in the congregation for the service. There is a list 40 41

Dr. Tony Walker. ‘Funerals and How to Improve Them’, p.115C. S. Lewis Centre. 1993 See Plate St.Wilfrid’s crèche plans.

242

of similarly culturally sensitive projects currently on the sub-groups agendas. been

co-opted

onto

Most recently the Candidate has the

Nottingham

training

and

Enterprise Council, currently overseeing a new project in the settlement, the purpose of which is to create training opportunities leading to employment for local people thrown out of work by the pit closure. As a ‘leader in the community’ he has successfully lobbied for other local people to be similarly invited to join so that their views can be expressed and their perceptions taken account of. He has also been approached by the Nottingham North East Sector Mental Health Team to help identify and create community links between the service providers and users, and has to date attended the first Community Health Team meeting. There are unemployed and there are mentally ill people in the settlement. The God who called the nation Israel into being still calls with the same inclusive voice. By inviting comment on the Situation Analysis Material, which is still being added to. This has been a diffuse activity involving many people from many different backgrounds. Simply, the contents of this body of knowledge have been spread around the parish and deanery by the church magazine, the Calverton Echo, a local newspaper, word of mouth, sermons and addresses, newspaper articles, interviews on radio and 243

television and presentations of various kinds.

Comment

has been equally multi-faceted, but it has been possible to detect the information coming back to the vicarage having completed the ‘grapevine circuit’ around the settlement. By

directing

enthusiasms

among

the

worshipping

community Into suggesting and implementing initiatives in the church building which would reflect their desire for a new role for the church in its provision.

An example of

laying these foundations was that a concern for the partially sighted contributed towards the provision of new lighting for the church interior, and a concern for the hard of hearing led to the provision of a public address system. A small music group formed in order to lighten the ‘feel’ of the family Service worship, making the liturgy less intimidating

to

an

occasional-church-attending

congregation and people who had come to divine worship for the first time. In doing these kinds of things there has been a care not to jettison the past, and in keeping with this a stained glass window commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of William Lee of Calverton, the inventor of the stocking frame knitting machine has been commissioned and placed in the west window of the church. Again, on 20th June 1993 a plaque commemorating the ministry of the Reverend Thomas Oldland Hoyle, the previous incumbent, 244

whose ministry saw the majority of the pit’s tenure in Calverton (30 years), was dedicated and placed on the wall in the chancel. A moveable font, carved from the bole of a yew by the residents of the Manna Farm Drug Rehabilitation Project in Calverton was also dedicated and placed in the chancel of the parish church as a further sign of the universal inclusiveness of the temple’s function. This was done in the context of a special Family Service with ‘Unity’ as a theme.42 All of these reflected enthusiasms and spiritual energies among the people who use and / or value the church, and contributed in a concrete way to the provision the church was able to offer. The work required by Administrative Goal Two was achieved thoroughly in the gathering and analysis of Situation Analysis material and in the Biblical reflection phases of the project. It was simply a matter of lifting this material off the page and feeding it into the decision making process. Results of this procedure can be seen in the kinds of initiative mentioned above. It was agreed by the Music and Worship sub-committee to use the Lenten Course, ‘Have Another Look’, planned ecumenically by the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (especially as they are the major funders of our 42

See trinity Sunday 1993 Service Sheet with Sermon.

245

Community project, the Calverton Community Oasis), as the Lenten Study Group in 1994 saw as a way of addressing the plusses and minuses of barriers. Because the course was not planned locally, it would provide the advantage of not being threatening, but would open-up possibilities for participants to address local issues if they felt inclined within the safe environment of a planned and programmed Lenten Group.43 It was felt neither appropriate nor economical to employ a consultant for the last Administrative Goal, since both Candidate and Team were equipped for reflection on the process and the church could not afford the fee.

It was

felt, however that some concrete memorial to the project ought to be erected – as the Temple was erected as a symbolic focus for events that had been and were taking place in the life of the community – and to celebrate the differences within the settlement.

On 27th June 1993 a

Barbecue was held on the vicarage lawn to celebrate the differences in Calverton. Maps and charts displaying some of the many groups and associations in the settlement, some of the history of Calverton and up-to-date census figures were on display, and a recently bereaved man from the ‘Top Estate’ – a builder by trade, who had since become a member of the Church electoral roll, - offered to 43

‘Have Another Look.’ Council of Churches for Britain & Ireland (CCBI). Inter-Church House, London 1994.

246

build a barbecue in the vicarage garden as a Memorial of the M.Min Project and all that it was hoped it would achieve.

The two pillars of the barbecue would be

inscribed, ‘Boaz’ (The Lord is my strength), and ‘Jachin’ (The Lord is my foundation), for the two pillars at the entrance

to

Solomon’s

Temple,

since

for

many

of

Calverton’s people the Church’s social life is their first step into full communion with the Messiah. The barbecue, used for social functions at which nonchurch and occasional church attendees would always be present in good numbers, would symbolise the reachingout of St. Wilfrid’s congregation to the wider settlement on the one hand and the willingness of those in the settlement who did not attend, or rarely attended the church building nevertheless be willing to relate with the church. A symbol of outreach and infilling. New Elements That Emerged: The parish church as ‘temple’ The competency of the Minister in certain areas. ‘Inclusive potential of the parish church’ – the complexity and diversity of a)

Social groups in the settlement

b)

Commitment of church members.

247

The parallels between the Temple and the parish church had not occurred to the Site Team or Candidate until two years into the M.Min process.

In retrospect, this was

amazing. The reason for this had been our parochialism, and that for various reasons we had been seeing ourselves and our settlement as victims. There were many historical examples of this: The conflagration at the textile factory deprived the settlement’s economy of 60 t- 70 part-time female jobs; the burning down of the Miners’ Welfare Community Centre resulted in the loss of a major community facility. Neither of these was replaced, and their sites have now been built on. An old peoples’ home has been built, where the factory used to be and private housing running currently at £100,000 to £150,000 where the Welfare used to be, reflecting a new economy, replacing the older, dying economies of female shift-work in factory production and the closed Pit. Further examples were the way in which in olden times, according to local legend, the genius of William Lee had been exploited by the Crown, and resulted in William ending his life in penury and dying in obscurity. The powerfully remembered loss of young men is the wars – from the Great War to the Falklands and in Northern Ireland at the diktat of government, not to mention the most recent disaster of the closure of Calverton Colliery 248

despite its productiveness and the historically moderate un-politicised behaviour of the Nottinghamshire pits and men. The church had also been focussing on the negative aspects of its life – fighting for financial and cultural survival against an implacably fatalistic future especially in the wake of bad investments by central office in the 1980’s, falling national membership, a loss of enthusiasm for new things, and a fear of change. In light of this was it any wonder that we saw ourselves in Biblical terms as an exiled people, and a diasporate congregation? The sudden inspiration and a new understanding that resulted

from

a

consultation

with

Dr.

Robin

Pagan

transformed our perception of ourselves as a church and our settlement as a society. This was what we had been searching for.

Suddenly all the disparate elements that

had jarred upon us, such as the secular banners and plaques in the church building and the perception by people in the street (and their policymakers) of the Vicar as the leader of the village and their expectation of the leader to be ‘master of ceremonies’ at their weddings, feasts and occasions began to make sense. The church is like the temple and the settlement is like Jerusalem. This new understanding will be followed up in the years to 249

come, and our feeling as a Site Team is one of hope and enthusiasm for the future. We are not a church-on-the-run, but an intrinsic part of the settlement with a clear and credible role. Physical Oppression and the Human Spirit: Another element which emerged was our deepening understanding of the relationship between self-image and functional disability.

During the course of our project a

number of the congregation began to become desperately mentally and physically ill. Some remain so to this day. The mental, emotional and physical strain of this inevitably had its effects on some of the Site Team members, both in terms of demanding their caring commitment and also the way they perceived themselves. Now that they were no longer victims, but were part of a family with a clear and credible role, how were we tio understand this new spate of afflictions that had come upon our family? One of our Team members shared some more of her life story and spiritual journey… She had suffered from cervical spondulosis for several years.

On visiting the doctor recently she was told that

her condition was not surprising since she had been oppressed in a bad relationship with her spouse for several years, which had resulted in her walking as an oppressed person with her head down and back bent, always under 250

threat. The physical condition had arisen from a spiritual response to mental and physical oppression… Could this not also be the case for a church and for a community?

We felt that it could, and so our new

understanding of our place and role – no longer victims but an integral and necessary part of the settlement – might issue in time in an ‘upright’ church, no longer trudging wearily

to

community,

the no

next

oppression,

longer

the

and

oppressor

an

‘accepted’

who

makes

impossible demands. Ministerial Competency: More on this in Chapter Six.

For the moment, a new

element that emerged out of the Competency Assessment, one of the categories which both Team and Candidate scored at ‘F’, and which therefore should have been disregarded

as

not

amenable

to

development,

was

‘Financial Competency’. Although the Candidate did not aspire to become an accountant as a result of seeking to develop this area, one of the parish church’s fundamental difficulties lay in the area of finance – not having even half enough of it. But he discovered a number of quite unrelated skills and resources by the use of which he had been able to increase the projected annual income of the church on a regular basis so that even the parish church Council had 251

acknowledged it. This was an element quite new to the parish church Council, the Site Team, the Candidate, and his wife. Community Groups and Member Commitment: (Inclusive potential of the parish church). Another new element arising our of the Situation Analysis Phase of the project was the complexity and diversity of social groups in the settlement, the high-level commitment of the majority of church members and how this connected with our new perception of the inclusiveness of the churchas-temple. We expected that we would find a core of very committed people who did most of the work in the church, and that there would be some social groups in the settlement that would relate to one another on personal levels. In fact, although there was a core-worker matrix in the church, most other members have at least one churchrelated work task, and the diversity and complexity of the settlement’s groups turned out to be very wide indeed. In the same way that the different workers were coming from many different theological and ecclesiastical traditions, so the different community groups were coming from various levels of sympathy towards the parish church. We did not have time or resources to do the kind of in-depth study of the origins and affiliations of these community groupings 252

as was admirably done in Frankenberg’s study

44

although

we felt that a similar pattern would show through in Calverton and its rural hinterland as in Glossop and Banbury. Universalism and Inclusivity: Once we had made the parallel between church and temple it was inevitable that we would find ourselves confronting questions of this order. Theological reflection arises spontaneously and inevitably in the believer. It is, as G. Gutierrez reminds us intrinsic to a life of faith seeking to be authentic and complete. There is present an attempt to understand the faith, something like a preunderstanding which is manifested in life, action, and concrete attitude which is the soil into which theological reflection sinks its roots and from which it derives its strength.

Theophanies may occur to individuals in a

private sense. “ …but the self-revelation of God in the Biblical witness is not of a direct type in this sense, but it is indirect and brought about by the historical acts of God.”45

44

R. Frankenberg. ‘Communities In Britain’. Pelican Ch.6, 166ff. Wolfhart Pannenberg. ‘Revelation As History’ ed. W. Pannenberg. Trans. David Granskou. New York: Macmillan 1968 p125. 45

253

The Holy of Holies was an empty space.

God dwells

everywhere, and this proclamation became completely fulfilled in the Incarnation of the Son of God. “ The word became flesh and dwelt (pitched His tent) among us.” Jn.1: 14. Christ not only presents Himself as the Temple of God ‘ Destroy this temple…and in three days I will raise it again.’ John also specifies that “ The temple He was speaking of was His body.” Jn.2: 19-20. In addition, Paul tells us, “ It is in Christ that the complete being of the Godhead dwells embodies.” Col. 2: 9. Cf Eph.2: 2022. I Pet. 2: 4-8. Not only is Christ the temple of God, but Christians too, “ Surely you know that you are God’s temple, where the Spirit of God dwells…” I Cor. 3: 16-17. But not only are Christ and Christian believers the temple of God, but every person.

The episode with Cornelius

demonstrates that the Jews “ Were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should have been poured out even on the gentiles.” Peter drew the conclusion,

254

“ Is anyone prepared to withhold water for baptism from these persons who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did ourselves?” What we became aware of was a twofold process. On the one hand there is an universalisation of the presence of God: from being localised and being linked to a particular people and a particular building. It gradually extends to all church buildings and to all the peoples of the earth. On the other hand there is an internalisation, an integration of this presence.

From dwelling-places of worship this

presence is transferred to the heart of human history. It is a presence, which embraces the whole person, and Christ is the point of convergence of both processes. “ Since God has become man, humanity, every man, history, is the living temple of God. The ‘pro-fane’, that which is located outside the temple, no longer exists.”46 The purpose of the proclamation of the Gospel is theological in the sense that reflection upon the gift of the word of God deepens and enlightens that spirit which God has given to every human person. The purpose of worship in the parish church is to give voice to the divine response, which finds its source in the heart and mind of every human person. 46

G. Gutierrez Op cit. p.193

255

Funeral addresses illustrate this dynamic well. As I have mentioned, the procedure has been for the bereaved family to identify someone to do the funeral service. They have chosen the local vicar. He then visits the family. He has decided to act as Scribe and Recorder, noting down the family’s recollections of the deceased person’s life and times.

There is no attempt at evangelism, and no

comment made upon eternal life, or ‘gone to a better place’ unless the family initiates it. He conforms as closely as he can to the roles of scribe and recorder.

At the

funeral service, after checking the script with the family, the recorded life and times is read from the pulpit as an address.

Comment upon eternal life, sin, forgiveness,

redemption, is left to the words of the funeral liturgy. In this way, the whole complex of building, staff, community, past and present and future hope is utilised at the disposal of human remains through the re-telling of the family’s story,

as

Jerusalem.

members

of

this

specific,

contemporary

It is an universal experience in other words,

with everything focussed on God, in which the vicar plays the role of ‘scribe’ or bureaucrat.

Some days later

acknowledgements appear in the local papers, and the vicar is thanked along with everyone else. The Funeral service would not have ‘worked’ had the vicar been merely the ‘recorder’. 256

There was something about his person and his context that made him one of the few individuals in the settlement that could have performed tat service for them. He was both an employee of the temple authorities, and attached inevitably to the settlement. All of the above are New Elements, which it is hoped the Church will be addressing in the years to come.

257

Chapter Six

Images and The parish church was looking for a new role. Accustomed to having been traditionally regarded as the centre of a village community, it was aware that this had changed over the years and it now no longer seemed to apply. Instead of there being a general call on its services, which would witness to a general perception of the church as ‘there for all’, it had been witnessing an increasing number of specialist, or sectional-interest demands. This gave the impression that the parish church was being increasingly perceived by the settlement as ‘not there for all’ but only there for some, the fact that only 0.5% of the population regularly attended any of the settlement’s churches seeming to confirm this.

What was of concern was that

the congregation was not effectively challenging this mentality. Along with this there was a feeling that the church in general in the nation was increasingly being seen as a sectional-interest organisation – an institution whose purpose was to serve the ‘religious’ needs of people and which ought not to become involved in politics, whose 258

concerns were perceived as the ‘real’ needs of people in a value-for-money society. Nor did the national church as a body appear to be challenging this situation. We sought a role; one which would retain our usefulness to the whole community and would prevent the parish church from falling into the trap of being there for anything less than the whole settlement.

Change Goal One “ To sensitise the congregation of St. Wilfrid’s Church to the different spiritual resources and traditions within its life and to recognise both positive and negative aspects of these differences.” The theological claim confronting the church in Calverton is the incarnation of Christ in history and how this may be paralleled in the present incarnation of Christ through the church. Our hermeneutics how to interpret the incarnation into a new praxis which remains faithful to the Biblical and historical record and is practical and workable in St. Wilfrid’s Parish Church.

259

We are saying that the church is like the temple, and that the key to the temple is the presence (δ ο ξ α ) of God. We are also saying that in His Incarnation the Son of God took flesh and humbled Himself even to death in order to achieve God’s project in the world, and that the project’s aim was achieved. Throughout the New Testament Christ is presented as the glory of God on earth to those with eyes to see it, though it is in the Fourth Gospel that this concept is most strongly stressed: “ We beheld |His glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.” Jn. 1: 14. The miracles of Christ manifested His glory (2: 20).

His

glory is not the glory of human beings but of God (5: 41. 17: 5, 22), and the great high priestly prayer of Jesus (Jn. 17), in dominated by the idea of δ ο ξ α The

entire

passion

glorification (17: 1).

is

presented

(glory). to

us

as

Jesus’s

Jesus goes to the cross not as the

helpless martyr to his agony, but as the victorious king to his coronation. In the passion and resurrection of Christ the utter glory of God is revealed. It was at this point that experiences such as Laurie Green’s in Birmingham encouraged us in our search for an understanding of ‘empowerment’.47 47

L. Green ‘Power To The Powerless’ p.91ff. Marshall & Pickering. Margaret’s timely reminder of the cross, which could not keep Christ captive in death – and a poster, dropped through the vicarage door in

260

The temple was inclusive of all races and classes.

The

people of Calverton think of the parish church also as inclusive.

They attend its worship, or come only for the

occasional service, or visit merely to see the plaques and banners. They are touching base with some un-expressed spiritual reality of their own.

It is unlikely that they are

experiencing the Christian God through the mediating work of Christ on the cross, which is taught through the Bible, but they ‘feel at home’ in the building. I think this is a living parable of the power of the people of the parish church. Christ came in humility as the vulnerable child of a mother who was herself merely a child. As the incarnate God (a Biblical image of the temple), He was open to all, good and bad.

In the same way the people of St. Wilfrid’s

congregation, because of their willingness to be open top all thereby run the risk of losing the things they hold most dear.

They are exhibiting exactly the same kind of

incarnation-power they desired to gain in the Statement Of The Problem. This humble inclusivity was itself, in other words a demonstration of the δ ο ξ α

of God.

We came to see that the church was, in other words already nascently empowered in the sense that it was structured as an inclusive institution. What had seemed at Calverton during Lent 1994 with the caption, “In this world you will have trouble, but be brave. I have conquered the world.” John 16: 33.

261

first to be burdens to us – the fabric of the building, the committee structures, the professional ministry, and the diocesan structures with their complex and interminable legalities in fact provided us with an enforced inclusivity that would enable us to confront the questions of faith which in Calverton were about the social alienation of commuters, the secularism of the pit culture and the increasing alienation of the farmers – the ‘people of the land’ – from their land. These issues really do affect the people who live in Calverton and either regularly or rarely attend the parish church – they are not ‘out there’ or matters of only academic interest. It was necessary for us to confront these issues with the claims of faith, but this would have to be done from within the structures since we did not wish to escape from them. Indeed, as I have said, we found them to be empowering. They not only constrained the leadership to have respect for their inclusivity, they were themselves expressions of the traditional faith and practice of the people.

We

recognised the negative aspects of this also. At what point does a tradition become an unhelpful imposition?

We

needed to question whether and to what extent current practice actually included everybody. Our response to this would not be to jettison what we had, but to increase its 262

potential.

For this, we needed to work and study as a

church, to see how this could be achieved. If there were elements that needed to be removed, we needed to be sure that we were not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As Madeleine said from her position of faith; “ I find it extremely difficult to believe that we can overcome evil.

It seems to me that evil is getting

stronger. I cannot see good winning. If you do try to take power yourself in order to beat evil, it seems so to infect you that you don’t end up beating evil but become part of it yourself. It’s like a cancer.”48 It seemed to us also that there was no reason for an uncritical belief that change and evolution were inherently good things. There was much Biblical material to support the view that things would get worse before they got better. That ‘better’ could be equivalent to the ‘coming of the

Kingdom’

with

all

its

accompanying

trials

and

challenges that we find on the lips of Jesus. In the midst of this, the church, like Jesus himself, may sometimes be destined to obscure and humble suffering within a given tradition. This general area was common ground for all of the traditions represented in the life of St. Wilfrid’s. In terms 48

Op cit. p.111

263

of its being a single unit, signified in its common worship ( even though this took place in three definable groups representing three clear traditions and experiences, it did take place at the same locus), there were resources of the spirit in all of the traditions which fed in to the common project of confronting the parochial mission-field with the claims of faith. In evaluating to what extent this was working, the Site Team had agreed that we could expect to see evidence of structures starting to arise in the form of study groups, recommendations in the minutes of the Church Council and

a

rise

congregations.

in

enthusiasm

among

the

attending

This had already begun to happen.

To

date, we have two new study groups, a number of Church Council recommendations, some of which have already been implemented, and a rise in enthusiasm among members: One of the Study Groups focuses on Bible Study (reflecting one of the church’s spiritual energies or cultures), and the other addresses issues of contemporary society (reflecting another of the church’s spiritual energies).

Both take

place in members’ homes, and both have a regular membership of ten to twelve. In terms of enthusiasm, about half of the people who attend these groups are ling-term church members and 264

half are new members.

Most members come from the

10.45 Sunday congregation, although there is one who attends

the

Communion.

8.30

traditional

Common

Prayer

Book

Well over half the attending congregation

have become volunteers for the Manna farm Project and/or the Calverton Community Oasis. Church Council recommendations since the start of the project include a proposal to build a crèche in the church building to provide young families who wish to worship with us.

This was a new recognition that children and

young parents need catering for within the actual context of living worship – the recognition of a specific cultural need; a proposal to localise the management of the Church’s community project – an acknowledgement that local

people

should

take

power

over

their

own

community’s destiny, and an agreement to develop a ‘community corner’, displaying examples of the life, culture and history of Calverton, in the main body of the church building – a recognition of the pride of Calverton as a place of significance and uniqueness. In terms of the employment of the Administrative Goals and their strategies, the clearest example of a Statement of policy arising our of these is the document presented to the Manna farm management Committee, and adopted by the Adullam Homes Housing Association as defining the 265

‘Christian Ethos of the Manna Farm Project’. The contents of this document are generally agreed by the Stie Team as reflecting (in particular for Manna farm in this case, but in general in the parish church in Calverton also) the current state of sensitivity towards the different spiritual resources and traditions within its life as a direct result of our M.Min. studies as follows: “ The fundamental principle of Manna farm is demonstrated in the quality of service we provide for residents.

We do not seek to convert residents to

any particular religious philosophy or faith-package. Thos of the staff who are Christians have an even greater reason for delivering quality service since they

believe

(independently

of

any

rules

or

regulations that demand the same) that to provide the best service is no less that their Master requires. The Christian ethos: At Manna farm we take the injunction of Jesus of Nazareth, to love one another and to love God, very seriously. By his life and death Jesus exemplified a selfless and non-judgemental attitude towards his contemporaries.

By which we

mean that he did not spare himself in his service to others and that he announced forgiveness to all who

266

recognised that they had come short of God’s perfect standards. The Christian context: At Manna farm we take as a first principle that incoming residents are entering a unit, which is governed by Christian principles, and in which God is already present in Jesus Christ. We also take as a first principle that God has already been at work among incoming residents in their previous life.

Those who come, in other words, do

not come from a place where God is not present to Manna Farm, where he is. Manna farm is God’s gift (χ η α ρ ι σ

) for their whole life, not a place they

need to come to in order to ‘get converted’. The content of the Christian teaching / the therapeutic programme: In any programme it is necessary

to

have

knowledge

of

what

that

programme contains. This is necessary so that those who have responsibility for working with residents on the programme can be clear about what they are doing

and

programme.

where

they

are

going

within

the

What we do not have within the

programme is ‘wild cards’ – that is, unscripted material. This is because the programme is tailored and

specific

to

each

resident’s

requirements.

Adullam Homes is directly answerable for this 267

material and its consequences. Unscripted material can throw the whole programme off-beam and leave staff open and vulnerable to criticism if its use results in inhibiting the therapeutic programme or creating conflicts within the therapeutic setting of the project. Unscripted material of a religious nature should not be used in the name of Manna farm either on or offsite. Christian Pilgrimage in the life of residents: Manna Farm has been given various individual residents who have come here from their own Christian contexts. evangelists;

others

Some have been Christian have

been

brought

up

in

Christian homes, and yet others have accepted Jesus into their hearts and have been filled with the Holy Spirit … and yet they have become victims of addiction despite all this input from God, the church, and well-meaning people. At Manna Farm we affirm this experience – we do not deny it or strip the experience of its irony.

In other words, we do not

require residents to regress back into this religious dependency (which is what it is). Instead, we seek to move them on, if they are wanting to be moved on, without denying their experience as human beings and as Christian people. Manna farm believes that it 268

is a staging-post in the lives of residents.

It is

inappropriate to divert residents from their primary purpose, which is the therapeutic programme. Christian Ethos and secular Agencies: God is present in Christ in the whole of life, and this includes the secular agencies. Often, these agencies as institutions and the individuals working within them understand themselves as also being within the will and purposes of God – and often they are. It is part of their experience.

But also part of their

experience is working with the demands of their own agencies – which do not include any reference to God.

Manna farm holds these people in deep

respect. As a Christian organisation Adullam Homes also

has

its

oen

professional

arena

in

which

reference to God is inappropriate. Where this is the case, it acts professionally- as do all other agencies that are working professionally. Of Life in Christ and the Resources of the Holy Spirit:

It

is

common

for

Christians

to

find

themselves at a stage in their Christian life when they are subject to forces that are not under the control of the Master.

At these times, God carries

them because once claimed and saved, no one is lost.

It is part of this ‘carrying’ that we at Manna 269

farm

are

engaged

in.

Cooperation

with

the

sustaining and life-giving activity of the incarnate God for people.

To deny the original claiming and

saving is to place the individual into a regressed state, and they are likely to remake the same journey again, having learned nothing from it. What we aim to do is to take residents from where they are to where they want to be. What we do not want to do is to simply place them at the start again so that they re-start the cyclical process. Part of achieving this is not to require a New Start in Christian terms, but to help them access those forces which are under the control of the Master.” This Document represents an important sea change in the parish Church’s understanding of itself as a church within the community. ‘Resident’ in the above document refers equally to ‘resident’ in community terms (anyone living in Calverton). ‘Manna Farm’ refers equally to ‘Parish Church’ as a locus in Calverton. ‘On-site’ and ‘Off-site’ refers equally to being ‘in or out of Calverton’, the ‘programme’ refers equally to mission strategies, pastoral practice, ministry and contents of the parish church’s minutes in the parish as to the particular programme of the Manna farm therapeutic programme, since what the parish church is 270

engaged in is the ‘Therapeutic Programme’ of God through Christ to the whole community.

The ‘Manna farm Ethos

Document’ is therefore a paradigm of the present state of Calverton Parish Church’s developing sensitivity towards valuing and providing places for the different spiritual energies and traditions within its current life. The Manna farm

Document

Administrative

provides

Goal

Two

the of

‘format’ this

required

Change

Goal

in for

addressing the requirements of the three main cultural sections of the parish church.

Together, these reflect

enthusiasms and energies that were already resident in the congregation and have now been given recognised, and given the opportunity of expression.

Change Goal Two “ To sensitise the congregation of Saint Wilfrid’s Church to the multi-faceted nature of the parish in order to prepare itself for a new role.” The task we set ourselves of providing occasion for local people to express their mind about the pros and cons of barriers (Administrative Goal One) was too big for the Site team and too expensive to achieve out of the small funds 271

of the parish church.

In the event, the Nottinghamshire

Rural Development Commission has agreed to undertake a Village Appraisal in Calverton and to make the result available to local people. This is due to begin in a months’ time, but too late for inclusion in this essay. One of the questions in this document will relate to the Second Administrative Goal (barriers to church commitment). When this information becomes available, we shall be better able to address Administrative Goal Three – establishing a programme for exploring the plusses and minuses of barriers. This part of the process took a long time, and is unfinished. What did come out of our studies was the need to address the question. With regard to the Fourth Administrative Goal – to provide an occasion for the celebration of barriers within the parish, we had a party on the vicarage lawn. The barriers addressed were however, those we had seen reflected in the Gospel / temple images. Perhaps another occasion is needed – after the Village Appraisal – when the whole of the parish will celebrate its differences. We did address the issues of barriers to some extent however.

It seemed to us that in the world there was

always conflict, and that this was also true of the church. Certainly in our small realm of Calverton there were always battles going on, both outside and within the walls 272

of the church.

In considering some of the sociology of

conflict, we were reminded that there were both positive and negative aspects and also that conflict was an essential part of living.

We considered the definition of

social conflict offered by Coser, “ Social conflict … is a struggle over values and claims to scarce resources, power and status in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralise, injure, eliminate their rivals.” Resulted in a description of power, which is gained through the violent overthrow of a rival. But the fact that our settlement was culturally and socially multi-faceted did not seem to us necessarily to imply the need for the violent overthrow of rivals, and we discovered some radical insights when we considered the nature of the power taken and exercised by the human Jesus. It was instructive to consider the reflection given on the human nature of Jesus by Warren Dicharry, C.M., “ It seems, especially according to the Gospel of mark and the Council of Chalcedon that (1) Jesus, in his human nature, possessed neither beatific vision nor all infused knowledge during his earthly life; (2) he was conscious of being the expected Messiah and the Unique Son of God, a conviction derived from faith, mystical experience, and God’s own personal 273

revelation; and (3) that as human he was limited not only in knowledge, but also in power, although in both (it appears) he far exceeded other human beings because of his lifelong growth in ‘wisdom, age and grace’. Lk. 2: 52.” He goes on to investigate the nature of the hypostatic union, saying that as a divine person Jesus was absolutely impeccable, but in his human mind he was aware of this only by faith.49

The church shares in this mystery in

relation to power.

As the expression of the temple (or

‘body’) it is absolutely impeccable, sharing in the divine power of Christ himself, but in its temporal, militant and ecclesiastical expression it is aware of this only by faith (the church is not a school of philosophers). As a result of this, when it is behaving at its best, it does not impose itself as a unit of force upon its surroundings, taking every opportunity to neutralise, injure or eliminate its rivals, but occasionally – and against both nature and social conflict theory – offers itself as a sacrifice for the good of others. The words and actions of Jesus stand in contrast to the words of the sociologists, “ Greater love has no one than this – that to lay down one’s life for another…” may be alternatively re-worded to read, “ Greater power is exercised by no one than this…” 49

Op cit p.44.

274

The status of servant; the power of sacrifice and the resource of faith. This is supported by passages such as Jn. 1: 16, “Of his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.”

He who was himself full of grace has imparted

grace to others, and, Colossians 1: 19, “ It was the good pleasure of the Father than in (Christ) should all the fullness dwell’ & 2: 9, “In him dwells all the fullness of Godhead

embodied.”

Taken

by

themselves

these

statements might be theological statements about the essential nature of Christ of the same order as John 1: 14, “The word was made flesh…” but in both places in Colossians Paul goes on to speak of what God has done for the Church through Christ:

“… and through him to

reconcile all things to himself.” 1: 20, “… and in him you are made full” 2: 10. Paul is thinking chiefly of the fullness of the divine grace, which is in Christ, and by him made available to the church.

The value of, and claims to status, power, and

resources

are

turned

upside

down

in

this

divine

dispensation and the nature of Christian discipleship becomes such that it seeks to imitate and follow Jesus, the suffering servant, and of his people, the suffering servant – that the valuable goal of the reconciliation of all things in him is achieved.

275

This results in the church in Calverton re-discovering its role – whish it has always fulfilled when it has been behaving at its best – as a servant to one another and to the host settlement. The exercise, early on in the Site team’s work, of discovering as much as possible about the settlement in the Situation Analysis, provided a common task which produced a bonding within the Team and resulted in the amassing of a body of material which continues to be of great use to the parish church in formulating goals and strategies in its committees. It is to be recommended. In a sense, this cannot be too greatly stressed. It provides the church with a focus for its planning and activities, and requires it to sit down and think about how its enthusiasms can be effectively directed so that it knows when something had begun and ended rather than be taken over by them, resulting in a sense of failure and irrelevancy when they eventually fizzle out through a lack of energy to sustain them.

This process of ‘listening’ to

the settlement, ‘feeling’ where its people and institutions are at – was honouring to the people who live here because it gave them value as a specific and distinct group. Calverton was not ‘just another country town’ like all others, but it was this town, this village, unique and unrepeatable.

And the church, not just the Site team, 276

values this.

In pastoral terms it means that when the

Gospel is proclaimed, it is proclaimed to Calverton, and the challenges of the Gospel are accurately directed and accurately interpreted for this specific community, so that when the factory burns down, it is presented as a disaster of major proportions even though it registers ‘zero’ on the news media Richter Scale. Our evaluation of the Second Goal has been that it has provided the parish church with a database of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ information specific to Calverton.

This has

become part of the decision-making process of the church Council, its sub-committees, and of the thinking of each member of the congregation.

The database is being

continually added to as a result of this good practice, which the church has acknowledged.

Ministerial Competencies The three areas chosen by the Site Team for development of ministerial competencies were Candidate’s community,

personal education

witness and

in

the

Christian

discipleship / life teaching, facilitating through listening.

277

Candidate’s Personal Witness in the Community. An essential part of the Candidate’s personality is that he is confident in his expression of views and opinions. This is generally valued by the community at large, and this is witnessed to by the fact that he is a published author and established newspaper columnist – in which areas he carries his same style of expression into the public arena.

This confidence however is occasionally

understood as insensitivity, crudeness, or a lack of culture or vocabulary.

In relation to his work as a vicar, this

impression is heightened because ‘You do not expect a vicar to talk in this way…’ To some extent this is an adopted style.

One of the

principles of good communication which he has adopted in his writing and speech, and to some extent in his dress has been that of the ‘common denominator’ – what some may call ‘dumbing down’ or appealing to the lowest ability and therefore including all. This clearly does not always work, because there are those who are unreachable by this method, namely those who may object to being included as being among the ‘lowest ability’.

But

alongside this, he feels, there are many more vicars who seek to communicate only on the remaining levels, thus 278

excluding these people.

He feels that his choice went

some way to balancing this. The question being asked by the Site team was, whether this speech and dress approach or ‘style’ alienated people from seeing the Candidate as a ‘Man of God’. Whilst Jesus was a man of his time, and the New testament was written in κ ο ι ν ε

(common) Greek, he nevertheless took the

point and agreed to develop this area in the following ways: In visiting bereaved families he would always wear a dog collar and suit. In visiting families with a view to them joining the Financial Covenanting Scheme he would wear a suit and dog collar. He would wear a suit more often when walking through the parish, and when attending Church Council and subcommittee meetings, and at meetings with other agencies. He would seek to modify his choice of language in conversations at the above occasions. The overall evaluation of development in this area relies upon judgements regarding the effectiveness of funeral and funding visits, and attendances at meetings of various kinds. Feedback has been on a personal level as follows: Positive

comments

from

bereaved

families

to

the

Candidate himself and in notices in the local newspapers. 279

The sight of a vicar in a suit on the doorstep in the wake of a death is reassuring and comforting because it is traditional and because parishioners feel it is honouring both to them and to the memory of the deceased. Dress, the Candidate noticed, effects authority, confirms an assertive personal approach and offers bereaved families who are confused and vulnerable an ‘anchor of security’ upon which they feel they can rely. Long interviews with families interested in joining the Covenanting Scheme, resulting in an excellent response and a good increase in the parish church’s income. To what extent this is due to the wearing of a ‘uniform’ is difficult to evaluate, but the fact of a rising income may witness indirectly to dress and choice of language. Certainly, one effect has been to give the impression to potential Covenanters that the vicar is a professional and knows what he is doing.

At least, he

looks and talks like a vicar! To what extent does the wearing of a suit during a church Council meeting, having styled hair, using less than common language and wearing a pleasant perfume develop

effectiveness?

But

it

was

requested

for

development, and the Candidate adopted it, and people appeared to appreciate it.

One effect it does have in

meetings is to lower the personal profile of the candidate and allow others to contribute to the discussion. 280

Education and Christian Discipleship / Life teaching As was noted in the Ministerial Competency Assessment, there was no formal Christian Discipleship or Life teaching programmed into the church’s life at that time, and so no way of the Site Team assessing competency. But it was felt that this was an essential area of any church’s life and needed to be introduced. The candidate was happy to do this since he felt the same. A programme of Christian Discipleship / Life Teaching was therefore introduced by the Candidate.50

This took the

form of approaching the issue on a number of levels. The candidate undertook to teach a series on ‘The Signs of the Kingdom’ for the Southewell Diocesan Education department in their 1992-3 programme entitled ‘Food For Thought – Diocesan Adult Education and Lay training Opportunities.’

This attracted fifteen mature Christians

from across the Diocese who completed a series of fourteen sessions over two terms.

These teaching

sessions were shared with two other clergy from the 50

See p.19f (above)

281

Southwell deanery, and a follow-up course is being planned. Reports from those who attended were that the course was very helpful and that they wanted a further course to be organised. On another level the Candidate organised a ‘Christian Basics Course’ in 1992, which produced a good attendance of about twn individuals.

This was parish based, and

taught by the Candidate and five members of the congregation on one evening per week.

There was a

regular attendance of about ten and the course lasted six weeks.

This was repeated in 1993 and the same

programme was used.

The overall result has been an

increase in members attending courses of Christian education and receiving Christian and Biblical life skills education and training.

The intention is to continue the

same course in 1994.

Responses to the courses have

been very positive and the courses have resulted in about ten members of the congregation gaining skills and experience in sharing their faith in an educational / training environment. The candidate counts this initiative as a major development in ministry and competency over the past two years. To date there has been no movement regarding the actual take-up of the Junior Schools Religious Education package by the Church School in Calverton, but negotiations are 282

currently being joined with the Finance Committee and the Church Junior School of a neighbouring villager who are using the package. There has been an increase in interest from other schools in Calverton in resourcing the church for education, and particularly from Manor park Junior School for the Candidate to teach a series of lessons on the place of the church in Calverton, which he is currently engaged in teaching.

Comments from teachers and the

Head Teacher thus far have been appreciative.

The

candidate counts this as testimony to good development in this area over the past two years.

Facilitating Through Listening There were two major areas of pastoral practice in which the candidate focussed this attempt at development. The first was with regard to funerals. Combining his own pastoral experience with advice from Dr. Tony Walter,51 whose advice is drawn from a background in social sciences and his own personal experience, he decided to adopt the practice of recording and noting-down what the family had to say about the deceased and her / his life and times, and any reflections the family might have. Although this would eventually result in a funeral oration, the 51

actual

process

of

listening

was

psychologically

Dr. T. Walter. ‘Funerals and How to Improve Them.’ C. S. Lewis Centre. 1990 p.142-144.

283

important for the family because it empowered them in taking control of their situation and to involve themselves in the detailed and necessary process of mourning: “ The psychological value of participation in the funeral by family and friends is that it helps to make the funeral, and hence the death, real.

Cutting

flowers, procuring a death certificate, kissing the corpse, carrying the coffin (retelling the story – my insert), even just touching the coffin, are all actions, which make sense only if someone has died, only if the box contains a corpse. Sooner or later my beliefs catch-up with my actions, and I perform actions that imply someone has died, my heart will pretty soon come to accept the fact … but it is possible for mourners to come away from a funeral with hearts that still do not believe someone has died … the priests and psychiatrists are wise if they allow family and friends to carry out minor acts of participation.” The Candidate has adopted this practice for the past two years and has had words and letters of appreciation from families, friends, and the Church verger and from Funeral Directors. In his estimation, this is working. The second area of pastoral practice in which the Candidate has sought to develop listening skills has been

284

in

his

relationships

with

the

multitudes

of

church

committees. This has been done on a number of levels. First, by taking the job of Secretary to one of the committees, which has meant hearing and recording accurately what has been said. Second, by taking the role of chair of a committee. This has used a different form of listening, which has required the Candidate to know what is on the agenda and to ensure that everyone present has their say, and that nothing on the agenda is missed. Third, by being a member of a committee in the role of ensuring that the implications of what another member has said are brought to light, aired, and resolved, and that in difficult situations where what a member has said has been ignored, or inadequately addressed is addressed to the satisfaction of the unheard member.

There can be

many dynamics in a committee meeting which are not stated but which members are privately aware of but which are not addressed.

This results in a feeling of

frustration and occasionally member resignation results. A result of this exercise has been that previously uninvolved individuals have become involved in the committees especially people who had been intimidated by the idea of joining. They feel that they are valued by the other members and that what they have to say is not 285

‘silly’, ‘over the top’ or ‘ignorant’.

This has been a

particularly valuable exercise in the context of what we are trying to achieve as a church, which is a ‘family feeling’. All members of our family ought to have a say, since it is the family’s business and we all have a stake in it.

The Situation: How Has It Been Changed? At the beginning of the project the church saw itself as a disempowered, traditional rural church, which had lost its key role as the centre of the village.

What it did have

however was a desire for change. There was a sense in which change was not possible. The buildings were a ‘given’ and needed to be attended to financially and in terms of care and local image. But there was a real sense in which change could be achieved without doing damage to local images of the church and without violence to the thinking of those who saw themselves as ‘traditionalists’.

286

The Church has revised its image in the community. In the past three years the church has transformed its selfimage by settling alongside the traditional images an image of itself as again a centre of the settlement.

But

this centrality is not, as it was, the place where the squire and vicar and local top brass had their religious club for the benefit of the poor of Calverton and to further their own social, political and cultural aims.

This kind of

centrality has moved to other places such as the Golf Club, the political parties, the health centre etc.

This new

centrality has been described as like that of the temple in Jerusalem, the temple in Heaven and the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is a place where the glory of God dwells. Whether at any given moment or in any given situation that temple is an individual Christian or the fabric of the parish church doesn’t alter the basic fact.

The parish

church in Calverton is central to the settlement because that is the place where the glory of God is, whether it be a heart of flesh or a building of stone. Either are applicable, both are credible – both to the Christians who live in the settlement and to those who are not Christian and who live here. The Church has revised its self-image. Because of the setting-up of the Study groups, the building of the Crèche, the establishing of a specific ‘community 287

corner’ and the various multi-level education programmes the congregation feel themselves to be part of an ongoing and developing process.

The influx of new members

provides an opportunity for continuing self-appraisal and critical examination of the church’s aims and objectives. The recent financial troubles of the Church Commissioners, well publicised in the national media, has become as much a subject for discussion in the public houses as the latest peccadilloes of government ministers or soap opera stars. This provides a constant grass-roots rapport with non church members and encourages individual members to take a stand and have a view in the community. The Church has gained a new confidence. There is a feeling in the membership that they understand the host community better than they did a few years ago. And because so much has changed in the settlement, those who have engaged in our recent discussions are those who know the most about contemporary Calverton. The idea that the church has something very specific to offer in terms of its being a locus of the glory of God, along with its traditionalist and generalist contribution to the life of the settlement, has focussed members’ thinking and given them a foundation upon which to build whatever particular contribution they want to make to their work, the settlement, or family as individuals or a group. 288

The Church has established itself as a provider of a major resource. Over the period of the M.Min studies, members of the congregation have engaged themselves in the support and development of the Manna farm Addiction Rehabilitation Project in Calverton.

Some members are on the Project

Management, others have become volunteers, some are consultants to the Project and others have undertaken to hold the Project and its staff and residents in their prayers. This involvement has occurred alongside support and development of the Oasis Community Project in the settlement. Members have had to allow their prejudices to be confronted and to become informed about drug use, AIDS/HIV, issues of poverty and psycho/sexual abuse. But at the same time they have witnessed at firsthand how a small local congregation can have a partnership with statutory necessary

national

bodies

component

in

and the

be

an

provision

essential of

a

and major

community health resource. The Church has revised its religious ethos. Because of the constraints of the secular funders to both the above resources on the communication of religious beliefs, those who are involved have had to revise the way in which they provide Christian input. The policy for this, which has been developed nationally and locally, is that at 289

both farm and Oasis the Christian faith of the organisation is demonstrated in the quality of care and provision, not in the promulgation of Christian dogma. In other words, just lie the church-as-temple, we have to trust that the glory of God in both institution and individual will have its own drawing-power and its own self-witness.

290

291

Chapter Seven Some Messages

The people of our town expect their parish church to be certain things. We have looked in this study at what some of those things are.

We have called one of the main

groups of these expectations, ‘The Parish Church as the Temple’. From this, we have realised that a large number of people who live here see their town in such a way that can be called ‘Jerusalem’.

That is, the place where they find

peace, that is, God, roots, their social and spiritual home, wholeness and freedom from dis-ease.

This is their

Shalom, and it is largely a secular condition of being. What we are not saying is that the whole population – or even a large minority of them – actively seek God in their local temple. We are saying that a significant number of them do, however, and that what the project was partly about was looking doe Signs of God’s Kingdom or rule in

292

Calverton

and

to

link

in

to

that

as

a

source

of

empowerment. We are saying that we did identify this as a sign of the presence of that Kingdom. We understood that a church growing in power needed to strive to have a mature attitude to its host community in which it has its own space. The way we began doing this was by considering the parish church as an institution in the context of other institutions with which it found itself to be involved. This may seem to be obvious enough, but the fact is curiously neglected in most discussions of the relations between churches and society. A great deal of attention had been paid to what the attitude of the churches ought to be to other institutions, and of what the attitude of others ought to be to churches, but it has generally been with regard to safeguarding the institutional freedom, and sometimes the privileges, of churches, or else to ensure that their interests are adequately safeguarded in the arrangements made by other bodies over matters where churches consider themselves to be very directly concerned, such as the education of children or laws dealing with family life and sexual morality. There is a vast literature produced from a Christian standpoint about the state, the economic order, education, international affairs, race relations and a whole range of maters of public discussion. Yet is all this it 293

has not been common for theologians in particular to see the church as one institution, or a group of institutions among others in the general life of the community, itself a vital factor in the give and take of social and civic relationships.

This interdependence of institutions is

particularly a characteristic of the traditional English society in which the major institutions are at least thought of as being essentially interdependent. This is very much the case among local people.

It is important that the

parish church should think about itself in this way in Calverton,

first,

because

this

is

the

way

in

which

Calvertonians think about it, and if the roots of this plant are to develop and produce local fruit they need to be planted in the local soil. It is important, secondly, because it

is

a

sign

that

the

church

is

approaching

its

empowerment in the settlement with the concreteness that both Old and New testaments require.

To continue

the horticultural analogy, there has been a plant here since the very early days of the Christian mission. Over the years it has undergone numerous life-cycles – each time, we feel, when the plant has grown old and fruitless, a new seed has been planted. We have seen this cycle even in the short space of three years in relation to the Calverton Pentecostal Church and our Baptist Church and most recently our Roman Catholic Church.

We have 294

experienced it also in our own Community Facility, which in five years has been planted, grown, died and cleared and planted again.

The seed has developed and grown

and produced its fruit for that season. My understanding is, that within the parish church we have recently witnessed the clearing of one patch of these fruitless plants, or they have died, and the bare patch now contains some adolescent plants (this does not mean that individual Christians are adolescent in their faith. It means that as an institution parts of the parish church are at that stage). In his analysis of the Pauline notion of the church as the body of Christ Ernst Käsemann52 brought out how, very specifically, almost literally, the complementary metaphor of ‘the body of Christ’ was meant, and this was, for him also, a process of secularisation.

If we take the term

‘secularisation’ in a neutral, descriptive sense to denote the church’s attempt to express in terms of the conditions of life in the present world insights which derive from a reality which comes from beyond this world, we can regard the church itself, as the primary form of the secularisation of the Gospel – the body-ing forth of Christ’s Spirit in the world. In other words the putting on of the mantle of the power of God in pursuit of Christ’s mission in the world, which is the working for His Kingdom. 52

Ernst Käsemann. ‘Perspectives On Paul.’ SCM Press. 1971.

295

The analogies of the Temple (in all of its analogous Biblical forms), I believe, not only allow this process but require it. And it has the added benefit of providing a ready local metaphor as a vehicle for the otherworldly insights of the Gospel message. I now teach the 7-year olds of the local state school that the parish church is God’s House – that this is the place where God is especially present; that the crosses that are about the building are like God’s photographs of His Son (they remind God’s guests of Jesus), and that God lives in people, too, and sometimes God’s people, like God’s building, wear crosses.

This, I

feel, employs some of the Temple Insights and links-in with an indigenous metaphor. This Model for the Churches. Theological colleges are in a process of decline but there is an increasing desire among the laity in Southwell Deanery for more involvement in the church’s mission. The failed property investments of the Church Commissioners have no doubt been a spur to this. Certainly in Calverton there has been a genuine desire to offer lay gifts for the church in the deanery to utilise. The theological insights arising from

seeing

the

Church-as-Temple

may

offer

one

structural model for addressing the use and deployment of these gifts. 296

This Model for the Secular State. As I have said, there are different forms of secularisation. The secularisation of the church is one thing.

The

secularisation of the powers-that-be is another.

The

secular authorities welcomed the presence of the built temples among them. The temples became part of the life and self-definition of the host communities.

They also

welcome the embodied temples – Christians as temples of the Holy Spirit – today.

Of all the volunteers, fore

example, who serve in secular capacities in Calverton, the majority have some contact with the churches or find some source of inspiration in Jesus of Nazareth. These are the ‘embodied temples’ of contemporary Calverton. God’s project is in the world.

It is not of the world, but it is

certainly in it. This means that the Christian mission will not find itself without allies in its body-ing forth in the world.

There will be receptors already in place for the

Gospel to link with. Is this metaphor only applicable in Calverton’s particular situation? There arte thirty pit of post-pit settlements in Nottinghamshire which have parish churches. All of these communities would reflect very closely what we have found in Calverton. Some would be ‘1960s Key Villages’, like Calverton. There could be a direct application of this 297

work to them and also to the villages who look to them for public and commercial services.

There would also,

probably, be the same direct link in the remaining pit and post-pit in the rest of the country.

Further, there are

thousands of parish churches who are not pit-related but whose populations are largely commuter / long term local people. Much of what we have learned could be applied there also. For Ministry and Mission. The parish church as community centre is an area of practical ministry that may develop from aspects of this study. Certainly it is being talked about in the church and community.

Such a development would naturally flow

from what we have learned. In ten years time in Calverton the parish church will be a community oasis in an urban area.

The conurbation is steadily approaching, and the

recent death of the landowner of a tract of land between the present conurbation and settlement has raised local fears about how his estate will be administered. There is a feeling of inevitability about this, and the parish church ought to be planning a realistic role for its future presence in the settlement. There are national factors (atheism, a state educational policy that prohibits evangelism and the technological development and internationalisation of 298

farming), which will hasten the secularisation of the parish church.

Alongside this, and as a corollary of it, the

church’s history of service to the community will provide a rich soil in which church-as-community-centre will easily grow. The temple imagery, although in a sense exclusive (the temple is the temple of Calverton only) has imparted a new missionary confidence to the people of the temple. Of the total membership of St.Wilfrid’s church about a quarter have been seeking and finding theological and Christian pastoral education from the Southwell Deanery structures. They are wanting to serve God and the church with informed minds, and under authority from deanery and diocesan tutors. This is a sign that although they see the image of their parish church as temple and their habitat as Jerusalem, this is not a confining of exclusivising model. Although their settlement and their local church in some sense ‘own’ them, it does not own them as a possessive parent or spouse, but as one which offers freedom to experiment and investigate further afield, and to offer the gifts of the temple to others. There is a sense in which the Deanery is overlaid on the parish, and the diocese is laid over that, and the secular city over that. Just as the temple reflected all levels of society so these components of the deanery and city are not dispersed into 299

geographical compartments, but levels of the whole. They can and do work together and of course these people live and work in the secular city. It is their ‘situation in life’. The achievement of the temple imagery (on all levels)is not merely that it does not lift them out of their context, but that it places them firmly within it and empowers them to engage in their mission and ministry even more effectively with it. For the Nation. H. W. Richardson53 gives an insight into what the parish church might be like in time to come when he says that there are fundamental defects in the traditional western interpretation

of

the

Christian

faith

…

it

places

a

disproportionate emphasis on the New testament, and fails to give an adequate place to Old testament teaching … it has neglected the work of the Holy Spirit and the communal life of the church as God’s present Kingdom. It lacks a theocratic emphasis and proceeds under the banner of sin and crucifixion rather than in terms of worship and incarnation … The image of the temple, which we have adopted, will lead into an understanding that God’s end in creation is the sanctification of the world. So that when a nation seeks a 53

H. W. Richardson. ‘Theology For a New World’. SCM. 1968. Ch.V.

300

‘way’, it is not offered a set of morals based on the sinless character of the Crucified One which no one can emulate which represses the moral failures of those who hold power and wield influence, but an all-pervasive, everpresent, all-inclusive matrix of faith and community, in which to have faith is not to be a member of an indoctrinated minority but simply a normal person.

The

church is the temple and the temple is in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is the homeland of us all. For the Day of rest. The ultimate activity and the one towards which all other temple activities are directed is the worship of God in the gathered faith-community. already

established

and

The Sabbath having been part

of

the

administrative

structure of the way the temple is managed is the occasion on which this activity especially takes place. It is for all. It is in this context that the following address from Ralph Waldo Emerson to his senior class at the Harvard Divinity School in 1838 is quoted: “ Two inestimable advantages Christianity has given us; first, the Sabbath, the Jubilee of the whole world; whose light dawns welcome alike into the closet of the philosopher, and into the prison cells, and everywhere suggests, even to the vile, the dignity of the spiritual being.

Let it stand for evermore, a 301

temple, which new love, new faith, new sight shall restore to more than its first splendour to mankind …”54 What the church-as-temple provides above all else in the society in which it is placed is this watershed, this break, this barrier, and this link into and out of the mundane course of everyday living. Whether it be an ordinance for a particular people at a particular time or an essential element for the health of the human race (man for the Sabbath or Sabbath for the man), it is nevertheless there, and its provision and continuing availability is a form of mission and ministry to the world which only the church can or will ensure. For the Nature of Christianity. The temple imagery is shot through with the implication that each member has a role and a gift to exercise.

It

does not imply this only for the membership, but for the whole of the population, and for all the resources of that population.

In Calverton we have seen the increasing

identification and implementation of every-member and every-belonging-person ministry.

This must be further

encouraged. Whilst it is necessary to lock the gates of the parish church to discourage vandalism, arson and robbery, 54

‘The Divinity School Address: Three Prophets of Religious Liberalism.’ C. C. Wright, ed. Boston 1961, p.111f

302

yet still these gates, like those of the temple, must remain open to all. Sunday tenuously remains a ‘given’, as does the parish church.

But both are under attack from lack of interest

and commitment among the general population, and a lack of understanding of their real spiritual role among the churches.

If what we have said in our study that the

parish church is perceived as the temple in Jerusalem, then this is a profound observation about the national psychology.

Where else is there a local leader (that is

someone to whom the role of leadership is generally and acceptably applied by the majority of the population) who is seen as being even-handed, uncommitted to a political or social party-line, available to all on every level and free at the point of delivery of service and whose main aim is to energise local voluntary activity for the good of all? Only the parish church. This is a great gift to any settlement, however failing, incomplete and fallible any particular individual finding himself or herself in this role may be. The Main Contribution of This Work. The main thing you would find from this work is that the administrative role of the parish priest is a gift from God. It is a charis, whose purpose is to sustain the work of 303

ministry. It is through this gift that all other exercise of gifts in the local church are enabled. Without the gift of administration, parish churches throughout the land would be struggling for survival. Our own experience of the lack of exercise of the gift of Administration in both secular and religious institutions in the past decade in Calverton has resulted in the loss of at least two churches and one major community facility. We understand that it is fair to say that the so-called ‘Remarkable gifts’, especially the gift of tongues, have traditionally not received sufficient emphasis in the Anglican parish churches, and therefore some overemphasise them in their churches now, this lack of emphasis may lead into disabling church members from exercising their gifts in the church.

But the lack of

exercise of the gift of administration results not only in a pertly

disabled

congregation,

but

the

break-up

and

dispersal of whole congregations. On the other hand this study also directs churches to consider what this teaches.

That we have discovered

(along with other parts of the charismatic movement) a cardinal Biblical truth: the truth that religion is a life to be lived in fellowship; a conflict, which can be carried on only in groups. This religion finds expression through a church in which every person from the vicar across the whole 304

membership ‘according to the grace that is given to us’ is called to exercise a gift, effectually working for the good of all. The fact that some of these gifts are ‘secular’ ought not of itself prevent the church from employing them, nor should it prevent some who have these gifts but are not regular attendees or even members from the right of exercising their gift to the good of all through the administrative structures of the parish church. What I Want to Say to the Whole Church Now. It has not been easy to engage a whole population in a debate about itself.

On the other hand, the most often-

used word in the English language is the first person singular. The extent to which this exercise has achieved its aim is of course the extent to which the settlement has voiced its feelings on this matter and to what extent it has been heard.

We feel that we have heard it in some

degree. What we have done is taken the trouble to listen. This was not easy. We began by trying to impose our own understanding on the settlement. But we were guided into listening more carefully, and this essay offers the fruits of that listening exercise. Any future project of this kind should begin with both a commitment to listening and willingness to hear what is 305

being said.

It will sometimes not be easy.

Hard things

happen and lessons that are difficult for pride to learn. There is a need to divest oneself in the Incarnational sense, to see where people are really coming from. It will need also the humility to begin by administering what is already ‘given’ in the situation rather than trying to add bits on or by riding hobbyhorses. In one sense the problem has moved further away as a result of our exercise.

We have been able to report a

consistent numerical, spiritual and financial growth in the congregation over the period of the project. This creates a temptation to become self-satisfied and to abandon further mission.

But in another sense we still have an

unchurched population of about 6,000 people in the parish.

This needs to be held onto as providing the

ongoing urgency for our missionary activity. Given a role, tasks and responsibilities, people will generally speaking respond positively.

But there needs

also to be a centre of authority from which these tasks and roles proceed. Not only that, it must be a source which is consistent, even-handed and equal for all. This is not the role of the lead minister (vicar), but of the administrative structure. The lead minister will be a fallible person with personal tastes in theology persons, traditions.

The

306

structures must be capable of including the vicar in their scope. Where the administrative structure has all of these qualities, conflicts between personalities are less likely to happen, and when they do, are more amenable to being resolved by the suitably gifted. Creation, Independence and Stewardship. Biblical references: Genesis 1: 9-13, 20-25, 26-28. Leviticus 25: 23, 46 & 53. Ezekiel 34: 4.

Old and New Testaments show the reality of a creator God who is both author and sustainer of creation, and who makes a commitment to sustainable environment through humankind.

The imperative ‘…and God saw that it was

good’ links together the unfolding narrative, stressing the interdependence

of

all

things.

Dominion

is

not

‘domination’. Human beings are stewards, not possessors. The Hebrew for ‘dominion’ is ‘radah’, which is ‘to keep order in a way that is not harsh’. There is a summing-up in the crucified and risen Lord, which affirms the role of humankind as God’s co-creators.

The watchdog of this

process in the parish is the Christian congregation, for it is

307

this group above all who have a future hope, which is not based in this world’s goods but in the rewards of the world to come.

It has an ‘otherworldly’ insight, of which the

temple is a hermeneutical metaphor. Community / Koinonia. Biblical references: I Corinthians 12: 26 Galatians 3: 28 Leviticus 25: 35-36

I have avoided using the term, ‘community’ in this essay for the reasons given above – that it has been co-opted into such diverse meaning in so many disciplines that it lacks a clear, specific and precise common content. The Old Testament understanding of the nature of humankind is essentially corporate and interdependent. We live in a fallen world where what is good is corrupted and distorted at both the personal and corporate level.

The New

Testament inherits and develops this understanding. Understood Biblically, ‘community’ signifies people in relationship sharing the same realities, including material possessions, incorporated in the being of God. This holds together the tension between individual freedom, the needs of the community, and doing justice to both. Without this vision, the settlement will perish (Proverbs

308

28). The parish church, or better, the local congregations as the temple on all of its levels, is both a guardian and mediator of the common values and order in the providence of God.

An example of this in practice in

Calverton today is the Church’s involvement in the Training and Enterprise Council, and its aim is to both guard and mediate whatever justice for the miners and their families it can now in collaboration with the miners themselves

and

the

local

authority,

voluntary

and

statutory organisations and government, and to have an eye on the medium and long-term social, psychological and spiritual needs of the area.

Under the Training and

Enterptise Scheme (TEC), Calverton is getting a specific boost in the process of reindustrialisation.

With the

decentralising of industry out of Nottingham city into small towns and rural areas, and there are tight restrictions on how this can happen in Calverton as can be seen with regard to the abattoir issue, there will be jobs for many of those made redundant from the pit. There will inevitably follow an influx of public and private services. In terms of future hope, despite the worldwide crisis of employment change resulting from new technology, Calverton appears to stand in a good situation and a fair land.55

One

indigenous perception of this fair land is ‘Jerusalem’. 55

‘Faith In The Countryside’ A.C.O.R.A., Churchman Pub. Ltd. Appendix F p.375

309

Appendix 1. ‘ Stockings for a queen, Black Diamonds for her Subjects.’ Précis of a thesis by K. Godfrey, miner of Calverton 1968.

Pages 8-10: History of stockingers’ machinery in Calverton. William Lee invented a ‘rough’ machine, which made a pair of stockings, which he sent to Queen Elizabeth, who accepted the stockings but forgot the sender. Two years later he took his invention to London.

Lord Hunson

brought him to the Queen’s notice. She visited his workshop in London but refused a patent saying that it would put her industrious subjects out of work. He went to Rouens where he set up a small factory.

He died soon

after. His brother established the manufacture of hosiery in London under a monopoly granted by Charles II. Soon eht industry spread to the provinces, becoming the staple industry of Nottinghamshire.

A few of these craftsmen

became wealthy, purchased numbers of machines, bought raw materials in greater quantity and hired machines to industrious cottagers.

The had become merchants,

supplying raw materials and machinery to workmen, paying them for their labour and collecting the finished 310

product.

These were called ‘Cock Stockingers’.

This

system persisted through early 19th Century. However, it was

a

domestic

system,

scattered

over

a

wide

geographical area in which collection and distribution was expensive and hazardous.

Factory management soon

emerged with the machines and craftsmen under one roof. Supervision was easier, production increased and more profit was accrued to the owners.

By mid-century the

market became saturated and unemployment ensued among the Stockingers. Ned Ludd, a Stockinger, led fellow workmen in a revolt against the owners, smashing machines and burning factories. A factory of this era still exists in Calverton, as do many of the original Stockingers’ cottages. Windles Square, now a very pleasant close was originally a row of stockingers cottages which was then adapted to a residential factory where the workers slept between the frames.

There is another factory on Main

Street (burned down since the writing of this thesis), opposite Wright’s Garage. This was Dovey’s factory. John Dovey, born in1885, still lives in the village.

The last

stocking frame fell silent at Calverton in the mid-1050’s although a good number of machines still exist. Pages 23-26: A personal Local View of Old Calverton. 311

Many now classified as ‘Old Calvertonians’ either owned or worked and laboured on these machines.

The unique

buildings of the contemporary village are their own production, which provide the village with its historical character.

They play or watch cricket, which was their

youthful pastime. Many have died in ripe old age though some remain in their 70’s-90’s. Much of the stockingers housing stock is owned and lived in by the descendants of the stockingers. Pages 26-30: A personal Local View of The Pit Culture. June 1937 saw the start of an alienating process that was to continue to the present day. No longer would everyone in the village know everyone else who lived there. Strangers from Ireland and the Highlands came among them.

Links were broken and others forged that were

beyond the control of the villagers.

The Bottom Estate,

newly built for the incomers, ghettoised the incomers. Fast-talking union men soon ousted the Vicar, the Doctor, the Colliery Manager and a Magistrate from the Parish Council and appointed a Road-Layer, an Electrician’s Labourer and two Haulage Men.

Very soon the Old

Calvertonians found themselves ghettoised. They fought various rearguard actions by ostracising those providing homes for the strangers, but it was a futile effort. In an 312

attempt to bridge the rift, the Village Hall Committee provided £500.000 towards the building of the Welfare in the centre of the village.

But on completion the

management was put into the hands of strangers and no provision was made for the hiring of rooms by the Choral Society,

St. John Ambulance Brigade, Brownies, Guides,

Boy Scouts. The Welfare soon became a glorified public house with subsidised beer for the incomers with a narrow range of entertainment from single vocal acts to Sunday-at Noon striptease attracting males from all over Nottingham. Lacking management, personnel and accounting skills and with a restricted breadth of provision, the committee were unable to make the facility pay.

(The Welfare burned

down in 1991 and the land now contains expensive housing). Pages 31-33: A personal Local View of The Churches. The strength of the churches seems to lie in adversity in a community

absolutely

indifferent

to

their

existence.

Mutual support and survival among the members saps their entire strength.

The Durham miners brought little

with them to Calverton save whippets, pigeons, leeks and six of the seven deadly sins, lacking the energy for the seventh. The impact of the incomers on Calverton is hard to imagine and impossible to reconcile. The vague air of 313

uncertainty one still feels in the new village is however countered by the stolid tower of St. Wilfrid’s parish Church. This has stood – or parts of it – since Saxon days, and personifies the feeling of solidarity and indestructibility of the old. Candidate’s Comment: The sympathies of the writer clearly lie with the Old Calvertonians although he was himself a medical officer in Calverton Colliery. The document is endued with a longing for a gentler, more intimate lifestyle than he then found in 1968, and is overwhelmingly nostalgic. The writer does not believe in some ‘Golden Age’ however. He is clear about the

deprivations

of

the

frame-workers

and

their

apprentices, and about the hubris of monarchs, nobility and power-holders. The confrontation of his longing for a simpler life and the reality of living in Calverton is placed into the hands of a spiritual God, totemised by the parish Church. No reconciliation is expected from this side of the grave.

There is a great gulf fixed between the older

members

of

the

two

cultures,

but

a

new,

less

confrontational culture is in process of forming among second-and-third generation Calvertonians. Ken Godfrey has functioned as a church organist for many years and has most recently been occasionally available as organist for Funeral Services for local people. 314

Appendix B The Church As Temple Detail of the Display presented by the M.Min Team at Southwell Deanery Congress.

The Church as Temple = Calverton as Jerusalem, Churchgoers as the Eschatological Community, And Worship as Empowerment. 1

The Shekinah of God = power for service.

2

The

Ark

of

the

Covenant

=

assurance

of

Forgiveness. 3

Fire from Heaven = Enthusiasm (‘in-breathing’).

The purpose of worship is to build the Temple. The Temple is the meeting-place of Heaven and Earth. In the bible there are 3 physical temples + 4 composed of the redeemed of God. The transcendent God immanently available is engaged in 1

Energising the building and

2

Empowering the people.

Behind us is: A wandering Aramaean … Wealth & Poverty in Egypt … Faith and Faithlessness … Wilderness and kingdom … Exile and Babylon Diaspora. With us now is: The Eschatological Community. 315

Before us is: The New Jerusalem … God and the Lamb = the Temple.

316

Bibliography Master of Ministry and Theology “The Parish Church as Temple.” Bettensen, H. (ed) ‘The Early Christian fathers.’ O.U.P. 1969. Boff, L., Boff. C. ‘Introducing Liberation Theology’. Trans from Portuguese, Como frazer Teologia da Libertaçāo. Brazil, 1986 Burns & Oates. 1987. Boff, L. ‘Church, Charism & Power: Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church.’ Trans. J.W. Diercksmeier from the Portuguese Igreja: Charisma e poder. 1981 SCM Press Ltd. 1985. Brierley, P. ‘‘Christian’ England: What the 1989 English Church Census Reveals.’ Marc Europe. 1991. Bright, J. ‘A History of Israel.’ Old Testament Library. SCM Press. 1967. Brown, Colin. ‘New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology.’ Vols 1,2,3. Trans. Theologisches Begreflexicon Zum Nuen Testament. Paternoster Press. Exeter. 1976. Brown, L. ‘The King and the Kingdom.’ Mobray’s London & Oxford. 1988. Bruner, F.D. ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and New Testament Witness.’ Hodder & Stoughton. London, Sydney, Auckland, Toronto. 1971.

317

Buchanan, C.O. (ed) ‘Anglican Worship Today: A guide to the Alternative Services Book 1980.’ Collins Liturgical Publications. 1980. Chamberlain, N., Foreshaw, E., Goldsmith, M. ‘Understanding Inequality: A Handbook for Local Churches.’ The British Council of Churches Community Work resource Unit. London. 1977. Charley, J. ‘Key Words: The Bible.’ Lutterworth Press. 1971. Coggins, R.J., Houlden, J.L. (eds) ‘A Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation.’ SCM PRESS, London. Trinity Press International, Philadelphia. 1990. Davies, J. D., & Vincent, J. ‘Mark At Work.’ Reading Fellowship. 1986.

The Bible

DeVaux, R. ‘Ancient Israel: Its Life & Institutions.’ Trans. From Les Institutions de l’ancien Testament by John McHugh. Darton Longman & Todd. London. 1973. Dicharry, Warren. C.M. ‘Matthew Mark & Luke: Human Authors of the New Testament.’ The Liturgical Press. Minnesota. 1990 Dodd, C.H. ‘The Parables of the Kingdom.’ Collins. Fontana Books. 1963. Douglas, J.D. ‘The Illustrated Bible Dictionary.’ Vols 1, 2, 3. IVP. Tyndale House. Hodder & Stoughton. Sydney & Auckland. Eichrodt, W. ‘Ezekiel.’ Old Testament Library. Cosslett Quin. SCM Press. 1970.

Trans.

318

Frankenberg, R. ‘Communities In Britain: Social life in town and country.’ Penguin Books. 1967. Gedling Borough Council. ‘Gedling Borough Local Plan 1990.’ Gedling Borough Council. 1990. Godfrey, K. ‘Stockings For a Queen, Black Diamonds for her Subjects.’ Unpublished paper on Calverton by a Calverton resident. Goldingay, J. ‘God’ Prophet / God’s Servant: A Study in Jeremiah and Isaiah 40-55.’ Paternoster Press. Exeter.1984. Green, L. ‘Power To The Powerless: Theology brought to life.’ Marshall Pickering. 1987. Grass, M & A. ‘Stockings For A Queen: The life of the Reverend William Lee, the Elizabethan inventor.’ William Heienmann. London. 1967. Guthrie, D. ‘New Testament Introduction.’ Tyndale Press. London. 1970. Gutierrez, G. ‘A Theology of Liberation: History, politics and Salvation.’ Originally published as Teologiá de la liberación, Perspectivas. Lima, 1971. Trans. Sister Caridad Unda & John Eagleson. SCM Press ltd. 1983. Harper, E., Martineau, Rev’d. J. (Secretaries to the Commission). ‘Faith In The Countryside: A Report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Rural Areas.’ Churchman Pub. 1990. Hastings, J. ‘A Dictionary of the Bible.’ T & T Clark. 1990. Hoyle, T.O. ‘Guide to Calverton Parish Church.’ Private circulation (1970?) 319

Jenkins, D. ‘Christian Maturity and the Theology of Success.’ SCM Press. 1976. Joslin, R. ‘Urban Harvest.’ 1983.

Evangelical Press. Welwyn.

Käsemann, E. ‘Perspectives On Paul.’ SCM Press. 1971. Kellner, P., Crowther-Hunt, Lord. ‘The Civil servants: An Inquire into Britain’s Ruling Class.’ Book Club Associates / Macdonald Futura. 1980. Lang, G.H. ‘Pictures and Parables.’ Paternoster Press. London 1955. Lausanne Occasional Paper No.22. the Urban Poor.’ WCC. 1922.

‘Christian Witness to

Macquarrie, J. (ed) ‘A Dictionary of Christian Ethics.’ SCM Press. London. 1971. Mulligan, J. ‘A Personal Management Handbook: How to make the most of your potential.’ University of Surrey. 1990. Newsome, G.H. ‘Faculty Jurisdiction In The Church of England.’ Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1988. Nottingham City & Nottinghamshire County Councils. ‘The Broxtowe Development Plan.’ Notts. County Council. 1984. O’Neil, M. ‘Prostitution In Nottinghamshire.’ paper for Trent University 1993.

Unpublished

320

Packer, J.I. ‘’Fundamentalism’ and the Word of God.’ IVF. 1958. Pearson, J.N. (Secretary to the Commission). ‘Faith In The City: The Report of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. A call for action by church and nation.’ Church House Publishing. London. 1985. Perry, R. ‘The Programming of the President: the power of the computer in politics today.’ Arum Press Ltd. 1984. Porteous, N. ‘Daniel.’ Old Testament Library. SCM press 1965. Richardson, A. ‘A Theological Wordbook of the Bible.’ SCM Press Ltd. London. 1967. Richardson, H.W. ‘Theology For a New World.’ SCM Press. 1967. Robertson-Scott, J.W. ‘England’s Green & Pleasant Land.’ Penguin Books 1947. Rowland, M., Webster, L. (eds). ‘National Welfare Benefits Handbook.’ CPAG. 22nd Edition 1992/3. Rowland, M. ‘Rights Guide to Non-Means Tested Benefits.’ CPAG. 14th edition. 1992/3. Russell, A. ‘The Country Parish.’ (?) Sheppard, D. ‘Bias To The Poor.’ Hodder & Stoughton. London, Sydney, Auckland, Toronto. 1983. Snyder, T. Richard. ‘Once You Were No People: the church and transformation of society.’ Meyer Stone Books. 1988. 321

Tillich, P. ‘The Shaking of the Foundations.’ Books. 1969.

Penguin

Turner E.S. ‘Roads To Ruin: the shocking history of social reform.’ Penguin Books. 1966. Vincent, J. ‘Britain In The 90’s: a call to the nation – a manifesto for pioneers.’ Methodist Publishing House. Peterborough. 1989. Walker, Dr. T. ‘Funerals and How to Improve Them.’ Hodder & Stoughton. 1990. WCC. ‘Violence, Non-violence and the Struggle for Social Justice.’ A Statement commended by the Central Committee of the WCC for study, comment and action. Ecumenical Review Offprint Vol XXV October 1973.

322

323

324

The Candidate and His Care of the Churches Manna Farm Rehabilitation Unit Volunteers Chaplaincy Board Member Social Services Housing Association (Adullam) Management Committee Community Liaison Unit Staffing & Personnel Policy & Programming Tripartite Management & Policy Funding (Gov., SS & Adullam) Religion Worship training Worship Leaders Vocations Sermons Vestments Library resources Exposition etc Theology Study 325

Pastoralia Evangelism Missionary activity Schools hospitals Funerals Prisons / Y.O.I's (Young Offenders’ Institutions). Sex Workers Forum Sex Workers Rep Police & Community Liaison Working Group Social workers Detached Community Worker Sub Committees Finance Fabric Funding Committee members Covenant Recorder Financial Visitors Church Treasurer Secretary Chair Worship Committee Members 326

Prayers & Readers 12 persons + Rota Music Group 5 persons Sidespersons 14 persons + Rota Organist(s) / Musicians Rota Bells, 7 persons Council of Churches Ecumenical & Civic Services Methodists Clergy Baptists / Pentecostals Roman Catholics Chair Secretary Mission & Outreach Committee Members Chair Secretary Social & Catering Committee members Chair Secretary

327

Education Voluntary Aided School Employment Curriculum Governors Community contacts Entry qualifications Worship Sunday School Teachers Curriculum Services Church Council Wardens Faculties Trustees 4 Sub groups A.G.M. Chancel committee Treasuries of various kinds Bank accounts Trusts Alms

328

Committees holding ring-fenced or specified target funds Community Project OASIS Statutory Agencies Police County Council Social Services Voluntary Groups Nearly New Clothing Welfare Rights Advice Wood Carving Tapestry Youth Club After School Club Drop-In Community Forum Co-ordinator Employment Law Management Committee Chair Tasks / roles/ Specification Advertising / Interviewing procedures 80 Contacts (Representatives). O.K. Club Trustee 329

Finance Play scheme Toy Library I. T. Training Courses Funding Bodies / Charities Charities Jane Pepper Trust Trustee Chair + 4 others (Committee) Missionary giving Educational grants Diocesan Synod Bishop (diocesan House) Sheffield University Deanery Synod St.Wilfrid's School 4 School Committees LMS Governors (Chair) Staff & children Publicity Church Magazine 330

People 14 Deliverers Pastoral Visitors Proof reader(s) Public Media Radio Trent Radio Nottingham Catchpole's Column Television Books & Articles Miscellaneous Magazines/Newsletters Pit villages & miner church links Deanery Chapter Bible Study Groups Groups support Retreats Tutor Role Educational courses Cursillo Radio & TV

331

Candidate And the Care of the Churches (‘Mindmap’ of the above) Page I

332

Page II

333

334

335

336

Rev’d. Roy catchpole. September 2007 337

338

339

340