‘Does not nature itself teach you?’ asks Paul (1 Corinthians 11.14)? He is talking about hair-styles but he surely has at the back of his mind the idea that some things speak for themselves. We don’t need holy books or wise people. It is clear to us straightaway.
With trust in institutions at a low ebb, mankind looks increasingly to nature for guidance. The benefits of biodiversity are urged upon us, alongside widening our gene pool and following the untaught behaviour of other mammals than ourselves. This is apposite. Particularly in sexual matters the Christian Church has failed to do justice to the appetites of men and women. We could learn from animals that sex is not shameful.
There is more to a return to nature than that. Male and female birds and beasts reproduce and care for their young. There is a natural life-span about the immature young and their need for parental support. There is a natural loyalty that offspring owe to their forebears. There is recognition of these responsibilities in the Ten Commandments.
Present research underlines the close connection between humans and other life-forms. This hardly impinges on the distinctiveness of humankind – any more than the fact that we all breathe the same air. Common sense as well as Scripture, tells us that close we may be; unique we remain.
As re-wilding becomes popular, we have to avoid the taming and naming temptation. Our pets have to have a name so that we can call them to come, do this and that like the centurion’s servants. This does not befit wild animals. They have their independent being and no wish to be dependent upon humans. However much we may impose a family interest, we know that they do not belong to us. It may be helpful to television commentators to give names to animals in a TV documentary but it is an area where we should be wary.
AND SHOPPING
At Holy Apostles’ church, Leicester they are aware of simple human need. ‘We can help with shopping or just being a voice if you feel overwhelmed or need a chat,’ says their website. With a full programme, Jenny Ridge leads the ministry team. The unusual dedication of the church takes us back to the first church of that name, dedicated by Constantine in Constantinople in 330 A.D. It was a Greek Eastern Orthodox place of worship.
PICNIC TABLES
‘We do hope they don’t get nicked!’ says tongue-in-cheek St Catherine’s church, Mile Cross, Norwich about the picnic tables now available in their Memory Garden. Martin Hartley leads the team with a good many other concerns on his mind in an outward-looking church.
HEART AND SOLE
The eight parishes in the Sole Bay team led by Team Rector Simon Pitcher are well served by a lively magazine, ‘Heart and Sole’. Salley East edits. One item in the programme is a Holy Land pilgrimage being organised for 2022. The parish has links with the Kagera diocese in north-west Tanzania.
Simon Jenkins has nothing but praise for the magnificent St Edmund’s church, Southwold, one of the eight. ‘Those who worry at the plight of the Church of England might note that when Defoe visited this community in 1722 he found just 27 people in the church and over 600 Dissenters worshipping elsewhere.’
MELROSE CENTRE
In 1999 Holy Trinity, Melrose, Scottish Borders (a Scottish Episcopal Church) decided that its busy programme needed a purpose-built centre. It speedily provided a contemporary venue for church and community activities. £72k repair works on the church followed. Once a month the church organises guided walks round old Melrose (doubtless including the railway station now serving a different purpose), during the summer months.
IN GRACIE FIELDS’ HOME-TOWN
In Rochdale it used to be the Red and Hot World buffet. It is now Nelson Street church. A HTB network plant, completely refurbished, it has a church leader, Janie Cronin, and is now open for worship. It eschews traditional titles, has a worship pastor, a kids’ pastor and an ops manager; it has started an internship programme for 18-25-year-old candidates.
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