Hospitality in Vellore

One of the great experiences of Vellore was the wonderful hospitality that we received.  We were warmly welcomed wherever we went – and that was often demonstrated in traditional ways, as we were “garlanded”. “shawled”, or given other gifts.  We were also invariably given something to eat and drink, even when that provision must have been costly. 

For example, at the school at Gnanodayam, a rural school ‘right in the middle of nowhere’ we were offered cake, biscuits and soft drinks on arrival by the headteacher.  We were then taken out to meet the children who had all gathered on the school verandah – and garlanded with garlands of really fragrant flowers – see the photograph – but then given all sorts of individual presents by the children who had been encouraged to bring small gifts for the visitors from England.

When we were the missionaries, at the end of the session, I saw a couple of people walk in with two very large baskets of fruit, which I assumed were about to be shared – but, no, these were for my colleague, Anand, and myself to take away.

We all like to think that we are welcoming – but have we really caught on to the culture of hospitality as we ought? 

Henri Nouwen reminds us that “in the context of hospitality guest and host can reveal their most precious gifts and bring new life to each other” adding that the term hospitality “should not be limited to its literal sense of receiving a stranger in our house – although it is important never to forget or neglect that! – but as a fundamental attitude towards our fellow human being, which can be expressed in a variety of ways” (“Reaching Out”, Collins, 1976, 1980, p. 65.)

Counting Elephants

I seem to have started collecting elephants.  I am not quite sure why.  I didn’t intend to - and, so far, I have only got two.  I got a stone elephant elephant in Zimbabwe and then a wooden one in India.  But they are both quite small and, if I stop now, two is hardly a collection – except that, actually, when I think about it I have got four – because I also got tempted to buy a Noah’s ark the last time I was in Zimbabwe – and one of the pairs of animals is elephants – but they are very small.  However, that reminds me that I think I have got another Noah’s ark somewhere in the garage – but I don’t know whether it has got elephants or not.  If I don’t look, maybe it is OK to ignore it.

It is interesting how things start, sometimes quite deliberately, and, other times, we just slip into it.  And then there are things that we just do.  They seem to come naturally.  And other things are a real struggle.

I don’t think there is anything wrong in any of that.  Accidental starts and deliberate starts both have their place.  Things that come naturally and things with which we have to struggle both also have their place.  It can be that the struggle needs to be persisted with and the ‘I didn’t even think about it’ needs to be dropped – or it can be the other way round.  

In Ephesians 3:17 and 18 Paul is focussing on the love of Christ and the centrality that it ought to have in our lives.  Sometimes doing the things that we know God wants us to do comes really easily – and sometimes it is a real struggle.  Whatever else we end up doing, let’s try and make sure we reflect God’s wonderful love, recognise how broad and long, how high and deep it is.

Text of brief reflection I offered as part of the opening worship at the Eastern Synod meeting on 14/3/15, following the reading of Ephesians 3:14-21.

PS - As someone from the floor helpfully and relevantly reminded us all, when we are talking about elephants we always need to remember the one in the room.  (Maybe that is why I started collecting them!)

With the Missionaries in Vellore

On one of our days in Vellore, those of us who were not teaching spent time with various groups, the missionaries, the Bible women and the ordained women.  I was able to meet with the missionaries, a group of a dozen men – and they were all men as the female equivalents are the Bible women.  The Bible women do much the same as the missionaries, except that they additionally try to encourage basic hygiene and other domestic skills in order to enhance the lives of those they encounter,  The missionaries are lay leaders with the particular commission of going to villages where there is no church and trying to start one.  They meet monthly and showed pictures of how their work has recently been made easier as a group from Saudi Arabia provided each missionary with a bicycle and pump plus torch and umbrella.  They make contact by hanging around and offering bits of practical help.  It was encouraging to hear how these people are starting churches in such circumstances and each had prepared a map to illustrate how and where they worked.

At Punganoor

While in India, on our first Sunday, I was due to preach in a village called Punganoor.  We met up with Stanley, the young pastor, for the fairly long drive to the village.  He usually goes on his motorbike to whichever of his ten churches he is scheduled for leading worship.  The small group of us who went to that church found a church under construction.  There is a completed area, and that is where the worship was with about a hundred people crammed in and more standing outside.  The congregation was sitting on the floor.  There were just a few chairs at the front for us.  Stanley led worship.  I preached – and he translated.  There was some lively singing.  One of our group taught them a sung version of the Lord's Prayer (in English) with actions.  Stanley then led Communion during which he and I shared in the distribution of the bread and wine.   After the service there was lots of photos and lots of exchanging greetings (despite the language barrier) before we were rushed off to another of his congregations, who were waiting for us to come and give Communion.

Schools in Vellore

Arni School

Sipcot School

One of the interesting aspects of  my recent visit to Vellore was the opportunity to visit a number of schools.  Several of the group were teachers and they had the opportunity to spend a few days teaching, which they all found to be an interesting and enriching experience.  Wherever we went, we were given a warm welcome, often being 'shawled' or garlanded or receiving some other present.  Many of the schools put on a cultural programme, mostly of dance, but there was also some singing and, in one case, karate.  The Diocese is trying to place an emphasis on good education for girls.  There certainly seems to be lots of enthusiasm among the teachers we met.  Some of the schools we visited were in urban areas while others were very rural.  It was interesting that the school that most resembled a British one - in my view - was, admittedly, a very new school, but in a very rural location - Edayakuppam.  Some of the schools are Tamil medium - so teaching in Tamil - while others are English medium.  Resources are somewhat limited, though variable - and the layout seems to be traditional on the whole.  We also visited the Diocese's Teacher Training College.  The church is certainly making a difference in matters of education.  So, where should we be making a difference in the UK context?

Edayakuppam School

Remembering Lesslie Newbigin

Introduction to at talk given while I was in Vellore to a group of ministers ......  I want to reflect with you on the theme of leadership.  As ministers of the gospel we are called to do and to be many things.  How do we create the vision that will inspire us to achieve the ministry to which God calls us?  We are called to be pastors – to care for our people.  We are called to preach the Word and to conduct the Sacraments.  We are called to be teachers, helping our people understand the depths of the Christian Way and what the Bible says to us.  We are called to engage in mission – to tell the good news to those who don’t know it.  In England we often talk of the role of a minister as a facilitator, enabling others to play a full part in the life of the church. 

But the word I would use to sum up all of these is the word ‘leadership’.  We are called to be leaders.

When we try to think of what it means to be a good leader, it is helpful to look for examples of people we might follow.  In a conversation I had yesterday evening, I was reminded of a link I have with this part of the world which goes back way before I had any involvement with the link between Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Coucil and the Diocese of Vellore.  Many, possibly all, of you will know the name of Bishop Lesslie Newbigin.  Some of you may have met him.  When Bishop Lesslie finally returned to England after all his service in South India, he became for a while the minister of a tiny inner city United Reformed Church in Birmingham, in an area called Winson Green.  They were going to close that church until Bishop Lesslie said it mustn’t happen.  He offered to become the minister and, despite advancing years, served there through much of the 1980s.  I was not the next, but the one after that, minister of that church, serving there from 1994 to 1998.  Bishop Lesslie, of course, loved the ideas of unity that he saw formed in the Church of South India – and his hope had long been for that congregation to unite with the local Church of England congregation to form a single church.  I am delighted to say that his vision became reality during my ministry.  In January 1997 Bishop Lesslie, then living in London, came back to Winson Green in Birmingham to preach at the service at which we signed a covenant to become one.  Exactly a year later, and just days before Bishop’s Lesslie death, we did exactly that.  We closed the United Reformed building and became one church, worshipping together, doing everything together.  Sometimes, as in that example, it takes a long time for the vision to become reality – but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep working on it.

Bishop Lesslie was a great pastor, a great preacher, a great teacher, a great evangelist – and so a great example for us.

Vellore Visit

It is ten days since we got back from Vellore.  Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, which I currently chair, has a long-established twinning link with the Diocese of Vellore within the Church of South India.  I spent the middle two weeks of February in India leading a group who were on a visit to the Diocese.  Schools were the main focus of this trip and so about half of the group of eighteen were teachers.  They each spent several days teaching in schools.  While there, we all visited schools, hospitals, churches and other projects.  It was fascinating to see how a growing church is functioning and making an important contribution in a culture that is very definitely not Christian.  How do we make the contribution that God calls us to make in our context?  How do we contribute to the infrastructure that supports society in a situation where many key things are state-funded and yet there are massive needs within large chunks of society?  What do we need to learn from different parts of the world?