ADDRESS TO ANNUAL MEETING
11TH APRIL 2002
As I sat down to prepare my address for this year’s Annual Meeting, my first here, a number of things were in my head. They are two books - Roald Dahl’s ‘The Vicar of Nibbleswicke’ and Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of Archbishop Robert Runcie, a cartoon from The Church Times and a quote from the Bishop of Worcester speaking on Radio 4 in January this year. So perhaps we ought to begin with the cartoon.
Anyone who has been across the threshold of the Vicarage recently will have spotted that I have a collection of cartoons outside my study, by the front door, and this is one of them.
Among other things, this cartoon is a reminder that we must keep our liturgy fresh if it is to continue to speak to us and that means we have to ask ourselves continually whether traditions from the past still work or whether some things need updating. Those of us with a particular attachment to ritual in liturgy will understand and recognise where Nesbit is coming from! We need the ability to laugh at ourselves from time to time, especially when we are being ridiculous, which we all have the ability to be at times.
The second image in my mind comes from Roald Dahl’s very short book - The Vicar of Nibbleswicke. Anyone with an 8 year old in the house will know how popular Roald Dahl’s books are and that one of his specialities is playing around with words. This book is about a new vicar, the Revd Robert Lee, who moves into a new parish. As he is anxious about what lies ahead of him he develops an unfortunate condition. He has a habit of pronouncing key words in a sentence backwards, so that what he says is very much not what he intends to say. Now most words don’t mean anything backwards, but some have unfortunate consequences. So instead of telling the ladies group that each of them knits, he tells them that they stink! He talks about dog instead of God and calls Mrs Prewt, a wealthy benefactor, Mrs Twerp as he introduces himself as the new raciv. Eventually the local doctor diagnoses his condition and suggests a cure that whenever he speaks he walks backwards. The parish shows just how adaptable the C of E can be by getting used this zany man who duly walks around the pulpit backwards as he preaches!
In an age so obsessed by image and professional standards, quite rightly in some respects, perhaps the raciV of Nibbleswicke can remind us to look more deeply and be inspired by the unexpected, the certainly unusual, and be liberated by someone who bucks the trend and who is not so tightly spun that he no longer has courage to say anything of interest. There is a riskiness to being living witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the riskiness is that each of us has something of the Nibbleswicke inside us that is quirky and peculiar. We are an odd bunch and should celebrate that. This is what gives a church community its character and its life. It roots us and makes us real rather than plastic and artificial.
My third image comes from Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of Robert Runcie, a man whom I held in very high regard. Before I was ordained I served for him on a number of occasions in Canterbury Cathedral and found that he always had something profound to say. The biography is a kind of Nibbleswicke biography because it shows the real person. He reveals, with startling indiscretion at times, the inner man’s thoughts and we get a picture of the life experiences that made him who he was. We get a glimpse of how much even our heroes are in need of redemption and sought it, that no one and certainly no institution is perfect, that all of us are looking forward to the kingdom to come.
As a new comer to this place, I am beginning to hear something of what has made this place. Certain names now flow from my lips with ease - Michael Hunter, Paul Summers, Cranston Garrett (now there’s a name!). There have been great changes: some welcomed, some fought, some accepted with reluctance. Whatever we do, or don’t do, we all know that life will march on and we either change with it or we find ourselves processing Nesbit around! I cannot promise you no changes, because that is the fossilisation of worship, of faith, of life. Indeed if we accept our need for redemption then we know we are not in heaven and it will be appropriate to change, we will be required to change as we grow in our pilgrimage of faith. I hope that any changes will grow naturally and be understood. The reality is that not all will be welcomed but hopefully most will.
I am conscious that the pace of life is moving with such speed that as her Majesty the Queen said a few years ago it leaves us feeling dizzy! I am conscious that in such buffeting times there are two equally destructive dangers. One is to jump onto whatever trend or band-wagon is passing because it is the latest bright idea without first critically and prayerfully evaluating where it is heading. The other danger is to oppose all change and retreat into a fantasy haven. Religion is not a safe and comfortable place to live and if we try to create such a place we will find all sorts of internal tensions will result from such denial and avoidance. Those with a counselling background will know that denial and avoidance are powerful psychological drives that need to be faced - and Nesbit is a humorous example of what happens when we don’t!
Finally, I come to the Bishop of Worcester. Speaking on Radio 4 in January about the war against international terrorism and indeed some of its causes, he remarked:
Now these four images or thoughts have obvious implications to an annual meeting of a church and they set out where I am coming from pretty clearly. I don’t feel, though, I have been here long enough to set out my stall in a specific way for the future. I am still gathering material for my biography of the past. But I offer you instead:
Firstly this parish has a rich tradition, fed by what I would call its central catholic spirituality. The use of incense and a fairly traditional style in some of the liturgy goes together with roots that are mainstream Anglican. There are many strengths here to celebrate. It is a joy to work with a team of servers who know what they are doing and are keen that the drama of liturgy goes well. The purpose of this is of course to enhance the worship and delight the sense for the dramatic and there is a powerfully dramatic element to liturgy. It is a pleasure to have organists who play so sensitively and who together with the other musicians make the music come alive.
But I have discovered that this church is by no means confined to one church tradition. I have become conscious of people who stand at either end of the central catholic spectrum; indeed some have made themselves known as we have talked. This is a strength and the questions that come from it will cause us all to ensure that we know why we do things and therefore prevent Nesbit’s purely ceremonial role! They will also prevent us seeing Nesbits where actually there are none.
I have also been struck by the prayerful atmosphere before the services - especially at the weekday Eucharists. This became particularly striking during the laying on of hands on Holy Wednesday. I found that quite a moving service and part of the privilege of priestly ministry. There is a praying heart here. No doubt, as is the case everywhere, more can be drawn into this, but we have a foundation of prayer on which to build. In fact I would say that without it we have nothing, whatever size our electoral roll. Prayerfulness is the life blood of a church community and is more important than any amount of busy-ness that there may be.
Then there is the army of people who do so much in so many ways: from printing, flower arranging, putting up banners, running the bar, working with young people and the elderly, ensuring pastoral care and sacramental ministry is extended. When I responded to the advert for a new vicar, I was asked to write a paper on my understanding of Christian ministry today. In this I made it clear that I believe in the priesthood and ministry of all by virtue of our baptism. This is why we washed one another’s feet on Maundy Thursday. It is why I believe in Eucharistic Presidency and not a celebrant. It is the whole community that gathers to celebrate, the priest’s function is to preside since ordination is a focussing of that priesthood of all the baptised. I wrote a master’s thesis on this, so I had better not go on too much on it. Churches are communities of people who seek to follow Christ and in doing so exercise ministries to service the mission of Christ’s church. An annual meeting is an opportunity to celebrate that service and commitment, to celebrate the church being the church together.
I have given our thanks for the welcome we received on a number of occasions. We have settled in quickly and having recently returned to Kent, while we are still finding our way around and making new contacts, it was striking how much it felt that we now live here and not there. As I have said I haven’t been here long, so it would be empty for me to thank too many people specifically. But there are one or two people I think we should make a fuss of.
Firstly Ian Hall will soon be leaving this parish for his first living across the Pennines in Pendlebury and Swinton. There will an opportunity to reflect on his ministry on 5th May and to thank him then. I would like to offer him my personal thanks for the way he has helped me find my feet. He is very gifted in many ways and I am sure I am not alone in wishing him every blessing in his future ministry. Ian , Carole and their family will be missed.
Pam and Syd Dean have also been tremendously helpful and supportive as I have begun to get a fuller picture of what has gone on here. We are fortunate to have Pam’s ministry, which is thoughtful and prayer-filled.
I am also grateful to Brian and Claire for their support and advice as I have begun to get to grips with various things, even though Claire’s response to me arriving was to clear off to Australia for a month! I look forward to working more closely with you over the coming year and am personally grateful that you have both stood for re-election and indeed been re-elected.
I also want to thank David Grice and Norman Burton for their ministry in this parish. They willingly offer their services, we would be in a mess without them, and their spark contributes much to the life of this place.
I think this church has strong foundations on which to build. There will be some steep challenges in the coming year. No church can afford to rest on its laurels and indeed has no choice but to respond to the changing world around it. That is a fact of life. But from what I have seen already with prayerfulness and a willingness to engage with a lively spirituality there is much here that gives me confidence and hope.
© Ian Black 2002