Session 2 Me and God
In the second session we will consider further our relationship with God – how do we hear God, what gets in the way of that process? How can we be more present to God? In this process of ‘discerning our gifts and skills’, how will we understand God’s role in our lives and in our flourishing as talented humans?
In this first session we will get to know one another and think about what has brought us to this course: while this is a personal journey, for these weeks we will accompany one another in our path of discernment. This is an opportunity to take stock. Where are we in our lives? What engages us, what challenges do we face, what experience do we bring? Over the coming weeks we will be developing our practice of reflection and we will start that process at our first meeting.
Last Friday night, like many Glaswegians throughout the city, I had a curry for dinner. However, I dId not head for the local take away or restaurant, instead I made my way to the Al’Furquan Mosque in the West End of Glasgow, as a guest of the Muslim community there, invited to join them in their celebrations of Eid. It is their custom to ask their neighbours to a meal on these occasions and their guests included members of the local churches as well as students and other folk who live nearby. St Mary’s Cathedral is their nearest church, which is why I was fortunate to be there.
I had never been to such an event before, in fact I had never been to a mosque before, and although I knew the Provost and another member of our congregation would be there, it was with a little apprehension of the unknown that I arrived at the hall next to the mosque for the meal. Within minutes of my arrival I was completely reassured. Three young Muslim women greeted me with smiles, jokes at each other’s expense, and admiration of the interior of St Mary’s, which they had visited out of curiosity. I was whisked into the hall by two of the women and seated at a table near the door. I was early and the room was almost empty. We chatted, how we chatted, about our families, our backgrounds, my role at the Cathedral and their role at an Islamic Centre in a nearby town. Before I knew it the tables had filled up and the proceedings started.
We were formally welcomed by members of the Mosque, including their President. They spoke movingly of their desire for dialogue within their local community and beyond, to ensure all diverse groups could meet together in friendship, acceptance and above all peace. They drew attention to the standing banners, which were arranged round two sides of the hall. One set was entitled The Celtic Crescent, the result of research by members of the mosque to describe the link between Islam and the Celtic history and culture. The other set described the Five Pillars of Islam, faith, prayer, fasting, charity and pilgrimage, which are the five basic acts in Islam and the mainstay of Muslim life. We were told that the Mosque is open five times a day for the prayer, as prescribed by their faith, and were invited to call in at any time.
The buffet meal that followed was delicious and the hospitality most generous. There were twelve tables with ten people at each table and yet very quickly everyone had helped themselves to the fragrant, appetising dishes. Mmmm, the seekh kabab, chicken tikka, baby potatoes, vegetable spring rolls! Yum, vegetable curry, lamb karahi , pilau rice and naan bread! What a feast, what a celebration! And all round the hall the conversation and laughter continued.
While we ate the dessert we heard a young Muslim academic deliver a talk entitled In the Footsteps of Abraham. He told us that the Eid we were celebrating had links with the Hajj (pilgrimage) to the Grand Mosque at Mecca and spoke sadly of the deaths caused this year when a huge crane collapsed on a crowded square and later when an even greater loss of life occurred when pilgrims were crushed to death in the heaving crowds. He described the importance of the sacred history and worship of the prophet Abraham and in quiet, lilting tones sang from the Koran, telling the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac.
It was then time for thanks from the guests. Members of the Church of Scotland, the Reformed Church, Interfaith Scotland and our provost, representing St Mary’s Cathedral, spoke of their appreciation of the opportunity to meet in this way. Kelvin described how part of our Eucharist includes the Peace when the congregation wish each other peace with a handshake. At this point he shook the hand of the President of the Muslim community and said the words, “Peace be with you”.
We knew from the original invitation that the event was due to finish at nine o’clock but when it got near to this time we were told that if anyone would like to go to see what happens at the final prayers of the day in the Mosque then we would be welcome to go along. At this point one of the young women who had welcomed us invited some of us to join her in the women’s upstairs room while she said her prayers before returning home. She explained that she had not attended the earlier prayers and now needed to catch up. She would say the final prayers of the day later at home. We followed her upstairs to a long, bare, softly lit room, the floor covered in a spotless red and gold carpet with individual prayer mats incorporated in the design. We stood in silence while she said her prayers, kneeling and touching the floor with her forehead repeatedly. She prepared then to go home while we went downstairs to the main Mosque. But as she left she turned back, rushed up to me and two young women guests, kissed us in turn and was gone. It was a moving moment.
Downstairs in the main mosque, chairs had been placed at the back for the visitors while at the front the men’s final prayers of the day had begun. The prayers were chanted and the men went through the ritual of standing, kneeling and prostrating themselves. Throughout this time men continued to arrive and afterwards it was explained that latecomers stay behind to complete the whole pattern of prayer.
The evening over the guests drifted out into the Autumn evening. It was a fascinating evening, over too soon, and opened my eyes to a religion and culture I knew only the basics about. It was privilege to have been there.
And I will never forget that young woman rushing back to kiss me.
The Vice Provost, Cedric Blakey has devised a game to enable small groups talk about God. In this week’s article explains why he did it and how it works.
I have found an astonishing interest and energy for enquiry about God in Glasgow. The following were just a few of the questions asked by the God Factor course group earlier this year:
How can we initiate exploration of these kinds of questions, and enable discussion about God?
I have devised a game called Theopoly. Depending on the size of the group it can be played competitively with dice, or collaboratively standing round a table. The aim is to achieve, not riches and capitalist property owning domination, but ideas, arguments from a community chest of possibilities.
There is a ‘board’ with squares round the four sides, as in a Monopoly board, and a set of animal characters for participants to identify themselves. On some of the squares are placed the questions asked by the group. Players choose a symbol and in the collaborative version of the game, then walk round the table placing their symbol on the square that most interests them.
By each question there is a set of possible answers, placed upside down on separate squares of paper. Each participant then takes turn to read out their chosen question and to turn over the possible answers, reading them out and retaining the ones that they find helpful, returning the ones that they don’t. Other participants can ‘steal’ any unwanted answer. Participants can add their own answers, writing them on blank squares of paper and adding them to the answer piles.
In a short period of time a great deal of ground can be covered. For instance, the person choosing the question “Does God exist?” last time found five possible answers. The first was “The Bible says so.” Not very helpful, they said. The second answer was “The existence of God is a fantasy, deluded people’s ‘invisible friend’”. There is an interest in contemporary secularism, but so far this response has not been chosen either.
The remaining answers came from other so-called “proofs” of the existence of God: the existence of beauty and love, science, philosophy and personal experience. So we have “Where else could the experience of beauty and human love have come from?” “Scientists who had a belief in God include Newton, Kepler, Kelvin, and Einstein.” “Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant argued the existence of God from the existence of good.” “God has changed my life- some people say.”
In turning over the provided answers participants naturally begin to speak of counter arguments and other arguments in favour. They find a space, standing together around the table to throw in ideas, tell stories and make reference to books, films and personal experience. It is a fast-moving process, once the conversation on a particular subject flags another person takes their turn.
What emerges is a process that enables individuals and the group to speak about God. This appears to be something that folk want to do these days.
Taking seriously questions about God form an important part of our understanding about what people are asking about. In turn this has informed the provisions of other parts of the adult learning experience at St Mary’s, not least the Sunday preaching, the shaping of the liturgy and music, the explaining of the building and its use, and the motto of the congregation “Open, Welcoming, Inclusive”.
It’s wonderful irony of course. For it is impossible to speak about God adequately. And on occasions it is just not possible, or appropriate, at all. And if one tries, it is with great delicacy. What does one say after the Clutha bar helicopter crash? Or the pre-Christmas Queen Street bin lorry tragedy. Or the post-referendum crowd clashes in George Square. What do we say by the bedside of the critically ill and alongside the broken in spirit? And what do we think of within ourselves when faith feels inadequate or is absent. When someone lets us down. Or equally, when we know we have failed against our own standards of being and practice.
This process is not an optional extra to the life of the church, or to any Christian. Speaking about God is one of life’s essentials. In the busy office, the sports centre, bus stop and on-line. How we equip ourselves and others to do it, and to do it authentically is just one reason to try Theopoly.
The game of Theopoly is often played during the God Factor course.
On 18 July 2015, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, a container of 50,000 books left from City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow to be delivered to school and public libraries in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The container was organised by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the successor organisation to the Anti-Apartheid Movement. ACTSA, along with its partner, Community HEART, a British-based charity supporting the development of South Africa, has now sent over 3,000,000 books to South Africa. The container sent from Glasgow helped us to achieve that figure.
The books will go to schools like the one in Elliotdale that I visited when I was in South Africa last year. The local community in Bomvanaland decided to build a secondary school at Elliotdale in 1997, three years after the end of apartheid. They raised the money and they built the school. It now has a library, but there is a problem. They have shelves, desks and chairs, but they do not have any books. There are schools like this all over South Africa.
The first time that I went to South Africa was in 1993, and I visited a school in Soweto. The head teacher, when she learned that I was a librarian, asked if I would like to see there library. I agreed and she brought out a box, which only contained a Latin Bible. This was used to show the children what a book looked like. That is a good example of what library provision was like for black children under apartheid.
Since 1994, and the end of apartheid, there has been a huge investment in schools in South Africa, but there was no magic wand to be waived so that all the facilities required could be supplied, and not just in education, but housing, health, employment, transport, electricity, clean water etc. So some things required international solidarity.
My friend, Kader Asmal, who was Minister of Education in Mandela’s government, spoke to my friend, Denis Goldberg, who was gaoled at the same time as Nelson Mandela, and they agreed that they should ask people in the UK to send 1,000,000 books, and so the book appeal began. ACTSA Scotland, in particular, rose to the challenge and has been sending containers of books on a regular basis since we began collecting books in 1996.
When we were in Cape Town in 2000, Denis and I reported to Kader that the UK had sent a million books, and his reply was “Can you make it 3,000,000?” Sadly, Kader is no longer with us, but I can hear him asking “Can you make it 5,000,000?” now that we have achieved the 3,000,000 target. The need is still there. I saw that for myself last year in South Africa.
So, what has this got to do with the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway in particular? Well, recently, Bishop Gregor convened a meeting to discuss how the Diocese should approach international issues. It was decided that to launch this approach, we needed something that would be a quick hit, and the ACTSA Scotland Book Appeal fitted the bill. The container was already booked for 18th July, and we had to make sure that it was full. So Bishop Gregor wrote to the 66 churches in the Diocese and asked them to send their contributions to Hillhead Library. We had no trouble in filling the container. [In fact, a fair proportion of the next container has now been filled.] The generosity of the donors was extraordinary.
On the day, about 50 volunteers assembled at Hillhead Library at 10.00am to start loading the container. Trolleys were used to get the boxes of books to the foot of the basement stairs in Hillhead Library. The boxes of books were then passed hand to hand up the stairs, into the car park and then onto the container. This took three and a half hours. The volunteers then headed to City Chambers for the official send off at 2.00pm. Meanwhile the jazz band had arrived at City Chambers to set up for the reception. Peter Wakeford organised this. The container and the guests arrived at City Chambers more or less simultaneously. The guest of honour was Obed Mlaba, the South African High Commissioner to the UK. Bishop Idris was there to represent the Diocese, the Depute Lord Provost represented the City Council and their Deputy General Secretary represented the STUC. The event ended with a 17-year old Icelandic baritone, Magnus Walker, singing the South African National Anthem.
This was the first event in which the Scottish Episcopal Church participated following Bishop Gregor’s initiative. The second, the “Glasgow Sees Syria” concert at St. Mary’s Cathedral, has already taken place. There will be more.
Little by little, action by action, we will change the world.
The following article from the Provost is also available as a printed leaflet in church.
Identity matters
There are a very great many different kinds of church within the Christian faith. Some people find this a scandal and think there should only be one. Others think that the different kinds of churches are simply reflections of the different kinds of people who exist in the world and the history of faith in their lands. God didn’t make us all the same and as the churches are all different, maybe that means that there’s a church for everyone.
People sometimes use short-hand descriptions of different kinds of churches as a way of trying to work out their character and ethos. Often they are trying to work out whether or not they would feel welcome. St Mary’s Cathedral has a diverse congregation. Many of the people who attend this church come from different cultures and traditions – so people are welcome here whatever labels they attach to themselves. However there are still often questions about what kind of congregation this is and this leaflet is an attempt to answer some of those questions.
Is this a Catholic Church?
One of the questions that is most often asked by people visiting St Mary’s for the first time is “Am I in a Roman Catholic Church”. People say that the building “looks catholic”. Sometimes they ask whether it was formerly a Roman Catholic Church before becoming Episcopal. In fact this building was built to be a church for an Episcopal congregation which has its roots in the early Christian community of this city. Although the building has changed a bit through its history, those who built it were clearly building something that would indeed “look catholic”. This is a place where the services are celebrated which also “look catholic”. Like the building itself, the liturgy here is designed to appeal to the senses and to stimulate them all as a way of getting in touch with God.
The worship here doesn’t just look catholic – it is catholic in the sense that the sacraments are celebrated here – baptism, holy communion, marriage, confirmation, reconciliation (sometimes called confession), ordination and unction (anointing with holy oil for healing). Some members of the congregation speak of coming to mass on a Sunday, almost everyone would say that they believe in the Real Presence of Christ when they receive the bread and wine though they might be a bit reticent about calling that transubstantiation and would probably prefer not to try to explain it.
However, this congregation is not part of the Roman Catholic Church. It belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church which, like the Roman Catholic Church (and Orthodox churches, Methodist churches, Presbyterian churches etc) is one of the churches that are part of the Christian faith worldwide. Though the worship here seems very familiar to Roman Catholics, and many members of the congregation have their roots in that church, there are some differences – we do not, for example have a pope. We joyfully affirm the ministry of both men as women as priests. We also have different social teaching. This is a place where gay couples can be blessed and where divorced people are welcome to receive communion and in most circumstances to remarry if they choose to do so.
Is this a Free Church?
People sometimes use the term “Free Church” to speak of a church that isn’t aligned with the state. In Scotland, the only church which is aligned with the state is the Church of Scotland which thinks of itself in a particular way as Scotland’s National Church. The Church of England is unique in the Anglican Communion in having a strong connection with the state as the established church in England with bishops in the House of Lord and all kinds of connections with the civil life of the nation. St Mary’s belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church which has had links to the state in the past but not since 1689. In that sense it is a free church.
Is this an Independent Church?
Sometimes people speak of an Independent church meaning one that is completely independent of other congregations and which doesn’t belong to a denomination and can make up its own rules. St Mary’s is one of the congregations of the Scottish Episcopal Church which is one of Scotland’s churches and the only Scottish church to be part of the Anglican Communion. These connections with others mean we are not completely independent and in that sense, not a independent church. This also means that the church is governed according to the Canon Law of the Scottish Episcopal Church and that we have a bishop in the form of the Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway who also cares for other churches in this diocese, which reaches from just north of Glasgow right down to the England-Scotland border. The Scottish Episcopal Church however does value its independence and has different rules and conventions to many other churches.
Is this a Scottish Church?
Yes, the Scottish Episcopal Church that we belong to is very much a Scottish church. It isn’t the Church of England in Scotland and it is neither correct nor polite to refer to it as the English Church. Here at St Mary’s, the congregation comes from all over the world.
Is this a Bible-Believing church?
People sometimes talk about “Bible-Believing” churches. This seems sometimes to be used to describe Christians who would themselves be happy to be referred to as fundamentalists – believing that the way we live today can be determined directly from things that are in the bible. It is also shorthand for churches which teach a particular belief about salvation which they believe the bible teaches.
In that sense, St Mary’s doesn’t really fall into this category. However, many people here would say that they had a huge reverence and respect for the bible – so much respect that they don’t believe it should be abused by being used as something it isn’t.
The bible is a collection of ancient literature which documents the experience of the Jewish people as they developed their understanding of who God is and how people should relate to God. It also consists of the early testimonies of those who came to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. As such it contains poetry, history (written from particular perspectives) songs, accounts of speaking truth to power and mystical writing which people have wondered how to interpret from the very first times they were written down.
Here at St Mary’s we have such a respect and fascination with the bible that we read it a lot in our public worship – much more than many churches which would be described as “bible believing” churches.
We don’t believe the bible is a rule book – we think it is far more interesting than that.
Is this an Anglican church?
This one is very easy to answer – St Mary’s is part of the Anglican Communion which includes churches like the US based Episcopal Church, the Church of Nigeria, The Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of the Province of Southern African, the United Churches of North and South India, the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and many more. We are also in full communion with some but not all Lutheran churches, particularly those around the Baltic due to a recent agreement. This means we are in full communion with churches like the Church of Finland and the Church of Sweden which are not Anglican at all.
Is this an Evangelical church?
If “Evangelical” is being used as short-hand for a church which wants to grow and spread the good news about Jesus then we are an Evangelical church. If it is being used to describe “bible-believing” churches (see above) then probably not. However it is the case that quite a number of members of the congregation have got backgrounds within churches that would be described this way.
Most people who come to this church did not grow up as Scottish Episcopalians. Indeed many of the leaders in this congregation including the current Provost did not grow up as either Episcopalians or Anglicans.
Is this a Protestant church?
Asking whether this is a Protestant church is sometimes a way that people use to get their heads around whether we are catholic or not. In the sense that we are not part of the Roman Catholic Church then some people would think of us as a Protestant church. Certainly, we are one of the parts of the church which came from the Scottish reformation. However it is also the case that we might be thought of as the church which emerged from the Scottish Reformation which cared most about continuity with our common ie catholic inheritance. So, some people in the congregation would say that they didn’t think of St Mary’s as either Protestant or Catholic in that sense. Others, for similar reasons would want to claim that we are both.
Is this an Inclusive church?
This is a relatively new way of describing congregations. Very often people who are asking this question are asking whether it is a place that gay people are fully welcome and in which men and women are treated alike. If those are the questions then St Mary’s is an inclusive congregation.
However, inclusive can mean much more than that. We also hope to be a church that people which people with different disabilities will find welcoming. These may not be visible disabilities either. We are aware, for example that some people with autism find the predictable kind of worship that a regular liturgy brings to be easier to worship in than churches where you don’t know what’s coming next.
There are increasing numbers of people who don’t think of themselves as fitting into the binary categories of male and female and there is also increasing awareness of people whose sense of themselves has led them to transition from one gender to another. St Mary’s is a place where such people are welcome just as much as those for whom gender is certain or who think of their own gender having been determined at their birth.
In recent years, the congregation has become more diverse, welcoming people from Nigeria, the USA, Canada, Japan, India, South Africa and many more.
Is this an Episcopal church?
There’s no doubt about this one – this is one of the cathedrals of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The word “episcopal” comes from a Greek word and shows that we believe that having bishops is part of the way we are governed. There are seven bishops in the Scottish Episcopal Church and they each work in a different diocese ie their geographical area. There is no archbishop in the Scottish Episcopal Church. The bishops elect from amongst themselves someone to act as their spokesperson – this bishop is called the Primus. They remain as the bishop of their diocese. The congregation that now forms the cathedral congregation was not always on this site having endured some years of persecution after having been expelled from the medieval cathedral in the High Street in 1689. Throughout this time, they have always maintained their allegiance to Episcopal governance and so have always had a bishop.
