You had to be there... and I wasn't.
The Sunday before last, we celebrated St George's Day.
As we're St George Christ Church St Paul, we always remember St George's Day on a Sunday and this time round it was Father John to preach a sermon.
Since then, he's had 20 emails and frequent requests for a copy of the sermon.
We printed 25 copies of it for after the service this Sunday, and they ran out, so we printed a further 15. They've gone too. I'd better do more today.
Why this sermon?
Well, I can't quite tell you, because I was still on holiday, so I was attending a church in Paris that Sunday morning (where they weren't celebrating St George)! But, by all accounts of those who were in Forest Hill, it had passion. But more than that, it was about how standing up for your faith costs, even within the church, and how the church needs to look at the people it persecutes. What does inclusion mean if we systematically exclude some but not others?
Beyond that, I don't know why it provoked such a reaction. You had to be there... and I wasn't. You can get a sense of it by reading a copy of a sermon but good sermons aren't really designed to be read. They are meant for a group of people at a particular time.
And it wasn't without controversy. One person walked out of the church, upset at what was being said. Others greeted the end of the sermon with a round of applause. That's never happened in my time when I've been there.
As I said, you had to be there.
But it's also led me to think about what it is to be church. Because of course, you never want someone to walk out of the service. You don't choose that. But as someone once told me in marketing, if you get complaints, it's a sign you're making an impact. And if no one ever complains, then maybe we're in a world of rather bland platitudes. "Thank you for the service, father, very nice sermon" etc.etc. and all you ever do is end up preaching about motherhood and apple pie.
And the upset was genuine, just as the applause was genuine. And I guess it was because John was tackling a real issue. Like in the Lent course we just had, the discussion about euthanasia was electric at times. Often in quite passionate disagreement.
This is important, and so is staying together through all that.
I'm beginning to ramble, so let's just think about the coming week.
There's a PCC meeting this Tuesday (tonight), a Communication Action Team meeting on Wednesday night, no wedding this Saturday but there is a baptism on Sunday. We'll look forward to seeing you if you're coming to that.
We'll also be hearing about how the cubs got on at their camp which finished yesterday and lasted throughout the Bank Holiday weekend.
Thinking ahead, come to our QUIZ NIGHT on Saturday 16th May.
Father Robert
PS If you want to read the sermon, email into the website and I can email a copy to you.
