An Obadiah Slope column
No names: Obadiah won’t be naming a church or denomination, but there’s a group of bell ringers sad that they have been told they can’t ring the bells any longer at a particular church. Obadiah is keeping silent about which church as the bellringers leave, because that’s what they want. They are “moving on”, not picking a fight.
Here’s how “A Ringing Note” the bell ringers’ newsletter describes things – and isn’t it good when a periodical’s title contains such a good pun? “After always having had a great relationship of mutual respect and trust with the clergy at [xxxx church], our current [title of minister], during our first meeting with him, said that he “considered bellringers to be in the same category as the people who hired the hall for dancing”. Since then he has gradually cut down our ringing times…” And in April, an email asked the bell ringers to “stop all ringing immediately. Although we tried, it seems there is nothing we can do while he is still in charge.”
Obadiah has also been told that the minister told the bell-ringers he did not consider bell ringing to be part of the minstry of the church.
So first, let’s all give a shout-out to bell-ringers who keep an old skill alive.
Second, Obadiah is interested in the minister’s decision that the bell-ringers are not part of the church’s ministry. In many denominations, and certainly the one Obadiah did not name, the minister has discretion over what is considered to be a ministry of that church. It is their right and responsibility.
And unlike the people who hire halls for dancing, bell-ringers could be assumed by the public to be a ministry of the church by some members of the public.
But perhaps it might be as well to treat the bell ringers, who might not be Christians or possibly a mixed bunch, like people who come to the church to get married or have their kids baptised.
Maybe they should be asked to attend a course or a number of church services.
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Open wide, come inside: Seems like a good idea to get people who are not Christians to come visit our buildings. Village Church in Annandale in Inner Sydney (which does not have a set of bells for bell ringers) has hosted art competitions, many churches have playgroups, and then there’s democracy sausages and candidate forums all with the aim of getting the public on site – and maybe on side.
Why not invite? Which reminds Obadiah of a story he has been longing to tell. Back when he was paid to be in a newsroom, one of the politically engaged journos asked him if he knew the minister of church X. The local Labour Party branch in X suburb was looking for a place to meet, and would the church hall at church X be a possibility? Obadiah knew that minister, who was not his minister, and knew the answer would be “no.” Obadiah felt it was a real opportunity wasted, to make some people probably ill-disposed to church feel welcome and let them see what a vibrant place it was.
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Blast from the past: This turned up, as these things do in one’s FB feed, from a week on the Tuscany part of Via Francigena pilgromage track
My caption, “I confess sometimes I feel closer to Rome than Canterbury.” got a few frowns.
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Free-dom: Jon Here from the Selling Jesus group – dedicated to making the Bible and Bible training material free of charge have announced their conference, called Doreancon, in a rather tongue in cheek fashion. Obadiah with his tongue in The Other Cheek, feels compelled to reprint it:
“Apparently it’s not possible to run a conference for free, as many people in ministry tell me, so guess this is going to take a miracle . Better get an Elite Gold Pass before they sell out!
“Elite Gold Pass: “Unlock the ultimate experience for 2x the base price. The following benefits include: 1. An exclusive meet and greet with a plenary speaker. One handshake is included. 2. Reserved seating for all sessions. 3. Access to our premier doreancon lounge. Enjoy the luxury of sitting back and relaxing in our nursery room rocking chairs away from all the plebs. 4. A live concert with Andrew Case.”
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