Difference, Diversity, Deviance and Hierarchy

This weekend the Church of England's General Synod (of which I am a member) will lock itself away into several small rooms to discuss human sexuality and how we deal with our differences over this issue.

As a historian, I have been interested for many years in how the Christian churches have thought about and dealt with difference. I'm currently doing some sabbatical research on the history of how difference has been handled theologically.

The existence of difference (and consequent inequalities) has always been something that people have noticed and tried to explain (perhaps explain away) theologically. Difference itself is clearly part of the nature of creation - it is naturally observed that, for example, our children are very different from one another, or that different people have different tastes. It is easily observed that there is wide diversity in nature - diversity of plants, animals and so on. It is also naturally observed that whilst some differences are good (we all enjoy diversity in a view, or different things to eat when we can get them), others are life-threatening (such as the difference between a poisonous and non-poisonous mushroom).

Over history, people have tried on for size various different 'paradigms' or models to understand difference, and to decide what is good or bad difference. The language that we use tends to imply how we have categorised differences. In modern English 'difference' is fairly neutral, or is used positively of what we consider to be normative but interesting, the opposite of  'common', while 'diversity' is non-normative but good and 'deviance' is non-normative and bad. We could conjugate these:

I am different; You bring a welcome diversity; He is deviant.


Once you have a model for understanding difference, it then gets used to decide what is 'good' difference and what is 'bad' difference.These have very often been drawn from the experience of civil society at that time - feudalism, the family, and so on.

The prime example of this comes from the medieval period, when feudalism was the basic model of society. That is, everything (in theory at least) belonged to the monarch and was parcelled out from him down a hierarchy of lords, barons, freemen and serfs. Following this model, creation itself was envisaged as being essentially hierarchical - with God at the top, followed by complex hierarchies of angels in heaven, then the human hierarchy, and finally birds, animals, minerals and rocks. The most complex examples of this 'Great Chain of Being' established hierarchies for which birds came above other birds, which rocks were more 'noble', and so on. Even the Trinity was at times portrayed as hierarchical, with the Father at the very top, the Son next (just as would be the case in a human royal family), and the Spirit third.

Of course, the inevitable happened, and this idea of a divine hierarchy was then used to justify the existence of earthly hierarchies - they were, 'as any fule no', divinely ordained since that was 'just the way the world is'.

This hierarchical understanding of difference has proved very persistent (see for example some conservative evangelical writings even today, which attempt to locate gender relationships within the context of an essentially hierarchical reading of the Trinity). Patriarchy is a variant of this model, too, in which 'natural' family relationships are seen as both a model for understanding God, and are then read back onto human society as normative. (As an aside, this is why I very much dislike the version of the creed which speaks of  'God the Father, from whom every family takes its name' - this is a very clear example of this circular thinking).

A hierarchical understanding of difference has been considered to be normative for Christian theology for much of Christian history. The practical impact of this is that 'good' differences have been seen as those which fit the hierarchy, while 'bad' differences are those which are out of place or which defy categorisation.

Test this theory on gender relations: in the hierarchy, men are above women. So women challenging this model or taking authority are criticised, as we would expect, as being 'unnatural' or against Godly order. Similarly, I suspect it likely that one fundamental unease with same-sex relationships is that they challenge this same 'natural' order of things in which a man pairs up with, and dominates, a woman. (I suspect that is why one of the prurient questions that I can remember being often asked of homosexual men in previous years was the telling 'but which one goes on top?').

So I think that a considerable amount of the angst involved in our current conversations about same-sex relationships is not precisely about those relationships themselves, nor even about 'how we interpret the Bible', but about whether we subscribe to this hierarchical worldview - and whether Christianity can be disentangled from it. Really, although people keep saying we have moved on from 'the women issue' to 'the gay issue', we're still discussing the same question: is Christianity irredeemably patriarchal?


More, on other models for difference, in another post...

On Sabbatical (and finding it hard to relax)

As I write, I'm four days in to my first ever sabbatical. I never had a 'gap year' or anything similar, so this is the first time in all my adult life when I've not been working full time at something. It feels weird!

The closest I suppose I've come to anything similar is my 3 maternity leaves, but as anyone who has had babies knows, that is really not a break in any meaningful sense. Though to be fair to those of you who think maternity leave really is a break, when I was pregnant with my first I did think it was going to be a nice break.  I even bought a piano, thinking that on maternity leave I would of course have time to learn to play it. (Cue hollow laughter). As it turned out, for the first few weeks I didn't even have time to eat lunch. And I was back at college for the second year of my theology training 2 months after he was born, as it was either that or take a whole year out which we just couldn't afford at that time (no maternity pay when you are training for ordination).

So this is the first time I've had anything like an actual sabbath period in my working life. I keep feeling that I should be doing something. In fact, I haven't yet broken myself of the habit of making a daily To Do list - garden, quilt, have a swim - and feeling guilty when I don't manage everything on the list.

I had a quiet day at Shepherd's Dene retreat house yesterday, and found that even then, I was stressing about not achieving sufficient 'spiritual quiet day' success! Do you find that a problem when you go on retreat?

The message I came away with was simply to  relax and let be. As anyone who knows me in real life will testify, this is definitely the spiritual gift that I am most in need of! So though I started the sabbatical with a list of things I wanted to achieve, I am really hoping that I can relax, and for perhaps the first time in my life, find out who I am before God when I am not achieving stuff. I know the theory of 'being not doing', but putting it into practice in real life - in MY real life -  feels like a real leap into the unknown.

Pentecost

I was struck this year by the theme in both the Acts and Gospel readings for Pentecost, of thinking big.

In the Pentecost story, when Peter tries to explain what is going on to the gathering crowd, he tells them:
"this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams' "(Acts 2:16-17)

When I get frustrated by the church - which happens all too frequently! - it is usually a frustration with us thinking too small. We don't tend to dare to dream dreams, prophesy, imagine a different future, try to live up to our visions. Our thinking on church growth can all too easily be limited to 'we'd like it all to stay the same but with a few more people on the coffee rota please'.

And when we do try to dream and envision a different future, I seem to hear a sense that this is for the young ones to do - that we oldies have had our day and it is someone else's turn now. Yet the Pentecost story does not let old folk off the hook! Both young and old, slave and free (in verse 18), men and women, girls and boys are expected to participate in this dreaming, prophesying, visioning.

Its not surprising that we don't tend to dare to dream dreams. All too often in life we are told not to be so stupid, so naive, when we dare to imagine how things could be different. We can probably all remember being a child saying 'that's not fair!', and being told firmly by adults to get used to it, life isn't fair. And it is all too common for someone who dares to dream of a different future to be firmly slapped down by those around them. (Terry Pratchett describes this brilliantly as crab-bucket syndrome in 'Unseen Academicals' - the crabs can't climb out of the bucket because other crabs keep pulling them back down). We hear the voices in our heads, internalised from long repetition, telling us not to be naive, not to waste our time day-dreaming, that we won't make any difference.

Maybe part of receiving the kingdom of God as a little child is daring to get back to that childlike expectation that life SHOULD be fair, that things SHOULD be different? Daring to have impractical dreams once again?

In the Gospel reading from John, Jesus is quoted as saying:
"the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

Ask for ANYTHING? Dare we?

In church this morning we thought about this and then spent some time in silence, in which people were invited to admit to God what they really, really wanted. What in their wildest dreams would happen. First for ourselves, and then for our church.

What would be a dream come true for you? Why not risk praying for that?

What would be a dream come true for our church? For the world? Why not dare to pray for that?

'Doubting Thomas' and Christian witness

A brief reflection on the lectionary readings for Sun 3rd April
 (Acts 5:27-32, Rev 1:4-8, John 20: 19-31)

The theme of Christian witness runs through all these three readings, in ways that make it quite clear that witness is not an optional extra to being a Christian, but essential to what a Christian is.

I'll say that again: witnessing to Christ is not one activity amongst many that Christians may choose to engage it. It is what being a Christian IS.

The apostles in the Acts reading are boldly telling people all about Jesus, even though the civic authorities have banned them from doing so. They can't do anything else, they say - 'We are witnesses of these things'. Being a witness compels them to speak - not to do so would be to live a lie.

In the gospel reading, Jesus's first concern when he appears to the disciples is to show them his hands and his side - in other words, he is making sure that they are witnesses to the reality of his resurrection. This is really him that they are witnessing - he is forcing them to examine the forensic evidence so that their subsequent testimony will be informed and accurate.

This is the often overlooked background to the story of  'Doubting Thomas'. Thomas' rather gory (to modern ears, at least) insistence on poking his fingers and hand into the holes that the nails and spear would have left on Jesus' body emphasises that it is only these wound marks that would prove if it was really Jesus that his companions had seen. This is exactly what Jesus took pains to show the other disciples when he appeared to them, a point reiterated by Thomas's story. And when Jesus finally appears when Thomas is present, he doesn't rebuke Thomas for his desire to see this evidence for himself, but immediately displays it and invites him to investigate.

And the gospel then goes on to make the point that this is also why the gospel itself has been written down - so that you may believe that Jesus is really the Son of God. Just as Thomas wanted to be an eye witness for himself, the gospel writer accepts that we are going to want as much evidence as possible for who Jesus was if we are to believe the really startling claims of his disciples - and that is why the stories he has selected have been presented to us. As a dossier of evidence, so that we can witness for ourselves what Jesus was like and the sort of things he did - in the hope that we will draw the conclusion that he was indeed the Christ.

But its not just the disciples and the gospel writers who are witnesses. The author of Revelation describes Jesus himself as 'the first witness'. Jesus in his very being is witness to us of who and what God is.

So being a witness is not just something that certain special Christians do - it is the nature of the Christ we seek to follow.

Being a witness to what we have seen or glimpsed of Jesus is an integral part of being a Christian. It is not an optional extra.

Last week, I challenged the 8am congregation to tell one person that day or that week that they had been to church on Easter Day - but not just that they had been. I asked them to mention one thing that had struck them, or that they'd been reminded of, about Jesus. And I asked them to specifically mention the word Jesus! Because I had noticed, I said, that whilst we had spent over a year in PCC meetings and elsewhere telling each other our faith stories, hardly anyone had mentioned Jesus or God by name. Most people clearly feel much more comfortable talking about going to church than talking about Jesus. But feeling comfortable isn't enough - we are called to be witnesses. Even, as the Acts story makes clear, when that is certainly not going to be comfortable.

When I issued the challenge last week, I asked them to write down on a slip of paper as soon as they could after the conversation - anonymously - what they had said, and what the reaction had been from the person they said it too. I asked them to bring those slips to church tomorrow for us to share.

In conversations at the door, it seemed that people were up for the challenge!  I wonder how many and how varied the stories we will hear tomorrow will be...

The Strength of Grass

Here, for National Poetry Day, is a poem that I wrote on retreat a year or two ago:

 

The Strength of Grass

I want the strength of grass.

For too long I have huddled in the shelter of walls,

Barricaded myself behind books,

Armoured myself with a carefully constructed C.V.

Invested in equity-cushioned bricks,

Double-glazed, triple-insulated against the cold:

Nothing can touch me now.

But I am lonely, safe in my fortress.

I do not want my epitaph to read:

'She was safe'. Safe as houses.

And so I rummage through the other available metaphors.

I could be strong as a rock? Too static.

Strong as an ox? Too bovine.

I want to be strong like an oak tree -

No, make that a flowering cherry -

Firmly planted in the gound,

Roots drinking from living water,

Holding fast to the rock,

Resilient, bending before high winds,

Bearing in due season

Exuberant blossom,

A lush green canopy,

Gleaming juicy fruit.

But still alone.

I want the strength of grass:

A mat of roots so tangled

God only knows where one plant ends and the next begins.

Cut low and growing thick,

Packed together so that even the chillest wind

Barely causes us to shiver.

Heavy weather and heavy boots

May trample us into the mud -

But we will spring back, re-grow,

Flush green again for generations to come.

I want the strength of grass.

Sabbatical FAQ

Here are my answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions about my forthcoming sabbatical!

Q: What is a sabbatical? Is it a long holiday, or something different?

A: The Durham Diocese website says this: A ‘sabbatical’ is a period of three months in which the minister is excused duties in order to engage in a project or set of activities that will promote personal and spiritual renewal. Sabbaticals are not holidays and so the three month period is over and above annual leave and is normally supervised by a mentor.

An image often used for ministry is a jug, constantly being poured out. Every so often you have to go back to the well and refill it. A sabbatical is ‘going back to the well’, a time when you can spend a significant period of time being re-filled and refreshed.

In the Bible, Jesus does lots of things and teaches huge crowds of people: but he also regularly withdraws from the crowds, and goes off to pray alone. Jesus knows that he only has anything to give if he also regularly spends time alone with his Father in prayer. Another Biblical image is of the ‘Sabbath’, resting for one day in seven – hence the word ‘sabbatical’.

Q: Why now?

A: Church of England guidelines are that clergy should aim to have one sabbatical after every 10 years of ministry. It has been found that this helps reduce clergy ‘burnout’, and means that clergy come back to their parishes renewed and refreshed (the parish often find that they themselves have been renewed in the meantime too!). I have been ordained for 13 years this summer, but I had to wait until I was well settled in here to start arranging this sabbatical. 

Q: What will you be doing?

A: A mix of things. I’m having a long silent ‘Ignatian’ retreat at St. Bueno’s monastery, spending a week at the residential Gladstone’s library, and having some extended holiday time.  I was hoping to go to Africa, but an old medical condition means I can’t have the jabs.

The main project that I’m going to be working on for about half the time is a piece of work on how the church has understood ‘difference’ at various points in its history. How we handle difference theologically is a big theme in the Anglican Communion at the moment, as we discuss how to cope with widely different views on things like same sex marriage in different cultures. In wider society, too, it matters how we think about difference: think about the arguments we are having about immigration, or the hijab, for example. I am hoping to help us have these debates by summarising some of the debates that Christianity has had in the past over other differences.

 I’ve always found that theological and historical study has been one of the ways I have connected with God and been spiritually refreshed, so I am very much looking forward to being able to spend a sustained period of time focusing on this.

Q: When exactly will you be away?

A: We’re having a special joint service followed by a bring and share lunch to mark ‘sending me off’ on Sunday 22^nd May, and I will be on sabbatical from then to mid August. I’m then adding a couple of weeks of annual leave on the end, and I will be back on Sunday 4^th September.

Q: So you will be coming back?

A: Yes! And we are planning a series of coffee mornings and similar gatherings for the first week or so in September so that I can share what I’ve learnt/discovered/experienced over the summer with you all.

Q: What about the family?

A: The children will still be in school, so they will still be here even when I’m away. Phil works from home so he will be around. You may see some grandparents drafted in to help from time to time!

Q: Are we allowed to speak to you if we see you? Do we have to pretend you’re not here?

A: This question did make me laugh! I will still be living here for much of the time, so you may well still see me at the shops, taking the kids to school, and so on. Please don’t ignore me – that would feel very unfriendly! However, I would really appreciate it if you could refrain from discussing church business or sharing pastoral concerns with me over the period of my sabbatical. If you do, I probably won’t be able to put it out of my mind, and will end up worrying about it. So be friendly, but please don’t ‘talk shop’. For the same reason, I and the family will worship at another local church over the summer. 

Q: What happens about services and so on?

A: All our usual church services will be covered by a rota of local clergy and lay people, as appropriate. Our regular assisting clergy and reader – Leslie, Jenny, Kate, and Patrick – will be covering many of them, and other clergy from the deanery and diocese have also generously offered to help out. The rota is already arranged right through to September (it is on the vestry wall for reference).

On Sundays, we will have one Joint Benefice Service a month, alternating between Belmont and Pittington, apart from the four Sundays of August (when so many people are away), when we will have joint services every week alternating between our two churches.

Weddings and baptisms are also being covered by local clergy, and the Revd. Alan Middleton (a local retired vicar)  will take any funerals that come in over the summer. Our house communion team, Patrick and Margaret, will visit those who need emergency pastoral care.

Q: Who is in charge?

A: Legally, the Churchwardens of each parish are in charge in my absence, just as they are in a vacancy between vicars. Practically, the PCCs will continue to meet, and the ‘team’ of churchwardens, Carol Bloomfield our administrator, and Patrick our reader, will be meeting roughly weekly to ensure that everyone is OK and that all is running smoothly.