St Hild College welcomed Professor Richard Bauckham to Mirfield for the Inaugural St Hild Lecture on 13th January. Around 90 St Hild students and staff were joined by 40 guests for Professor Bauckham’s lecture, What Makes John’s Gospel Unique. Richard spoke of John as ‘the gospel of love’, making explicit what is only implicit in the other gospels and bringing a unique perspective due to the friendship between John and Jesus. The 2019 lecture will be delivered by Professor NT Wright.

 

Mark Powley
Principal, St Hild College

‘Who has known the mind of the Lord…?’ is one of the apostle Paul’s searching questions addressed to the church in Rome. It is an entirely mysterious postulation, not least to one contemplating the next three years of his life as a member of CR! Lord, what is going on?  Religious life is still a largely unplumbed area in terms of vocation and ministry. We might do well to paraphrase Elizabeth here, ‘Who am I [that my Lord should give this possibility to me?’] Paul, in his charismatic wisdom, knew far better than to proffer an answer. The answer is inherent as with any rhetorical question. We cannot and do not know God’s mind. Like Elizabeth, the mystery of it all had to suffice for him. Both of them trusted. And both were fully delivered. (In the fullest sense of the word!)

There is a lesson here. I honestly haven’t got the answers to any of the potential ponderables that seem to rise to the surface of this squally sea of discipleship; often this is a disappointment to those minded enough to ask. People are interested; people are happily interested. ‘Why are you here?’ ‘What were you doing before?’ But who am I to answer the question(s) for them? God – himself his own interpreter as William Cowper tells us – turns the whole pursuit for truth on a pinhead, declaring that He himself is it: way, truth and life. The answer is staring us lovingly in the face because God is longing for us. We’re the ones who are the question-marks upon the pages he opens. We have, like advancing students or those craving ‘the pure spiritual milk’ (cf. 1 Pet 2.2), to be the setters of our own questions seeking their single solution: the one who is Jesus Christ. If our searching for pearls isn’t yielding the one of great value, we need to look somewhere else. In October 2015, I knew I had to come and look here.

I don’t know why the religious life and profession in the Community of the Resurrection are the context given me on my journey towards the mystery of God, but can only trust. Because I love God, it is natural that I should seek to trust him. I have let God down many times in discovering this way of the religious life, and will continue to do so. I am a sinner who cannot argue the point. But God, who cannot deny Godself, remains faithful says our friend St Paul. (2 Tim. 2.11-13) He hasn’t left me on my own, and as yet hasn’t put it in mind to send me away. Rather, what has come is a call to persevere: to work with the God who calls this complex question of Br Marc Voase to the context of the religious life in CR.

I cannot know his mind, but I can seek a share in its outworking through this place and its people, my brothers and sisters solving their own questions by my side and sharing in the divine mystery. On March 12^th, I will seek to make my temporary profession by making vows for the next three years. I ask for His grace and your prayers; may the Kingdom of God grow ever closer to us all as the answer to the question of ourselves reveals Himself more and more.

Marc nCR

I depart for Israel on Friday 9^th of February and will be staying for a week in the Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion, the home of a German Benedictine community. Then they are holding a Superior’s election (déjà vue!) chaired by our friend Br Ansgar from Trier. So I have to go away for a week, and will be staying in a hostel in Nazareth, and another on Mount Tabor, and then a few days in a hostel in Tiberias, where I plan to hire a bike for the sponsored one-day ride around the Sea of Galilee, first going south, then up the other side, through Golan, and round to Capernaum and several other interesting places, and down to Tiberias again. The ride will be on Saturday 24 February, when I’m hoping traffic will be lighter on the Sabbath. On the following Monday I catch a bus through the Palestinian territories to pray on it through the journey for all the people involved in that anguished situation. Then a few more days at the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem (perhaps under a difference Superior…) before coming home on 2^nd March.

George CR

To sponsor George please visit http://mydonate.bt.com/events/galileebikeandbusride/452968  

 

 

Recently a Companion of the Community brought me a box of material that had been in her home for decades. She asked me if I thought that it would have any value and would I like to have it for the auction. At first sight it looked as if it might be hard to sell – a bundle of badly typed and some almost illegible hand written letters and a few pieces of music by a composer whom no one seemed to have heard of. Instinct more than common sense made me say yes to both questions. I had some experience of boxes of papers. Sometimes dust covered leaves were worth more than cherished family heirlooms and I suspected that these were worth looking into. However I was expecting that it would mean hard work and research and so I put them aside until after Christmas. I found that I had a quiet time on the Friday evening before General Chapter was to begin, and it was almost with an air of boredom I Googled the name of the composer. The result was amazing. Between 9pm on Friday and 5pm on Sunday I was involved in a correspondence with an interested party which concluded by my acceptance of his offer of £1,500 for a pre-auction sale. As the lady who donated the item has a gift aid covenant with us this will be enhanced by about £375. I am assured by two auctioneers that I made the right decision to sell rather than wait for the auction.

So please go on searching. There is cash in your cellar, silver in your lumber room and gold in your attic.

John CR

If you wish to donate or enquire contact Fr John Gribben CR  jgribben@mirfield.org

Each year we are pleased to welcome a number of bishops to the College, usually when they have candidates for ordination in formation with us.  In November it was our pleasure to have the Rt Revd Christine Hardman, Bishop of Newcastle, as our guest.  For many years there has been a significant number of Diocese of Newcastle ordinands within the College community, and this year is no exception.  Bishop Christine was able to meet with those she will be ordaining at Petertide, and also to talk more generally with staff and students about theological education and how the College forms men and women for ordained ministry.  She had a very full schedule during the visit, and preached at our Thursday evening Eucharist on the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.

 

Image @ newcastle.anglican.org

 

What a time it has been for those of us who love Zimbabwe. In just a few days Robert Mugabe and his wife have been removed from power, by the army, no less. It has all been done peacefully; Zimbabweans have reacted with almost universal joy. Mnangagwa has been instated as president. No one has died and there is peace and hope. It is an amazing change. Many people have asked what I think of all this. Well I don’t claim to know much more than the newspapers but here are some random thoughts which may interest you:

1. On the whole the news reporting has been good and reliable. I have agreed with most of what I read. I am delighted, too, with what has happened.
2.  So far there is peace but we must be wary. Mnangagwa and the army kept Mugabe in power and were responsible for much of the intimidation, violence and deaths of the past forty years. These leopards have not suddenly become liberal democrats, whatever they say.
3.  David Coltart, the Bulawayo human rights lawyer sent out a very strong warning that all this has actually been illegal, much as we have welcomed it. The country needs to return to the rule of law. Will the new president and the army enable that?
4.  Fundamentally there has been a struggle for power within ZANUPF. Grace Mugabe thought she was winning it. Instead Mnangagwa and his generals have come out on top. But there are other factions. Mnangagwa is not popular within the party or in the country. As far as the party goes, he knows too much. He has been security chief for too long. For the rest of the country, he is responsible for much of the political violence. Others are waiting in the wings to unseat him. Will he pre-empt them with violence or let the proper political processes take their course?
5.  Three factors may give us hope:
   a: The very fact that his power base is insecure may convince him that he needs a unity government to back him, and that he dare not take liberties or other powerful leaders like Joyce Mujuru will denounce him to the people.
   b: He is reputed to be pragmatic and wants to get the economy going again. He does, I am told, have the respect of large parts of the business community. If he can put the economy before politics then there is hope. He is even rumoured to want to let white commercial farmers back on the land, at least in a small way.
   c: He doesn’t have the Mugabe charisma, neither personally nor as the leader who gave us independence. The people have seen Mugabe go. They know that politicians can be got rid of, and Mnangagwa knows that, too!
6.  If, then, he does enable a free and fair election in order to get Zimbabwe accepted back into the world, I believe the people will show what they really think of ZANUPF. I think the party’s days are numbered both because of its internal divisions and because of the violence they have perpetrated on the people. Given a chance to vote freely the people will show it.
7.  Unfortunately the opposition is in disarray. Can they get their act together in the next few months?
8.  So all of you who pray, please do pray. This is a knife edge situation still. Left to itself it could fall apart into chaos and worse tyranny. With God anything is possible. That’s the bit we need to hold on to. Pray especially for the opposition leaders: Morgan Tsvangirai, Nelson Chamisa, David Coltart, Tendai Biti, Joyce Mujuru that they will be able to hold the new government to its promises and bring the country back to constitutional rule.

 

I shall be going to Zimbabwe on 5th December for ten days to do Tariro work. I shall know more then. You can imagine how much I am looking forward to it!

Thanks for prayers, support and everything else.

Nicolas CR

Since the last newsletter there has been a large number of significant donations to the auction. Here is a small selection that will give a flavour of the many good things that will be on sale on June 23^rd 2018:

Georgian waistcoat – this beautiful family heirloom was worn by a 14 year old who was apprenticed in 1812. It comes with a photocopy of his indentures (original preserved in a Cambridge museum).

Set of 15 hand bells from Mears of London in very good condition, contained in a magnificent wooden trunk. The donor supplied the following information:

The box of hand-bells, 2 octaves in E minor (or major(?)) most probably acquired by my Grandfather, all his life a country parson in Lincolnshire, ordained Priest, I think, by Bp Wordsworth around 1880, died just after Easter at home in 1918: for 8 years a curate in Sleaford, then Vicar of North Summercoates, then of Kettlethorpe, made Canon under Bp Edward King. My Grandmother lived in Sleaford. Somewhere there he may have found the bells.

Longines Chronograph – ‘Grand Prix’ silver pocket stop watch (pictured left)

Part of a large donation of domestic silverware are these lovely Victorian bon-bon dishes and salver together with an Edwardian cake basket (pictured right)

In 2018 I will be having a sabbatical in instalments, the first being a 3-week visit to Israel in February. As well as visiting Jerusalem, I plan to travel to Galilee and do a sponsored bike-ride right around the lake in one day (35 miles).

The visit is a pilgrimage, to see some of the places we hear about all through our lives, and pray in them. In such a pilgrimage, seeking to come near Christ in his own places, it isn’t possible to ignore his presence among the suffering Palestinian people. And so for the return journey to Jerusalem I hope (depending on what the news brings) to catch the number 961 bus (listed as an ‘armoured’ bus on the timetable, but looking no different from one of our Mirfield buses). Taking a 3-hour route through Israel-controlled parts of the West Bank, the plan is just to just sit in it and pray.

I will be seeking sponsorship for the whole journey around Galilee and through the Palestinian territories, half of the proceeds to go to CR’s campaign for the future, and half to the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, whose volunteers accompany vulnerable communities and individuals, giving voice to local groups working nonviolently for peace. They monitor and document human rights abuses and work to deter violence on both sides.

As with previous bike rides, we hope to post a film on YouTube. More information will be posted in due course on our website.

George CR

 

To sponsor George please visit http://mydonate.bt.com/events/galileebikeandbusride/452968